Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
FILM COURSE: Textbook for next year's film course:
Below are the textbook and purchase information needed to order next academic year's textbooks for the film course. The textbook is called Looking at Movies.(Click on image to enlarge.)Hereafter refer to other entries under the label, Film (see bottom of page) for updated information when available.
A Bble Exam Question (4 points)
A Bible exam question (on Final Exam): "Briefly compare and contrast one Gospel person with his or her dramatic version in the musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar." Be specific.
For the purpose of exam study, ignore handouts for Weeks of 29 May and 4 June, as well as the handout of 26 June (original headings pasted below).
This is not a judgment on the importance of these readings for serious Bible study; but for the purpose of exam study, I think there are too many ideas in these handouts, especially for students not grounded, from childhood, in Bible study (as is the case with most of you).
Below are the original headings of the two handouts that will not be part of the final exam so you can identify them (of course, the summary of the four Gospels may still be useful in understanding the other handouts).
On the final day of class this Tuesday, students may wish to ask questions to clarify their readings.
SUMMARY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS,
with the rest of the New Testament
Reading for 26 JUNE 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
:
September 2006 - June 2007
(Course descriptions are general and may be adjusted for the specific needs of each class.)
Oral Training
Sophomore
The goal of this class is to improve speaking in conversation. This means speaking―not simply passing exams. Our course is only partly a content course (vocabulary, target culture facts and values); most of it is a performance course. September 2006 - June 2007
(Course descriptions are general and may be adjusted for the specific needs of each class.)
Oral Training
Sophomore
Participation is essential. The main work is done in daily performance―required to fulfill course requirements.
Conversation criteria (standards) include:
1. intonation (stress on sentences);
2. pronunciation (correctly sounding vowels),
3. diction (articulation of letters),
4. collocation (idiomatic usage and phrasing),
5. fluency (effective flow),
6. volume (ideal pitch),
7. vocabulary (appropriate word choice),
8. accent (correct syllable stress),
9. conversation (linking sentences effectively), and
10. poise (general conduct while speaking, eye contact, facial expression, colloquial delivery, etc.).
Assignments include weekly handouts. These include a short essay and discussion questions based either on the content of the essay, content related to the essay, or vocabulary and idiomatic usage based on vocabulary and idioms in the essay.
Assignments may include special assignments, such as researching a topic, making brief in-class presentations, or giving a brief modeled recitation (based on a recorded speech or monologue).
Students are expected to prepare their handouts before they enter the classroom. The standard of college homework is usually two hours for each hour of class time. Since this is a three-hour course, students are expected to prepare at least six hours a week. But the main goal is to be prepared, whether it's done in four hours or eight hours.
Students must understand that the main learning process takes place at home, in libraries, and in the minds of students. An indifferent student will not learn, regardless of class resources or teaching methods.
The goal of every class should be to improve students' general study skills, as well as specific skills or content taught in each class. These skills involve using libraries, searching the Internet, consulting reference books, and having the right books at hand.
Consulting a bilingual dictionary is not a proper way to study advanced English. I discourage the use of bilingual dictionaries at home and will not allow their use in classrooms.
Under no circumstances will I accept an excuse that an idiom or word could not be found in a dictionary. All vocabulary and usage in my conversation courses are standard English and can be easily referenced, assuming students have acceptable study skills and resources. Students should also develop the skill of figuring a word's meaning by context as well, when possible.
Students are reminded that our class is simply to review what students learned by themselves, with some class guidance. The time to study is at home or in libraries, not in class.
Classroom participation involves response, not answers. This is not a content class. Though there are content questions on assigned readings, the focus is on conversation; handouts are simply a means to facilitate conversation.
Course hours are not intended as rote sessions, but as conversation sessions. I repeat: I expect responses, not answers. The goal is to use English convincingly, not merely to pass exams. Responses should be made in natural speech and with poise, not read from a prepared paper.
On the other hand, the final goal is learning, not talking. Talking―despite current methodologies on language acquisition―is not an end in itself; learning is. At the same time, what is learned must be applied and verbalized in speaking, based on standards listed above.
