My understanding of the historical Jesus is what really was deepened in this class. Who he was as far as Jewish culture is concerned, and the day and age which he lived. It was two of the books we read for class that did this. The book Out of Egypt really helped me put life and imagination to ancient Israel. I could picture the temple in my mind and see the crowds of people flowing in and out. It gave my mind’s eye something to focus on. Also the book The Challenge of Jesus presented the historical arguments and the theology that backs it. I loved that book. It helped me see Jesus as truly a part of that culture.
One of Jesus teachings that is SO very significant for me is his teachings on the Beatitudes. It’s reflected throughout the rest of his ministry as he lives out the upside-down kingdom described by these Beatitudes. There are so many teachings of Jesus that mean so much to me, but I want to live in this Kingdom of Heaven that he talks about so desperately and so I give myself to his teachings on the Kingdom.
People that don’t understand Christianity need to understand that Jesus is about abundant love. He came to give us life, and that life in abundance. His love is abundant in that he loves people WHOLLY. He loves their physical situations and their spiritual situations. He is not dualistic at all in ministry or in conversation. He loves people where they’re at, but does not tolerate that they stay there. I think people in general have a good perception of Jesus but they need to know about his abundant love about every aspect of their life and that he sacrificed himself for EVERY part of our life, not just bits and pieces!
The excellent books that we read surprised me. I thought they were priceless and they really added to my knowledge about Jesus and helped me deepen my friendship with him. I was excited to sea the list of books at the beginning of the year, but I really had no idea how much I was going to be encouraged but such wonderful readings. NT Wright is one of my favorite modern day theologians and I was reading his books before school began this semester and will continue to read his books into next year!
If I was going to teach this class I would definitely keep the books that we read. They were so helpful to me and I loved reading them. I would also encourage people to blog like was required of us. It makes us think, reflect and interact with the text. What a wonderful thing! I would change the course by making it much less class interactive. When we are being writing on the board what other people said, and taking notes on it, I don’t feel it really has any legitimacy. It’s just what someone thought of 5 min ago rather than a whole century ago by someone way smarter. More lecture would be preferred, and within those lectures should be DEEP research. Not just surface level facts. Power point slides should be congruent with each other and I would deeply DEEPLY know the information.
