Wanitas presentation related to our guest speakers presentation a lot to me. She spoke on the topic of how the bible used stories from other mythologies and that they are in the bible. This related back to the subject of context. When our guest speaker was talking about Mark, he said that it wasn’t as though Mark was taking notes while Jesus was getting crucified, but that many years later he was putting into context what happened. Though the bible may use stories from other myths and legends, it doesn’t make it plagiarism because back then, plagiarism wasn’t around. This just solidifies to me that the bible is a collection of great stories- not based on 100% true facts.

Never reading the bible before this, made reading Mark prettyinteresting. Jesus walked on water, and predicted that he would die and resurrect. I didn’t know that his disciples didn’t beleive him at first. He said that he was going to kill the Son of Man and He will resurrect. Jesus died as predicted and showed his disciples that he was God’s son. I enjoyed Mark.

The book of Mark tells all about Jesus. It tells of his life, work, and betrayal. I remembered reading passages of the chapters in church before. It was interesting to hear James Carroll speak to us about this book. I really enjoyed his lecture about the unjust blame on the Jews for the persecution of Jesus. I really connected to his idea of reading in context instead of just in text. I think if more people did this, there would be less religious despute. James really kept me engaged with his ideas and facts. He was very well informed and knew how to convey to us what his ideas were.

I really connected with his idea that violence is the root of human life and that is why it is so prevelent in the Bible. He added that violence is a big part of our lives and it is unescabable I agree with this. Violence is everywhere in our lives. For some people it is in their own homes. The violent acts against Jesus were the typical way someone would be treated back then. Jesus was not the only person to be persecuted. Persectution was the form of execution back then. While we may perform more “humane” executions today, the end result of death is still the same.

Overall I really enjoyed James Carroll’s visit. He was very engaging and informative and helped me to read the Bible in a more effective way.

-Olivia

The book of Mark is about how Jesus worked miracles in many different ways. Jesus walked on the sea, He healed a deaf-mute man, He healed a mute spirit boy, etc. Jesus predicted that He would die and be resurrected and He told His dissciples that they will kill the Son of Man and He will resurrect on the third day. So Jesus dies on the cross and resurrects as He predicted. People believed that Jesus was God’s son when He actually worked the miracle, they didn’t believe it until they saw it for themselves.

-Redgina

To me Mark is a very interesting book of the bible that talks about the wonders Jesus did when He was alive. I am Christian and have been taught this stories various times as I grew up.  The only thing that I never paid any attention was the fact that the book of Mark was written by someone that was not actually there when this things happened. Nor did I pay attention to the fact that the book was written many years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Since I grew up in a Christian household to me the book of Mark shows the wonders and great things Jesus could do as the son of God. I have never questioned whether they were true or not I just believed God had all the power in the world and this things could be done  by Him only.  My favorite verse in the book of Mark and one that I think is hard to live up to is Mark 11: 25 ” And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses” ( Mark.11.25). One cannot always forgive those that harm one , but  one should try.

The book of Job is one of my favorite books.  I liked the fact that no matter how many trials the devil placed on Job he never renounced his God. He knew that there must have been a reason as to why God was allowing this things to happen. I admire Job because , yes he seemed to be distressed because he did not understand why he was being punished but he remained faithful to God. As he says in Job chapter 2 verse 10 , ” But he said to her, ” You speak as one of the  foolish women speaks . Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? ” In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (job.2.10).  For it is easy for one to be happy when everything is going one’s way, but it is hard for one to rejoice when one is not happy ; when things are not going one’s way.

Great news and a great honor, James Carroll is coming to our class on Monday, to introduce our work on the New Testament and to talk particularly about the the Gospel of Mark.  Please be on time to class and come with questions for him.  the assignment is for you to post a paragraph long comment or thought about the book on the blog and to comment on one other person’s post.
If you want to know a little about him, you can go to his website at http://www.jamescarroll.net/JAMESCARROLL.NET/Welcome.html or look at his column that is published most Monday’s in the Boston Globe.