Reference no: EM133706983

Discussion Post

Re-read, if you need to, Keener, pages 1-9 (on Paul, rhetoric, Judaism, and the Law) and Keener pages 9-16 (the setting of the church in Rome, and Jews and Gentiles in Paul's letter). These sections tell us about the historical-cultural context of Romans.

Interpreting any piece of literature, including a passage from the Bible, involves an awareness of a number of contexts. One is the historical-cultural context of the writing: it helps to know who the writer is, to whom the writing is directed, and what the circumstances of the writing are. A second context is the literary context. We will speak much about the literary context later on. Words have meaning only in the context of a phrase or a sentence. Sentences have meaning in the context of something larger, like a paragraph. A third context involved in interpretation is the reader. Each of you brings your family and cultural background, experience, observation, reason, emotions, and more to any reading of anything. It is always dangerous to generalize about groups of people; differences of gender, ethnicity, age, personality, and more do influence how we interpret everything in life, including how we interpret the Bible.

For this discussion:

Make a post of roughly 200 words identifying the most important things that influence how you interpret life (including what you do and what you believe). What beliefs, attitudes, and experiences most affect how you interpret life? Your family? Your ethnic heritage? Your favorite hobbies and pastimes? Your interaction with church? Your gender and social class? Your political affiliation? You don't have to answer each one of these; they're examples to get you thinking. And please do not share anything that is too personal to be read by your classmates. You do not have to share anything you are not comfortable with. Check your post in Microsoft Word or another word counter, because I do run everything through a word count.