Week 1 451V

•   Name
•         Tell me about yourself
•  In England, they drive on the ____________ side of the road.
•          Bib 314?
•          Musical group or singer

TOPICS COVERED WEEK 1

• Titles
• Tell me about yourself
• Ten Commands
• Texts
• Set Theory       
• Signature (Final Exam)
• Summa Scripture: Genesis 1 and 2

--

Can you quote his exact opening line?

  

"Final Exam" prep/Philemon: First read. 

What do you remember from our discussion?

-FOR YOUR PAPER, Be sure to  include:  Evidence from the text re: whether the slavery (of Onesimus) and brotherhood of Philemon and Onesimus are literal, metaphorical, or both.   Evidence from the text re: whether Onesimus ran away.

-CHALLENGE: MEMORIZE PHILEMON in our class translation by Week 6.

your notes:

another class:

another class:

another cohort:

PHILEMON: 

              Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

      and Timothy our brother,

        To  Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker

   also to Apphia our sister and

               Archippus our fellow soldier

                                            —and to the church 

                                    that meets in your home:

³ Grace and peace 

to you ^(plural) 

                                                  from God our Father

                                               and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,

          ⁵ because I hear about your  

                                   love               and                          faith

     towards                 Lord Jesus     and               all the saints 

⁶ I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective 

                in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

⁷ Your love has given me great       joy

                                         and        encouragement,

 because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 

⁸ Therefore

 although in Christ I could be bold, and order you to do what you ought to do,

                                                                         ⁹ yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.

 It is as none other than Paul—                   an old man (elder)

  and now also                                             a prisoner of Christ Jesus—  

¹⁰ that I appeal to you for my son--

                                          Onesimus,^["Useful"]" 

                  

 who became my son while I was in chains.

¹¹ Formerly he was                           useless                                  to you,

 but now he has become                   useful                            both to you and to me.

¹² I am sending                         him

                    —who is my very heart

                                                    —back to you.  

¹³ I would have liked to keep him with me

 so that 

                                           he                  could take 

                                           your                   place 

                 in helping          me 

while I am in chains for the gospel.  

¹⁴ But I did not want to do anything without your consent, 

so that any favor you do would not seem                forced 

                                            but would be             voluntary.  

¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while

 was that you might have him back forever—

        ¹⁶ no longer as a slave,

                  but more than a slave, 

                               as a dear brother. 

He is that to                                  me, 

             but even more so to         you, 

both                         in the flesh

 and                         in the Lord.

¹⁷ So..

 if                                            you consider me a partner, 

                               welcome  him

          as you would welcome me.

 ¹⁸ If he has done you any wrong or owes          you                      anything,

                                           charge it to                me.

¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:

                      I will pay it back!

                         (not to mention that you owe me your very self)

 ²⁰ I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit or usefulness from you in the Lord;

                                   refresh my heart in Christ.

 ²¹ Confident of your obedience, 

              I write to you,

                          knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

²² And one thing more: 

             Prepare a guest room for me, 

                            because I hope to be restored to you  ^(plural) 

                                                   in answer to your  (^plural) prayers.

²³ Epaphras,

 my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, 

sends you greetings. 

 ²⁴ And so do Mark,

                       Aristarchus,

                        Demas 

                  and Luke, 

                                      my fellow workers.

²⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your  ^(plural) spirit.

Notes from video:

 ---------------

Some comments from class discussion on Philemon:

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1) Don't trip on  the word "saints."  In the Bible it just means "Christians."  Even Dave is a saint, not just holy people like JARRAD STEPHENS .  Remember Paul wrote two letters to some bad Christians who were getting drunk at communion and having sex with relatives (1 and 2 Californians, I mean Corinthians), and he called even them "SAINTS."

-2) 

Don't trip on "the church that meets in your house."   The Bible knows nothing of official church buildings; they didn't exist yet.  They met in homes, and churches were small.  This doesn't mean Philemon had a large house, or was necessarily wealthy.

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3)Remember how important it is to use our class translation (NRSV), especially for verse 16.  We noted how one translation  changes the meaning.

Click this to see how our translation and three others compare.  Extra credit if you text Dave by beginning of Week 3 and explain how they change it.

--

4) 

Could Philemon and Onesimus were  BOTH master/slave  AND literal brothers?

Not likely, unless they were half-brothers.  

