Sunday, September 27th

This week, Jeremy led the discussion on the historical Jesus. He talked about the history of the Jewish leadership and how it was influenced by outside forces before and during Jesus's time. He talked about how that may have played a role in some of the teachings of Christ.

Sunday, September 20th

This week, Gayle asked the forum to discuss our topic of learning for the next unit. Elizabeth suggested that we look at Paul, and everyone thought was a great idea. Gayle was concerned, however, because in order for us to study Paul, we need to have a lot of background knowledge about him. Gaining this background knowledge will involve learning in a more traditional Sunday School setting over the next weeks with Gayle instructing the class on the subject and us listening.

As we have determined that our class is a forum, based on discussion of topics amongst its member, Gayle wasn't sure that this idea would mesh with our class identity. However, it was agreed upon today, that a mix of traditional instruction with discussion is a healthy thing, and we are all eager to learn what Gayle has to teach us from her experiences and readings about Paul.

She introduced 2 texts to examine as a class.

Paul: The Man and the Myth by Calvin J Roetzel is a scholarly examination of Paul's life and teachings. It was the winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society Award.

Making Sense of Paul: A Basic Introduction to Pauline Theology by Virginia Wiles is written in more a textbook format for those of us who are new to Pauline theology.

Sunday, September 13th

This Sunday we continued our discussion of what it means to be a Baptist. Matt asked us if we have observed the signs of the 4 freedoms (Church, Religion, Bible, etc) in our lives during the week.

We discussed the issues of "in God we trust" on our national currency. We also talked about how some are calling to "bring Christ back into schools."

We discussed the need for separation of church and state. We talked about the dangers of limiting personal liberties of students to express religious beliefs.

We also discussed the roles of the church and of government in fulfilling social needs in our nation.