learning — Seminary Stowaways

The Bible Mafia

Today we’re talking about Bible translations. What if I told you that there is a person standing between you and the pure, unadulterated Word of God. No, it’s not Satan. It’s the translator. And also maybe the committee that commissioned the translator. If that sounds weird to you, don’t worry it sounded weird to me too. I mean, a translator just looks at an old manuscript and copies into another language the words that are there, right? Maybe. But what if there is no English equivalent for that word, or what if punctuation is missing!? What then? And it begs the bigger question of how do we decide which translations are most trustworthy and which ones are just rubbish! We’ll get into all that on today's episode.

Articles:
https://www.seminary.edu/bible-politics-and-theological-bias/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2014/10/01/the-politics-of-bible-translations/

Wesleyan Quadrilateral:

http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/wesleyan-quadrilateral

Ben Stuart’s Sermon:

https://faithbridge.org/sermon/is-the-bible-corrupted/

God Said Nap

Welcome aboard, Stowaways, to the eighth episode of Seminary Stowaways, where we make the lively discussion of the seminary classroom accessible to everyone. Today we’re talking about Sundays. Or, Saturdays, if you want to be really-hard core. The Sabbath. The most ignored commandment, and in my mind, kind of the weirdest. It hardly seems to have the same urgency as “Do not murder”. It’s for people who make their own schedules and enjoy leisurely mimosa-brunches on Saturday. Not for people who wake up to children jumping on their faces or who are SERVING brunch on Saturday. In this episode, Luann walks us through an exploration of the Hebrew roots of Sabbath and explains the difference between keeping the Sabbath and embracing Sabbath-keeping practices. And that un-relenting business of life that make a day of rest seem both unattainable and lazy? Well, we get to the bottom of that too.

Blind Date

Lectio Divina, is an approach to scripture that focuses on presence and listening rather than study. It’s an ancient practice, but it’s seen a resurgence in recent days, and has actually stirred up a bit of Controversy within Christian circles. What is all the fuss? Well, stick around and we’ll unpack it all together.

God Is Like a Hot Dog

Where do spiritual disciplines come from and why are they such a central and challenging part of the Christian faith? What exactly are they? Can we opt out? Make up our own? Luann shares what she’s been learning about spiritual practices in seminary. Don’t miss it, Stowaways!