Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

I have concluded my reading of the book of Proverbs.

How would our worship today be different if we did not have the book of Proverbs?

Although I am not surprised that it was the royal scribes who compiled much of the material found in the book of Proverbs, I am surprised that this caused most of the sayings within Proverbs to reflect the elite view.  Perhaps, this is due to the difference in culture . . . whatever the reason, it is interesting to look back on history and see that for the West, the various sayings that have stuck through the ages are those that were developed by the common.  Examples would include our nursery rhymes  as well as the trite sayings we use to teach the younger generations good habits.  Or, perhaps I am not fully aware of the origins of what seems “common” now.

This group of people is credited with much of the writing of the book of Proverbs. (Who were the royal scribes?)

This is the beginning of all wisdom.  (What is the fear of the Lord?)

When thinking in terms of the various passions that theologians have for their specific ideals in study it is odd to me that any one arena of thought could so involve a man or woman to the exclusion of the others.  Source criticism, form criticism or tradition or any other single hinge between the text and truths of the text is not logical to me.        It seems that all of these processes have a certain amount of merit and all have the potential of misguiding the reader -  Like the Wesleyan Quadrilateral that stepped away from the sola Scriptura and included tradition, reason, and personal experience there seems to be profit in a balance in these methods.  Knowing the source to the best of our knowledge, understanding the literary style, seeing the likelihood of the author’s intent through context and historical placement must all be part of the study to understand Scripture and no single one of these should dominate.

What is the 5th commandment?

Honor your Father and Mother

What was the second plague God put upon Egypt?

Answer: Frogs

BT didn't hurry. At all. In fact, they're being so ridiculously slow that Sheila called and filed a complaint. As such, I should have internet by tomorrow. But who knows. I'll be excited to finally not have to have one half hour on the library computer each day. But it means I'm really frustrated with it all.

I got together a bank card, but now i don't know who actually pays me, so I still haven't been actually paid. Lame. Apparently the church pays YFC, who in turn pays me. But Fiona hasn't mentioned any of that to me. So we'll see.

But, working in Stokesley school has been quite fun. I like the job, although I am getting slightly overwhelmed with all Mr. Laffan hopes for me to do. I've become the "Social Justice Representive", or something along those lines. It's not an official title or anything, but I'm apparently starting a social justice lunch club. Keep in mind that I've only been there 4 days...

I've also been offered a trip to Rome. So I'm going. It's at this half term, so the end of October, for 4 days. There are 26 kids going, along with the RE teacher and his wife. The church here is paying my way, so it's amazing to not need to worry about any of the money side. I'll be there as a chaperone, but I've technically been invited because Mr. Laffan and his wife can't talk to the children about actual faith, only about the history of the places we're going. Since I'm a youth worker instead of a teacher, I can talk to them about questions about the actual Christian faith so present in these places. I'm very excited about it-- I've always wanted to go to Rome and the Vatican, and what better way than for free as a school trip chaperone?

I will try to update more later, but I'm out of time on the computer here. I also need to get home so that Claire (my roommate) and I can go shopping in Middlesborough. I really need warm boots and a hat with ear flaps. It is crazy cold here!

Much love to all,
Tabitha