Biblical and Classical Literature
School is in full swing. I've got sixteen credits this semester, and so far it's a lot easier than last semester. I am learning Spanish, which is harder than I expected, but I would love to speak it fluently! It's exciting when I can think of something in Spanish, or (on a really good day) come up with a full Spanish sentence.
I have one class that is particularly interesting, and totally frustrating. It's English 202, Biblical and Classical literature. I like it for several reasons. First, it should be a relatively easy A, I already know the Bible quite well and have read most of the other classical books. Also, it is kind of cool to read the Bible (which I do anyhow for fun) for school.
There are several things that really irk me about this class. I sit there, three days a week, 50 minutes at a time, and listen to a man mock and belittle my beliefs. I listen as he does his best to trash the Bible, pointing out or inventing contradictions. I listen to his crazy statements like "Satan plays basically no role in the Jewish cannon. The serpent in Genesis is not Satan, it is a talking snake. God is the one who 'knows both good and evil' and it's him that put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, Satan had nothing to do with the fall of man. There is no enmity between God and Satan. The only time Satan comes into play in the so called 'old testament' is in Job and Satan is merely God's prosecuting attorney." He then goes on to rave, "What kind of God is this? He seeks to hole his people in ignorance! And what kind of people would Adam and eve have been if they had no knowledge of good or evil? Sociopaths! Morons! Idiots!" Then a girl in the back of the class raises her hand, "Um... I don't actually know the story of Christianity, could you explain to me why Jesus died?" It breaks my heart.
It is so slanted, so biased, so derogatory! He makes it sound like no modern person, at least nobody in their right mind, believes in the Bible. It's so one sided! I feel like I am being bombarded by this guy's beliefs and agenda and there is nothing I can do about it. There are 30 people in this class being preached to three times a week about how there is no way that the Bible can be true. This is all of the exposure to the Bible that a lot of my classmates have ever had. This is how they will form their opinion on the Bible and on God.
14 Comments:
ugh i had that class and had a similar experience.. it was just terrible..
I didn't expect such an awful, biased diatribe against my beliefs.
One thing that really annoyed me was our textbook. Instead of getting a bible and reading out of that, we read from a text called, "The Bible's Greatest Stories." I mean, what a biased title.. its just a story.
If kids could get into a real bible and read it, God could have more room to move, but reading out of that text is just depressing.
I think thats the single worst course they offer.. i think a lot of people take it because they are genuinely curious about God, but they get all the wrong answers from this prophet of the devil.
Is the professor Dr. Fox?
Ian, it's actually a service for you to know how to intellectuals view your faith. Why? Because you can come to good supportable reasons why their perspective should be questioned. Which is very possible. So it's a challenge yes, but one that should be accepted. Present "another view" of the subject matter.
And yes, if you actually read the Bible from beginning to end, the devil is not mentioned all that much. I think in terms of importance, the devil isn't even in the top 10 in terms of figures in the bible (I would put Yahweh, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Mary, Paul, John, David, Solomon, Moses, Daniel and probably more on that list prior to Lucifer making an appearance). A blip on the cosmic screen, in view of eternity. Too many christians have a bogeyman religion where it's all of devils and demons. The devil is not an equal to God, is not yin to God's yang. .
Ian do you ever get the opportunity to ask questions or say your views on things that you believe? i am sure you can make him contridict himself or at least show him what you know of god and his love, ask him for coffee hehe... i'll be praying for you classmates and even your prof. i hope you learn a lot of things but mainly even more of how real and true the heavenly father truly is.
i soooo know what you're talking about. i have a class this semester that is testing my resolve and very irksome. For 50 drooling minutes every monday, wednesday, and friday i have BASKETBALL class. HAHAHAHAHAHA…..
i soooo know what you're talking about. i have a class this semester that is testing my resolve and very irksome. For 50 drooling minutes every monday, wednesday, and friday i have BASKETBALL class. HAHAHAHAHAHA…..
I had that class a couple semesters ago, but I thought my professor taught it very well. He was a nice guy who obviously didn't believe certain things, but at the end of the class I honestly didn't know for sure what he beleived because he made a serious attempt to be unbiased. Can't for the life of me remember the guy's name.
The idea on how Satan doesn't play a large role in the Jewish cannon is, from what I know, true. According to a large special on the history channel, Jews don't think satan is (at least the one we think of) real. They believe he is just an angel, that tempts man to test his loyality to God. He isn't evil or anything (according to them.)
It's in the new testament that we really see the evil side of Satan, with his temptations of Jesus, his demons tormenting people, etc. (espically in Revelation)
Well, so I've heard-
Matt the Anonymous
I have a friend Alyssa whos in her 3rd year of college and she had to go through the same thing only with Evolution. She had complete faith in God and for a professor to tell her to disregard what she believed in and listen to science was very hard for her but she had to take that class. When you think about it, although they are saying that, it's then when God is testing your faith and strength in him. She stayed and learned about how science viewed of how the human race came to being and she actually is happy for doing it and learning more. Honestly kids who want to avoid any form of that should go to a christian college but i think taking those sort of classes is good. Keep up the class despite what hes saying cause you know in your heart what is right which is God.
yay!!! you got a blogger account!!! w00ntess!
Who me? lolz erm thanks...haha well if it wasen't me then woot to whoever got it! :D
yes you!!! :-D now don't make me look stupid and say you've had it for a while.... have you? *cringe*
haha no i would never make you look stupid so no i haven't lolz and im being honest k? yea! taste of chaos!
Good thoughts everybody! You know, I didn't go into this class expecting it to be something that would try to support the authenticity of the Bible or anything like that. I'm in two other classes dealing with the existence of God, and they aren't believing it either, but it really doesn't bother me. The thing about this class is how biting the professor (not Dr. Fox)is about it. It's a literature class, but we're not even looking at the literary value or impact of the Bible, he's just doing everything he can to disprove it. I honestly think that if he were treating Islam this way he would have been fired for discrimination.
About Satan. I agree with what you guys said! The dude plays only a tiny role in the Bible (especially the OT) and he gets way more credit than he deserves. I think that Christians in general focus too much attention on him that would be better focused on God. That said, I think Satan is worse that "God's prosecuting attorney."
I was my own attorney once. For twenty minutes. In front of a judge who was naked under his robe.
P.S. Don't ask me how I got the charges dropped.
P.P.S. Don't ask how I know the judge was naked.
P.P.P.S. Those two facts are not related in any way.
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