See Assignments Below

Loving our Neighbor Reading

Please answer the following questions after reading the chapter in the textbook on "What the Bible says about loving our Neighbor." Make sure your answers are at least 4 sentences long, unless marked with an asterisk (*).

1. What is fatalism and why is it talked about in a chapter on loving your neighbor?

2. How is creation helpful in the concept of loving our neighbor?

3. What are some "everyday" implications for everyday relationship?

4.What does the author mean by this quote: "The Sermon on the Mount is neighborliness in action"?*

5. Why is the idea of "calling" important to loving our neighbor?

6. How can we love our neighbors in our conversation?

7. How can we live in loving community?

8. How can the gospel of redemption apply to "citizenship" according to the chapter?

The Prophetic Books Reading

Please read this chapter on the prophetic books. Answer the following questions, demonstrating you have read the above chapter in your answers. Make sure your answers are at least four sentences long unless marked with an asterisk (*).

1. List out the major and minor prophets and explain why they are called that.

2. In what time period do the prophetic books take place?*

3. What is the purpose of the prophetic books?

4. What do the prophets have to do with the covenants of God with the Israelites?

5. What is a prophet?

6. Define a non-literary prophet, a literary prophet, and a false prophet.

7. Discuss the five components to a prophetic message.

8. How do the prophets point forward to Jesus?

1 and 2 Kings Assignment

Read the following two chapters on the theology of the books of 1 and 2 Kings. Answer the following questions, demonstrating that you have read the chapters. Your answers should be more than 4 sentences long unless marked with an asterisk (*).

1. Why does the Septuagint list 1 and 2 Kings as 3 and 4 Kings?*

2. What are the major divisions of 1 and 2 Kings?

3. What is the main message of 1 and 2 Kings?

4. Why is Deuteronomy 17:14-20 important when we talk about Solomon's reign as king?

5. After the splitting of the country, how do the kings of the Northern kingdom (Israel) rule?

6. After the splitting of the country, how do the kings of the Southern kingdom (Judah) rule?

7. How does 1 and 2 Kings fit into the STORY of the Bible?

8. Discuss the idea of idolatry in the context of 1 and 2 Kings.

9. How does Israel's struggle with idolatry apply to us in our lives?

What the Bible Says about Loving Our Neighbors

Read the chapter entitled, "What the Bible Says about Loving Our Neighbors." Take good notes, because you will be able to use them on the test.

Hyperreality, The Truman Show, and the Self

We have read about various themes of postmodernism in our textbook, but now we are going to seek to view these themes in our culture and ask ourselves the hard questions. A central point of postmodernism is the idea of hyperreality. Hyperreality is the idea that a consciousness (a person) cannot distinguish between something that is real and something that they think is real. An example we've used a lot in this class is The Matrix: the people (consciousness) plugged into the matrix cannot tell that the matrix is fake, because they think it is real.

While the Matrix presents the idea of hyperreality, it does so in such a way that it seems a crazy fantasy. A movie that doesn't do this is The Truman Show. Without giving anything away, this film shows us how this idea can apply to us in today's world.

Both The Matrix and The Truman Show force us to ask ourselves: who are we? And perhaps scariest of all, both show that we cannot answer that question ourselves. Both Neo in The Matrix and Truman in The Truman Show identify themselves in the beginning of their movies much differently than they do at the end. Both are victims of hyperreality. Both thought something very basic about themselves that was, in fact, wrong. The postmodern point? That a search for identity is a task that can't be achieved without self-deception of some kind.

We as a class will investigate these themes in four ways:

(1) By watching The Truman Show in class.

(2) Reading this dictionary defining the philosophical theory of hyperreality.

(3) Reading the essay "Meditation in a Toolshed," by C.S. Lewis.

(4) Reading the essay "The Problem of the Self" by Timothy Keller.

(5) Essay Response: After giving time to do each of the tasks above, you will write a 3-5 page paper (typed, Times New Roman size 12, double-spaced) answering the question: How can we know our identity? In the paper you should do the following:

• Explain the idea of hyperreality using your own words.
• Reference all of the above reading material at least once.
• Use the examples provided by the film "The Truman Show" in your paper.
• Provide one other pop-culture reference to illustrate hyperreality
• Use Keller especially to help you answer the question from a Christian perspective
• Apply the idea to your own experience

Friedrich Nietzsche Reading

Read Nietzsche's well known parable "The Mad Man" (Use this link). After reading answer the following questions with at least four sentences.


1. What do you know about Friedrich Nietzsche, the author of this parable? Do you have a positive or negative opinion of him?

2.Why do you think Nietzsche chose a madman as the protagonist of his parable?

3. What charge did the madman level at the people? How did he prove their guilt?

4. Why does the madman say his message wasn't received by the people?

5. What do you think the madman meant by his comment: What after all are these churches now if that are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"

1 and 2 Samuel Reading

Read the following chapter on 1 and 2 Samuel (use this link). After reading, answer the following questions with at least 4 sentences, unless marked with an asterisk (*).

1. What does the title of Samuel mean?*

2. What two significant realities has God communicated to his people as they lived in the promise land?

3. What is the only way to break the cycle of rebellion?*

4. Describe the four major divisions in the books of Samuel.

5. How does Samuel react when the people ask for a king? Why?

6. How do the physical descriptions of Kings David and Saul help us understand the differences between the two?

7. What is the Davidic Covenant?

8. Compare and contrast the three major kings in the books of Samuel. This question should be more than six sentences long.

9. What does the books of Samuel teach us about repentance?

"What the Bible Says About Loving God" Reading

Read the chapter entitled, "What the Bible Says About Loving God." Take good notes, because you will be able to use them on the test.

Postmodernism Reading

Read the following chapter on Postmodernism. Take detailed notes; you will be able to use them for the test.

Judges Questions

Please read the chapter on Judges (use this link) and answer the following questions. Make your answers at least 4 sentences long unless marked with an asterisk (*).

1. What does the Hebrew title for judges mean? Why is this an appropriate title?

2. Who is most likely to be the author of Judges? Why?*

3. What are the major divisions of the book of Judges?

4. What are two reasons for Israel's failures in the book of Judges?

5. What are two reasons Israel fell away from faith in the Lord?

6. What is the "repeated cycle" of the book of Judges?

7. What are the "two snapshots" of how bad things get for the nation of Israel in the book of Judges?

8. Were judges leaders on the national level?*

9. What is the basic story of Ruth?

10. How does the book of Judges advance the STORY of the Bible and point forward to Jesus?