This week’s focus situation is messier than the example from last week, because this week it’s a series of short video clips that portray or “re-present” the Bible in some way. There are many ways your small group might want to engage this focus. If you can’t quite figure out where you want to start, or how to work the cluster questions, please don’t hesitate to email me!

There was certainly a lot of variety in these clips, and we agreed that most of them were geared toward adults, with Veggie Tales being the obvious exclusion, and the Simpsons sitting on the border of child/adult. It also seems that sometimes judging between explicit/implicit/null is not totally concrete and can vary depending on one’s perspective, to a certain extent. Now I’ll focus on each clip.

Clip One: We felt this clip had explicit learning in the point the scholars make that historical fact does not agree with what the Bible says. Implicit learning is similar but starker, asserting that the Bible is wrong, inaccurate, or unreliable. Null learning would be in the way they are using such specific details to ‘prove’ the Bible inaccurate, claiming, even though it isn’t mentioned, that the Bible is meant to function at least partly as a historical treatise. This relates to the stage of learning associated with high school age where one struggles with testing one’s faith out in the world without that foundational support and struggling with what is literal, what is symbolic, and what matters most.

Clip Two: Explicit lessons would be moral ones, related to not taking things from others, especially when you have plenty. Another explicit message is that the Bible’s messages are good and true. An implicit message would be not to judge others before you look at yourself, and also could be of guilt. Or maybe one or both of those is null, sorry I am not sure it’s totally clear there. This clip was easiest, it seemed, to classify with a stage, because it is obviously geared toward children. The use of simplified language and humor, the slower pace of the whole thing, caters perfectly to the developmental levels of young children.

Clip Three: An explicit lesson is for people to stand up for what they believe in, even if they are the only one. An implicit lesson is leaving the church rather than fixing it. A null lesson is that everyone can be bought, even pastors. In terms of stages this clip has a sense of justice, from the 7-8 year old range, and from the 11-12 year old range we see Lisa trying to define herself over and against authority and convention.

Clip Four: Explicit learning is in the idea that it is okay and acceptable to sing religious songs in a secular environment. Implicit learning is in the appearance that worship songs must be sung by a group, and should include robed gospel choirs. Null learning might be that even singing worship songs in a secular setting is ok if it is done by the ‘right’ people or ‘cool’ people. The learning stage this most reflects is the junior high stage, where life is about cliques and being in with the right people and making fun of the ‘wrong’ crowd.

Clip Five: This one I think had the most disagreement. One person saw explicit learning as Christians have to watch what they say. Another saw explicit denouncement of ‘right-wing’ evangelical Christianity. One person saw implicit learning as Christians are full of hate and judgmental and that we can pick and choose scripture to fit our own agenda. Another saw ‘all Christians are like James Dobson’ as implicit. Another saw implicit support for a more ‘reasoned’ for of Christianity (or at least not outright denouncement of it). Null learning was related to lack of endorsement for Christianity by one, and that Christians don’t really know what they’re talking about so do what you want by another. The stage of development associated with this one is high school/young adult because there is a challenge to beliefs and opinions that are often formed in those years.

Clip Six: Explicit learning is present when the man tells River that the Bible is about faith and believing in God. Implicit learning is that the Bible doesn’t always make rational sense, and holding onto the pages marks that struggle. Null learning here is when someone doesn’t understand the Bible or is struggling with faith one should take it from them and show them how they are wrong. This clip also represents the high school stage, as River is about that age and she is struggling with concrete vs. symbolic and how to fit faith and reason together.

Clip Seven: Explicit learning is about faith trusting God’s promise. Implicit learning is that faith often means persecution and difficulty, and Christians in other countries have more experience with that. A null lesson could be that someone such as the President can have a say on one’s faithfulness and depth of Christian nature. The stage here begins in the teen years but really extends through the rest of our life. It involves “the growth of our personal consciousness out of both the memorization of fact into true belief, and the growth of our self absorption into communion with our peers.”

Greetings classmates! Overall, our group enjoyed watching the video clips and felt they all had something thoughtful to say about the Bible and faith from a historical perspective.

