COM LIT 250 CRITICAL BIBLE STUDIES SEMINAR: Loki and Wiki Lin, her Teacher’s Assistant, stand before class.
Loki: The documentary hypothesis is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The German scholar Julius Wellhausen, asserted that the Pentateuch is a collection of four originally independent documents, J or Jahwist, E or Elohist, D or Deuteronomist and P or Priest. (Loki goes to classroom’s whiteboard and sketches two masks with a marker)
Wiki Lin: In the first creation story in Genesis 1, the P or Priest documentary source uses Elohim from the E or Elohist one who says it is Elohim who In the beginning created the heaven and the earth while in the creation story of Genesis 2, J or Jahwist asserts Yahweh was the creator.
Okie: I don’t get it. Why isn’t God called Jahweh instead of Yahweh..
Cal: I can answer that question, Cuz. The documentary hypothesis originated in Germany and since J was pronounced "y" in German the document is called “J”, not “Y.”
Okie: Thank you, Cuz.
Cal: You’re velcome. (Loki finished drawing of mask and lays her marker on the white board)
Loki: Today our special guests, P a scholar from the Priest document and E a scholar from the Elohim one are going to do a reading of the sixth days of creation as told in the first chapter of Genesis, Chaz and Natalie would you please pass out the papers containing this reading. (Natalie and Chaz take handouts and pass them to the students)
P: E and I will take turns reading the verses from the first creation story in Genesis 1.
Loki: And WE, the Critical Bible Studies Seminar people will read the chorus.
P: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.
E: Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FIRST DAY.
P: Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
E: Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven.
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE SECOND DAY.
P: Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas.
E: Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind.” And it was so.
P: And God saw that it was good.
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE THIRD DAY.
E: Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
P: And let them be for lights in the firmament to give light on the earth”; and it was so. He made the stars also
E: Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.
P:. And God saw that it was good.
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FOURTH DAY.
E: Then God said, “Let the water swarm with swimming creatures, and let birds fly through the sky over the earth.”
P: So God created the large sea creatures, and every type of flying bird. God saw that they were good.
E:: God blessed them and said, “Be fertile, increase in number, fill the sea, and let there be many birds on the earth.”
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FIFTH DAY.
P: Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
E: And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
P: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth.”
E: So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
P: Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
E: And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
P: Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.” And it was so.
E: Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
CHORUS: SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE SIXTH DAY.
Loki: Wow! What a wonderful performance, P and E, you guys rock!
P: Thank you, Loki.
E: I love the way your class read the chorus. You guys also stone.
Loki: O.K., scholars. Any questions or comments.
Joni: On the handouts, God says, “I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food. I have given all green plants as food to every land animal, every bird in the sky, and every animal that crawls on the earth—every living, breathing animal.” Sounds like in the beginning both humans and animals were vegetarians.
P: Yes. Before the fall, both humans and animals did not eat meat.
Joni: Wow! If my Pentecostal Sunday school teacher had pointed this scripture out to me, I might have ended up being a vegan holy roller instead of a vegan pagan.
Okie: I see that in the Bible life on earth began in the ocean long before the scientists discovered it. Checkmate atheists.
Cal: Where’s the dinosaurs? Checkmate creationists.
Okie: You don’t know shit, Cal. Plenty of dinosaurs at that Creation Museum in Kentucky. Checkmate your checkmate.
Mary: So your creation account says God “created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.”
P: Yes, the belief in the creation of man in the image of God is crucial to our faith.
Mary: I’d like to know that if the humanity created on the sixth day is defined as male and female, than shouldn’t the pronouns for God be they-them instead of he-him?
Maggie: Mic drop!
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