Too often texts fall silent because we think we know the story. Or because we find the barriers of time, place, and culture insurmountable.
At George Fox University we are exploring ways to bring creative educational solutions to students during the COVID-19 crisis that go beyond whole-class zoom sessions. For my class “BIBL215: The Bible and the Novel,” (which considers how novelists riff on the biblical text and how their literary renditions help the rich narrative depths of the Bible come back to life) I wanted to capture the conversational nature of class in a way that would allow students to access the material at their own pace.
Check out this 4-part conversation (via the videos below) with Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Brandon Bruning on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) book of Ruth & Marilynne Robinson’s Lila that walks students through the compositional history, context, and major themes at stake in this well-know Sunday School story.
- [Pt 1 of 4] Composition and Contexts
- [Pt 2 of 4] Women, Marriage, and Society’s Margins
- [Pt 3 of 4] The Subversive Nature of Chesed (loving kindness)
- [Pt 4 of 4] On Second Thought…the dark side of Ruth
And if you’re interested, here’s a question to consider…. based on these conversations, is Naomi’s use of Ruth to secure a marriage proposal for Boaz good, right, and or proper? And how do you read Boaz’ treatment of Ruth throughout the narrative, not just in his kindness toward her but also in his failure to take action on her behalf sooner vis-a-vie the other kinsman redeemer?
grace & peace,
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Dr. Brandon Bruning
