B8520 Introduction To Old Testament

Task One

Task One

• Importance of a study timetable

A study timetable guides the way I read and plan my work. The timetable will thus ensure that I can balance the time that I have among different topics that I need to study.

• Number of tasks to be completed

To complete course 45111 I require one assignment every month that will act as an assessment for the reading of the month. The tasks will be done both at home and at school in the library. The library will be used for getting additional reference materials.

• Time table

Day	Activity Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Time
Monday	Class work	8-12 2-4
Tuesday	Class work	8-12pm 2-4pm
	Bible study	5-7pm
Wednesday	Class work	8-12pm
	Family bonding	3-7pm
Thursday	Class work	8-3pm
	Basketball Training	4-6:30pm
Friday	Class work	8-12
	Bible study	4-6pm
Saturday	Cleaning	8-12pm
	Basketball Training	2-6pm
Sunday	Church service	9-12
	Family bonding	1-8pm

Task Two

2.1 Why it is important to think deeply when approaching scripture interpretation

Students need to think deeply when approaching scripture readings since the Bible is a complex book with mixed stories that has been used for different purposes in the world. It has been used positively and at the same time abused to justify some injustices that the world has witnessed. Deep thinking allows the reader to acknowledge the role of the Bible thus avoiding interpretation of the Bible for a harmful and destructive course.

2.2 Jesus, for use as Christians, is the place where we believe that God is most fully and clearly revealed.

2.3 Wat we mean when say the Bible is the word of God

The Bible is the word of God not because it written by God himself but rather was written by human beings who were guided by God through his murmurings through their minds and hearts to the extent that they listened and put what they heard in writing.

2.4 Four major debates in the Old Testament

The four major debates in the Old Testament are causes of suffering, God’s attitude to other nations, who to be included as the people of God and whether Israel should have a king or not.

2.5 A Myth

A myth is a story composed by people to explain life as they knew it based on people’s memories of actual events. These stories ae told to convey a higher truth that cannot be conveyed in ordinary language.

2.6 Eight important events in the history of Israel

The eight important events of the history of Israel are the exodus from Egypt, the settling in Canaan, the time of kings in Israel, the split of Israel into North and South, fall of the Northern Kingdom, the fall of the Northern Kingdom, the fall of the Southern Kingdom, the return from exile back to Jerusalem and the Seleucid Empire invades Palestine.

Day

2.7 Meaning of the letters in JEDP theory

J- Consisted of the name Jahweh for Go

E- Used the name Elohim for God

D- Deuteronomistic tradition

P- Work of Priestly writers

Task Three

3.1 a) What the words the Bible is an unfolding revelation mean

The Bible was written by different people in different places and circumstances which when put together they connect and unfold to the last book of revelation (Beale 2011, p. 15). This is the reason why it is said that the writers were basing their writings on the murmuring that they received from God. Goldsworthy (2002) argues that Bible is written as an effort taken by God to in their time of ignorance to guide them on how to live the Godly way.

3.1 b) one example, of a change that has taken place in people’s understanding of God

One example, of change that took place in people’s understanding of God is the lesson that God thought the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness from Egypt. This lesson made the people of Israel to understand the power that God has and he can restore his people in times of need (Mojola 2014, p. 2).

3.2 Various stages that took place in the development of the Bible

The development of the Bible took place in three major stages. Stage one is the creation of scriptures through oral transmission, writing down of the stories and the canon scriptures where the written down documents came to be regarded as carrying important meanings in Christianity. Stage two entails inspiration of the scripture where people used the scriptures that had been written to find meanings to their life and solving puzzles that were difficult for them. Later, the scriptures became the center of everything that was to interpret life and formed laws that governed the society and how people related to each other. The last stage is the coming of Jesus Christ which is regarded as cementing the scriptures that had been written.

3.3 What scripture inspired means?

These words mean the life of human beings that saw how people struggled with their life while trying to understand meanings to what was happening around them. Those who wrote the scriptures were therefore inspired by God

3.4 What Jesus is the word of God Means?

This means that God revealed himself and moved closer to human beings through Jesus. The life of Jesus Christ allowed Christian to understand the true manifestations of God through following and learning from him. This is the reason why the whole of the New Testament revolves around the teachings of Jesus and what follows for Christians (Coetsee, 2016, p. 13).

Activity

3.5 Why there are various points of view in the Bible

The Bible was written by different people in different circumstances. Each scripture is an analysis of the events that happened and how the events shape the life of Christians. According to Goldsworthy (2001) states that in bibliology different views are taken by Christians due to the fact that scriptures carry different meanings and some scriptures like 2^nd Peter 3:16 may be difficult to interpret because God himself intended them to be this way thus ensuring that humans do not interpret the Bible in the same way. The hard texts push people to pray for enlightenment so that we can understand what they mean.

