AN INTENSE FIVE DAYS (PART 1)
I just finished an intensive course on New Testament 1: The Synoptic Gospels. It ran for five days and after that five days, I have with me a 3-unit worth of credits to my MDiv in Biblical Studies. I decided I like the 8-5-classes-for-five-days better than the one-hour for six months kind.
Fun: One of requirements of the course was for us to choose a parable we like and dramatize it. I've always loved drama. In my younger years, my cousins, friends and I would come up with funny and dramatic presentations to present at talent nights during youth camps. I was always able to derive fun more than challenge from such activities, and so I never thought that the same interest would present me a challenge last week.
There were like more or less 40 people in our NT class and our professor divided us into groups of six. When he called out the names of my group, it went like this: Ki Wong Kang, Kim Jeongshu, Kim Hyun Su, Jeong Il Lee, and then two familiar sounding names followed. Yes, you guessed it right. 3/4 of my groupmates were Koreans. We got together after class and they decided that they do not want to do any acting and line memorizing because all of them cannot speak good English, and that if we force them, our grade might be affected. hehe! We concluded the meeting with a "let each of us come up with a choice of a parable and talk again tomorrow."
Everyone but myself seemed to have chosen the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I chose the parable of the Tares and the Wheat (Mat. 13:24-31). Each one was asked how s/he thinks is the best way to tackle his/her choice without much acting and talking, but nobody said anything. So I presented my agenda and they had no choice but to accept it. :) I turned the narrative into stanzas and borrowed some music from my musician friend back home. I emailed him and commanded :) him to suspend everything he's doing and record a music (minus one as people call it) of the songs I've chosen. I had my husband send the record to me. Thanks to Djin for being a chat addict so she was in the computer lab the whole day, so I asked her to download the recorded music for me; cuz you know, 8AM to 5PM class.
All the other groups presented a typical drama with scripts, dialogues, etc. They even have narrators. Some of them modernized the 2k year old parables but it was only the KK group (Koreans and Kalanguya) who did a musical. I had the Koreans do some kind of a mime and me singing the parts and it turned out fine. Most of the reviews we got were positive and most were for its artistry and uniqueness. So yes, we are so proud of ourselves! :) Now, who said one can't have fun in the biblical studies program? :)
Interesting Learnings:
King Herod the Great (47BC-4BC) - He is popularly known as the cruel power-hungry king who ordered his soldiers to kill all 0-2-year-olds boys when he heard from the Three Wise Men that a King of the Jews was born in Bethlehem. Historians would also tell us that he killed 2 or so of his wives and two or more of his sons for fear that they would usurp his throne in addition to all the other people that he killed. But with all that insanity, he was also the greatest visionary of his time in terms of buildings and structure. He built a palace in the Masada desert complete with sauna baths, and pools. He leveled a mountain and had his men 'plant' the same mountain on the opposite side of his palace to hide it from the scorching heat of the sun. He built an aqueduct and a good 1-mile of it went through the base of a hill. Rather than building around the mountain, he had his men dug a tunnel through the mountain. He built Herodium--another extravagant palace in Bethlehem (the same palace where he was buried). He also built the second Temple in Jerusalem. Archaeologists said that the temple complex covered a total of 24 football fields. Can you imagine how huge that is! This structure includes some kind of a hanging floor because the temple mount was that-- a mountain and of course mountains slopes down. His builders did this thru a series of arches underneath, that supported the weight of the massive structure on top. The foundation was a 78-feet high stone wall, an amazing stone job. Of course the credit should go to the builders, the engineers, the stone craftsmen, etc. who, most likely had literally given their lives to the buildings. Bear in mind that all these buildings and structures came about even before levers and pulleys were invented. That's Herod the Great for you.
Ptolemy of Alexandria. We know Alexandria as an ancient city with the biggest library ever with a collection of 200K to 400K scrolls. We know Ptolemy as one of the generals who took and ruled Egypt and Palestine when Alexander the Great died. The Ptolemies ruled from 301-198B.C. One of Ptolemy's scientists invented the first steam machine in the late century BC. The question is, why did they not go as far as improving it into making real running machines such as the first prototype of a steam engine in England? Archaeologists answered that there was no need for such a machine during Ptolemy's time because slave labor was very cheap. A very valid assertion. But had Ptolemy driven his scientist to go on with the invention, Jesus who was born a century later might have rode on a train to Jerusalem rather than on a donkey. (Then early prophesies wouldn't have been fulfilled.)
Hellenization is that process where the Greek conquerors enforce the Greek language and culture into the everyday life of the people they conquered. During the Greek domination, they hellenized all their conquests. In fact, Alexander the Great's hellenization was so complete that from 300BC to AD 300, Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world. Another culture of the Greeks is their love for sports, hence the Olympics. Gym - a Greek word meaning 'naked.' Etymologically, the English word "gymnasium" was derived from this root. As we've mentioned, the ancient Greeks love sports and so they build gymnasiums where players wear nothing but their skins while they are participating in their events. One would ask why. Well, the gods in Greek mythology are all naked... it goes without saying that these ancient men thought they are the earthly representatives of these gods or that they might become gods if they shed their clothes off during competitions. It's good they wore armors during battles, or else.... hehehehe
Fun: One of requirements of the course was for us to choose a parable we like and dramatize it. I've always loved drama. In my younger years, my cousins, friends and I would come up with funny and dramatic presentations to present at talent nights during youth camps. I was always able to derive fun more than challenge from such activities, and so I never thought that the same interest would present me a challenge last week.
