March 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.

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.

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What is O-livestream™?

O-livestream™ stands for "One live-internet-video-education stream," a technological vehicle for teaching modules that can poignantly enhance regular courses and classroom teaching as well as informal learning exchanges. O-livestream staff (educators and technologists) will consult and collaborate with interested high school teachers and schools to develop live, online video modules for their classrooms with specific content focus. For example, live video modules (of one week duration: with five sessions of one hour each) may focus on:

Introduction to Methods of Interpreting the Bible
Psalms, Lament Poems and Songs across Cultures
Prophets in the Bible and Qur’an
Prophetic Figures Today
Mass Movements & Justice

For more info, go to:
www.o-livestream.com

A project of the Foundation for Transforming Teachers and Technology www.foundation-ttt.com

Feature Essays

The Interpretation of Wisdom Literature of the Bible, Part II
By David Penchansky

David Penchansky continues his fascinating introduction to Wisdom Literature—Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira, and the Wisdom of Solomon. He identifies unique traits in each book, and shows us the range of perspectives in the Wisdom tradition.
Read more >>

Audio

The Anonymity of the Gospels
by Mark Goodacre (10 minutes)

Mark Goodacre, Associate Professor of New Testament at Duke University discusses questions of authorship in New Testament and non-canonical gospels.
Listen here >>

Book Review

Mark Throntveit reviews an admittedly higher-level book on the connections between archaeology and biblical texts. He commends the authors and editor for presenting balanced views on a topic that stirs up debate, and recommends this title primarily for teacher background reading.
Read more >>

Harper Collins Bible Dictionary Definitions
In case you were wondering about the difference between Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus, read on...

Correction
In the January issue feature, “The Exodus in American History and Culture” by Scott M. Langston, there was an incorrect date attributed to a Malcom X speech. The correct date is December, 1963, not 1971. The 1971 date refers to the publication date of the book in which the speech ("God's Judgment of White America") appeared ("The End of White Supremacy: Four Speeches by Malcolm X" (Imam Benjamin Karim, ed., New York: Arcade Publishing, pgs. 121-48)).

Summer Job at SBL
Interested in a part-time, two-month position working with the SBL to develop lesson plans for high school Bible elective courses? Candidate must be a secondary level teacher or recent Ed School graduate and be able to work on-site at Emory. Send an email to TB@sbl-site.org for details.