Transcript The Bible
Do Now
What would you expect a story about creation to
include?
Religious Texts
The Old Testament:
Genesis 1-3: The Creation and The Fall
Genesis 6-9: The Story of the Flood
The Book of Ruth
Psalms 8,19, 23, and 137
The Qur’an
Middle East
Ancient Israel
Genesis
When reading these religious texts, remember to think
of them as pieces of literature.
The most important example of Hebrew literature is the
Hebrew Bible, known by Christians as the Old
Testament.
It has influenced three major religions: Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
The Bible’s authorship is a question that has intrigued
people over the centuries.
Many believe that the Bible is the word of God. Through
the workings of divine inspiration, human beings wrote
down God’s message.
Genesis
Despite the diversity of the Bible, the text is unified by a
few constant themes or insights into life.
These themes include:
The power, goodness, and mercy of a single God.
The covenant, or solemn agreement, into which God enters
with the Hebrew people.
The tendency of humans to stray from a right, or moral, path.
The forgiveness people can win from God.
Genesis
Archetypal setting
A time, place, or landscape feature that has similar
significance for different peoples.
This connects people to powerful, universal human
experiences.
One example is a paradise like the Bible’s Garden of
Eden.
Common archetypal settings have:
Opposites.
A landscape that comes from watery chaos.
A circle that is a symbol for the completion of something.
A great tree that connects heaven and earth.
The Book of Ruth and Psalms
8, 19, 23, and 137
These stories were first told orally and passed down by
storytellers and townspeople.
The Book of Ruth is an example of the Hebrew short
story.
These stories are still relevant today.
Many of them teach a universal lesson or contain a story
about a universal human experience, such as loss, love,
or forgiveness.
Psalms are religious poems set to music.
Psalms are Hebrew songs that praised a single god, but
did not have a single author.
The Book of Ruth and Psalms
8, 19, 23, and 137
Both use parallelism.
A biblical style that involves stating an idea in the first half
of a verse and then, using a similar grammatical
structure, repeating, negating, completing, or otherwise
elaborating on it in the second half.
Completion of an idea (Ruth 2:20)
The man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsman.
Repetition with variations (Psalms 8:4)
What is man that You have been mindful of him,/mortal man that
You have taken note of him…
Parallelism creates balance, variation, and flowing rhythm
in prose and poetry alike.
The Qur’an
In the eyes of Muslims, the Qur’an (sometimes referred
to as the Koran) is viewed as the most important
scripture in the world, but not the only one.
Muslims believe that Allah sent a series of heavenly
books to the world.
The Torah
The Psalms
The New Testament
The last of these is the Qur’an, which Muslims believe to
be the final revelation of Allah.
The Qur’an
Imagery
Language used to create word pictures by appealing to
one of the five senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell, and
touch.
Imagery makes descriptions more vivid and abstract
ideas more concrete.
An image is a single instance of imagery.
“Hot, dry wind”
“Cold, wet rain”
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Read Genesis 1-3: The Creation and The Fall on pages
44-49 of your literature textbook and answer the
corresponding questions.
Do Now
Look at your definition from yesterday of the archetypal
setting. How does what we read so far fit in with this
definition?
Genesis 1-3:
The Creation and The Fall
In what ways did you find this account of the Creation
and the Fall interesting?
Why is it significant that man is created in God’s
image?
Find four places where God names things. How does
the act of naming seem related to creation? What does
Adam’s naming of the animals show about him?
What common problems of being a human does this
section of Genesis help to explain?
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Read Genesis 6-9: The Story of the Flood on pages 5056 of your literature textbook and answer the
corresponding questions.
Do Now
With what biblical stories are you familiar?
Genesis 6-9:
The Story of the Flood
Why do you think the story of Noah has such universal
and timeless appeal?
What reason does God give for destroying humanity?
How is God’s reaction both similar to and different from
his earlier reaction to Adam and Eve?
Genesis 6-9:
The Story of the Flood
In what ways is Noah different from the rest of
humanity in his day? In addition to Noah’s virtues, why
do you think God spared Noah and his family?
What is the main moral lesson that readers might learn
from the story of the Flood?
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Read The Book of Ruth on pages 66-72 of your
literature textbook and answer the corresponding
questions.
Do Now
Why do you think the people who recorded the Bible
included The Book of Ruth?
The Book of Ruth
What happens to Naomi’s family during the time they
live in Moab? How do these events affect Naomi’s
attitude toward life?
In what way does Ruth respond to Naomi’s instructions
in Ruth 3:1-4? What does Ruth’s response reveal about
her?
Do you think Boaz is an honorable man? Why or why
not?
The Book of Ruth
In what way is God present in the story, even though he
does not appear directly?
Does this story teach an effective lesson against
prejudice? Why or why not?
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Read Psalms 8, 19, 23, and 137 on pages 73-76 of
your literature textbook and answer the corresponding
questions.
Do Now
Why do you think people find comfort in reading
religious texts such as the Bible?
Psalms 8, 19, 23, 137
What does Psalm 8: 6-7 say about “mortal man”?
According to Psalm 8, what role do human beings play
in the universe?
In Psalm 19, what achievements do verses 2-6
celebrate? What aspect of God do verses 7-14 praise?
To what does the first line of Psalm 23 compare God?
Given this comparison, to what can the believer be
compared? What do these comparisons convey about
the relationship between God and human beings?
Psalms 8, 19, 23, 137
In what way are verses 5-9 of Psalm 137 an answer to
the command in verse 3? What is ironic or unexpected
about this answer? In what way are verses 5-9 also an
answer to the question in verse 4?
Why do you think songs or poetry – like Psalm 137 –
are especially valuable to people in captivity? Explain.
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Read The Qur’an on pages 84-86 of your literature
textbook and answer the corresponding questions.
Do Now
Why is it important to learn about different religions?
The Qur’an
Which of these selections from the Qur’an did you find
most interesting? Why?
Whom does the Exordium address? Who seems to be
speaking? Why does the speaker wish to be guided?
What kind of behavior does “Night” equate with
goodness? What drives someone to be a good
person?
The Qur’an
According to “Daylight,” what has the Lord not done?
In what ways should human behavior reflect the Lord’s
behavior?
What does “Comfort” say comes with every hardship?
In what ways does this Surah offer comfort?
“Night” describes the behavior of a good man. In what
ways is this description applicable to good people
today?
Classwork
Complete classwork worksheet.
Homework
Bring three questions for tomorrow’s test review.