Finally, people learn to talk by listening, just like they learn to write by reading. Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, as the saying goes; it's a proved method of learning. For this purpose, I give frequent out-class and in-class listening assignments or exercises.
Attendance is required. More than three unexcused absences may result in failure. By "excused," I mean a doctor's note. Personal problems are not an excuse, despite a teacher's sympathy. Reasons are not excuses.
There will be a midterm and a final exam. There may be quizzes on occasion.
Exams are in two parts: a written exam and an oral exam, factored as 40-60.
Under no circumstances do I allow makeup exams, except for an excused absence signed by a doctor―including advance notification of the teacher. This is the student's responsibility, whether done by the student or by a delegate of the student. Failure to contact the teacher is the student's fault, not the teacher's.
I do believe the learning process must take place in a stress-free environment. But this does not mean an undisciplined environment. On the contrary, only after a disciplined student-teacher relationship is routine can the environment be without stress, because everyone knows what is expected of them and is willing and able to fulfill those expectations.
NOTE: An active email account or the use of another's account is a prerequisite. Not having an account or not using it will not be allowed as an excuse.
Introduction to the Bible
This is a two-hour course covering the entire Bible (both Old and New Testaments). Also assigned are Apocrypha, some Gnostic gospels, and related gospel music texts.This is not merely a "Bible as Literature" course. Students are instructed in the literary, historical, cultural, and theological issues necessary to fully understand the Bible.
Course content includes a study of Hebrew poetry (mostly related to parallelistic style and concrete images), biblical metaphor (especially the marital metaphor involving Israel and its God or Christ and the church), and intertextuality (cross-referencing of biblical verses or between Old and New Testaments); the four covenants; themes of justice, tribalism, and universalism; kingship and its relation to Israelite theocracy; the role of the prophets and temple worship; the Jewish diaspora; the relation of apocalypse to prophecy (apocalypse as failed prophecy); different readings of the Bible (literal, allegorical, typological); the world-wide influence of the Bible on covenantal politics ("social contracts"; democracy) and human rights (civil rights movements, liberation movements, Rastafarianism, etc.); the Bible's cultural influence, spawning three major religions ("Religions of the Book") and countless denominations; the influence of the Bible on Western culture, including literature, paintings, movies, and church music in classical and popular forms; and theological issues such as theodicies (the question of undeserved suffering), trinitarianism (God as three persons), and so-called "Christological" issues related to the nature of Jesus as prophet, king, messiah, or savior.
Readings include assigned Bible texts, study pictures, and commentaries on Bible texts.
This is a lecture course. Attendance is required. More than three unexcused absences may result in failure.
There is a midterm and a final exam, each counting 50%. There are no makeup exams, except with a signed doctor's excuse and advance notice.
NOTE: An active email account or the use of another's account is a prerequisite. Not having an account or not using it will not be allowed as an excuse.
Composition
This three-hour course will focus on a wide range of issues related to writing. We discuss issues of invention (discovery, brainstorming), style, diction (appropriate and varied vocabulary), commonplaces (definition, comparison, etc.), coherence strategies, logical cohesion (connection of ideas), rhetoric (figures of speech and sentence schemes), different genres (expository, descriptive, research, comic, etc.), style sheets, research, selective use of material, etc. No writing class can substitute for a strong background in reading. (Paradoxical though it may sound, we learn writing by reading, not by writing.) Analysis however can help the reader understand textual strategies, including repetition, coherence words and replacement strategies, effective transitions, selective use of examples and quotation, etc.
Assigned textbooks include the Harbrace College Handbook and Merriam-Webster's pocket Vocabulary Builder. A personal journal is required.
The course is divided into a two-hour class session and a dedicated conference hour, required for all students.
Attendance is required. More than three unexcused absences may result in failure. Composition deadlines must be met. Journals must be completed.
Grading is based on composition work. All class work should be preserved in a folder, seriatim, for review at end of semester.
