March 13-19: Responses to Exile

Responses to Exile, among the exilic Latter Prophets and their 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, “ootle17.” (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. (Read that again! "...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 and does (or better, 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. As an aid to focused writing, remember to be overt about your choice of recipient.

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 and its concerns in its own time.

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. As an aid to focused writing, remember to be overt about your choice of recipient.

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.

If it helps, think of wikis like Wikipedia as an example: everyone contributes, nobody "owns" their own contributions.

(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.

Zoom "Office Hours/Fireside Chat"

On Tuesday, March 14, noon-1:00 pm Central Time, I will host a Zoom meeting for all who are able/willing to join. Come when you may, leave when you must. See you there! (Next week on 3/21, we will toggle to the 7pm meeting for the "evening crowd".)