1/9: First Class: Syllabus, Three Worlds, Two Questions

It was great to meet you.
It looks like Marpeck 103 will be our permanent room.


As promised, here is a pic of me studying for this class in 1983.
That thing on my desk is called a "typewriter." (:

Summary:

We got acquainted with each other and the class.
We walked through much of the syllabus, but be sure to take some time reading it all (click "syllabus" tab at top of page), and get started on your "Impressions of Matthew" assignment due Fri.
(you may want to book your service project this week, too..see "service project" tab at top of page).

Before next class, I will have posted details of class schedule and assigned readings.

The class really deals with

1)the "Three Worlds"

which helps us in

2)interpreting texts

which helps us to specifically interpret these text messages from the Text of Matthew's Gospel:

3)"Who is Jesus?"   and "What is church?"


Some detail on #1 and #2:

First of all, become familiar with the "Three Worlds"  Concept which comes from your Hauer/Young Tetbook, see especially chapters two and three, and see class notes.
Here  below is how one student summarized the worlds (she has more detail here)


Literary World--The literary world of the Bible is simply the text itself, apart from anything outside the text.  We mean the world (or, better, worlds) created by the text; the words on the page, by the stories, songs, letters and the myriad other types of literature that make up the Bible.  All good literature (and the Bible is, among other things, good literature) creates in readers' minds magnificent, mysterious, and often moving worlds that take on a reality of their own, whether or not they represent anything real outside the pages (Hauer and Young ch 2).

Historical World--The historical world of the Bible is the world "behind the text" or "outside the text".  It is the context in which the Bible came to be written, translated, and interpreted over time, until the present.  In studying the historical world of the Bible, we look for evidence outside the text that helps us answer questions such as, who wrote this text, when was it written, to whom was it written, and why was it written.  We also probe the text itself for evidence that links it to historical times, places, situations, and persons (Hauer and Young 2)..



Contemporary World--The contemporary world is the "world in front of the text" or the "world of the reader."  In one sense, there are as many contemporary worlds of the Bible as there are readers, for each of us brings our own particular concerns and questions to the text.  They inevitably shape our reading experience.  We are all interested in answering the questions of whether the Bible in general, or particular texts, have any relevance to our personal lives (Hauer and Young  ch3).
-Brolin


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What's  a "TEXT"?

a "text" is "any message, in any medium, that is intended to communicate anything."

To illustrate that all texts need context, I had you send me text messages in class.

Context is everything.
\ 
 Remember the "Butt cheeks" story (;
Suffice to say that in all texts, commas (and context) matters..


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Remember this video?
It's a reminder that sometimes we need to "deprogram" what we think/feel about "Who is Jesus?"....and see what happens when we read the Text.

Remember this kid, my friend Julio from Paraguay, who asked me the two questions of the class?  The story is here
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See you Wednesday!