January 2010
Welcome to the monthly electronic publication, Teaching the Bible — TB for short. Designed to support teachers of high school Bible electives, it features easy to read and reliable resources that you can use in your classroom. Send your comments to: Moira Bucciarelli.

Definitions
Exodus, the book of; Moses; tax collectors, and labor. From the new Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (condensed), a great resource for teachers.
Definitions

Audio
Was Jesus a Carpenter?
By Mark Goodacre
Another 10-minute podcast from Duke Professor Mark Goodacre; this one takes a look at the question: Was Jesus a carpenter?
NT Pod

About the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
The SBL was founded in 1880 and is an international academic membership organization for people who teach, study, or are interested in academic study of the Bible and its related contexts and literatures. The Society’s mission is to foster biblical scholarship and does not hold any denominational or confessional stance, though many of our members are religious leaders.

Feature Essays

All in a Day's Work
by Jim West

The Bible makes frequent references to types of work—from the shepherd imagery of Psalm 23 to the farm work in the parables of Jesus. So what types of work did people do back then, and what did it involve?
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The Exodus in American History and Culture
by Scott M. Langston

The story of the exodus has had a powerful influence in American history and culture. But the story has meant different things to different people, depending on their experiences. Scott Langston shows how one biblical story can be interpreted in very different ways.
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Reading Glasses
Form Criticism
by Joshua T. James

Just as in a literary anthology, where different types of literature are found between the covers of a book, so too the Bible is a literary assortment of different forms and genres. Form criticism helps scholars (and students) to identify the type of literature they are reading (legal code, speech, or a poem, for example) and how to think about its function and setting.
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Active Learning
Moses’ Birth, the Abandoned Hero Motif, and Form Criticism
by Isaac Alderman

This classroom activity ties in with both the feature on the exodus and the essay on form criticism. Here, the author provides a clear way for students to diagram the Moses story and see differences and similarities with other ancient ‘abandoned hero’ motifs.
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