Hmm.  See this from Tim Gombis:

F. F. Bruce suggests that the two may be related in just this way.  He says, “Such a state of affairs would be not at all unusual: if, for example, Onesimus were the son of Philemon’s father by a slave-girl, then Onesimus and Philemon would be half-brothers, but Onesimus (unless emancipated) would still be a slave.”
.. Paul does not say that the “in the flesh” relationship is one of master-slave.  They are related “in the flesh” as beloved brothers.  The interpretive debate is whether this means “fellow human” or “actual brother.”
If Philemon and Onesimus are in fact half-brothers, then much of the consensus view is unthreatened.  Onesimus is still regarded as a slave in the household of Philemon and in some way brought harm to Philemon and has made his way to Paul.  Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon urging the latter to receive the former as Paul himself.  The consensus view would need modification, however, to recognize the additional factor that while Philemon is the freeborn master of the household, Onesimus is now Philemon’s brother in the Lord, having been converted to Christian discipleship by the Apostle.  This new relationship in the realm of “the faith” goes beyond the already-existing relationship in the realm of natural relations, in which they are also brothers, sharing a common earthly father.
My main contention in these posts is that commentators must take Paul’s reference to Philemon and Onesimus as  "BROTHERS IN THE FLESH" (adelphoi en sarki )with greater seriousness.  It is highly unlikely that Paul regards the two as sharing in a common humanity.  It is far more likely that they are actual brothers.  -TIM GOMBIS

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Here's an extra credit  assignment,  We didn't do this section (in yellow) in class.

Read the following, and then post in the comments section below your 1-3 sentence response by Sun night. Then try hard to find one funny or ironic thing (by any stretch of the imagination) not mentioned here, and mention it. 

Post your answer at the bottom of this summary page  where it says "post a comment." If you don't have one of the accounts listed, just sign in as "Anonymous" (but be sure  to put your name or initials in the actual post, so you get extra credit.

.  

HUMOR IN PHILEMON??

"I could command you, but I appeal to you out of love”? 

“Any decision you make will be spontaneous and not forced”? 

“Oh, by the way, I won;t mention....actually I will...that  you owe me your own self” ?

Paul’s language and literary approach in Philemon  have been much maligned, yet little understood.  He has been read as being (at best) disingenuous and passive-aggressive, or (at worst) sycophantic and manipulative to a degree that borders on messianic complex.   I believe a third way unpacks the dilemma and makes salient sense of the intuitive embarrassment and discomfort we feel overhearing Paul’s appeal.   In a word: humor.   In several words: a mosaic (and not at all prosaic) humor based loosely (?) on the “holy fool”  tradition and rhetorical device of prosopeion; a holy humor laced liberally with a playful but profound twist of (almost) irony and mimetic self-reference.   All of this is of course at great risk, and presupposes a deep, abiding and adamantine trust between sender and recipient.

Is Paul being authoritarian to a fault, all the while claiming the opposite?   No, St. Paul is smarter…and not smarmier… than that.  He is more humble than he has been given credit for; and decidedly not proud of his own humility.  Per McLuhan, his medium masterfully matches—even equals and incarnates—his message.

On humor in Philemon, consider Marcus Barth:

"Humor is, according to Wilhelm Busch, 'where one laughs, in spite of it,' even in the face of grave situations...Indeed, Philemon has a hard choice to make, but the decision-making process is sweetened as much as possible--by humor.

In contrast to the doctrinal style of Romans;  the irony and sarcasm found in Galatians; to the apologetic, wailing, and aggressive passages of Second Corinthians; and to other idiosyncrasies of other letters, in Philemon the use of contrasts is a sign and means of underlying good humor. Humor is, according to Wilhelm Busch, where one laughs, “in spite of it," even in the face of grave situations.

 The mighty apostle of the omnipotent Lord Christ is a prisoner in Roman hands (w. 1, 9-10) and chooses the role of a beggar before Philemon (vv. 8-9). 

The child Onesimus was created by a father in chains (v. 10), who was, according to some versions of verse 9, an old man! 

A pun is made on the name Onesimus ("Useful") in verse 11.

 God's purpose in permitting separation was to establish eternal union (v. 15).

 Paul and Philemon are business partners, and Onesimus can substitute for Paul by being the third man in the association (v.17)

 Philemon is much deeper in debt to Paul than the apostle eventually is to the slave  owner (vv 18-19). Paul hopes confidentially that he will benefit from Philemon — not only materially but by finding rest for his troubled heart (v 20).

.... Overflowing obedience is the sum of complete voluntariness (v. 21.)

 A man whose chances for quick release from prison were less than certain invites himself to a private home for the near future (v. 22).

