Exodus 32-34

Please read Exodus 32-34.  How do the main stories here (the Gold Calf story and Moses in the "cleft of the rock") tie in to the theme of Exodus as part of one of the finest of all law codes and something more than just a law code?  What does the writer here suggest about the way religious worship is tied to questions of law and justice?  What's attractive about Golden Calf worship?  Why is it a danger to building a just society?

Exodus--Discussion I

Please read my Exodus study questions and then Chapters 1-20 of Exodus.

Your third midterm study question asks you to address the idea that Exodus is an example of the Torah being the finest law code that the ancient world produced because it is more than just a law code.  We finally will get to "statute" law in Exodus, but, first, we've got 20 chapters that give more background to the law.  Please comment here on one or two things you see in these chapters that strike you as particularly important as background to a law code or things that show the Torah to be something more than just a law code.

Genesis 25-50

"Torah" can rightly translated as "law," but the Torah is a lot more than just rules and regulations. "Torah" might also be translated as "rule," "instruction," or "principle," and it is sometimes useful to think of the Torah as simply "the way," i.e., instruction on the way we ought to live our lives.

Please read (or at least skim through) the stories in Genesis 25-50. Which of these stories do you find most interesting? In what way does this story give as an example of the way we ought (or ought not) to live our lives?

Remember that on the midterm study guide, I've listed FGS I, FGS II, and FGS III as potential ID's.  FGS = Favorite Genesis Story.  You can use the story you pick out (or one of the stories other students comment on) for "FGS" ID's.

Genesis Discussion II

"Torah" can rightly translated as "law," but the Torah is a lot more than just rules and regulations. "Torah" might also be translated as "rule," "instruction," or "principle," and it is sometimes useful to think of the Torah as simply "the way," i.e., instruction on the way we ought to live our lives.

Please read through as much as you can of the lives of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 11-25). In what ways do the lives of these two figures reflect "torah" in the latter sense? Cite one of the stories in this section where either Sarah or Abraham seems to you a particularly good example of how we ought (or ought not) to live our lives.

On the midterm study guide, I've listed FGS I, FGS II, and FGS III as potential ID's.  FGS = Favorite Genesis Story.  You can use the story you pick out (or one of the stories other students comment on) for "FGS" ID's.

Genesis 1-11

Please read through my Genesis Study Questions and then read Chapters 1-11 of Genesis. I am more concerned with the quality of your reading than the quantity, and if this material is difficult for you, I'd much prefer that you read carefully the first four or five chapters than struggle though the whole assignment.  If you are familiar with this material and find it relatively easy, read through the whole thing.

Once you've read the assignment, pick out a key verse from the assigned chapters and do one of the following:

1. Explain why you think this verse the key to understanding what the selection is about.
2. Explain why you think this verse is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.
3. Explain why you think this verse is the most difficult/hard to understand in the passage.

If you would prefer, you can take whatever study question you find the most interesting and add your answer to that question here.