Meaning of the Bible

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Reflection Paper Assignment: The Meaning of the Bible.
Levine, Amy –Jill and Douglas Knight. The Meaning of the Bible: What Jewish and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
Intro
The assignment is reflect on my own assumptions about the Bible, and bible interpretation, based on the journey, or “deep dive” I have taken into the Hebrew Bible this semester through various writing and discussions, and the reflections garnered in my sojourn with Levine and Knight. This is, indeed, a foreboding task, given it has to be accomplished in 10 pages or less. Where is God’s justice when you need it?
About the Bible.
In exploring the question, how my views about the Bible have been modified or confirmed as a result of this course on the Hebrew Bible, I would say that it has been impacted in various and sundry ways, because of space concerns, I will speak to: a. Historicity of the Bible, b. the history of ancient Israel and how it relates to the current geopolitical environment in the Middle East.
a. Historicity of the Bible.
One of the biggest issues for me was a lack of historicity of the Bible. This is true generally for the history of ancient Israel and specifically for events like the Creation Story, the Exodus, the conquests of the Promised Land, and the Kingdoms of David and Solomon. While I generally knew that the creation story was not factually true, prior to this course, I tended to overlook the details of the untruth, i.e., the implications of this inaccuracy. What the course made me confront was how I conveyed this information to those who believed every word. What is it truth that would emanate from the story of creation that I could convey those who held fast in that faith and belief in the accuracy of...

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...ly true, for a race of people still suffering from the injustice of racism globally, in part, because of the proliferation of false hoods emanating from interpretation of biblical history itself. And, particularly in the U.S., who’s readily known history of African Americans, begins with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Do you think you’ll use the bible in a different way after considering the issues raised in this course?
For sure,for sure. I don’t know that I could ever see the Bible the same after this course! But it does indeed open me up to new approaches in my own analysis and study, as well as how I talk about the Bible moving forward. Best of all, My Faith has Survived!, and was even a bit enhanced.

Works Cited

Levine, Amy –Jill and Douglas Knight. The Meaning of the Bible: What Jewish and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. New York: HarperOne, 2011

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