This was the first class to address a specific genre of the Bible. This first two genres we will be covering are narrative texts. Addressing these texts faithfully without resorting to character analysis is a constant struggle for readers. 

PDF Notes

Class Review

Our class discussion began after the lecture. There were many good discussions. We talked about the historical events before Noah leading to the flood. A proper understanding of the "sons of God" to be the line of Seth can have a tremendous impact on how we view God's judgment for holiness pollution. We also looked briefly at the typology represented in the sons of Adam and Eve: Cain the false Israel that murders Christ and Seth the faithful offspring which is the Church.

We also had an interesting continuation of Ruth as a Gentile. The questions of true Jewish purification were interesting. I do believe it is safe to say that the marriage of Ruth was permissible because she was now "a Jew". But since that is a theological consideration and not straight from the text, we shouldn't let that stop us from digging deeper. 

The story of the ark and Nehemiah's wall were both seen from prophetic and typological eyes.  There were certainly some very practical things that went overlooked in our discussion.