NOTE: An active email account or the use of another's account is a prerequisite. Not having an account or not using it will not be allowed as an excuse.
Public Speaking
This is a two-hour class in public speaking, with focus on content and delivery.
Content includes all the standards of composition content, such as invention (discovery) of ideas, and effective use of language, coherence, rhetorical devices, etc.
Delivery includes verbalization, action, and memory.
Verbalization includes the following:
1. intonation (sentence stress);
2. pronunciation (correctly sounding vowels),
3. diction (articulation of letters),
4. vocal quality (optimal production of sound),
5. fluency (effective flow),
6. volume (ideal pitch, projection),
7. vocabulary (appropriate and varied word choice),
8. accent (correct syllable stress),
9. coherence (linking sentences effectively),
10. pace (varied speed for varied content or for effective contrast),
11. collocation (idiomatic usage and phrasing),
Action involves eye contact, poise, hand gestures, body movement, dramatic vocal contrast, and effective use of props or aids.
Memory involves (in some cases) memorizing a speech, consideration of audience reception (orderly, demonstrative, and memorable presentation of ideas), and building a thesaurus of ideas and commonplaces that can be used for future speaking.
There are weekly assigned speeches (usually of several minutes, depending on class size), with alternate weeks used for suggested improvement.
Assigned speeches vary, but cover a wide range of speech-related issues and problems, including those of content and delivery.
Speeches may emphasize modeling (from a recorded source), delivery, vocal projection, dramatic interpretation, recitation, improvisation, humor, research, and debate.
Finally, people learn to talk by listening, just like they learn to write by reading. Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, as the saying goes; it's a proved method of learning. For this purpose, I give frequent out-class and in-class listening assignments or exercises.
Grading is based on classwork and improvement. There is no assigned textbook. When necessary, handouts are given to clarify instructions and insure speech criteria.
An active email account or the use of another's account is a prerequisite. Not having an account or not using it will not be allowed as an excuse.
Film Studies (Film and Literature)
The goal of this class is to study film from the perspective of the Humanities and critical theory. We explore issues of narrative unity and closure, genre, cinematic style (language), the star system, ideology, film history, and technology through assigned weekly films. Comprehensive studies of the films are made in terms of individual shots, camera setup and movement, editing, underscoring, plot and discourse, performance, and genre (generic expectations and disappointments). Film viewings are scheduled once a week. Classes are usually held in the Media Center of the campus library. Readings from Looking at Movies by Richard Barsam are assigned and students are expected to contribute to a bi-weekly journal commenting on assigned films. Classroom participation and discussion of each film are required. Graded work includes a midterm and final exam.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Discussion for Final Exam
1. Discuss your relationship with your opposite-sex parent: how you got along or did not get along, how the relationship developed over the years, crises in the relationship, difficulties and difficulties overcome, etc.
2. How do you think men and women choose their romantic partners. How do you think they should choose those partners? How would you choose your partner? Do you see a difference between a romantic partner and a marital partner (an ideal spouse)?
3. What do you find most appealing in people? Most unappealing?
4. Make up your own mnemonic (memory aid) on a deck of cards. This will be one of your own invention. Aim for the same consistency as in the model you studied.
5. Describe what you believe a criminologist should look for at the scene of the crime and beyond the scene of the crime, such as motive, etc.
6. For what cause would you like to be an advocate? Explain.
7. Do you think holidays have been too commercialized today? If so, which ones? Explain. If so, how should these holidays be observed? Explain.
8. As in your gun control debate, discuss what should be prohibited in Taiwan society, why, and how you would effect this?
9. Evaluate the film, Imitation of Life, based on specific criteria: plot, acting, theme, music, direction, etc. Assign the movie one to four stars.
10. Discuss your future plans. Try an acrostic on the word "summer": "S" is for the "sunshine" I hope to enjoy, "u" is for the "use" I plan to make of the summer holiday by reading a lot, etc.
