Been to Hell and Back... well to my class on Hell and back home that is...

Well this past Friday & Saturday was our class out at Hastings College (put on by Cotner College) on the 'History of Hell'.  The class was taught by Dan Deffenbaugh a professor of New Testament Theology at Hastings College.  This is the second class I've taken from Dan and he is a genuinely wonderful teacher.  One of the main things that hopefully all the class attendees went away with was the stunning transformation of Judaism during the period of the Babylonian Exile.  Specifically how both the concept of Satan and Hell entered into their religion.

A gross oversimplification would be the observation that prior to the Exile there was no concept of either Heaven or Hell only the idea of 'Sheol' which was a neutral realm of the dead.  In Sheol the good and the bad languished together not in torment nor in any blissful state as we tend to associate with Heaven.  In addition 'Satan' was merely another angel who fulfilled the role of accuser or messenger.  After the Exile we see 'Satan' fashioned more along the lines of the Zoroastrian god 'Angra Mangu' or 'Darkness'.  These changes were both the result of the need to modify their theology to explain how bad things happened to good people (Nations) and also why good things happen to bad people (Nations).  The Zoroastrian concept of resurrection also crept into the Hebrew religion at this time.

At any rate there is no way that I have enough time to blog adequately on these topics.  I would suggest that anyone interested in learning more read the book 'The History of Hell' by Alice Turner, or even in more depth and scholarly the book "The Formation of Hell" by Alan Bernstein.  I would also suggest Elaine Pagels book "The Origin of Satan" and the book "A History of the Devil" by Gerald Messadie.

We're looking at getting some potentially severe weather here tonight so we are watching the news closely.  The sky is looking pretty funky out there tonight with some odd clouds and already some tornadoes sighted further west of us but tracking straight for us.  Hopefully it will move by us without any incident.

Clouds over Omaha 5/11/14 around 5:30 pm  Photo taken by Sue Carson Moore of Omaha

Since I'm now done with classes that have required reading I dug out some books that I wanted to read yesterday evening.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate two books that I specifically wanted to read after taking our class on Hell.  The one I may have loaned out. I don't think so but I have loaned it out before but I know it came back after that.  The other I know I have not loaned out and I really want to read it, I suspect I have filed it in an odd location since it isn't a book that fits into any normal theological definition.  One of the problems with having so many books is I can go a bit crazy from time to time trying to find a specific book.  I'll locate them sooner or later, like I said I know the one is here someplace for certain.

The books I pulled out to read right now are one by Elaine Pagels entitled 'The Gnostic Paul' I purchased another one of her books recently and I have read a tiny bit of it already (I have it on my desk at work to read when time allows) that book is titled 'Beyond Belief, the Secret Gospel of Thomas'.  But today I've spent most of my time reading a book I purchased recently for the Kindle 'The Experience of God, Being, Consciousness, Bliss' by David Bentley Hart.  So far I have really enjoyed the book but much of it has been spent pointing out the faulty logic and errors of atheism.  This is a good book to read on the Kindle because the author has a penchant for unusual words.  He obviously has a extremely broad vocabulary and he relishes sharing it with his readers.

As I've been reading I've let a playlist of Melody Gardot's songs play from Youtube on my computer.  I love her voice so much and her song "Baby I'm a Fool" is I think my favorite song of all right now.

On Friday night after class I did some reading before going to bed and was listening to a playlist of 'Dido' on Youtube.  She is also a wonderful artist and I love her voice as well.

Well folks the weather is getting pretty spooky out there so with that I'm going to cut this blog entry off and get ready to take shelter in the cubby hole in the basement.

God's great and abundant Blessing to you all!!

Roy

Update:  The tornado has passed us, pretty strong winds at times but so far I don't know if we had any damage.  Still raining very hard here so unless it suddenly let's up I'll just wait for morning to go out and check things.  

Upcoming Classes and Seminars.

In the next few months I am planning to take in several classes and seminars.  First off in March on the 14th and 15th Cotner College is hosting at First Christian Church in Hastings, a session entitled "Ministry from the Pews".  There are four different subjects being offered at this session and I am still trying to decide which of the four I wish to attend.  

Next in April from the 28th to the 30th, there is the annual "Prairie Pastors Conference" in Bellevue.  This is a gathering of American Baptists Pastors from a four region area; ABC of the Central Region, ABC of the Dakotas, ABC of Nebraska and Mid-American Baptist Churches.  I am very much looking forward to this event as it will be a great chance to meet the various Region's Executive and Associate Executive Ministers.  Some of whom I have visited with on the telephone but who I have not had the pleasure of meeting in person.

In May on the 7th and 8th at Hastings College, there will be a continuing education class through Cotner College on "The History of Hell".  This class I am very excited about and I have already been corresponding with the instructor Dan Deffenbagh.  Dan is a professor of New Testament Theology at Hastings College and was one of my favorite teachers during our ELM program.

The last thing I have planned (thus far) this year for classes will be the ELM class on "Disciples of Christ History & Polity" that will be offered in August at Saint Benedict's Catholic Retreat near Schuyler.  I've already taken the Polity Classes for the American Baptist, United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church, so this class will give me a background in all four denominations included in the ELM program.

In preparation for the May class on the "History of Hell" I have already purchased the textbook that Dan will have us use "The History of Hell" by Alice Turner.  In addition Dan recommended to me the book "The Formation of Hell" by Alan Bernstein.  The book by Bernstein is a more scholarly book and Dan thought it would be of more use to me in researching for the book that I'm trying to write.

I started this week reading the book by Turner and I am switching back and forth between reading it and the book "The Origin of Satan" by Elaine Pagels.  The evolution of Satan through and outside of scripture is a fascinating phenomena and definitely a subject that very few note nor consider.

Yesterday, I was asked by one of my past students if I would consider putting together and leading a new Study Group.  I told her that I would ask around and try and determine if there was enough interest to put together a new group. One of the biggest hurdles to putting together a good group is finding a mutually workable time to hold the class.  I also need to try and figure out where the class might meet.  Interestingly one of my friends that lives in the United Kingdom has expressed interest in joining the group via Skype.  It would be great to work that out if we can but I'm afraid the time difference may be too great of a hurdle to overcome.

If any of you would like to participate (even remotely as it seems we may make the leap into using Skype, something I've never done but Maddie uses it daily so I'm sure she can teach me in short order) in a Study Group please contact me at either my e-mail address (roykarlen@juno.com) or call or text me at 402-740-4875.  I've already started thinking about what the first book should be that we might use for the study.  Generally in the past I've come up with 4 or 5 suggestions and let the group decide which they find the most interesting.  For this new study (if it comes to pass) I plan to put together an outline and a set of study questions.  These I will give to the group a week in advance so they have time to prepare for the next class.

Doing these studies takes a bit of work on my part but it has been my experience that if you really want to learn a topic, then set about teaching it and you'll ultimately be the one that learns the most.

Again if you or anyone you know might have an interest please let me know, also let me know what your schedule is and what days and times would work for you.

I have more I want to discuss this week but I'm going to let that go for another post so with this I will bid you all farewell for today.

May you all be blessed and enriched in your journey.

In His Unending and Ultimate Grace & Love,
Roy