Clip 1: Appears to be a historical-critical view of the Bible, perhaps in search of the historical Jesus. It tells a piece of what the Jewish community of the 1^st century might have been like, according to archeological evidence.
Clip 2 (Veggie Tales): Is a Biblical paraphrase of Solomon, applied directly to the character’s life.
Clip 3 (The Simpsons): is about a church that sells out – a corrupt pastor and congregation don’t mind having ridiculous gimmicks in the church. The hyperbole makes the church selling itself out so absurd that it’s supposed to force the viewer to think about what church actually means. Lisa is the devout follower who stands up to corruption. This idea could be a satire of the prosperity gospel. In the “Simpson’s” clip, the current and past church is represented using the church of today to look a lot like the Temple during Christ’s life.
Clip 4 (American Idol): The American Idol contestants sing “Shout to the Lord.” In viewing this clip in a historical context, we wondered if the contestants were actually Christian – and we suspected that the producers of American Idol were probably trying to appeal more to the Christian audience, which could turn some people off.
Clip 5 (John Stewart): This clip poked fun at Bush and made fun of God for being on the side of conservatives.
Clip 6: The girl wants to make the Bible make sense. Her history is not one engaged with the Bible, and as she encounters it now for the first time, it doesn’t make sense with what she already knows. The other character’s history contrasts with hers, as he has a deep history of faith.
Clip 7 (West Wing): The man claims seeks refuge from his country based on his Christian beliefs. The president clearly has an experience of the facts of religion, but not the faith. The man, on the other hand, has a history both of faith and with the scripture and facts. This story represents the history of victimization of Christians and what is endured by cultures that seek to diminish any presence of Christian faith.  The message being justified by faith is clearly given in this clip.

The clips were brought forward differently by each creator, perhaps as one group member suggested because it represented the issues that were being addressed at the time the video was produced. The seven video clips are quite interesting and unique in their approach to preaching or telling what the producer sees as a story of God that he/she wants their audience to see. In the first clip, the video does a good job of giving simple facts to set up the potential challenges to Jesus’ birth location, perhaps a viewer would get more information out of the clip if they had some Biblical/historical knowledge. However, in the second clip, a segment of a “Veggie Tales” movie, young children with very little knowledge could get a lesson out of the clip, without having any prior knowledge/history to engage them; in the third clip, if you are not familiar with church and take a comical look at some of the actions done by the character “Mr. Burns”, then there was concern that a viewer could walk away with thinking this was all that church was about and not see the comical/sarcastic commentary that is really happening.

One group member said that as a person who loves it when faith is talked about in the secular world, she was okay with the messages given of God in the video clips.  However, many people who are not part of organized religion think that what is being portrayed in the John Stewart clip is what most churches believe and act.

What learning emerges from history? In these seven clips, one group member saw seven different lessons that can be done regarding what is said/done in these movie clips. Obviously when the Simpson or Comedy Central clip are played, one would want to challenge what is said and have a further discussion. One group member, who is a former television and documentary producer, noted that a producer assumes their audience, in general, doesn’t have more than the basic knowledge – is that enough in viewing these seven different clips?

One group member felt that someone would get a lot more out of the clips if they already had a foundation of Bible and faith when they viewed the clips. Another group member said that in general, we can use our history, both corporate and individual, in order to make decisions and create our sense of self. All of the video clips had elements that an educational leader would want to challenge and shape in a different direction.

Using Mary Boys’ grid of questions, we saw that the messages of these clips speak both about faith and what it is to be religious.  The message given of the church, which is often what is thought to be religion, is not favorable.  Both the Simpsons and Stewart representations are negative.  But the message of faith is given through the messages of “The West Wing” and the little girl of the Simpsons, as well as the “River Tam” clip.  In all of these clips, it’s faith alone that is most important part of being a Child of God.

Answering the second question of Boys, “What does it seem to mean to educate in faith?’, one group member looks to the area of Knowledge.  In ”West Wing” and “River Tam”, as well as the “Simpsons”, it’s the depth of knowing that springs forth the doing.  It is the basic understanding of what the Bible says, looking at it with open innocence, that these people represented were able to do.

Another group member was struck by Boy’s question regarding the goal of education and what the producers of the video were trying to accomplish. And another group member responded that to be religious is to have faith in something, which cannot be proven and to also have that faith flow into actions. Without either, one is not religious. As she stated, to educate in faith is to teach a person about the history of faith as well about personal discipline or discipleship…and it requires that one guide the person in experience of the religious.

What is the most important learning goal of the educational leader? Understanding the history of those who are teaching and receiving the teaching is important.  Where the teacher is coming from and what is being taught is important. As well, based on their contribution what is the receiver learning. And we need to remember that history repeats itself, from Biblical to present times.

