Pastor David’s recorded Lenten Bible Study began on Ash Wednesday, February 17th and will continue through Wednesday, April 7th. Many are joining this journey by turning to our website each Wednesday when a new session is added. We ask hard questions about the origins of scripture, the distinction between fact and belief, and how biblical characters and writers viewed Jesus. We are having fun with Peter, Paul, and Mary: both the 1960’s folk group by that name and also Simon Peter, Paul the apostle, and Mary Magdalene.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Wednesday, March 3rd: Simon Peter was a Jewish Apocalypticist. He believed that God had revealed in Jesus the heavenly secrets that would make sense of the pain and uncertainty of life. God would break into our world at any moment to rescue his chosen ones. Why didn’t the rescue occur? What does that mean for us?
Wednesday, March 10th: Paul the apostle was a marketer. His product was Jesus and Jesus’ message. Like the 1960’s folk group, the message needed a manager and an advertising firm … that was Paul. Of the thirteen books claimed to be authored by Paul in your New Testament, which ones actually were?
Wednesday, March 17th: The unity of the early church is a myth. Peter and Paul did not see eye to eye on just about anything. The song “If I Had A Hammer” would have been a good tool to use literally with these two. How did they differ? Who won out? The answer determined what you think about Jesus today.
Wednesday, March 24th: Who was Mary Magdalene? Why is so little written about her? Was she married to Jesus? Do you believe the early church propaganda that she was a prostitute? How did she view Jesus?
Wednesday, March 31st: During Holy Week we follow Jesus to the cross. Why are the passion narratives in the four Gospels different? What really happened? Why do we refer to the books as “gospels” rather than “histories?” What is a theological retelling?
Wednesday, April 7th: Mary was present at the empty tomb. Was Jesus resurrected bodily or spiritually? Was Mary, a female, the first Christian missionary who headed to France? Why didn’t that make it into your Bible? So as this study concludes, what do you think of Jesus?
Listen each Wednesday — with a Bible in hand — here on our St. James website:
https://stjamespdx.org/communications/bible-study
