Tag: Bible

Posted on

Is it a sin…?

Whenever a sentence starts with those four words, I’ve learned to prepare myself for at least a few of the following background conditions:

  1. The student has already had an argument or disagreement with a peer or their parent about the sinfulness of the act or behavior in discussion.
  2. The student is bored and wants to talk about something else.
  3. The student is hoping I’ll agree with them and validate their position, or condone their behavior.
  4. Moralism is in the student’s mental background radiation, so if it IS a sin… someone’s going to Hell.
  5. A simple yes or no will probably ignore the underlying issue.
  6. This is probably not going to be a question that the Christian community has agreed upon a unanimous answer.

With these things in mind, and with lesson plans to push through, my answer is often, “Depends,” or “Maybe,” followed by “and we can talk about that when we have an open discussion/question day.”

“But Mr. Seals… it is question day.”

“Oh yeah.”

What is Sin?

If we are going to condemn something as sin, then we need to be on the same page about what exactly IS a sin.

Continue reading “Is it a sin…?”

Posted on

Is the Bible Myth? Depends who asks.

 

  1. If it is a fellow teacher, or someone with an advanced degree in the Humanities, I say, “With a capital ‘M,’ yes. Lowercase ‘m’, it is not.”
  2. If it is a parent of one of my students, I say, “No, of course not.”
  3. If it is a student questioning his or her faith, I say, “What do you define as ‘myth’?” Then I hope they give an answer I can easily address.
  4. If it is a student assured of his or her faith, I say, “We know the Bible to be inerrant.” Then I defer to their Bible teacher.
  5. If it is a class full of students, I collapse on the ground, curl up in a ball, and sing “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.” After I did that, I would probably do number 4, not because I don’t know the answer.  I just don’t know how the students would take my answer.

Here’s what I actually think: the Bible is Myth.  It is not a myth.

Therefore, this post is probably self-defeating since I am, in essence, confessing what I’ve censored myself from saying. It is something I have not said aloud, even when I had the opportunity to teach this concept since our first unit in World Literature was Greek Mythology.

 

Here’s what I could have said to my students:

Continue reading “Is the Bible Myth? Depends who asks.”

Posted on

So… Who Goes to Hell?

Jimmy: “Hey Mr. Seals. Jews go to Hell, right?”

Me: “What? Dude, you’re supposed to be working on your divorce statistics project.”

Jimmy: “But they don’t, like, accept Jesus… so they go to Hell, right?”

Sam: “I mean they believe in God though, don’t they?”

Me: “Yes… they do. And…”

Alice: “Yeah, so even if someone never, like, knows about God and Jesus and stuff, they just go to Hell?

Jimmy: “Yeah, ‘cuz they didn’t accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.”

Me thinking: …

So, either A) I crack down on this group and tell them to refocus on their statistics group project or B) I surrender myself to this moment and the honest curiosity of the students about a serious topic even though they are supposed to be honing their PowerPoint and information literacy skills.

Continue reading “So… Who Goes to Hell?”

Posted on

Bible As Literature – CHSBT – 038

The Bible is literature… but is it just another book? Should we read it differently than other literary works? In this episode, Chris discusses the Bible with Christine Iskander (a college professor and comparative literature expert) as well as Jon Bennett (high school English teacher and published author). While most of us assume that we know how to read, we often use a different set of tools as we approach the Bible. In this episode, they tackle genre identification (poetry, myth, narrative, history), reader-response criticism, and how to read the Bible well, while still treating it like a sacred text.

Check out Jon’s book (Reading Blue Devils) here on his Amazon Author Page.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted on

Christians Drinking Alcohol – CHSBT – 033

Craft beer, fine wines, and aged spirits… Are these things meant for Christian consumption, or are they all just different manifestations of the Devil’s water!? Even if you’re okay with Christians drinking in moderation, what about Bible teachers? In this episode, Chris and Wayne dive into the Biblical data, ethical boundaries, and guidelines for discussing and consuming alcohol as Christians.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted on

Where’d The Bible Come From? – 031 – CHSBT

The Bible is obviously important to most Christians, but how did we decide that THESE particular books are the canon or sacred scripture, and not others? In this episode with special guest Dr. John Meade, we uncover and discuss some interesting (maybe shocking) information about the formation of the Bible. If this book is a centerpiece of our education about and understanding of God, then we probably should know where it comes from. We discuss disputed books, gnostic gospels, apocryphal books, open canon, and differing early church canon lists.

We were honored to have a scholar in Biblical Textual Criticism and for those who want to dig deeper, you can get a copy of the Biblical Canon Lists on Amazon here or you can find more articles by Dr. John Meade at http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted on

CHSBT-010-The Bible Says

“Doesn’t the Bible say…?” All too often, this phrase rears its head in Bible classes, life groups, and even our adult conversations. Chris and Wayne discuss some of their most common “Doesn’t the Bible say…?” questions and get to the root of why these questions are even asked.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download