March 15-21: Responses to Exile

Responses to Exile, among the Latter Prophets and their exilic contemporaries. Here is a beginning list of “Big Ideas and Essential Questions” relating to prophecy and the Latter Prophets.

Resources

Readings:

Read Bandstra’s Chapter 12 Postmonarchy Prophets: Exile and Restoration. Or, in your Introduction of choice, read on the periods of the Babylonian Exile and the post-exilic restoration in the district of Judea (formerly the nation of Judah).

Recommended Reading:

Lectures:

View or listen to the two-part lecture, “Responses to Exile”:

“Make” of the Week

Pick one of the following options for this week’s “make,” sharing it on your blog, remembering to tag your post with our tag, “ootle16.” (Garrett students: Remember that your work is assessed according to the course rubric. You may need to add analysis or other elements that will allow you to include each element of the rubric. Remember too that you must have commented, thoughtfully and substantively, to at least three [3] other OOTLE-ers on Jeremiah & Jerusalem or on Responses to Exile by Sunday evening.)

Make Option 01: In the lecture, in the Bandstra reading linked above (or your textbook of choice), and in the recommended reading, find what is available on the “messiah” or on “messianic” ideas during the Babylonian Exile and in post-exilic Judea.

Pick someone whom you would like to teach about “The Messiahs of the Hebrew Bible.” (A colleague, a prospective MDiv student, a curious family member, or anyone else.) In about 1000 words, and using these course materials as a resource, write them a letter about what a “messiah” is (or what “messiahs” are/do?) in the Hebrew Bible. Be sure to cite appropriately, so that they can engage these materials themselves also. Don’t “lecture” (we all know how off-putting that is!), but do find compelling ways to include the relevant information. Anticipate their questions and concerns, and address them overtly.

Make Option 02: In the lecture, in the Bandstra reading linked above (or your textbook of choice), and in the recommended reading, find what is available on “Isaiah’s Servant” (or the Servant of YHWH, or the Suffering Servant) with regard to the book of Isaiah.

Pick someone whom you would like to teach about “Isaiah’s Servant.” (A colleague, a prospective MDiv student, a curious family member, or anyone else.) In about 1000 words, and using these course materials as a resource, write them a letter about what this “servant” is for the book of Isaiah. Be sure to cite appropriately, so that they can engage these materials themselves also. Don’t “lecture” (we all know how off-putting that is!), but do find compelling ways to include the relevant information. Anticipate their questions and concerns, and address them overtly.

Activity of the Week: Continuing Analysis of MLK “Letter from Burmingham Jail” as Prophecy.

For the three weeks of the Latter Prophets, we are joing in a shared annotation of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

During this third week, we will collaborate on a few paragraphs summarizing our observations. Working together, decide on a structure that allows you to 1) summarize your observations, and 2) comment on your several experiences of the project.

The challenge of this week is that none of you “owns” the paragraphs, or even your own contributions to them! Be respectul of one another’s contributions, but in the end, the reader will not see “Jim’s part” and “Angela’s part”…they will simply see the paragraphs as a whole.

(Garrett-Evangelical students, remember you will have opportunity to describe your activity in your weekly report.)

Our work continues, as before, on this shared Google Doc.

Google Hangout of the Week: Responses to Exile.

On Thursday, March 17, 2:30-3:30 pm Central Time, I will be joined by Dr. David Garber for an "On Air" live Google Hangout. We will talk what we love (or don’t) about the “responses to Exile” and its academic study, and what kinds of things we hope for students to get out of the Unit.

During the Hangout, follow the hashtag #ootle16 on Twitter, asking us questions, making comments, and discussing the conversation among yourselves.