Truth vs. Fantasy

In the world of stories, mythos, logos and ethos. Which matters most? Truth or the better story? What good is a tale full of history and honesty, if no one will read it. It is the fantasy stories with adventure and made-up creatures that make a story worth reading. 

I once sat in on a class when I was younger with my older sister. The class was all about 'the better story.' 

There is a man and a little boy, the man leaves the room and tells the boy he must not touch the light switch on the wall while he is gone. The little boy does not touch it.

Where is the story? There isn't one. BUT if the little boy does touch it and is carried away into far away lands and learns secrets of days gone by, then we have a story. Probably a very very good story. 

This is the Bible so far to me. I have almost finished Genesis and this is one of the better parts. Joseph and his brothers. The characters have depth and I can understand what is going on. It is a good story.  

Genesis.

As I have been reading through Genesis, I am realizing that I am in need of a flow chart. It is impossible to keep up with who has which sons and how long each of them lived. I am hoping that all of that information is trivial, but who knows?

Impossible assignment

Read the Bible. All of it. Comprehend it. Wow.

I am looking forward to this class with Dr. Sexson. After taking Oral Traditions with him in the Spring of 08 I know that he has a lot of information to pass on to us and I am ready to learn it. As I discovered last semester, most things that we discuss in Dr. Sexson's class are often brought up again and again in daily life (or the daily life that is consumed by school) 

For instance: Before yesterday the words canonical and apocryphal were unknown to me, now they are everywhere. Seriously I have seen them in every book I have read for my classes thus far.

Terms:

Canonical: is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity.

Apocryphal: refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the canon.

Torah: First five books of Moses and is the Sacred text of Judaism. Texts include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy 

Circumcision:... Enough said?