I'm not sure what to think about the way the seminar is going in terms of the materials we are presenting. For example, we talked about the two creation stories in Gen 1 and Gen 2 and about the different time periods these stories come from... I would have expected some resistance to the idea, actually. But I guess a key element here is the approach we took – we didn't come in with some highly academic theory as to what the sources of OT texts are. Instead, we looked at the texts and compared them, then looked at the history of Israel and its religious development. After that, the idea that different texts were written for different times (and were written for different theological purposes (answering questions like “why?” “who?” and “what does it mean?”) instead of attempting to give accurate and scientific detail (answering the question “how?”).
The most difficult thing today for me was leading and preaching at morning prayer (which happens daily for those who work in the church center in Omsk); I was nervous and am afraid the sermon wasn't well understood. On the other hand I find that working so intensely with a group (from 9 am to 8.30 pm) is really beneficial in understanding what message might be able to reach them.
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