Q 10:4

Sowwy this is a week late...
but... better late than never to catch up on the latest class from thee Dr Blomberg!

This particular class (Oct 4) dealt with:
-Historical Jesus
-Chronology
-Infancy Narratives

"The American Christian church has the most anemic view of suffering.  We just don't get it.  For whatever reason, we just don't think God will let us go through it."

[Further comment on the idea we won't go through suffering]
"I don't know what channel that's on... don't linger on that channel."

[The Gnostic response to "Logos" and John 1:1]
"To the Gnostic, it seemed Jesus was God in... shall I anachronistically say... holographic form?  Gnostics had no problem with Christ's divinity, but with His humanity.  'In the beginning was the Word,' -oh ok.  'And the Word was with God,' -hmm, not sure which god, but that's ok.  'And the Word was God,' -ohh... that sounds like you're pointing to monotheism.  Ah well, you're Jewish, that's to be expected."

"Ok... it's October!"

[Further instructions for the upcoming exam]
"Do try to learn the proper spelling.  It's a crazy notion."

"It'll be exactly like the map I handed out, minus all the places."

[Grieving the fact that every year, someone forgets the instructions]
"Maybe if I stand in another place... you do NOT have to write all the places!"

"Without going back to the Clinton era... what do you mean by 'is'?"

"When you study it in the Greek, you'll find that 'draw' means... draw.  Much like the English."

"After the break - who knows, maybe even five minutes before - we'll do something a few of you thought we'd do the first night: turn to Matthew 1:1.  Fooled you!"

"In 1995, some of you were quite young, and others of you were not young.  You didn't pay thousands of dollars to hear me say that."

[15 years ago, someone from Time Magazine interviewed five men (including Dr Blomberg) on the historical reliability of the Gospels]
"All five of us: white American males, well... one was British.  Almost American."

"I no longer wear suit coats, if I can help it... what do I have to prove?"

"'Harmonization' is almost a swear word.  So is 'apologetics'.  Don't use it!"

"I know that you're not all of the same generation... Jim..."
(Jim's an older student in our class)

"And... yada yada.  That's spelled Y-A-D-A-Y-A-D-A."

[Why wasn't Jesus born the year AD 0?]
"Presumably you know the answer, and now you do!  We screwed up the calendar!"

[Reading through Luke 2:1]
"And Abilene was not yet a city in Texas..."

"We only know that because Egypt is so dry and there are so many places to hide scrolls, unlike Rome and Greece and their humid climates."

"Jesus didn't talk about judgement, because as all enlightened intellectual human beings know it's beneath Him!"
(sarcastically said)

"Great!  Now it's halftime!"

[Comparing the intros to Matthew and Luke]
"You can't read across in your synopsis... except you mights see: Jesus!  Joseph!  Bethlehem!  David!"

"Just humor me, I'm not dangerous."

[On a commentary he recommends as a resource]
"You should probably be cautious on the first chapter on Matthew... but the ones I didn't write are really quite good.  That's a shameless plug."

"Ay!  Something's happening!  Something!  Exciting!"

[Isaiah 9 passage and names of Messiah]
"OMG works in this case."
(I think this was a pun on 'Almighty God', somehow)

"If your birthplace was in Bethlehem, don't apply for the position of Messiah.  You're not qualified."

"Coincidence?  Not for a believing monotheistic Jew - just God sovereignly acting out His M.O."

"I exaggerate for the sake of em-pha-sis."

[In Hebrew, there are no written vowels, etc]
"David... the original DVD."

"So what do you hear at Christmas time?  This kind of stuff?  Ah... maybe we'll do better with Luke."

"Ah... this is the gospel we know and love!  Manger scene, swaddling clothes, no room at the inn..."

"In the promise of Luke 2:11 and countless Christmas cards ever since... is that God?  No, God wouldn't boo."
(Some noise was heard in the hall... presumably a 'boo'.)

"It's page 11 if you're in the synopsis... page whatever if you're in the regular Bible."

[On Jesus at age 12 being left behind in Jerusalem by his parents]
"Are you thinking like a Jew yet, or are you modern-day parents thinking it's borderline child endangerment?"

"There is an element of religious precociousness here, but is that why Luke is telling this story?  We might expect that of an aged Rabbi, not a twelve-year-old.  Are we meant to see a special Father-Son relationship?"

"Ever try to imagine His siblings?  Dang, Jesus NEVER gets in trouble!  It's always us!"

["Mamzer"]
"That's a nice Aramaic term you can put on PowerPoint slides and keep it PG."

"There's nothing warm or feel-good from the Christmas story in Matthew or Luke.  Unless you take a long-term view of it."

["There was no room at the..." inn or guest room?]
"The other two places this word appears in the Bible, it means 'guest room'."  An innkeeper would be more like the master of the house in Les Mis."

[Attempt at drawing on the board]
"I'm not an artist nor the son of an artist, so this will be horrible."