2. How do you think men and women choose their romantic partners. How do you think they should choose those partners? How would you choose your partner? Do you see a difference between a romantic partner and a marital partner (an ideal spouse)?
3. What do you find most appealing in people? Most unappealing?
4. Make up your own mnemonic (memory aid) on a deck of cards. This will be one of your own invention. Aim for the same consistency as in the model you studied.
5. Describe what you believe a criminologist should look for at the scene of the crime and beyond the scene of the crime, such as motive, etc.
6. For what cause would you like to be an advocate? Explain.
7. Do you think holidays have been too commercialized today? If so, which ones? Explain. If so, how should these holidays be observed? Explain.
8. As in your gun control debate, discuss what should be prohibited in Taiwan society, why, and how you would effect this?
9. Evaluate the film, Imitation of Life, based on specific criteria: plot, acting, theme, music, direction, etc. Assign the movie one to four stars.
10. Discuss your future plans. Try an acrostic on the word "summer": "S" is for the "sunshine" I hope to enjoy, "u" is for the "use" I plan to make of the summer holiday by reading a lot, etc.
Other scholars speculate that Thomas might be the missing "Q" source on which Luke and Matthew built their own Gospel narratives. The unknown "Q" text ("Q"=German "quelle," or "source") is presumed to have been a collection of sayings, without narrative, from which Luke and Matthew took their Jesus sayings (parables, etc.) to include in their narrative Gospels. But this thesis is not widely accepted. What is certain is that Thomas belongs to a Gnostic sect.
Gnosticism included many ideas; but chief among these were a strong dualism, not entirely absent from the canonic Gospels (Jesus compares being in the world and being of the world in John's Gospel); but the strain is much stronger in Thomas. Above all, divinity is understood to be in all of us; whereas John, apparently to oppose Thomas (this is pure speculation, however) seems to purposely emphasize that Jesus was "God's only begotten son."
Note too the word, "begotten" (not created, like Adam and his descendants). Also, John says , The light shines in the darkness but has not understood it." Hence for John "light" has been rejected by mankind. Finally, only Jesus "gave [mankind the] right to become children of God."
The famous prologue of John seems specifically written to oppose any idea that all people are "sons of God" (as indeed the synoptics suggest, where Jesus' divinity is never clearly stated).
There are other subtle attacks on Thomas in John (whereas in the synoptics, Thomas has no individuality at all); the most famous being the scene (included only in John) of "doubting Thomas," thus marking (the Gnostic?) Thomas forever in a mocking idiomatic phrase down to the present (a "doubting Thomas" needs proof: knoweldge, not faith)..
The Gnositc idea was that "in the beginning" God made the light; that light had nothing to do with the sun and the moon, which were created afterwards. Therefore the light must still be present, if one could return to "pre-Adamic" consciousness, without separation of male and female (notice the famous ending of Thomas' Gospel). It is important to remind students that though the canon seems obvious to us today, for hundreds of years, until 367 when Bishop Athanasius declared only "27 canonic books" of the New Testament, most Christians would have studied many Gospels instead of the four we know today. Finally, John's Gospel won the war, as it were. Today Jesus is considered the divine and only Son of God, a place higher than at he 3 synoptics gave him. Hence the anger over films such as The Last Temptation of Christ, which suggest Jesus was as much man as God (in any case, part of church doctrine, where Jesus is "made flesh," though he is also "true God of true God." As for the "secret" part of Gnosticism, this comes from Jesus' parables, where he claims to speak in parables in order to hide his true wisdom from those unworthy of receiving it (consider the other parable: "throwing pearls to pigs"). As for Thomas, that name is a nickname meaning "twin," which itself is symbolic (as is much in the Gospels, such as the curing of the blind man, since Jesus is the "light" of the world and those who don't see this are "blind"). Thomas' real name is "Judas, not Iscariot," as he's called in the Gospels to distinguish him from the Judas who betrayed Jesus. The point is "Thomas" is the twin of Jesus, a point that Jesus makes. And for Gnostics, we are all twins of Jesus, of the Divine Light that shines from Creation in Genesis.