This week the videos displayed many different rituals with in not only our secular culture, but also our Christian culture.  Below are many of the different rituals we saw as a group, this list is taken specifically from one of our group members post in our small group, many of these were also described in other posts.

Beliefs challenged –

Jesus born in Nazareth instead of Bethlehem

Hotbed politically

Urban area with cosmopolitan Greek or Roman life

Rituals/Symbols

Story telling of Rich Man/ Poor Man and the lamb

Money Lenders in Church

Praying for sick

Last Supper pictures

Advertising in church

Jumbo tran in worship

Calling everyone in this store (instead of church)

Jesus with lasso to bring people in

Dissenter challenging church – blasphemous, Whore of Babylon, prophetic

Burning Bush

Could God be a swing vote?

Standing in a pulpit with a cross

Revival Meeting

Quoting scripture – Old Testament

Each side quoting scripture to make their particular political point

Distorting the Bible to fit agenda

Reference to Lot’s wife/pillar of salt

Sharing Food

House church

Baptism (referred to)

Sharing Bible – reading God’s word in community

Singing hymns

Saying Lord’s prayer

Proclaiming Jesus as head of their church

Parish head being beaten and imprisoned – martyrdom

Naming apostles

Belief statement vs trying to prove Christianity through recitation of facts

Faith as wholehearted acceptance

Singing praise songs

Choir in robes

Hands raised in worship

Bible reading

Questioning  the Bible

Tearing apart the Bible

Importance of faith

Our discussion question was what are people learning from these different rituals within the Christian context and are they good or bad or both?  Overall our group discussed the importance of learning the different rituals in our context.  It helps connect us to our past and history, it’s a comfortable starting point for familiarity, and it can push us to dig deeper.

On the other hand our group also commented on how sometimes in being too comfortable we lose sight of the meaning behind the rituals.  Some of our congregation members really have no idea why we do some of the things we do.  Although as Mary talked about in the video this week, there is a fine line in trying to define everything we do and putting a reason behind it, at times it is good to define why we do things.  This could help others become closer to God through their understanding of rituals.

Overall our group thought the important educational goal of rituals overall was to hold on to the rituals and at the same time to bring some understanding to why they are important.  On an individual level and communal level in our churches.  Also to be honest with the grey and messy areas of our understanding of both rituals and of God and faith.  And lastly, to be able to connect the information in our head to what is in our heart, so it becomes more than a ritual out of habit, but a ritual out of knowing and understanding.

This week we were provided with seven film clips from popular culture.    We felt it was an intriguing way to gauge how people see the bible and the church.   It’s important for us to look at popular culture because in many ways this is their first and only encounter with God’s Word and scripture.   We also thought that each clip could give ideas on how to use popular culture in teaching to make it more fun and relevant.

We were charged to look at each clip from the view point of assessment this week.   Our discussion was divided clip by clip.    Each clip had different insights and our summary will also break it down by clip.

Clip #1:   This clip was a historical account contrasting history and science with scriptures.    This clip shows explanation from the Rubric for the 6 facets of understanding.  In looking at Jane Vella’s MI List of Verbs, I found the engagement of logical – (reason, compare, contrast,) and Bloom’s table of verbs pointed to Cognitive (solve, analyze, examine, contrast, identify, define, etc).  It seemed like the clip was challenging the Bible.  Words that were chosen illustrate this like ” the Gospels claimed”, “what is being claimed”, and the verb “challenges.”  One challenge from this clip is it seemed prejudicial and painted the Bible as being inaccurate.   The clip seemed to only show one view point and not take into account how the Bible is read today, and whether or not we take historical findings into account.   We also found that despite the difficulties it helped viewers see a different perspective by showing the historical background.   There were also parallels with modern times that may help some get a deeper understanding.

Clip #2:   This clip was a song from Veggie Tales which was a very visual representation including a “flannel graph.”    This showed application from the Rubric of the 6 facets of understanding.   Some of the verbs that describe the clip from Bloom’s list are demonstrate, illustrate and identify.   The telling of the story needed to be from a trusted source and have a sound relationship with the viewer.   One could use it to identify your knowledge of the story.  The facial expressions from Larry the Cucumber where telling like his excitement looking at the other king’s yard, and the sadness and disgust when he found that not only did the other king take the poor man’s sheep – but he was that king.   It seemed that the illustration with the “flannel graph” seemed to help Larry better understand the situation and will help children to better understand the story.  A major drawback of this style of teaching the Bible is it can be seen as a “moralistic measuring stick.”

