Reading to Try and Do Before Tomorrow! (3rd March 2015)

Hi Igniters,

I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Apologies that I've not posted the reading sooner - thanks to those who have reminded me to do so today!!!

As we didn't get through everything last time, tomorrow we'll be covering: S9 Nehemiah, Ezra & Esther, S8 Wisdom & Psalms, and S10 Jesus :-)

The reading is listed below. As you've not got long, please prioritise the Bible passages over the stuff in Drane.

S10 Jesus 
Matthew 1-3; Luke 4, 20-24; John 1
Optional:
Drane, "Understanding the World of the First Christians" (p. 14-25, 28-29); "Understanding the Death of Jesus" (p. 83-91)

S9 Nehemiah, Ezra & Esther
Ezra 1, 4-7; Nehemiah 1, 4-5, 8; if you have time, try to read some of Esther too
Optional:
Drane, "A New Beginning" (p. 178-179); "Back to Jerusalem" (p. 183-184); "Confusion and Despair" (p. 186); "Renewing the Covenant" (p. 186); "Building the Walls" (p. 187-188); "Handing on the Law (p. 188-189)

S8 Wisdom & Psalms
Proverbs 1 & 8; Ecclesiastes 1, 3 & 13; Job 1-3
Optional:
Drane, ''Discovering God's Will Through Wisdom" (p. 276-277); "Wrestling with a Hidden God" (p. 237-238)
Listen to Tim Keller "Praying Our Tears" (click here OR, to find it on iTunes, here [it's #58])

Video of Israel's History (Solomon to the Assyrian Exile)

Here is a video of Israel's history from Solomon to the Assyrian Exile. It'd be great if you can watch it before our next session on Feb 3rd 2015. I'd like to update it at some point as it's a little rough and ready, but it'll give you an overview of this part of Israel's life.

https://vimeo.com/116874166

SoB Reading To Do Before 3rd Feb 2015

SoB Part Six: Jeroboam

Essential:
1 Kings 12
Amos 4-5, 9
Hosea 1, 11, 14
The summary of Israel's history on page 43 of your Story of the Bible course book (i.e. the one I gave out at the start!)

Optional:
Drane, 'After Solomon,' page 95
Drane, 'A Kingdom Divided,' page 106
Drane, 'Timeline,' pages 108-109

SoB Part Seven: Rehoboam

Essential:

Judah's Sin: Isaiah 6; Jeremiah 1-3; Ezekiel 16
Hope for the Future: Isaiah 7; 9:1-7 and 11; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36-37
The summary of Judah's history on pages 50-51 of your SoB course book

Optional:

Drane, 'Danger and Uncertainty,' pages 137-140
Drane, 'The Babylonians,' page 148
Drane, 'Jeremiah and the Fall of Jerusalem,' pages 152-155

SoB Part Eight: Nehemiah, Ezra and Esther 

(Technically this is Part Nine in your course book because I swapped them over in my mind but not in the book!!!)

Essential: 

Ezra 1, 4-7
Nehemiah 1, 4-5, 8

Optional:

Drane, pages 178-189

SoB Reading to Do Before 2nd Dec 2014

SoB 4 Joshua, Rahab & Ruth

• Joshua 1-6; Judges 1, 3-4; 1 Samuel 8-10, 13, 15 (+ Ruth if you can!)
• Drane "Canaanites and Israelites" page 65, "Life in the days of the judges" pages 69-70 & "Israel and the religion of Canaan" pages 72-74
• Page 31 & 33 in your course books

SoB 5 David

• 1 Samuel 16, 31; 2 Samuel 5-7; 1 Kings 1-3, 6-10; Deut. 7:1-5 & 17:14-20
• Drane "David" pages 83-88 & "Solomon" pages 88-92

Links to Ephesians Commentaries Online

Here are some links to Ephesians commentaries that will help you with your assignment:

• Harold Hoehner (very in-depth)
• Ernest Best (very in-depth)
• Ernest Best (a shorter commentary)
• Ben Witherington (one of my personal favourites)
• Klyne Snodgrass (probably my favourite [not just because of his amazing name!!!])
• Clinton Arnold (probably my second favourite! He has been groundbreaking in exploring how we should understand Ephesians in light of the prevalence of magical practices in Ephesus at the time - although some people think he overstates his case!)

Documentary Hypothesis (i.e. who wrote the Pentateuch?!)

Following Claud's question about who wrote the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), here are some links to websites about something called the 'Documentary Hypothesis'. This is a theory someone called Wellhausen first proposed, in which it is suggested that there were four main sources for the Pentateuch. This theory has slightly fallen out of favour/fashion recently but, so far as I'm aware, there aren't any other competing theories that are as well-developed as this one. This doesn't mean that this theory is right, just that it's the fullest suggestion that's out there!

• Wikipedia's entry on the documentary hypothesis (Wikipedia isn't always the most reliable source but can be good for getting an overview of a topic)
• A website about the documentary hypothesis (again this may not be that reliable but it is fairly clear)
• An article strongly criticising the documentary hypothesis
• A book about the making of the Pentateuch
• In this book, on page 27, there's a summary of the state of current scholarship regarding the documentary hypothesis

Abraham & Sarah Animation

Here is the link to an animation of Abraham and Sarah's life on YouTube.