Reading of Judith

I thought our reading of Judith and then the short discussion we did in class was pretty interesting.  I grew up in a Christian home and went to a Christian, but we never did anything with the Apocrypha outside of talking about it here and there.  To actually get into it and read it was cool and eye opening.  It was also very strange.  To have something that sounded, felt, and read like the Bible, but was not part of the canon was kind of weird and disconcerting.  I had to kind of take a step back and think of it differently.  I wasn't deeply affected by the reading of the tale, but it was strange to see something like that.  It would be like if someone wrote a story in the same style and type of Harry Potter, but it wasn't Harry Potter.  I enjoyed reading it and it definitely opened my eyes a bit to the Apocrypha.  I am not sure I am ready to accept the Apocrypha as fact of attempt to get it into the accepted canon, but I do think I want to read the rest of the Apocrypha.  

-Jacob Millay

Thoughts of Rahab

I think that what strikes me most about the person of Rahab in the Bible, isn't that she was a well-known prostitute, nor that the soldiers who were looking for the Israelites took her at her word that they had gone. What strikes me the most is how her position changes in the Bible. In this original story of her, she has one of the lowest places in society and by the end, because of her good deeds and the faith that she showed to the Israelite people, the lives of her and her family were spared. This does not explain what happened after she joined the Hebrew people. How did she integrate into their very strict society? What did she do to become so accepted and even married with children? The reason that I wonder about this is because, based on the geneology of Jesus found in Matthew, she is not only the mother of Boaz, who is touted as one of the best male role models of the age, but also is a direct ancestor of Jesuus, the messiah. There must have been a huge amount of grace shown as well as alot of struggles to get through for the 'heroin' of the story. I feel like her story of redemption, and the stories of redemption that follow her blood line (i.e. the redemption of Ruth) are a prelude and recurring theme to the redemption that Jesus gives for all in the new testament. Which makes a certain connection to why she would be in his ancestral line. They turned out to be quite the family of redeemers.
~Andrea Heeter

Thoughts on Ruth

I was looking at the location of Ruth in the bible and I coudn't help but notice that it is right after Judges which is a book about how awful life is, basically. Ruth is kind of the light at the end of a long tunnel, her actions at least. We often over look people who serve others without any kind of reward or notice. Ruth continues to serve Naomi even though it's years until someone takes notice of her compassion. I think sometimes we become consumed with how our acts of servitude give us the 'status' of being good in a horrible world. But Ruth does what she knows is right without being told to or given any recognition.

Comments on Noah's Arc

I looked up "Noah's Arc" on Google Images to see the first thing that came up. And, of course, it was this painting depicting Noah's Arc in a childlike way with all the happy animals poking out and the Rainbow being the biggest aspect. What about poor Noah and his family? Well, as you all probably could tell, I was a little frustrated during the last class period at how our discussion of Noah's Arc was going. It is such a horrible, heart-wrenching story of God's wrath and about, basically, an earth wide genocide. We tend to look over this more difficult aspect of the story and focus on God's mercy and love towards Noah and the message/origins of the Rainbow. We definitely have a tendency to look over aspects of Biblical stories that are uncomfortable and extremely frightening (Revelation is so rarely read because it is pretty terrifying to consider the lake of fire and all the other aspects of God's judgement on humanity!). But, because this is an English course, it is necessary to look at every aspect of the text and how it would actually effect character development.

Holy Water

In this last lesson we had on the 12th the concept of archetypes, particularly water, really stuck me as something interesting. Sometimes it's hard to see the connections between the old and new testament, with the exception of Isaiah 53. But this concept of Holy Waters is found in both old and new. Water is something that Christianity really uses as a symbol of cleansing. We use it for baptism, christening, and other symbolism in the Christian faith. It's so amazing to think about how water is something that is a universal need for every living thing and it also has such deep symbolism and meaning. I love this concept that something everyone needs, even those who oppose God, has so much Jesus related things to it. It's great.

Welcome to the Bible as Lit Blog!

Come here about once a week to respond to: the reading as literature, class discussion and activities. Post pictures, music, videos, stuff you find that relates to what we're talking about in class. When you post, make sure that you write about a paragraph that analyzes something in detail. Talk about the details in the reading, a video, etc. Make sure that it's about the Bible as lit, too. Enjoy posting and reading.