Old Testament VI: Genesis thru II Samuel
Rublev, The Trinity (Abraham's guests)
In Old Testament VI, we introduce the Old Testament again to the students here at Covenant. They have been exposed to the OT and NT in the grammar grades, but now as they transition to the Logic stage of their educational experience, they enter a bit deeper into the text of the Old Testament.
In OT VI, the students begin with the prologomena of reading & interpreting the Old Testament (and the NT as well for that matter). We then jump into the book of Genesis and conclude the year with II Kings. Covering Genesis thru II Kings is prerequisite to OT VII (I Chronicles thru Malachi and intro to Intertestamental Judaism).
In OT VI, the students begin with the prologomena of reading & interpreting the Old Testament (and the NT as well for that matter). We then jump into the book of Genesis and conclude the year with II Kings. Covering Genesis thru II Kings is prerequisite to OT VII (I Chronicles thru Malachi and intro to Intertestamental Judaism).
Class Content and Resources
GenesisWhen we study Genesis, we come to an ancient document, from an ancient time, that was steeped in an ancient culture and way of viewing the world. It is important, then, to ask "Do I read Genesis like an ancient Near Easterner, or like a 21st century American?" To ask this question is not to deny the place and time we are in now, but it is to recognize that our world is different than theirs. It is also to recognize that we look at the world very differently and that we bring very different questions to the text.
To illustrate this, we will be looking at some of the ancient Near Eastern creation accounts. This website has provided some helpful visual and audio aids for us to consider how the ancients thought about the world. What I hope to explore is the relationship of both similarity and dissimilarity between the ancient Near East and Israel (also an ancient Near Eastern [ANE] empire). We want to make clear that Israel shares certain ways of viewing the world with say, the Babylonians and Egyptians, but diverges from them in some VERY KEY ways. God revealed himself to Israel in a way that he did not to other groups. And this is the essential question: Who is God, and how do we know Him? What is his purpose for the world?
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."
The Genesis account of creation is the bedrock for the rest of Scripture. Therein we see who God is (Creator & Sustainer) - the question of Theology, what heaven and earth are - the question of Cosmology, and what it means to exist and be human (Ontology and Anthropology). It should be a fun time of imaginative exploration and discovery!
To illustrate this, we will be looking at some of the ancient Near Eastern creation accounts. This website has provided some helpful visual and audio aids for us to consider how the ancients thought about the world. What I hope to explore is the relationship of both similarity and dissimilarity between the ancient Near East and Israel (also an ancient Near Eastern [ANE] empire). We want to make clear that Israel shares certain ways of viewing the world with say, the Babylonians and Egyptians, but diverges from them in some VERY KEY ways. God revealed himself to Israel in a way that he did not to other groups. And this is the essential question: Who is God, and how do we know Him? What is his purpose for the world?
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."
The Genesis account of creation is the bedrock for the rest of Scripture. Therein we see who God is (Creator & Sustainer) - the question of Theology, what heaven and earth are - the question of Cosmology, and what it means to exist and be human (Ontology and Anthropology). It should be a fun time of imaginative exploration and discovery!
Maps and Other ResourcesBelow you will find resources related to our student's Bible Atlas Project, and any other visual or media resources that they might need to access.
Bible Atlas ProjectBelow you will find the relevant maps that the students will be responsible for reproducing. The students will know which maps are to be mastered at which times.
Note: The Israelite Cosmos photo is compliments of John Walton, who owns all rights to the photo. This is simply a sample to provide help with coloring your biblical cosmology pictures as we went over them in class.
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Multimedia ResourcesBelow you will find some multimedia resources related to biblical studies. These are interesting web-based resources that students and parents might find interesting for further study.
Virtual Tours of Historical Sites Shrine of the Book: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Jerusalem The Wailing Wall, JerusalemVirtual Tour of 3-D Jerusalem Model (Includes Second Temple) The Hagia Sophia, Church of Holy WisdomΝαός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας Church of the Holy Sepulcher Other Ancient Sites |