  All or at least a part of these elements can be considered, or are, humorous.

It is not certain whether Paul intended this impression, and whether Philemon was capable and willing to appreciate jokes pertaining to his relationship to Onesimus and to Paul. But together with other earliest hearers and readers of PHM, modern readers are by no means prevented from responding with a smile or a chuckle. The dreadfully serious issue of the slave Onesimus's future is treated  lightly — a fact that reminds of the role of slaves in Greek and Latin comedies. Obviously bitterness is neither the only nor the best way of reacting to grave issues. Indeed, Philemon has a hard choice to make, but the decision-making process is sweetened as much as possible — by humor. (Barth and Blanke, 2000, pp. 1115; 18-19)

Read this section in context here

And this   from Sarah Ruden, in Paul Among the People :

The letter to Philemon...is full of inside jokes and high-as-a-kite invocations of the transcendent...Paul joyfully mocks the notion that any person placing himself in the hands of God can be limited or degraded in any way that matters.  The 

letter must represent the most fun anyone ever had writing while incarcerated. link

Finally, see this from   David Barr:

Interesting..
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Keep observations of Philemon, already preparing for your signature paper. Remember to look for any clues/cues to tone/emotion/volume.   CONTEXTURE

-----------------
How many sides in a stop sign?

What color is a  stop sign?

How many sides on a YIELD sign?

What color is a  YIELD sign?

Watch AFTER you have answered:

--

--

SET THEORY

"set theory" exercise.  What side of the room did you pick for each pair?

• extrovert or introvert
• Lennon or McCartney
• rock or country
• apple or orange
• Target or Wal-Mart
• kikki or bouba
• faith or works
• Fox or CNN
• John Lennon or Paul McCartney
• Ginger or Mary Ann
• Israel or Palestine
• 
  
• 
  

another class;

T

 

-------------------

Texts:

TEXTS
 TEXT:  the word does not mean just written words, or text message..
a TEXT is technically ":any message  in any medium, designed to communicate anything"
so obviously the Bible counts as a TEXT message. 
.

But so does everything.

  All you ever do is send and receive and interpret texts:
Every conversation, film,  book is a text.

Students: send me a random text message (see my phone number on syllabus),  It can be anything; you don't even have to identify yourself.  I will read some of these in class for fun...and to show that texts need context  

Because several of the classes I teach have to do with how to read and interpret texts (particularly biblical texts) , contexts, and intertextuality...I actually encourage students to send me text messages in class.

They often look at me as if I am kidding, even afraid I will confiscate their phone if they do.

...Or worse! Check out this shocking video ,  revealing one professor's policy on texting :in class:

 Here's one teacher who welcomes texting in class:


DID YOU TEXT ME YET?  I'M SERIOUS>>DO IT NOW

 One church's policy on cell phones (video below) 


FPU professor  (and Textpert) Greg Camp introduced me to thebrilliant idea of having students text me in class. 

I ask them to send me a random text message (anything) or to forward me a text message from their inbox.   These become our curriculum for the next few minutes as we interpret them.

This opens great discussion..

And very often I get a text that says, "The university president just emailed, notifying that all classes get out early today."

(:

Suffice to say the whole idea of texting in class has proven to be a fruitful means of discussing the only thing we ever engage in, and the only job we have:

interpreting text messages.

Huh?

Increasingly, the definition of text is becoming:

"any message, in any medium, intended to communicate anything"


Movies are texts; conversations at St. Arbuck's are texts. etc

So the primary discipline/skill/art we should cultivate is that of sending and interpreting text messages.

All of life is a text message.

Of course, when dealing with The Text (Scripture), how much more...

Text, subtext, and context

\

Texts need contexts.

Video of what I said  in class and more:

<i

Thanks for texting me (cell phone) random text messages during class to illustrate that

texts need contexts.

GODISNOWHERE:  is it GOD IS NOWHERE  or GOD IS NOW HERE?

How you read the text changes as much as everything.

Spaces matter.

Like this:

Professor Ernest Brennecke of Columbia is credited with inventing a sentence that can be made to have eight different meanings by placing ONE WORD in all possible positions in the sentence: 

"I hit him in the eye yesterday."

The word is "ONLY".

The Message:

1.ONLY I hit him in the eye yesterday. (No one else did.)

2.I ONLY hit him in the eye yesterday. (Did not slap him.)

3.I hit ONLY him in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit others.)

4.I hit him ONLY in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit outside the eye.)

5.I hit him in ONLY the eye yesterday. (Not other organs.)

