Cosby went to a conference during his undergrad and found out that his meaning of prophet was wrong to the guy speaking.  He thought that prophets were to be able to predict the future.  The speaker told him and there crowd that prophets were social reformers.  I liked the one part in this reading where is says that Isaiah literally walked around naked for three years just to illustrate God’s message that Assyria would conquer Egypt and Ethiopia and then lead the people living there naked into exile.  I just think this part is kind of funny because why did Isaiah feel the need to walk around naked.  I understand that God said he was going to free the people and lead the people into a safe place where they can be free.  But what was the need for him to be naked.  I think people would have believed him more if he did it with a robe on.  I do not think that part of the story is important though.  What is important is that God chose him to free those people and that is what he did.

One essential lessons that I learned from Ruth that really inspired me was that God does little things to accomplish great plans.  That just makes me happy that we have such a wonderful God looking over us.  It is very comforting to know that we have someone who loves us unconditionally and that provides guidance when we are in our darkest times. What inspired me from this is that even when I think my life couldn’t get worse and nothing is going my way, I know that God is up there looking down and testing me in a way I will not know until he shows me.  Im inspired now to trust in Gods plan and know that he is all-knowing and all-powerful.  I really enjoyed this passage and got a lot from it.

On campus here at messiah, there is a thing called FCA.  FCA is a gathering every Monday where athletes on campus, and former athletes come and have an hour of worship.  During this time, we sing together, someone talks and then we break up into small groups and ponder questions that we have about the speakers view on the passages he/she reads from the Bible.  The cool part about this is, is that the speaker is an athlete, coach or an administrator who comes to dive in the word with us.  So we get our fellow athletes opinions and see the Bible the way do and we can compare and contrast our views with them.  Ironically, this Monday was my first time going to this event and they just happened to be talking about the book of Jonah.  I just thought that was a sign from God that I needed to share this in my blog.  So the speaker, Nick Early, ended his time with a couple questions.  One of those questions was “Are you the Jonah who is running away from God or are the Jonah who is running towards God to walk alongside him?” I sat and thought about this question for a long time and I realized that I am neither running away nor running toward, I am kind of at a stand still to be honest.  I am not doing anything to turn my back to God, but I am not doing enough to run towards him and walk through life with him.  I think that the book of Jonah inspires me to run towards The Lord and follow his path that he has laid out for me.  I think that in the near future I will do more to try and walk with God, not just be a bystander.

In this chapter, it describes a way to effectively understand a passage in the Bible, but it could be for any book if it works for the individual.  I know that I have trouble trying to depict what a story says sometimes.  It could be confusing or something might not resonate with you at first.  Cosby tells us to enjoy the story in its entirety and to feel out the passage.  Then as we go back and and try to analyze the text, the first thing we need to do is break the story into events.  Identify key parts and put titles for them so you can be organized.  Next, get a visual so you can kind of see what is going on and that might help students a lot.  Then, assess the main character and jot down things that you notice about him/her.  Next, speculate on the story’s purpose.  Why is the author doing what he or she is doing.  Finally, consider the historical context to help you figure out the behavioral characteristics.  I know that this is for the Bible and Cosby put this in here specially for the analyzation of the Bible, but I really believe that this could be used for other subjects.  I think that if I used this method in reading English or history, I would understand it a lot better and not have to reread it all over.

Papyrus was a paper like material made from reeds that develop in marshy areas along the Nile River, located in Egypt.  The workers harvested the long reeds and then cut them into sections.  Then they soaked them into water to get to the center of the reed.  The sheets are tied together and rolled around a wooden rod to form a scroll.  Papyrus was the least expensive writing surface during this time, but it decays over time so documents written on this surface are not in existence anymore.  In the dry climate of Egypt, the papyrus does dry, however.  Okay, so with all of this information that I read, I failed to see why these were so important.  I thought maybe they were important for some religious reason, but nothing I read hinted to that.  Why was it an important piece of writing surface? Why does it matter that much to be put into a book? This, to me, needs further discussion.