Secondly, the Bible has a mixed history and is full of different stories written in different genres. The interpretation of the Bible will therefore, be shaped by the understanding that one has towards it. However, Tattersall (2003, p. 15) suggests that the same Bible is complex and carries deeper meanings that are not easy to interpret and understand. As Christians seek to understand the Bible through the scriptures, different views are developed just like a reader will reflect on a book and the lesson that it gives them.

Task Four

4.1 Why interpreting the scripture is not as easy as many people think it

The Bible is the most complex that has ever been written. In literature, it can be described as an anthology where several stories have been put together. However, the stories are too many for one to understand since they are related from Genesis to exodus. (Virkler & Ayayo, 2007, p. 201)The Bible consists of stories that have been written in different times and circumstances with several genres of literature. The fact that the Bible was written through inspiration from God itself makes it difficult to interpret it. Depending on the part of the Bible that someone is reading there is a time difference of between 1900 to 3400 years between the scriptures thus making it difficult to relate all the verses together.

In Hermeneutics two key questions need to be used when interpreting the Bible. The first question is to understand what the scripture or text meant for the people of that time thus creating the context in which the text was written (Dreyfus & Wrathall, 2002, p. 245). The second question is to determine the intended message that the recipients were to receive which is the real interpretation. The two questions allow the reader to connect the two events thus determining the best interpretation that blends the original context to the current context.

Time

4.2 Historical timeline of biblical events

	Event	Timeline
	The Exodus from Egypt	1491 BC
	Settling into Canaan	1800 B.C.
	The Time of the kings in Israel	974-504 C
	The split of Israel into North and South	975 BC
	The fall of the Northern Kingdom	721 BC
	The fall of the Southern Kingdom	850 BC
	Return from exile back to Jerusalem	587BC – 445BC
	The Seleucid Empire invades Palestine	200BC

Source (Grabbe, 2007, p. 134)

4.3 a) Difference between myth, legend and history

A myth is a story composed by people to explain life the way they understand it based on the memories of actual events that they have experienced. On the other hand, a legend is based on memories of human beings that were preserved for a long time in their memories and spoken on words alone but they are not written down. History is an account of actual events that have occurred in the past that have been recorded in writing while still being remembered by people.

1. b) Why the Bible should be considered as true

The Bible is a collection of sacred scriptures that are a product of divine inspiration documenting a record of the relationship between God and humans. The Bible texts consist of different writings that were done by different people and circumstances thus forming a canonical text that cannot be compared to any book in history (Finkelstein & Silberman 2002, p. 65). Each book in the Bible gives an account of God’s manifestation in the life of humans like the cases where God spoke to people like Isaiah and Mosses while at the same time how God had made impacts in the life of people like the case of kings. Therefore, Berlin, et al. (2003, p. 22) suggests that the scriptures are a manifestation of what God did in the life of people. In A.D. 90, the Jewish community met to discuss the writings that were authoritative among the many that had been written then (Ehrman, 2005, p. 14). The Bible is therefore, true because the books were carefully chosen to ensure that they give an unfolding account of Christianity. Thus, people should believe the Bible and use it in their life.

Task Five

5.1 Four traditions that were edited together to form the Pentateuch

The four traditions are defined as JEDP which form an epic history of Israel found in historical books edited during Babylonian exile.

J-tradition means Jahweh a name that was used for God during the period of 1000-930 BC.  The story of Israel in this period reveals a sense of national unity under one king.

E-tradition means the use of Elohim as the word for God, a period that existed about 850bc and basically expresses the perspectives of the Northern Kingdom.  The tradition emphasize the moral law of Mosses. The tradition rests on a common operation like the J- tradition.

Task Two

D-tradition commonly defined as the Deutronomistic tradition since it is based on the styles and traditions of the book of Deuteronomy that begun during the reign of King Josiah. However, the contents of this period are said to have been written before the Israelites went to exile.  The tradition is the works of Rabbis and Scribes who were trying to understand why Israel had gone into exile and what was threatening the kingdom giving advantage to other kingdoms.

P-tradition revolves around the works of priestly writers and editors written during the time of exile.  The tradition combined all the old stories but told them in a better way through the book of chronicles. This tradition represents reworking of the books of kings and Deuteronomy to give a better view of the Israel life.

5.2 Six steps of combining the Pentateuch

Step one involves oral traditions that were used to teach people of Israel about history and their belief in what God had been working for them. This was seen in public prayer, worship and national celebrations that mostly occurred during the time of David and Solomon.

