Historian of Religion, Science, and Biblical Interpretation
I assume James gets his own Gospel Doctrine lesson because… Joseph Smith and James 1:5? Not sure, really. But James is “the most socially conscious writing in the New Testament” (Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, 725), so it has that going for it.
Like Timothy and Titus, this epistle lacks a Big Picture woven throughout. Like Timothy and Titus, it contains very practical advice. Like Timothy and Titus, it doesn’t get a lot of attention. Continue reading
Hebrews is fun and different. Note that it comes at the end of Paul’s letters (which are arranged in order of length), because even way way back in the day, they were uncertain if it was one of Paul’s letters. And they were right, it’s not. Continue reading
Philemon used to be covered with Philippians and Colossians, and consequently, it went ignored. (Do you remember the last time Philemon came up in Gospel Doctrine?) However, Philemon merits our close attention. It’s short and it offers a great discussion point for something really relevant and important. So, I’ll go long on Philemon (and the bottom has some old-post leftovers about Philippians and Colossians.) Continue reading
2 Corinthians constitutes the first preserved “sequel” in Paul’s letters. In fact, Paul wrote three or possibly four letters to Corinth. Some scholars speculate 2 Corinthians is actually an edited copy of two letters smushed together, based on differing tone and structure. (There’s a break in 2:14 that picks back up in 7:5). In fact, the whole thing is a bit confused. This is one of those letters that emphasizes the fact that we get only one side of the conversation, and have have to muddle through in trying to piece it together. We know Paul’s travel plans to revisit Corinth had changed, that something or things significant had happened since the last time he had written. Let’s look at a few things about the entirety of the letter, then some specifics. Continue reading
Arvo Pärt’s Nunc Dimittis, the Latin text of Luke 2:29-32, “Now dismiss…”
Matthew and Luke provide us with two different but similar narratives, which are probably among the most familiar to any Christian. We typically combine these narratives together in our Christmas celebrations, art, creches, and cartoons, but they *are* different and separate. For example, Matthew talks about the visit of the wise men (not portrayed as visiting soon after the birth), but does not mention shepherds on the night of the birth. Continue reading
Carl Bloch’s Last Supper, public domain
Let’s start the new year by reminding ourselves how little we know, with a brief quiz. (That’s the grouchy academic in me, throwing a surprise pretest on the first day of class.)
1) Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: which are apostles and which are not?
2) Describe the nativity according to Mark. (HT: Ronan’s post.)
3) Which Gospel gives us the detail about the mean innkeeper, who turned away Joseph and Mary?
If you want to see more such questions, and the midterm and final I gave my BYU NT class, see my post and comments here. Continue reading
Malachi, by Duccio di Buoninsegna. (Public domain, via wikimedia.)
Merry Christmas, all. I hope it’s been a productive year working through the Hebrew Bible, which was the only scripture for the first Christians. With the shift in Sunday meeting organization next year, I have no plans to do anything differently. I’ll continue posting NT lessons and perhaps some other things, on a weekly basis.
Several of the aspects of Zechariah have already been treated, such as water flowing out from the temple and future prophecies in general. All I would add is this wisdom from Elder Maxwell. Continue reading
First, in keeping with NT preparation, note that the Harper-Collins Bible Dictionary is on $1.99 kindle sale.
Just as the Book of Ezekiel opened with a cryptic vision (1:1 “the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God…, wheel within wheel”) so too does it close with one. The final eight chapters (40-48) constitute one long vision of a different sort than the first. Ezekiel is now fifty (the prescribed year of retirement for priests, according to Lev 4:3), and has spent half his life in Babylon, among a foreign language, culture, and religion. As a former priest, he is very familiar with temple and cosmological symbolism. He knows that the temple is a virtual mountain that one ascends to meet God, as mountains are the meeting place between heaven and earth, between mortal and immortal. Continue reading
My image
Today we come to the last of our Isaiah lessons. These chapters cover a variety of topics, and I’m going to jump between a few of them.
First, some setting of chapter 54. Isaiah addresses the empty city of Jerusalem as a childless mother, promising that its future inhabitants will be many. Continue reading
Gusave Doré’s The Destruction of Leviathan. Public Domain
One theme throughout these chapters is the redemption and recovery of Israel, specifically from Babylonian exile and previous scattering by the Assyrians. The lesson manual focuses on the messianic foreshadowing of Jesus as redeeming figure. Scholars refer to these as the “Suffering Servant” passages, and the text is well-known to many people through Handel’s Messiah. All of that, I think, will be quite familiar.
I want to focus on a few different passages, though, which invoke certain attributes of God’s power as they relate to creation, chaos, and also (in a roundabout way) redemption and atonement. These topics will appear in my book, as well. Continue reading
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