There were like more or less 40 people in our NT class and our professor divided us into groups of six. When he called out the names of my group, it went like this: Ki Wong Kang, Kim Jeongshu, Kim Hyun Su, Jeong Il Lee, and then two familiar sounding names followed. Yes, you guessed it right. 3/4 of my groupmates were Koreans. We got together after class and they decided that they do not want to do any acting and line memorizing because all of them cannot speak good English, and that if we force them, our grade might be affected. hehe! We concluded the meeting with a "let each of us come up with a choice of a parable and talk again tomorrow."
Everyone but myself seemed to have chosen the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I chose the parable of the Tares and the Wheat (Mat. 13:24-31). Each one was asked how s/he thinks is the best way to tackle his/her choice without much acting and talking, but nobody said anything. So I presented my agenda and they had no choice but to accept it. :) I turned the narrative into stanzas and borrowed some music from my musician friend back home. I emailed him and commanded :) him to suspend everything he's doing and record a music (minus one as people call it) of the songs I've chosen. I had my husband send the record to me. Thanks to Djin for being a chat addict so she was in the computer lab the whole day, so I asked her to download the recorded music for me; cuz you know, 8AM to 5PM class.
All the other groups presented a typical drama with scripts, dialogues, etc. They even have narrators. Some of them modernized the 2k year old parables but it was only the KK group (Koreans and Kalanguya) who did a musical. I had the Koreans do some kind of a mime and me singing the parts and it turned out fine. Most of the reviews we got were positive and most were for its artistry and uniqueness. So yes, we are so proud of ourselves! :) Now, who said one can't have fun in the biblical studies program? :)
Interesting Learnings:
King Herod the Great (47BC-4BC) - He is popularly known as the cruel power-hungry king who ordered his soldiers to kill all 0-2-year-olds boys when he heard from the Three Wise Men that a King of the Jews was born in Bethlehem. Historians would also tell us that he killed 2 or so of his wives and two or more of his sons for fear that they would usurp his throne in addition to all the other people that he killed. But with all that insanity, he was also the greatest visionary of his time in terms of buildings and structure. He built a palace in the Masada desert complete with sauna baths, and pools. He leveled a mountain and had his men 'plant' the same mountain on the opposite side of his palace to hide it from the scorching heat of the sun. He built an aqueduct and a good 1-mile of it went through the base of a hill. Rather than building around the mountain, he had his men dug a tunnel through the mountain. He built Herodium--another extravagant palace in Bethlehem (the same palace where he was buried). He also built the second Temple in Jerusalem. Archaeologists said that the temple complex covered a total of 24 football fields. Can you imagine how huge that is! This structure includes some kind of a hanging floor because the temple mount was that-- a mountain and of course mountains slopes down. His builders did this thru a series of arches underneath, that supported the weight of the massive structure on top. The foundation was a 78-feet high stone wall, an amazing stone job. Of course the credit should go to the builders, the engineers, the stone craftsmen, etc. who, most likely had literally given their lives to the buildings. Bear in mind that all these buildings and structures came about even before levers and pulleys were invented. That's Herod the Great for you.
Ptolemy of Alexandria. We know Alexandria as an ancient city with the biggest library ever with a collection of 200K to 400K scrolls. We know Ptolemy as one of the generals who took and ruled Egypt and Palestine when Alexander the Great died. The Ptolemies ruled from 301-198B.C. One of Ptolemy's scientists invented the first steam machine in the late century BC. The question is, why did they not go as far as improving it into making real running machines such as the first prototype of a steam engine in England? Archaeologists answered that there was no need for such a machine during Ptolemy's time because slave labor was very cheap. A very valid assertion. But had Ptolemy driven his scientist to go on with the invention, Jesus who was born a century later might have rode on a train to Jerusalem rather than on a donkey. (Then early prophesies wouldn't have been fulfilled.)
Hellenization is that process where the Greek conquerors enforce the Greek language and culture into the everyday life of the people they conquered. During the Greek domination, they hellenized all their conquests. In fact, Alexander the Great's hellenization was so complete that from 300BC to AD 300, Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world. Another culture of the Greeks is their love for sports, hence the Olympics. Gym - a Greek word meaning 'naked.' Etymologically, the English word "gymnasium" was derived from this root. As we've mentioned, the ancient Greeks love sports and so they build gymnasiums where players wear nothing but their skins while they are participating in their events. One would ask why. Well, the gods in Greek mythology are all naked... it goes without saying that these ancient men thought they are the earthly representatives of these gods or that they might become gods if they shed their clothes off during competitions. It's good they wore armors during battles, or else.... hehehehe
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