Finally, the reader should be aware that there are numerous verses from the canonic Gospels that also appear in Thomas, but I've omitted them to minimize reading. Serious students should refer to the original complete Gospel of Thomas from an online site, but only what is here is part of the reading assignment:
These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.
1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"
That is to say, to discover who we really are we frighten us (like all psychological or emotional growth does). But once we pass that stage, we'll become greater than we are: we'll "reign" as kings that we really are.
3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
This is similar to Luke 17:21: if the Kingdom of God is a place, others will get there first. But it's not a place; it's within you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
"Knowing" in Gnosticism is more like emotional knowledge than intellectual knowledge; it's a lot like the "knowing" that takes place when we understand our emotional hangups; or when a married couple go in for marriage counseling, and both spouses discover things about themselves on the way to understanding themselves in order to change.
4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live.
Similar to a saying of Jesus in the canonic Gospels; because the child is nearer to the divine light, as in Wordsworth's famous Immortality Ode.
For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."
The motif of the "single one" is important in Gnosticism, which believes that divinity is single; thus the notorious last saying, which pleas to make women "male." Gnosticism is more like a psychology than a theology: as in Freud, everything is within, if we dig it out of ourselves:
5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.
For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"
6. His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?"
His disciples want advice on how to live; but Jesus says simply to trust one's nature:
Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."
10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."
Here we get the "light" motif in dramatic form, as a fire.
11. Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away.
This seems to suggest a strong dualism: Heaven will pass away, and the one above: that is, the evil God, who controls the world (v. 11).
When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"
That is, are you able to be in the light? The day you became two refers to Genesis: the one (Adam) became two (Adam and Eve; more importantly from a Gnostic view, male and female, the fall into flesh/body. (Bear in mind, many of these sayings have puzzled scholars since their discovery, though their meaning can be guessed from general Gnostic beliefs.)
12. The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?"
Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."
Note in this Gospel James is picked as leader, not Peter or John ("the disciples whom Jesus loved" in the Gospel of John).
13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."
Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended."
Thomas is put above the other disciples because he has truly become "intoxicated." Note Gnostics don't speak of "sin" and "repentance," but "knowing" and "ignorance." And unlike John, Thomas ("twin") and Jesus are now equals, because Thomas has "become intoxicated from the bubbling spring" Jesus tended. Note, below, that even in this "secret" Gosepl there are secrets too secret for Thomas to tell the other disciples.
And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."
14. Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits.
Another puzzling remark (v. 14) but seeming to oppose church doctrine (Gnostics were anti-church). Gnostics cared only about freeing themselves from this muddy earth and going back to the Light from which they came. Ethics was not a big issue for them.
15. Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father."
V. 15 has more anti-body rhetoric.
17. Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart."
St. Paul: "As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
—1 Corinthians 2:9-10.
18. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come?"
Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is.
That is, the Light from which we came.
Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."
19. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being.
That is, the Light of Genesis, before Creation of the sun, moon, man, woman; that is to come into being before coming into being.
22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom."
They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?"
Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, then you will enter [the kingdom]."
The same idea: two must become one, as before Adam and Eve, to capture the first Light, before sun and moon, etc.
24. His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it."
He said, "There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."
27. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father's) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father."
This is a beautiful idea of what the Sabbath originally meant: a day to rededicate one's self to God; and, according to Thomas, finding the divinity in ourselves. Only when we give up the world (and the world's demands) for at least one day can we do this.
28. Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty."
Created man is "empty" of the Light and may die without knowing the Light (though Gnostics believed in a spark within. This idea survives among Quakers who believe in the "inner light."
29. Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels.
Note the ambiguity here. It can be made orthodox ("straight thinking") by referring to Jesus, the "flesh" that became spirit; or it can be a Gnostic idea: that flesh can never inherit the spirit.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty."
30. Jesus said, "Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one."
31. Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don't cure those who know them."
See Synoptics. As there, the idea seems to be faith: we are healed by people we respect; but we only respect the unfamiliar.
