Its finally over!!!!!!!!! Week 15
1024 words by mharri13
This blog entails a reflection and analytical survey of this semester’s course goal. It will also give a detailed opinion of the effectiveness of the class and its highlights. The first course goal to be evaluated is (1) Give Students a level of expertise in the discipline of biblical studies. As a result of this class, I must admit that I have gained a greater understanding of the bible. Before this class I never took the time to sit down and analyze or criticize the bible, mainly because it is not generally welcome. This class has taught me that the bible is man made and subject to criticism and fault as any other book of literature. I would not claim to be an expert in biblical studies but I have certainly learned a lot about both the content and creation of the bible.
This understanding and realization proves that the second objective of this course has been successful. The second objective listed is (2) Provide the tools to read the bible in an academic and critical manner. I am now able to look at the bible through tools such as textual, source and literary criticism. I am now able to understand the origins and editing history of the bible which begin with sources such as the Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint. By seeing how the bible has changed over the years I can begin to decipher between different translations and gain insight into the character of the editors. I think that this objective has been the most profound of all the others because I have been able to apply these analytical skills (ideas) and apply them to other literature.
The next objective to be discussed is (3) Improve student’s ability to effectively communicate and to write clearly matters involving critical thinking. If I am not mistaken, I believe that the purpose of blogging 1,000 words every week was to fulfill this very objective. The blogs were created to improve our grammar and writing through practice. Honestly, I cannot say that my writing has improved as a result of the blogs. The major reason that I do not feel that it serves its purpose is because students become more focused on blogging the set amount of words instead of trying to develop the content of the blog itself. Ultimately, the blog ends up having several filler sentences which are either not needed or simply irrelevant. I think that a simple free write would be more beneficial. I used to do daily free writes in my World Literature course. The purpose of the free write was to demonstrate that we had read the course material by integrating textual examples into our understanding and perception of the literature. There was no word limit but I found that I wrote more just because it was not pressured and we could simply write all our ideas down in non essay form. I also found that it was difficult to use transitions in the blogs because the topics we were often asked to write about were broad and sometime unrelated. It was fairly difficult to complete in essay form. However, I think that it was a good way to get feedback from other students and update on our projects. The writings were not done in vain.
The last objective to be discussed is the objective which sought to encourage student involvement in improving the world. I think that we have all improved the world this semester even if our projects were not full of action or success. The fact that we have become conscious and educated on community issues leads me to believe that we have thus went come one step further than we had begun. My classmates had a lot of good ideas and informed me about some issues that I did not personally see through my own observation which broadened my scope. I believe that if more time were allotted and the semester had been less pressing the most of us would have gone far beyond our goals. However, I also think that is just as important that we got started and was constantly able to revaluate and alter our projects so that they can be improved and built upon.
In addition to taking the time to evaluate the course objectives, in the last week of class we also discussed the contrast between Paul and James and their faith vs. works argument. While Paul believed that it was faith that is more important, James believed that the works and acts were more important. I personally agree with Paul. I believe that anyone can go through the motions of being religious. For example, it is very easy to create a false visage with our actions. However, I think it is more important that you believe in what it is you are doing. Having faith means to believe in something without evidence. I believe that it takes a stronger person to believe in something they have no proof in it than to go through the motions which can be easily manufactured.
Finally, I have to admit that I didn’t think it was fair that Xavier forced theology on its students. However, after taking this class that I learned that theology is not all about preaching religion. It is more about understanding the concepts and practices of a religion while criticizing and analyzing it. Even if you are not personally interested in theology I do believe that it does provide those analytic tools that will benefit us in the future. These analytic tools can benefit you in any major including my own which is political science. Political science is all about analyzing behaviors, decisions and policies. Through the tools I mentioned above I can look at a persons writing and attempt to define their personal character. Also, tools such as source and literary criticism can be helpful when doing research on cases and formulating public policies. After blogging 14559 words, I now believe that I have carpal tunnel (LOL!!!) but I know that all this writing was not in vain and that it has added to developing my education.