Still More Prophets and a Recap of the Potluck!

Dear Bible Challenge participants,

First, a recap of the conversation at the Potluck on December 15. Thank you to all who were able to come, and who brought yummy food to share. We had a great conversation about our experience over this year, and what we hope to do in the year ahead. 

Most of us would like to continue to read the Bible daily in one way or another, either reading a "Bible in a Year," (that won't have the New Testament and Psalm repeats that the Bible Challenge has), doing the Bible Challenge again, but with a different translation, or reading the Apocrypha, or doing the Bible Challenge again, with the Bible Challenge companion book of daily meditations put out by Forward Movement. Some have fallen behind, and want to kick-start their reading in the new year, and finish this initial effort.

We shared our favorite translations and resources. Elizabeth Parrotte shared source of the ap she's been using on her phone. It includes several different reading plans.

We also drew two conclusions about communications, first that we want to try and shift these emails into a blog format so that we all can be in more direct conversation with one another (Fr. Joe and I are looking into the blog capacity on our website....or we may use our blogspot blog...). We also concluded that we would like to gather quarterly to share our experiences and have some time together.

Now, onto Still More Prophets! I find these shorter books interesting because we can see and hear how the different prophets experienced God's call and God's message in ways both similar and different. For example, we shifted into more of a prose style with Haggai's urgings to rebuild the Temple after the Exile and Restoration.

And our current prophet, Zechariah, has a real flare for colorful imagery. I wonder if he spent time with Ezekiel. Or if Daniel read Zechariah. Or the other way around. And certainly John the Divine's imagery echos of Zechariah.  Our reading in Zechariah is about to shift, and some scholars think these later chapters were written by a much later disciple, perhaps as late as the Second Century (which would make the later writings more contemporary with the later parts of Daniel). And it is this second part of Zechariah which contains passages that will be so familiar to us after having read through the Gospels--much resonance there.

Then it will be on to Malachi! Wow.

As ever, thank you for being on this journey!

Peace,

Paige+