37. His disciples said, "When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?"
Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid."
The idea here seems to return to a sexless infancy; at the very least, giving up the social self before one can find the true self.
39. Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so."
See Synoptics; similar even today, when "educated" people try to control truth.
42. Jesus said, "Be passersby."
The motif of "strangers in a strange land," whcih goes back to Moses, down to (Letter to the) Hebrews, nicely put.
49. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."
V. 49 is a strong Gnostic thought, as is v. 50 below:
50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.'"
51. His disciples said to him, "When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?"
He said to them, "What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it."
Similar to Synoptics and John.
53. His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision useful or not?"
He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect."
A witty rejection of circumcision.
56. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy."
Gnostic rejection of the world, which is "dead" (probably dead in Spirit).
59. Jesus said, "Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see."
Similar to Jesus' escathological parables, such as the Ten Virgins.
60. He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, "that person ... around the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "He will not eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed it and it has become a carcass."
They said, "Otherwise he can't do it."
He said to them, "So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten."
Flesh can only inherit flesh; the eater will be eaten. Only getting away from the world will stop the process of death. But many of these sayings are still puzzling!
61. Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live."
This could refer to the temptations of the flesh. "Two will be on a couch; one will indulge in the flesh (eating, sex) and die, the other will live. Salome questions Jesus on the couch:
Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone."
Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father."
"I am your disciple."
The same dualism again:
"For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."
62. Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries.
"Don't throw pearls before swine." But Gnostics make this into a secret knowing.
64. Jesus said, "Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father."
Jesus tells the parable of the banquet, then ends with v. 64. The point is obvious: people with worldly cares lack dedication to spiritual values.
66. Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone."
From the Psalms and in the synoptics, Peter, etc. One of the key ideas in Christian thought.
67. Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking."
This shows that "knowledge" in Gnosticism is emotional, not intellectual.
70. Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you."
You must have that divine spark within, to save yourself; otherwise, you will be damned.
77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.
Split a piece of wood; I am there.
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
Gnostic ideas similar to John, but different too: for John there is only one "begotten" Son of God; so only one source of divinity.
84. Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!"
This is the divine Light before Adam's creation. Another reading is that the first Creation story showed the creation of true Man and Woman; but the second creation story showed the Creation of Fallen Man, possibly by an evil God; see v. 85 below:
85. Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death."
87. Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two."
Another Gnostic attack on the flesh.
91. They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you."
He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment."
V. 91 might almost be a Zen (Ch'an) saying, like others in this Gospel
97. Jesus said, "The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it. When she reached her house, she discovered it was empty."
This is similar to Buddhism: finding the truth by emptying our minds.
98. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one."
Not in the canonic gospels, but similar to other parables. The following is similar to the parables of readiness (ten virgins, etc.) in the canonic gospels:
103. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive."
105. Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore."
Because our real Father is in Heaven.
106. Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move."
When male and female are both one gender, we will see the Light before the sun and moon were created: the real light.
108. Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."
There is not one son of God (as in John) but as many who "drink" from Jesus' mouth: follow his words.
Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"?
More of Gnostic psychology: the truth is within, making us superior to the world.
112. Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh."
More Gnostic dualism.
[Saying probably added to the original collection at a later date:]
114. Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."
The motif of a non-gendered salvation.
THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
Doubtless one of the major archeological finds of the 20th century; this long-lost Gospel of Judas was found in the 1970s. In it, Judas, instead of being the villain, becomes the hero, helping Jesus to escape his bodily self; the other disciples are misguided. Jesus appears in many forms in t his Gospel, which is therefore also "docetic" (Docetism was a belief that Jesus only seems to be in the flesh; because if Jesus is the Light, how can light share in the evils of the flesh? This is similar to God's appearance as three men [angels] to Abraham, and other such epiphanies or "God appearances" in the Bible.) This Gospel is also odd because Jesus has a mocking tone (laughing at his disciples' errors). This, as many Gnostic gospels, is a very lacunose text ("lacuna" are missing parts); and what remains is puzzling enough, but enough is known about Gnosticism to make sense of it. I have greatly edited all 3 texts in this handout; but serious students are advised to consult the originals of these and other apocrypha, easily available on the Internet.