Clip #3:   A clip from “The Simpsons” where the church was rebuilt and made into a gaudy commercial parody of itself.   The church as another consumer marketing institution, one that needs to allow for a “full experience” does touch on the visual and musical MI list of verbs.   The rubric for the 6 facets of understanding places this clip into the Perspective category.   Some of us thought that while this was a parody, in some cases our desire for entertainment, to make the next big program, and to attract more people is a little too close to the truth in some churches.  Homer even says “everyone in the store is watching you” to Lisa which shows he isn’t thinking of it as a church.  One aspect of this that was positive in this clip is Lisa’s desire to be in an authentic community.    We can take from this clip how someone would feel if they were seeking a community and it wasn’t the way it should be.

Clip #4:   This is a clip of “Shout to the Lord” from American Idol.   This clip illustrates the interpretation category on the 6 Facets of Understanding.    The consensus was that this seemed to be superficial while it tried to be empathic it fell short.   Whether or not the signers felt the holy spirit doesn’t matter some of us could feel it coming from the song despite the superficial tones.    It made the gospel seem like it could only be sung in one way with “robed signers.”   We thought what if someone saw it with different expectations like it wasn’t just a performance – could God speak to some one from American Idol?  

Clip #5:   This is a clip from “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.    This clip beautifully embodies all of the “verbal” verbs on the MI list.  He reports, paraphrases, writes, jokes, creates, labels, recites, listens, lists, and retells.   The consensus on 6 Facets of Understanding was under the empathy section(or lack there of) in the egocentric subsection.  Through satire Jon shows a perspective that points to the Bible being used by evangelicals – and implies – Republicans – to fit their agenda. Here the Gospel is being used as a pawn in a political arena.   This shows a hypocrisy that may turn people off from the Bible since it seems like it can be interpreted in any way.   Also people will be coming into the church expecting all pastors and religious leaders to act like the ones on “The Daily Show”, which means we have our work cut out for us.

Clip #6:    A clip from either “Firefly” or the movie based on it “Serenity”.  In this clip we see River trying to make corrections to the bible, and the “Sheppard” telling her “you can’t fix faith”.   .   This clip demonstrates Explanation and Perspective on 6 Facets of Understanding.     One of Vella’s principles of sound relationship is demonstrated here.   The claim about believing in “something” is problematic as it would seem to us that we could then just pick anything and say I believe in it.  One of the quotes that struck us was not just “You can’t fix faith” but “it fixes you.”   It’s clear that some would come to the church having a hard time with some of stories in the Bible and want to fix them like River.   And it’s clear from this clip that some would say believing in something is enough.  River maybe had the wrong ideas at first it seemed that she desired to remain engaged and so can those that come to the church.

Clip #7:   A clip from the “West Wing.”   This clip demonstrates the Self-Knowledge facet from the 6 Facets of Understanding. Here we find a man who seeks religious asylum and powerfully proclaims the Gospel message. The message is pure and simple. The one who speaks the message is humble.  The way in which the dialogue was presented between the two men shows the self-knowledge and also humbly presents his knowledge and shows he understands the perspectives of others.    It seemed to resonate as Lutheran “whole-hearted acceptance of God’s promise for a better world and that man is justified by faith alone.”   It seems like someone may come into the church not knowing that they know some Lutheran concepts.

This week Group 2 looked at the Bible. Certainly the media can either be the Bible’s worst enemy or its best friend as we can see in the clips that were chosen. Let’s start with the worst enemy clips.  In the first clip it talked about Jesus in the Gospels, however it was portraying Jesus and the New Testament as merely a historical thing. The words used by those interviewed seemed to indicate that archeologists find that Bible to be historical inaccurate. This ideal can cause great turmoil for those with a wavering faith and it can also cement a person’s reason to be atheist/agnostic. This pointing out of the inaccuracies of the Bible without examining faith or belief really is a horrible idea. The Bible isn’t an historical textbook or a great fantasy story. No, it is the living Word of God and if it isn’t approached in that way there can be great discrepancies within the historical criticism route. Further, if you are not a historical criticism scholar or taken a Bible class in college there is the possibility of a person blinding following this type of media since it seems to be educational and thereby, people take it as fact. It probably was broadcast on the History Channel which, if that was the case doesn’t make it any better. Further, as it was pointed out in our discussion that about around 16 seconds, there was a sharp break to an unnamed historical expert who was dressed in a smart red tie and was speaking clear English. He began to cast doubt on the “familiar account” starting with the logical confrontation that Jesus was probably born four years before the calendar based on his birth. The clip goes on in its discrediting of the Gospel account where it states that Jesus was probably born and grew up around Nazareth, not in Bethlehem like it is written in Luke 2.

