While reflecting on all of the lessons learned during the first semester of seminary, I have come to the conclusion that the whole time has been an exercise in lectio divina. Never before have I read as many scholarly texts, spent so many hours meditating, praying, and pondering the words placed before me than in the past 3 months. Alas, II Kings 2 is the most challenging text with which I have had to grapple thus far. The idea of a prophet cursing children in the name of the Lord and then those same children, forty-two of them, being mauled by a she-bear required deep and intense prayer. Furthermore, after spending a considerable amount of time praying through II Kings, the text consumed my thoughts as I attempted to find God in the massacre of these precious, albeit mischievous, little ones. So the most beneficial aspect of lectio divina concerning 2 Kings is the reading component. Upon reading the text several times in several different biblical versions and commentaries, the first issue with the reading is the various descriptors used for ones who were calling Elisha baldy, e.g. small boys (NRSV), young lads (NASB), little …show more content…
Those problems are 1) the disrespectful children, 2) Elisha’s bad attitude, 3) curses in the Lord’s name, and 4) the mutilation of the children by the bear. The works performed by Elijah were certainly well known, and it was likely well known that Elisha was his protégé. Therefore, the disrespect of the children is quite surprising as prophets were well-respected citizens during that time. Cursing in the Lord’s name seems counterintuitive, sacrilege in fact, particularly since the text strongly suggests that the mutilation of the children by the bears is a result of Elisha’s curses. Why would God allow such a heinous occurrence? But could the curses and the bears be mutually exclusive events that happen in close proximity to each other? I am still not clear on these
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties. In To Kill a Mockingbird, theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based off an author’s opinion about a subject. The theme innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols.
In the book “The Art of Biblical Narrative” by Robert Alter, there is one chapter (Chapter 3) titled “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention” (Alter 47). Alter describes several different stories (but similar in some ways) in the Old Testament that can be difficult to interpret in today’s culture. Alter describes how reading any book (more specifically the Bible), requires use of conventions, which he describes as “… an elaborate set of tacit agreements between artist and audience about the ordering of the art work is at all times the enabling context in which the complex communication of art occurs” (Alter 47). In other words, an agreement of how the writing is done; it can be pretty complex as well. He states that there are stories in the Bible that have the same stories of narrative, but there are different characters, they often are told several times in the Bible. Alter uses several of examples, like how patriarch is driven by famine; or where someone is found and is invited to eat with them, or a betrothal (engagement) near a well/body
This fragment is taken from THE NEW TESTAMENT (King James version). More importantly, the fragment appears in THE GOSPAL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, which is the first gospel out of four. While there is no speaking character in the fragment, it is possible to witness several characters in it. First, there are the wise men who came to visit and see baby Jesus. Second, when they entered the house, they saw Jesus with “Mary, his mother.” In this fragment, one can notice the significance of the wise men (Magi). Seeing that, the wise men function as evidence to display Jesus’s godliness and his relation to God, by seeing him they “fell down, and worshiped him.” Due to God’s intervention in the wise men’s dreams, they have changed their actions, understanding
New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com. Web. 3 Mar 2011. Accessed 22 April 2014.
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
In the dark ages people were always looking for a deeper meaning in everything and rightly so, seeing as the authors of that time often wrote in allegories. Lacking technology and education, information was best spread through stories that could be easily recited. Different groups would use different influences, full of deep symbolism, to better illustrate their message. The monks flooded the pagan epic Beowulf with christian influence and reserved the last books as an allegory of Christ’s crucifixion. In this epic, the monks used uncanny and deliberate parallels with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ such as Beowulf’s twelve warriors abandoning him, his sacrificial death, being martyred for the will of God, and being a humble king whose followers offer them praise and glory.
In this essay, I will take the position that the philosophical implications of the Song of Solomon is to reveal a pure uncorrupted form of love that is based on the biblical version suggested in Eden which are boundaries of modesty, preparation of a home and a commitment before marriage. The Song of Solomon has been written in a poem form and was said to be a conversation between to lovers, a man and the Shunimite woman, although this most likely true there are still many other elements to pull out of this story besides just a conversation. The way the couple relate each other’s beauty as well as protection and boundaries in the narrative suggest a fuller form of courtship that is not supported by the common sensual standards of today. Not
You may have heard people say things like“Who needs English class, there 's not much to it, all you can do is read it.” “ Writing is like math, some people are just born with the talent.” There are now innumerable jobs requiring a writing paper off any source to confirm that one is set for the company. If a customer service company were to have unprofessional representatives, the company will lose more than half of its customers. Throughout my educational years, I’ve been assigned many papers; some examples are research papers, lab reports, summary papers, and analyzing papers. During my last year of high school, I was introduced to a new type of writing, named “Analyze with Reflection”. In class, the teacher would hand out articles, to read through; which then followed with by analyzing the summary and reflecting it on everyday life. I understood the assignment very well, maybe because most of the assignments were about
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print
Some books have been known to change the way people view the universe, even how they act. One book was very influential to the world when it was published, the King James Bible. The King James Version of the Bible has helped shape the way many people thing and write. Its history and importance is just as relevant today as it was back when it was first written.
In this essay I will identify the issues which brought about this papal encyclical in 1891, specifically the social conditions of people, resulting from industrialisation and the church’s Christological role in declaring human dignity in terms of God’s plan for mankind. I will set out the historical position in Britain in this late Victorian era within the context of European radical political upheaval, as part of the need for reform and a response from the Church. These issues will be compared with the encyclical one hundred years later, to analyse the development of policy in1891 and 1991 in terms of the church’s teaching, within the context of the wider social and political movements of the late twentieth century. I will determine that whilst John Paul II used the centenary in 1991 to publish Centesimus Annus and see it as a ‘re-wording’ of the original, it ultimately failed to take forward the radical change envisaged in Rerum Novarum, with limited exceptions.
NOTE: This isn’t even close to how I would like the essay to be laid out. I’m just writing paragraphs and eventually I will get them in an order I like them and revise.
Authority of Scripture reconciles the community with God and can transform our lives. To participate in the fuller blessing of understanding, it is important to view Scripture with historical and literary sensitivity, interpret theocentrically, ecclesially, and contextually. I realize each of these can be overwhelming to the average person who is seeking direction for a specific concern in their life. Therefore, Migliore reminds us, interpreting Scripture is practical engagement in the living of Christian faith, love, and hope in a still redeemed world. When we listen carefully to the voices of the past, from a worldwide culture, and guided by the Holy Spirit, we will open ourselves to those transformational opportunities.
The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville: Abingdon Press, ©2003.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)