E-learing: Introduction

Overview. Who is this course for?

This course is intended for the vast majority of adults who have consigned the Christmas story to the world of children, to the annual church nativity play and the chocolate treats of Advent calendars. This study is intended to bring the story out of the toy box into the world of a mature, adult faith.

Introduction:

Of course some adults accept the biblical narratives of the birth of Jesus as literally true. Others don’t know what to make of them as material for belief or disbelief, but maintain the tradition of teaching the story to the children. Everyone loves babies, after all, and there is something natural about these birth stories at the time of the winter solstice. And there are others yet whose reaction to the stories is one of complete dismissal; the stories are silly and fantastic legends, unworthy of thoughtful attention.

Pause for Thought
Into which category of readers would you put yourself? What preconceptions do you bring to this study?

Course aims:

The goal of the course is basically to re-configure what you already know, so this course is most suitable for those who already have some acquaintance with the Bible from childhood, but is very do-able for those with none. If you find yourself in the latter category you have the advantage of coming to this material fresh and with an open mind. An important element of the exercises that follow is “un-learning” what we absorbed as children! As you move through the course you will discover interesting details of the Christmas stories, particularly those in Matthew and Luke that you will not have noticed before. Along the way, you will learn how to read the gospels. Most importantly, you will move from discovering interesting things about the gospels to discovering interesting things about yourself, about being Christian and about making commitments. This is where learning about the Christmas story as adults comes into play. We will not just learn to read with more sophistication, but to live more authentically.

The course:

Perhaps the common denominator in all these reactions to the Christmas story is the way we have associated the story with children and with a childlike belief. What’s in it for adult believers? Follow this course, and you will be able to appropriate the biblical Christmas story as a meaningful element of adult faith. You will gain the ability to discern how the birth narratives relate to the broad themes of the gospels in which they are found, and how they relate to other texts in Scripture that contain no birth narratives. The course certainly focuses on the birth narratives; however, it can serve as an introduction to reading the Bible in general from an adult perspective, and illuminate ways in which the sacred texts of the Christian tradition can deepen and even transform the way we live. At the end, you will see how the Christmas story is your story, the Christmas gift of a richer, more compassionate life.

Resources:

To do this course you will need a Bible and a biblical concordance (which provides a means of looking up where certain names or words appear in the Bible).

1. We recommend the New Revised Standard Version, but it may be helpful to have two or three translations to look at. Avoid translations that are made by individuals, in any case, in order to ensure a more objective interpretation in the translation (all translations are interpretations!).
2. You can find an Internet concordance at http://bible.crosswalk.com. When you open the site, enter the word you wish to search, at ''in'' select ''The Gospels'' from the pop-down menu, and at ''using'' select ''New Revised Version'' from the pop-down menu, so that we are all singing from the same music sheet.