Clip 5 is another that is an enemy of the Bible. He is sitting there mocking the Bible and then shows clips of our new president bashing a part of Leviticus where as up holding another section. He talks about how in Leviticus slavery is ok and how eating shellfish is not ok. In the clip Obama is taking the Bible out of context to prove his political agenda points. Further, it is shown a man that is not a pastor at all speaking in regards to the Obama’s statements and John Stewart bashes his attempt at explaining it. John claims God as an overseer of the world who endorses candidates certain candidates, like George W. Bush. He also puts up a picture of a burning bush which is directly linked to Exodus when God speaks to Moses.  He even puts down McCain saying that he probably won’t be endorsed due to his divorces and things of that nature. John also goes on to say that McCain is “not as tough on the gays as Jesus would have hoped.” John even notes that Obama is a Christian and that his campaign rallies have “the air of a revival.” He even asks the audience which candidate will get God’s vote as if God is voting. John ends his religious/political bashing by saying that this shows, therefore, according to everything Scripture is only a tool to get what you want. This is merely, as Dean put it opin-u-tainment. However, this is dangerous because so many people do watch this show and take his ranting for truths. Many younger people use it as their news source. If they are hearing that the Bible is merely a tool to get elected then again, they won’t take the Bible seriously and may never look at it at all.

However clips 2, 6, and 7 were what we would deem the Bible’s best friend. Clip 2 is a great way to introduce children to the word. This story was the one found in the Old Testament when the prophet Nathan confronts David about Bathsheba. However, it is done in a way to show the lesson of this story – to not be greedy for you hurt others. This is a lesson that children should get out of the story and in this media they get it. Each of these clips really took the Bible and tried to use media as a way to show the theological understandings of the Bible. That faith is needed when reading the Bible. As we see in clip 6 when River is trying to fix the Bible and she is told that we don’t fix the Bible, the Bible fixes us. This is a key idea that many people miss and the fact that it was portrayed in a media that everyone accesses it helps those that are questioning or wandering to look at the Bible in this new light. We thought that 2 Timothy 3:16 could be a point of agreement with this segment. Also, on West Wing when the President was grilling the Chemist about being a Christian, he told the President that it wasn’t about answering the questions it was about the faith. He really witnesses to the story of Christ and that is the real world application of the Bible. Can you witness to it?

Some clips we were on the fence about, like clips 3 and 4. The Simpsons is a satire of American society, but this clip could be perceived as a negative connotation about what is occurring in churches around the country. It gives the notion that churches are just becoming purely commercial. It did parallel the Bible – we see the story of where Christ comes into the Temple and there are money changers and booths, when there shouldn’t be. Lisa’s outburst about it and her statement of never coming back could be perceived to someone as the way to approach problems in their own church. It also could cement someone’s reason for never going. The idea that the Bible and the church is commercial is not one that sits well with people. In clip 4 it could also be seen this way. Indeed the song is beautiful, powerful, and echoes theological ideas that we find in the Bible. However, it could also be seen as a way to sell the show and their soon to be recordings. Since it is a contest should a song such as this one be used? It could give the connotation that American Idol only wants to boost ratings and record sales by catering to the Christian community without really having any Christian ideals or aspects about it. The word Idol goes against what God laid down in the Ten Commandments. The singing of the song on a show called American IDOL is a bit of an oxymoron and could cause outrage and disgust against the Bible. However, some people really like listening to Christian music and could find this enlightening and uplifting. Especially if someone has never stepped into a church before they might be interested after listening to this song.

Overall, some clips were the Bible’s worst enemy, best friend, or just on the fence – it could have gone either way. The trouble with media is the fact that people take it for pure truth and if the Bible is shown in a negative connotation then there is the possibility of it having a negative backlash against it all.