There are many different interpretations of the Bible.  For me, I have always gone with the NSRV, because that is what was introduced to me last year.  It is fairly simple to read and try get a grasp on what it says in there.  I think if I read the other versions of the Bible and read other denominations version of the Bible, I would definitely be more confused than I already am.  I am confused enough just trying to understand the version that I read, I do not need to go explore and read other versions when I am beginner anyway.  The catholic bible has a few more books than what my denomination does.  Why is that? Why do the catholics have more books in their bible than others? What do the believe in that we do not? I am not sure what the difference is?

The text is right when it says that today’s society changes very quickly.  Trends change and so do the way people act, dress, talk and communicate.  It seems like every week there is something new that people get hooked on because the media portrays it someway.  In comparison to biblical times, the way our government changes power every four years would be considered a pretty fast change.  A lot of things in the government change pretty regularly that keep our society and the way in which operate change.  Another thing that changes constantly is our enemies.  In this modern era, we do not fight other countries or empires, like the biblical times, we fight terrorist groups and different groups that can bring mass destruction to an area at any given moment.  In the Bible, it is laid out by subject matter, not chronological order like we are accustomed to reading.  That is why it may be hard for people to read and they get confused about the time periods and where everything falls in the book of the Bible.

Something that blows my mind is that women were not treated equally in biblical times. I just do not understand why their fathers, brother or uncles were responsible for making sure they were a virgin going into marriage. Another thing that is foreign to me is that it was a literal negotiation to marry the daughter.  the daughter had no say at all in who she marries or what her “worth” is.  I know that in some cultures, arranged marriages are still a thing today.  I just can not imagine an United States where I have to negotiate my way to marry a girl.  I definitely cannot see myself as a father offering up my daughter for sale or trade.  I just feel like that would be a seriously awkward business deal.  Hopefully, in today’s class time, this concept gets explained a little better and then it will make me understand it a little more.

A lot of times I open the Bible and begin to read, only to read the whole passage and then not know anything about what I Just read.  I think that the Bible can be very confusing to a lot of people, even to people that have a degree in ministry or something that has to do with religion.  The Bible uses words and phrases that are very foreign to me and in the past, that has made me shy away from reading the word because I would not understand anything that it wanted me to learn.  In chapter one, it says that we become tourists in a foreign land.  I believe that because when we read the culture and language that the people of biblical times were accustomed to is completely different from what we are used to in modern times.  I think that that little section of this chapter really inspired me to keep reading the Bible because it shows that other people, even scholars that teach about the Bible, run into problems interpreting what the word says.  If scholars get confused, then that means that I definitely should as well.  There is no way that I should fully grasp it on the first try if they do not.  It was good to read that because it motivates me to keep reading and to dive deeper and really try to interpret the word of God.  I know now that I am supposed to be confused and the only way to figure it out is to really challenge myself and read it over and over again.  If I do that and have conversations with Jesus about what he is trying to tell me, then I think I will figure it out eventually….. until the next passage.

There are many interpretations of the Bible and what it means to different people. To me, the Bible is a book that demonstrates how to be a good Christian.  To me, it is how to be how God created us to be.  In the Bible, there are many stories, these do not always come out and tell us what to do or how to act, but if you read carefully and take time to interpret them in your own way, you can find out what the passage is trying to tell you.  I think that the Bible and its teachings are the easiest way to have a close relationship with God.  I believe that the Bible can indirectly give you dialogue with God.  If we are in the word and learning about the word, I think that we will have more conversation with God and our faith will be stronger.  I also think the Bible is a great starting point for people like me who do not really know the direction they’re in.  If someone is having a hard time with their faith, they can dive back into the Bible and read the word of God.  Overall, I understand the Bible to be a tool for christians to use, whether they are Christians or ones that just want to deepen their relationship with God, they can use the Bible to grow every day.