Mark's Gospel on Stage

Gospel of Mark, performed on stage, entirely from memory.

Speechless.

The (koine) Greek Alphabet Song

This uses the Erasmus pronunciation (and boy did this get a lot of flak in the comments) but it's catchy enough that I can sing it to my toddler who seems to enjoy it alongside his A-B-C-s

It would be nice if the graphic can also include the capital letters but I learned yesterday that capital letters are only used at the beginning of paragraphs, at the beginning of direct speech, at the beginning of proper nouns (names, etc)

Coursera.Org Berklee's College of Music courses (Start 19 July 2013)

I've signed up for the Songwriting course by Pat Pattison and Jazz Improvisation course by great jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton.

The songwriting course references the following book "Writing Better Lyrics" written by none other than Pat himself.

Both courses start 19 July 2013 and will run for 6 weeks.  Wish me luck!

The "Mark of Cain"

I've been wondering why a mark was placed upon Cain rather than he getting his just desserts.

After Cain was found guilty, he was surprisingly 'protected' by God.  God had placed a mark upon him which was more of a warning or deterrent to others not to kill him. 

Remember those old Western flicks where murderers had their "mugshot" on posters with  a Reward $2000 Wanted: Dead of Alive" sign on it?    That did not happen here.  With Cain, what he got doesn't seem fair and is a gross injustice to the murdered Abel.  Thus, I wasn't too happy with Cain getting away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

However, Christopher Wright in "Old Testament Ethics for the People of God" opines that Cain was :

"...put under divine protection lest he himself become the victim of spiraling violence.  The mark upon Cain is not punitive but protective."

According to Wright, the Fall "meant the disordering of human society" with the "Genesis narratives rapidly portray the corrupting of all social relationships around which human life is structured."  He goes on to make three (3) points:

1. The fundamental relationship within marriage is twisted...the relationship degenerates into one of harsh domination and lust.
2. All derivative relationships are correspondingly debased, by spirals of jealousy, anger, violence and vengeance (Gen 4).
3. The whole race is characterized by wickedness and evil (Gen 6:5)

Thus, the story of Cain and Abel is part of the undoing of Creation, where there is Disorder to what God has ordered in Creation.  The sad case of the brothers "...illustrate the accumulating disorder within human society, starting at the very place where love and support should be strongest-between brothers".

God wanted to put a stop to the cycle of violence and disorder.  As Wright quotes Marshall, "In the story of Cain we see a legal order appearing. Penalties are established for Cain's murder of Abel but Cain in turn is not left to suffer anarchy.  A legal order is established with penalties and this order incorporates Cain and anyone who seeks revenge on him... The 'mark of Cain' is not merely particular to Cain as an individual: it is a sign that God has appointed an order to maintain justice.

I am not sure I can entirely agree with that but that sure gives some food for thought, doesn't it?

Old Testament Studies and Theologies

Of late, I have been immersing myself in OT studies of Genesis and Exodus and I confess that while at times I'm overwhelmed by the voluminous readings, I am thoroughly enriched at the end of it all.  It is hard not to be awed at the beauty and majesty that the biblical narratives weaves concerning the Creator. I've bought Paul Barker's "Deuteronomy: The God Who Keeps Promises" next for bedtime reading!

I have found that a majority of sermons are on the NT especially on the life and teachings of Jesus and there seems to be little on the OT.  Therefore I would challenge anyone to study the OT especially if you are a Christian for Luke 24:27 states that "[Jesus] ... beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."

The start of OT studies have always led me time and time again to some Old Testament Theology books:

J.N. Schofield's "Introducing Old Testament Theology" published as part of the Biblical Classics Library by Paternoster Press is my first introduction to Old Testament Theology.  It is a little more than a survey, quite dated yet very readable.  Readers new to theological studies and as yet unexposed to historical critical studies may find some of the material a bit unsettling and questioning of one's pre-conceived & pre-modern (usually fundamentalist and/or literalist) understanding of God.

My first "real" Old Testament Theology book would be Walter Brueggemann's "Theology of the Old Testament".  Although many times thicker than Schofield's, it is a joy to read and I keep going back to this post-liberal scholar work again and again for its fresh ideas and brilliant insights.

Of course, in due time I would like to complement Brueggemann's tome with those by Evangelical scholars such as either Bruce Waltke's "An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical and Thematic Approach" or if I had the money, I would go for John Goldingay's magisterial trilogy of Old Testament Theology books namely: Israel's Gospel, Israel's Faith and Israel's Life.

Lastly I found it useful in the course of OT studies to return to Graeme Goldsworthy, "Gospel and Kingdom" and "Gospel and Wisdom" (two of the books in his trilogy) as he traces out from the viewpoint of Bible Theology a common underlying theme or narrative linking the OT books.

These are the books that have helped me in the course of my studies.