The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover.Doubtless one of the major archeological finds of the 20th century; this long-lost Gospel of Judas was found in the 1970s. In it, Judas, instead of being the villain, becomes the hero, helping Jesus to escape his bodily self; the other disciples are misguided. Jesus appears in many forms in t his Gospel, which is therefore also "docetic" (Docetism was a belief that Jesus only seems to be in the flesh; because if Jesus is the Light, how can light share in the evils of the flesh? This is similar to God's appearance as three men [angels] to Abraham, and other such epiphanies or "God appearances" in the Bible.) This Gospel is also odd because Jesus has a mocking tone (laughing at his disciples' errors). This, as many Gnostic gospels, is a very lacunose text ("lacuna" are missing parts); and what remains is puzzling enough, but enough is known about Gnosticism to make sense of it. I have greatly edited all 3 texts in this handout; but serious students are advised to consult the originals of these and other apocrypha, easily available on the Internet.
Often [Jesus] did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.
One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he saw his disciples, offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed.
The disciples said to [him], "Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right." He answered and said, "I am not laughing at you. <You> are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised."
Note their God is called "your" God, as if it was not the same as Jesus' God.
They said, "Master, you are […] the son of our god."
Jesus said to them, "How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me."
This mocks apostleship, since they will not "know" who Jesus is. Note below the view that the disciples' God is not the same as Jesus'. (An ellipsis [. . . ] shows lost text.)
When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry. When Jesus saw their lack of [understanding, he said] to them, "Why has this
agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and […] have provoked you to anger [within] your souls. [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face." They all said, "We have the strength." But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.
Judas is the hero among the disciples, able to stand up to Jesus, yet not look him in the face.
Judas [said] to him, "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo [the female part of God]. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you."
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god."
Note that Judas is given a special and secret "knowledge," and a divine task to betray Jesus. He is superior, not inferior, to the others.
The next morning, after this happened, Jesus [appeared] to his disciples again.
They said to him, "Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?" Jesus said to them, "I went to another great and holy generation." His disciples said to him, "Lord, what is the great generation that is holier than us, that is not now in these realms?"
Above, Jesus means he went to the place where eternal Light is. Then he laughs again. Then a statement of strong dualism, saying his disciples will never reach that place, because they are too earthly:
When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them, "Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? [37] Truly [I] say to you, no one born [of] this aeon will see that [generation], and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it. The generation of people among [you] is from the generation of humanity by [which] you rule." When [his] disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit.
Next Jesus mocks the early Christian church. Jesus attacks "their" God and calls their followers "cattle." Note that a "priest" is called a "minister of error."
They [said, "We have seen] a great [house with a large] altar [in it, and] twelve men—they are the priests, we would say—and a name; and a crowd of people is waiting at that altar. And the men who stand [before] the altar invoke your [name]."
Jesus said to them, "[They] have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a shameful manner." Jesus said to them, "Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar—that is who you are. That is the god you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. For to the human generations it has been said, 'Look,
God has received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest'—that is, a minister of error. But it is the Lord, the Lord of the universe, who commands, 'On the last day they will be put to shame.'"
Jesus said, "It is impossible to sow seed on [rock] and harvest its fruit."
Judas said to Jesus, "Look, what will those who have been baptized in your name do?"
Jesus says that in betraying him, Judas will be greater than all the other disciples. To "sacrifice the man that clothes me" means that Jesus is trapped in mortal flesh; Judas is doing him a favor by releasing him. This is similar to Shakespeare's Richard III sarcastically saying that by murdering his brother Clarence he will be helping him by sending him to Heaven. Gnostics believed in guiding stars; here Jesus says that Judas' star leads the way. Judas embraces his destiny by entering the cloud:
Jesus said, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars
surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star."
Judas lifted up his eyes and saw the luminous cloud, and he entered it.
