A 24 oz coffee & a 24, oz Rockstar are exactly the things that will be getting me through these exam questions:
(These are only the essays I have chosen to answer–thank goodness we were given options–this list doesn’t include the entire set.)
Essay A. (30 points) The canonization of the Bible is considered by the ordinary reader–if he thinks of it at all–as little more than a cut-and-dried matter with no real significance and small relevance to an understanding of the book as a whole. Discuss fully how, on the contrary, real grasp of the process of canonization does affect one’s view of the Bible. You will of course need some dates (or at least a sense of chronology) and you should support your arguments by references to specific books in the Old (and its component parts) and New Testament and the Apocrypha. On the other hand you should not attempt to trace every minute detail of the story of canonization or mention every book. In showing the significance of the process, however, your answer will in a sense reveal your comprehension of the entire course. In essence, within this question, you are being asked what we have in the Bible (and don’t have), when did we first have it, why did we have it, and how does it matter to the Bible’s readers?
Essay B. (20 points) Of all the gospels Luke is usually regarded as the finest from a literary point of view. Make clear what you take to be its claims to exceptional worth. Be systematic and thorough.
Essay C. (20 points) Suppose you are a teacher in a third world country and that a fire has just destroyed the entire school library. You want to introduce the principles of literature to a group of students to whom no book is available except the Bible (as we have read it in this course). What could you or would you do with what it offers? Organize plausibility and draw illustrations from all relevant materials.
Essay D. (20 points) Imagine a scale labeled “Simple Religious Piety” at one end and “Sophisticated Intellectual Skepticism” at the other. Where on this scale would you put Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes? Consider them visa vis the scale and also vis a vis each other. Whatever your answer may be, it will be effective only if your argument is supported by appropriate details presented persuasively.
EXTRA CREDIT: I gather a few of you had previously approached the Bible from the point of view taken in this course. With appropriate illustrations discuss several–perhaps four or five–aspects of the book which are now, even if not earlier, a significant part of your understanding of the Bible. I do not refer to particular details–for example, that Saul was the first king of the Jews or that Jonah probably was not actually swallowed by a whale–but to large or pervasive elements, e.g. perhaps what is most challenging, most moving, most curious, or unexpected, most profound, or whatever you like. You may consider matters of history, philosophy, literature, or whatever you have found enlightening or important.
Urghhhh!
Yes, I am the jackass that suggested it be a take home! Another best-worst idea of mine for the record books! I’m sure my classmates would rather throw a drink at me than take me out for one.
