What I found interesting about the book of Ruth was the character’s loyalty, humility, and nobility. It is clear that Naomi truly wanted the best for her daughter’s in law and loved them very much. The one daughter in law, Oprah, respected her Naomi’s decision and left as she was told. The story doesn’t indicate how hard it was for her to leave, but what I can conclude from contextual clues is that Oprah must not have been very close. At the least, she was not as attached as Ruth. Ruth very visibly clung to Naomi, she actually physically clung to her, declared undying loyalty to her, and claimed she would worship the same God as her. If that’s not loyalty I don’t know what is. Naomi was humility was shown in letting her daughter go against her initial decision, and asking others to call her by a different name. The story of Ruth was interesting, it’s full of loyal and God-fearing characters. I think a good class discussion topic would be what happened to Oprah? We never found out. And, did Oprah do the wrong thing? Why was Ruth rewarded so much for sticking with her mother in law? Something I also found peculiar was how Ruth’s mother-in-law instructed her to lay at the feet of Boaz after he had eaten and drank, and uncover his feet. “Then he will tell you what to do” I honestly thought that they were going to “become one” right then and there, but I was surprised to find out that Boaz simply had a discussion about marriage and kinship with her. He truly was a God-fearing man.

First of all, I found this chapter a lot more interesting than the last two. Because this gives more direction for better interpretation of stories. I found it rather fruitful how Cosby gave helpful guidelines for interpreting short stories in the Bible. I like how he emphasizes approaching the text free of spiritual bias and take the stories as simply literary pieces. Additionally, what resonated with me from this chapter was how Cosby wrote satirically about the ramifications of taking literary pieces out of context. He gave an example of what it would be like if you took passages from the Lord of the Rings out of context and what that would do the story. Then, he used that as a parallel comparison to see what ramifications would happen if we did that to scripture. The funny thing is, people do this all the time and I myself am guilty of doing this. However, this is how I grew up, and adults before me did this as well. So, this is what I learned. Another interesting aspect I found about biblical storytelling that Cosby points out is how repetition means that a certain aspect of the text is the most significant. I’m excited to see what the story of Ruth will be like, and now that I have a greater understanding of how to go about interpreting said literature, I will certainly have an easier time doing so. I’ll just be reading carefully and treat it like any other piece of literature. I think it’d be interesting to discuss the importance of approaching Biblical texts without spiritual bias.

This chapter was a bit of more of the same from the last chapter. However, they included the many various materials that scribes used to write down scripture on. I found it interesting how when Christians started adopting and utilizing Jewish texts like the Septuagint to further substantiate the claim that Jesus Christ is Messiah, Jews subsequently discontinued their use of said texts. What challenges me, after reading all of this information about how biblical text has been passed through so many translators, schools, and interpreters, it makes me think to myself “just how far away are we from the original meanings of these texts?”. The fact that Cosby highlights variables such as substituting synonyms, getting words and letters out of order, making mindless mix-ups, and attempting to correct grammar, can be very discouraging. The Bible is an extremely old text, and seeing the painstakingly long journey that it has taken from being jumbled Hebrew letters on stone tablets, papyrus, parchment, and what have you, can make it very difficult to just believe in the accuracy and infallibility of the Bible. Especially since Cosby highlighted how Jews were more concerned with the overall message, rather than “minute details”. With all this in mind, it really leads me to believe that the Bible is in fact, not infallible. This challenges my faith a lot because if the Bible truly is the word of God, wouldn’t he have not allowed human error to obstruct meaning? I think through all this doubt, it’s important to stay steadfast on the idea that he is bigger than us and knows all. Sometimes when I attempt to rationalize God or say something like “I can’t believe in a God who ______” is just me being arrogant. If one thinks they are truly to understand God completely, then they are saying that they should be on the same intellectual level as Him. This, I think cannot be the case, since he is vastly superior to us. We must have faith in a God we cannot comprehend. I think addressing this topic of the Bible’s lack of infallibility would be interesting to discuss in class.

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However, in all seriousness, I really appreciate the meticulous attention to detail and study of the Bible that Cosby has. When Cosby gave these examples of blown up text, it showed how translating the Bible is certainly not an easy task. Translating from a language that has many words that we just simply don’t have translations for makes it even harder. I believe that this is most definitely how some logical “contradictions” or inconsistencies come about in scripture. However, if we continue reading through this book, we will certainly have a greater understanding of why these inconsistencies occur and what we can do to have better explanations for them. I also found the story of the conception of the Septuagint to be a fascinating one. The concept of translation anxiety is something that resonated with me also. When I put myself in the shoes of these translators, I can only imagine the intense amount of pressure that they felt to try and maintain the textual legitimacy and historicity of the Bible. If I was put in this kind of situation, I may just crumble under the pressure. However, if you take that pressure and give it to God, I’m sure he would be a reliable guiding hand in the process. I find it interesting that new discoveries about such an ancient language can be made nowadays. Furthermore, I like how Cosby discussed the distinction between study bibles and different translations of the Bible. It’s important to be wary of the actual text and what others think it means. I think what would be good for class discussion would be discussing why you chose the NRSV Bible for our class, and what are other student’s favorite translations.