The Gospel ends on Judas' betrayal (not the crucifixion or resurrection) because this is the fulfillment Jesus was waiting for as part of the divine plan:
They [Jewish priests and scribes] approached Judas and said to him, "What are you doing here? You are Jesus' disciple." Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some money and handed him over
to them.
Thomas' Account of the Infancy of the Lord
As a child I used to love reading special issues of Superman comics showing Superman as a child, called Superboy and the problems a super boy might find. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is similar, showing Jesus as a child, doing mischief. Here are some examples below:4. After that He was again passing through the village; and a boy ran up against Him, and struck His shoulder. And Jesus was angry, and said to him: You shall not go back the way you came. And immediately he fell down dead. And some who saw what had taken place, said: Whence was this child begotten, that every word of his is certainly accomplished? And the parents of the dead boy went away to Joseph, and blamed him, saying: Since you have such a child, it is impossible for you to live with us in the village; or else teach him to bless, and not to curse: for he is killing our children.
5. And Joseph called the child apart, and admonished Him, saying: Why do you do such things, and these people suffer, and hate us, and persecute us? And Jesus said: I know that these words of yours are not your own; nevertheless for your sake I will be silent; but they shall bear their punishment. And straightway those that accused Him were struck blind. And those who saw it were much afraid, and said about Him: Every word which he spoke, whether good or bad, was an act, and became a wonder. And when they saw that Jesus had done such a thing, Joseph rose and took hold of His ear, and pulled it hard. And the child was very angry, and said to him: It is enough for you to seek, and not to find; and most certainly you have not done wisely. Do you not know that I am yours? Do not trouble me.
8. And . . . the child laughed aloud, and said: I am here from above, that I may curse them, and call them to the things that are above, as He that sent me on your account has commanded me. And when the child ceased speaking, immediately all were made whole who had fallen under His curse. And no one after that dared to make Him angry, lest He should curse him, and he should be maimed.
9. And some days after, Jesus was playing in an upper room of a certain house, and one of the children that were playing with Him fell down from the house, and was killed. And, when the other children saw this, they ran away, and Jesus alone stood still. And the parents of the dead child coming, reproached…and they threatened Him. And Jesus leaped down from the roof, and stood beside the body of the child, and cried with a loud voice, and said: Zeno—for that was his name—stand up, and tell me; did I throw you down? And he stood up immediately, and said: Certainly not, my lord; you did not throw me down, but hast raised me up. And those that saw this were struck with astonishment. And the child's parents glorified God on account of the miracle that had happened, and adored Jesus.
10. A few days after, a young man was splitting wood in the corner,and the axe came down and cut the sole of his foot in two, and he died from loss of blood. And there was a great commotion, and people ran together, and the child Jesus ran there too. And He pressed through the crowd, and laid hold of the young man's wounded foot, and he was cured immediately. And He said to the young man: Rise up now, split the wood, and remember me. And the crowd seeing what had happened, adored the child, saying: Truly the Spirit of God dwells in this child.
13. And His father was a carpenter, and at that time made ploughs and yokes. And a certain rich man ordered him to make him a couch. And one of what is called the cross pieces being too short, they did not know what to do. The child Jesus said to His father Joseph: Put down the two pieces of wood, and make them even in the middle. And Joseph did as the child said to him. And Jesus stood at the other end, and took hold of the shorter piece of wood, and stretched it, and made it equal to the other.
As with previous exams, your FINAL ESL EXAM will consist of 3 sections, Listening, Vocabulary, and Oral sections.The second part will take the vocabulary lists from various in-class speaking assignments as part of the quiz.
The final part will be an individual oral quiz based on the ten questions posted in this blog.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
There is a straight line from biblical prophecy, such as Amos, Isaiah, and Hosea to contemporary protest songs, beginning with Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan, down to the present hip-hop artists. Dylan's warning that "the answer is blowing in the wind" can be traced back to Hosea's: "They sow the wind and reap the whirlind" (8:7) and other such prophecies of judgment for social injustices.
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