I’ve broken this post into a few distinct parts. Other parts I will offload to links instead of reprinting massive amounts of text. There’s a lot to explore here, and a lot to talk about. Continue reading
Page 2 of 42
Gospel Doctrine Lesson 5- Moses 5:16-41; 6:26-63; 7:13, 17-47, 68-69
I’m bumping this post for utility, although I haven’t had time to rework it.
Text: Moses 5:16-41; 6:26-63; 7:13, 17-47, 68-69
As always, time compels us to be selective in what we focus on. Today, it’s all about Cain.
First off, we need to understand that Cain has nothing to do with Canaan. That association is an accident of English transliteration and pronunciation. They sound similar in English, but in Hebrew Cain/qayin (accent on first syllable) has no relation at all with Canaan/kena’an (kuh-nah-ahn, accent on middle syllable.) If there’s any descent of Cain in the Bible, it’s… Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, who is a Kenite. Or rather, a Cain-ite, if we’re being more consistent. As the intro paragraph of the Anchor Bible Dictionary article on Kenites says, “The Kenites—or more correctly the Qenites—were a community or clan whose ancestry was traced to an eponym, biblical Cain (Heb qayin ). The Kenites constituted a non-Israelite group, frequenting the wilderness near Sinai…” The text thus portrays Moses marrying Jethro’s daughter Zipporah, a non-Israelite who is the namesake of Cain, if not a descendant.
If Cain has nothing to do with Canaan, he does have something in common with Cainan/qeynan who appears in Genesis 5:9-12. (See the genealogy discussion below.)
Cain and Master Mahan- I think this is a great opportunity to bring a human-centric and Christ-centric focus to the lesson. Continue reading
Hebrew and Aramaic and Translation, Oh My!
Let’s talk about the Old Testament languages and Bible translation for a bit. Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic are very different from English.
MORE new videos on the Bible and early chapters of Genesis.
I simply haven’t had time to update my Multimedia page, so here’s a list of four new videos. There’s some overlap with these, but a good bit of variation too.
What’s going on in Genesis 2-3?
As with Genesis 1, here’s my attempt to gather together some resources for understanding Genesis 2-3 and common questions.
What’s Going On in Genesis 1?
A few years ago, I made a guided set of readings about science and religion, which many have found helpful. This is my attempt to do something similar but much more compact for Genesis 1.
Elohim, Jehovah, the Father, the Son, AND The Trinity, AND John’s Logos: Getting Some Things Clear
As we begin to study the Old Testament again, this time with multiple translations, we Latter-day Saints tend to ask some of the same questions over and over. “Is it the Father or the Son speaking here? How can I tell them apart? Isn’t Jehovah the premortal Jesus, and so LORD or Jehovah always means Jesus?” Yes. But also… no. And to understand both why we keep asking those question and what the answers really are, we need to start with… the Nicene Creed.
Part 2— Church Resources, and Why Scholarship Can’t Be Separated from Doctrine or Discipleship
(See Part 1 here. )
We cannot separate our understanding of scripture, history, or doctrine from human scholarship. The image here is the gateway into the BYU Jerusalem center, where I really had my eyes opened to this idea; I first read a Study Bible through from beginning to end while learning about history and religion, touring archaeological sites. Scripture was much more than words on paper.
Again, we cannot separate our understanding of scripture, history, or doctrine from human scholarship. This is demonstrated in Church history as well as anything else; note the recent changes, including “factual corrections,” to our chapter headings in D&C based on better data and understandings from the Joseph Smith Papers.
To stave off the critics, this does NOT mean Church classes ought to be focused on trivial or tertiary matters, Greek grammar, or Assyrian pottery typology; discipleship certainly does not require a MA in Semitics or even basic literacy, for that matter. While doctrine and history matter, discipleship “that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
But those who are—as I suspect my audience to be— literate and college-educated ought to be studying scripture along with “the best books,” to use the phrase from D&C. In my mind, those “best books” help us see scripture’s implicit contexts, their meanings which were evident to their original audiences of two-hundred or two-thousand years ago, but are opaque to us. They get us beyond the words alone, because the words alone, however good a translation, are insufficient to communicate scripture’s meaning.
Let me relate three personal stories of how and why scholarship matters.
Part 1— Church Resources, and Why Scholarship Can’t Be Separated from Doctrine or Discipleship
I sometimes hear criticism of my work or approach which seeks to shunt it aside by labeling it as “scholarly,” “academic,” or “educational.” These critics imply that to make use of such materials in preparing lessons inappropriately turns Seminary or Come Follow Me into an “academic” setting instead of a “doctrinal” or “discipleship” setting. They argue that discipleship has no need of any scholarship. I find this false dichotomy somewhat frustrating, and I’ll address it more in part 2. Continue reading
A Personal Paean for President Holland
Like many others, I felt an ominous shadow in the announcement that Elder Holland had gone back into the hospital and heartbroken at his death. It feels selfish to want him to remain alive but in pain and without his wife, and yet. Elder Holland made an impact on my life in ways others have not.
Recent Comments