6.I hit him in the ONLY eye yesterday. (He doesn't have another eye..)

7.I hit him in the eye ONLY yesterday. (Not today.)

8.I hit him in the eye yesterday ONLY. (Did not wait for today.)

                              -link 

Like this 'text message' from Jesus:

I SAY TO YOU TODAY, "YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.'

or is it,

I SAY TO YOU, " TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE."

The original manuscripts of the Bible not only run all letters, all caps, together, but include no punctuation.

Punctuation matters.

Everything is  context.


context      is everything.

--o
T
=VENN IT!  comparing/contrasting two texts: 
 the two stories of creation: Gen 1:1 – 2:3 and Gen. 2:4-25). 

Greg Camp and Laura Roberts (FPU faculty) note:

 with  the two stories of creation: 



the two stories of creation: Gen 1:1 – 2:3 and Gen. 2:4-25). 


what do you remember about  your observations?
Even many people well-seasoned in the Bible don't realize there are two accounts (not one) of creation in the Bible.  A helpful Three Worlds discipline to hone is this: when there are more than one version of a story (ex. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell the story of the miraculous feeding), it is productive to compare and contrast accounts. Read the first account of creation in Genesis Chapter 1, continuing through Genesis 2:4.  Then read the second account (beginning with Genesis 2.4 through the end of chapter 2. What are the characteristics of each account?  How are they the same/different?  Did they feel like they were written in different styles, genres, even by different writers?  Jot down some informal notes about your observations ..

 Camp and  Roberts (FPU faculty) note:

The two accounts are separate but complementary, like the four gospels. They can be read at different levels, from literal to figurative, with no bearing on the truth of it. Poetry is not less true than a newspaper, just a different kind or mode of truth. And, one must always ask the question what the implied author intended and what the implied audience would have understood. Ancient notions of history are very different from ours.

Genesis 1:

repetitious, tabular, formal

days of creation reported in the same way, formulaic

authority and brevity

style of ordering material into a series of similar solemn commands are unchallenged

content presents major divisions of creation known to writer

catalog or tabulation of events and commands

vocabulary = create (bara), humanity as likeness/image, male/fernale

God = Elohim, characterized as powerful cosmic organizer, speaks things into being, stands outside of cosmos and controls it

Humanity = created as vice regent, created in image gives representative status

polemic against mythical concepts of life and creation

Genesis 2:

relationship of characters emphasized

language is picturesque and flowing, poetic terms, colorful

God's actions more interrelated than separated by divisions of time or set expressions (idioms)

no two acts are alike and none are preceded by divine command

vocabulary = form (yasar), humanity as living being, man/woman

God = Yahweh, characterized by immanence, personal nearness, involvement on human scene, intimate master, depicted humanly (hands, walking, digging)

Humanity = ready contact with and immediate responsibility to God. Humanity's creation linked to ground (word play on adam = man and adamah = ground) and curse is alienation from the land, is distinctive because Yahweh personally addresses him

polemic against fertility cults in Canaan

---

Compare Genesis accounts to Babylonian Creation story (read an excerpt here). Significant similarities – Genesis is not written in a vacuum. Significant differences – lack of violence, struggle, multiple gods, etc.

Enuma Elish:

a.     creation by word - Marduk has this power. They tell him to open his mouth. At the word of his mouth XXX vanishes or reappears.

b.    command over elements - Marduk enlists wind and storm to defeat Tiamat, but battles with elements too.

c.     Tiamat is split in two and body is used to retain waters and set firmament and ground.

d.    sets stars in their place, gives moon and sun jurisdiction, setting days 

e.     creation of man - "blood I will make and bones I will cause to be" new idea like Genesis but he creates out of a dead god's body and for the purpose of "the relief of the gods".

In Genesis, we see a carefully structured account, bringing order out of chaos. The sea and darkness are elements of chaos in the ancient world. No work can be done in the dark; salt water kills agriculture; unknown depths and sea creatures are in the sea. God has ability to control and limit these. Chaos is not eliminated or bounded. God creates out of nothing (vs. other creation myths of the day), and the verb used for "create" (bara) is something no human ever does in the Old Testament. Only God does this action. There are also no elements of struggle or battle to create, which is typical of other contemporary creation myths. God simply speaks or shapes things into being. There are also no birthing images, which are common in other myths, and quickly lead to a confusion between Creator and creature (vs. God as wholly other), and to fertility cults. Also, most other creation myths were a people’s story (how the Mesopotamians came to be, for instance). Genesis is not presented as Israel’s story, but as the story of the world. ( to really appreciate the beauty and brilliance of these chapters, one has to read Hebrew. These verses are packed with wordplays and puns. It may not immediately occur to one that puns are a good form of theological education, but…)

          -Camp and Roberts  
- 

Excerpts from the Babylonian Creation Account (required reading for Week 1)

In the following translation, parentheses enclose words that have no equivalent in the original but have been added for fluency or intelligibility. Words in brackets are restorations. (?) added to words of uncertain meaning. Ellipses due to breaks in the original or due to the unintelligibility of the text are marked.... Words that are underlined are transliterations from the original language.

