I would like to begin by saying this class was pretty weird. Not the people or the professor, but the way things were done. If you came to class and listened you were bound to pass. This is more than I can say for any other class on Xavier’s campus. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I saying that the class is easy, but the way things were run inside the class room was a bit different from what I was used to. The bible mysteries played a part in the communication part of the class. You can tell which students really took pride in their bible mystery and which group kind of did not really know how to even approach the mystery. Although I wasn’t adequately prepared for my second Bible Mystery, I still had fun doing it. I knew the information, and it was presented in a humorous, spur of the moment manner.
I am finally finished! Praise God, because I honestly did not think I would make it. Especially with all of the blogging I had to do. Writing is not my best subject. I did learn a lot in the discipline of biblical studies, so I guess this goal was accomplished greatly. We also deeply analyzed the Bible in a critical as well as academic manner. We used different types of criticism such as textual criticism along with literary criticisms, just to name a few.
The first requirement, to give students a level of expertise in the discipline of biblical studies, was fulfilled by showing students what Biblical studies was made of, why there is no such thing as the “Bible” and the breakdown of the writings that make up Biblical texts. From Dr. Homan’s experiences as a Bible scholar, the research done to make up “Bible for Dummies” other various writings, he knows what the best ways to get the message across. He also taught that since there are not many African American Bible scholars in the world that the criticisms referring to Africans’ influence in the Bible has been greatly diminished. Those finishing Dr. Homan’s course should have expertise on how Biblical scholars operate and how critiques of the Bible are done through different types of criticisms.

I am sure that my writing skills have improved greatly since I’ve come to this class. Whose wouldn’t? After blogging a little over a thousand words over week. And I am definitely sure that I’ve had some type of impact on the world, even if it was minimal. I impacted the community even greater. So I guess that one would say that this course me all of it’s goals accurately. I would recommend this course and you as a professor to any one whose needs to take a Theology course. The class was very informative. It forced us to use out critical thinking skills. This class is not for the weak hearted nor for the lazy, because once you fall behind on the blogs, it becomes so easy to give up. Although Dr. Homan was a fairly cool professor, he took no prisoner when it came to the blogs, midterm, and final. There is also quite a bit of reading and writing that one must constantly stay up to date with. I really don’t believe that any other professor could have pulled this thing off. I mean it’s not often that a student would still enjoy a professor that works them so hard. Although I hate to admit it Dr. Homan is extremely knowledgeable of the information he presents in class. I used to always want to catch him saying something that was wrong, but I never did. I’m happy I had him as a professor, because without his personality, I wouldn’t have made it. Not only did I enjoy the actual class time, but I learned a lot. I am not glad that this is a requirement. You will also leave the class with a sense of pride, because the project you will complete will take a small step in changing the world. The best part of class was the actual class time, as I stated before. This is one of those classes that you may seldom to never miss. But the readings began to take a toll on me after a little while. I do believe everyone should take a biblical class to gain knowledge of what they really have no clue of. And though this class does not directly pertain the medical field it is beneficial. I have blogged somewhere around 15,000 words…whew that is A Lot! And I must say that I’m proud of myself! I’m FREE!!!!!
Personally, I am sort of in the middle with the conflict of Paul and James. Paul says that all we need is to have faith in the Lord and He will accept us, while James says that everyone has to follow the rules that have been with them for years in order to find favor in the Lord’s eyes. I think that doing a little bit of both is the best thing. If you follow Paul’s advice then all you have to do is have faith in the Lord. This is good, except that is sounds like you don’t have to do anything else. Some people may take is as doing whatever they want, even if it’s bad, but feel that they still have favor in the Lord’s eyes since they have faith in him. On the other hand, James feels that you only have to follow the laws for God to love you. However, that could mean that a person would only have to follow a few rules and not have to have faith in God. In that case, this makes the rules more of a tradition and not a show of faith. I think a combination of these ideas would be the best thing to do. A person could follow the rules and traditions while having faith in God. This would make a person realize that they have to do the right things and have faith in the Lord.

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