Step two comes after the death of Solomon in 932BC where Israel was divided into two. The J tradition was written during this time and preserved in the kingdom of Judah while the E-tradition in the Northern kingdom.

Step three came between 931-722BC a period when Israelites were rebelling against God and the teachings of Mosses. This was during the times of Elijah and Elisha who tried to warn the people. The outcome was the destroying of the Northern kingdom by Samaria thus the people fled to Judah and brought the E-traditions with them.

Step four is the discovery of the book of law during the repair of the temple. This book brought renewal and reform of the Kingdom of Judah.

Step five came during destruction of the Kingdom of Judah where the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and many people fled to Babylon in exile. It is during exile that those influenced by the book of Deuteronomy started rewriting the Jewish history. This consists of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Chronicles.

The sixth step was final editing of and bringing together different traditions that had been written. This period saw the writing of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

5.3 Lessons that can be learned from book numbers as Christians

2.1 Why it is important to think deeply when approaching scripture interpretation

Complaining and lack of faith can affect the Christian course. In numbers we find the story of Israelites wondering in the wilderness and facing a lot of suffering because of lack of trust in God. This led them to worship other gods thus making God angry the reason why the Ten Commandments came up (Carson 2003, p. 19). Christians need to be strong in their faith to maintain their eternal course. As Christians, we need to maintain our course, regardless of the situation.

Leaders need to share leadership through delegation. Leaders need to share their powers as a way of preparing their subordinates for such leadership positions. In numbers, Mosses prepares Joshua for future leadership by assigning him the responsibility of scouting the Promised Land and ensuring that they understand it well (Klingbeil 2006, p. 270). This is a way of preparing him for future leadership roles rather than being selfish.

5.4 Difficulties and values of reading the book of Joshua for Christians

One difficulty in using the book of Joshua is the interpretations that people have today. The book itself presents challenges to the Christian fraternity since it has been wrongly interpreted. An example, is colonialism which used Christianity and based on the teaching of Joshua for forceful removal of people (Getui, et al., 2001, p. 13). The acceptance of the book at face value led to forceful removal of people during colonialism. House (2011, p. 14) suggests that holy wars and genocides have been interpreted based on the order that Joshua gave allowing Israelites to commit genocide as a way of driving out the inhabitants of the Promised Land. This interpretation was taken wrongly since the Bible gives a little account of war that took place during that time. However, some argue that the book carries meaning and justifies the use of force which has been adopted by many Christians as a way of survival (Adrian 2007, p. 292).

References

Adrian, W., 2007. ‘Is Bible translation “Imperialist”? Challenging another anti-Christian bias in the academy. Christian Higher Education, 6(4), pp. 289-297.

Beale, G. 2., 2011. A New Testament Biblical theology: The unfolding of the Old Testament in the New. s.l.:Baker Academic.

Berlin, A., Brettler, M. Z. & Fishbane., M., 2003. The Jewish Study Bible. New York: Oxford University Press.

Carson, D. A., 2003. Must I Learn How to Interpret the Bible?. Modern Reformation, 5(3), pp. 18-22.

Coetsee, A., 2016. The unfolding of God’s revelation in Hebrews. Theological Studies, 72(3).

Dreyfus, H. L. & Wrathall, M. A., 2002. Heidegger Reexamined: Truth, realism, and the history of being. s.l.:Routledge.

Ehrman, B. D., 2005. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. San Francisco: Harper.

Finkelstein, I. & Silberman, N. A., 2002. Review: The Bible Unearthed: A Rejoinder. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Volume 327, pp. 63-73.

Getui, M., Holter, K. & Zinkuratire, V., 2001. Interpreting the Old Testament in Africa. Nairobi: Acton Publishers.

Goldsworthy., G., 2001. Gospel and Kingdom: A Christian Guide of the Old Testament. Exeter: Paternoster Press.

Goldsworthy, G., 2002. According to plan: The unfolding revelation of God in the Bible. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

Grabbe, L. L., 2007. Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?. New York: T & T Clark.

Hous, P. R., 2011. The God Who Gives Rest in the Land: Joshua. s.l.:InterVarsity Press.

Klingbeil, R. A., 2006. Cultural Criticism and Biblical Hermeneutics: Definition, Origins, Benefits, and Challenges. Bulletin for Biblical Research , 15(2), pp. 261-277.

Mojola, A. O., 2014. The Old Testament or Hebrew Bible in Africa: Challenges and prospects for interpretation and translation. Verbum et Ecclesia, 35(3).

Tattersall, L., 2003. Letters from heaven – Bible talks from the book of Revelation. Perspective, 10(3), pp. 10-22.

Virkler, H. & Ayayo, K. G., 2007. Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. s.l.: Baker Publishing Group.