Reading 1

When above the heaven had not (yet) been named, (and) below the earth had not (yet) been called by a name; (when) Apsu primeval, their begetter, Mununu, (and) Tiamat, she who gave birth to them all, (still) mingled their waters together, And no pasture land had been formed (and) not (even) a reed marsh was to be seen; When none of the (other) gods had been brought into being, (When) they had not (yet) been called by (their) name(s, and their) destinies had not (yet) been fixed, (At that time) were gods create within them.

Reading 2

Marduk, thou art (the most) important among the great gods,

Thy destiny is unequaled, thy command is (like that of) Anu.

From this day onward thy command shall not be changed.

To exalt and to abase -- this shall be thy power!

Dependable shall be the utterance of thy mouth, thy command shall not prove vain.

Reading 3

They gave him an irresistible weapon smiting the enemy, (saying:)

"Go and cut off the life of Tiamat. May the winds carry her blood to the out-of-the-way places.”

After the gods his fathers determined the destiny of Bel,

They set him on the road -- the way to success and attainment.

He made a bow and decreed (it) as his weapon;

An arrowhead he put (on the arrow and) fastened the bowstring to it.

He took up the club and grasped (it) in his right hand;

The bow and the quiver he hung at his side.

The lightning he set before him;

With a blazing flame he filled his body.

He made a net to enclose Tiamat within (it),

(And) had the four winds take hold that nothing of her might escape;

The south wind, the north wind, the east wind, (and) the west wind,

The gift of his (grand)father, Anu, he caused to draw high to the border(s) of the net.

He created imhullu: the evil wind, the cyclone, the hurricane,

The fourfold wind, the sevenfold wind, the whirlwind, the wind incomparable.

He sent forth the winds which he had created, the seven of them;

To trouble Tiamat within, they arose behind him.

Reading 4

and then he returned to Tiamat, whom he had subdued.

The Lord trod upon the hinder part of Tiamat.

And with his unsparing club he split (her) skull.

He cut the arteries of her blood  and skubala happened

And caused the north wind to carry (it) to out-of-the-way places.

When his fathers saw (this), they were glad and rejoiced

(And) sent him dues (and) greeting gifts.

The Lord rested, examining her dead body,

To divide the abortion (and) to create ingenious things (therewith).

He split her open like a mussel (?) into two (parts);

Half of her set in place and formed the sky (therewith) as a roof.

(He loved his Bib 451 class at FPU…)

He fixed the crossbar (and) posted guards;

He commanded them not to let her waters escape....

Translation from Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis, University of Chicago Press, 2^nd ed., 1951, as quoted in Norman K. Gottwald, A Light to the Nations. Harper and Row Publishers, 1959.

MYSTERY TO SOLVE FOR NEXT CLASS:

Which list of the Ten Commandments is the "real" list??

We joked you could win $100 by saying, :Let me read you a list of the Ten Commandments, the only list the Bible explicity calls the Ten Commandments.  Tell if this is the list.  A hundred bucks says I'm right.  Then read them the Ten Commandments from Exodus 34!!:

                      Exodus 20                                                                     Exodus 34: Note: this list, NOT THE 
                                                                                                       OTHER, is the one that says "THESE ARE    
                                                                                                        THE TEN COMMANDMENTS"                                                          

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.		1. Thou shalt worship no idol. (For the Lord is a jealous god).  Smash all idols,
2. You shall not make for yourself a graven image. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.		2. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.		3. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep in the month when the ear is on the corn.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.		4. All the first-born are mine.
5. Honor your father and your mother.		5. Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh thou shalt rest.
6. You shall not kill.		6. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, even of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
7. You shall not commit adultery.		7. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread.
8. You shall not steal.		8. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.		9. The first of the first fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God.
10. You shall not covet.		10. Thou shalt not boil a baby goat in its mother's milk.

These look only loosely related to the list we've all heard from Exodus 2O. Hmmmmm

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