This chapter was very informative and loaded with a lot of historical information about ancient Israel. What I found particularly interesting about this chapter was that Israel was actually not all that big. For instance, when Cosby referred to the story where Jesus told his disciples to get on a boat to escape the crowd and rest, but the crowd ran ahead of them on foot, made a lot more sense when given an accurate representation of just how big the rivers of Israel are. I think it would be amazing to actually go to the country and be able to view the various landmarks where biblical stories went down. To be honest, I hope that I get to visit there one day, and maybe it would help me gain a new appreciation for biblical passages. What challenged me is that as archaeologists attempt to discover more and try to prove or disprove biblical passages, at what point is it too much? Is digging this deep (pun) into the origins of biblical stories a way of testing God? I say this because God calls us to have faith in him and his message, and through this intensive archaeological research, are we exercising doubt? Maybe we aren’t. I also believe this archaeology can be a good thing for the Christian faith. If we can prove more and more is correct about the Bible, then it will increase the overall credibility of the book and our religion. I think this topic of archaeology also merits more in-class discussion. Even though this chapter felt like a bit of information overload, I believe it will help facilitate some needed class discussion.

What I found particularly interesting about life in Bible times was that there was such an immense amount of pressure on women to give birth to children. There were so many factors involved in the marriage decision making process that really, in essence, describe what was culturally valuable to the Israelites. At first, it seems shocking that the infant birth rate was so high, but once Cosby explains how the mortality rate was also very high, it tells why women on average bore around 5 or more children. What challenged me was the idea of honor and shame. I felt challenged by the fact that women were killed for merely having sex before marriage and virtually nothing happened to a man, was a blatant double standard.

Additionally, when I read that about 50% of children died before their fifth birthday, I felt challenged by that statistic. It’s unfortunate that the life expectancy was so low for them, but after further reflection, I concluded that that’s probably just what they were used to. Currently, the U.S life expectancy is around 75 years and is steadily rising due to increases in medical technology. I’m sure maybe 1,000 years from now, people will look at our average life expectancy and view that as appalling. What I think would facilitate good class discussion would be addressing the idea that just because our cultures are different does not necessarily mean one is better than the other. I also think it might be interesting for us to go over how the men and women of our class view a patriarchal society like these olden Israelite ones.

In regards to the first chapter, what inspired me was the fact that Michael Cosby stated that his literary work would be providing us with guidelines for how to properly interpret biblical literature. I’ve always heard and seen for myself how there are inherent contradictions within the Bible, and how the Gospels all tell the same story in slightly different ways. For example, there are even discrepancies in one of the most famous Christian stories out there, the birth of Jesus Christ. With close and detailed considerations, Cosby pointed out how many of the common depictions of what occurred in the time of Jesus’ birth actually never happened. He demonstrated how in the town of Bethlehem, there likely would have been no inn. I found that very interesting Additionally, what I found interesting and where I agree with Cosby is how important cultural context is when we’re reading this biblical text. The bible is an extremely old book. So, the text was written for people during that time, not 21st century Americans. So, nowadays it can be difficult to make the Bible seem applicable to our contemporary lives. I’m excited to gain the proper skills to interpret why these books are inconsistent. I’m challenged by this chapter because yes there are some inconsistencies from the story compared to what actually happened, but I think the general message retains the same meaning. I think my question that needs further discussion would be how important are these minor details? For example, was their an innkeeper, was there an inn, was there a donkey, etc.

 

As of now, I understand the New Testament to be a collection of biblical texts that occur after all of the events in the Old Testament. In my experience, The New Testament is the section of the Bible that Christians focus on more. More often than not, I see that Christians denounce certain Old Testament teachings. Such as the uses of violence, how women should dress and be treated, and even what to do in extreme cases such as rape. I often hear people say that the Old Testament doesn’t really apply as well as the New Testament, which leads me to have come up with the belief that the New Testament carries more validity. I haven’t come to this conclusion via my own personal studies, it’s just kind of what I have grown up hearing.

Furthermore, I understand the New Testament to contain the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are excellent accounts of the work and teachings of Jesus Christ, the son of God. I’m not certain but I do also believe that many of the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament, especially the ones about what the Messiah would be like, which further confirms the identity of Jesus Christ as Messiah. With that in mind, I don’t quite understand why people of the Jewish faith solely think of Jesus as a prophet. I would like to learn more about the impact that the New Testament has on the Christian faith, and how the teachings of it can be practically applied to our everyday life.

Hello, my name is Michael Gelok and I am a sophomore student at Messiah College. As of now, my current major is Digital Media with a concentration in Digital Video and Storytelling. I was raised in Pittstown, New Jersey, and I spent most of my childhood in that area. I grew up in a Christian family where I was sent to private school for my elementary and middle school years. I went to a public high school for two years, then transferred to a private school for my junior and senior year. During my high school years, I partook in sports such as basketball and track & field. I always liked basketball more. In general, I am interested in basketball, graphic design, video editing, skating, and other things. This year I’m excited to learn more about the New Testament and how my peers will interpret the same scripture I do in different ways. I hope that everyone in the class will be able to engage in academically fulfilling discourse about the Bible in a respectful way. I’m also hopeful that I’ll be able to create more relationships with my peers and further my education and relationship in Christ. At Messiah College, I’m involved in the computer science club, various intramural sports, and I go to the gym regularly. In the computer science club, I’m the director of digital media. I’m excited to see where we take the club this year and expand it not only to computer science majors but digital media and other people who are generally interested as well.