Yale courses on Christianity

Sawadee Khrap

Ask and you shall find:  I am now exploring the Open Yale University Courses available on YouTube:

  1. 2006, Introduction to Old testament (Hebrew Bible) by Professor Christine Hayes    and 
  2. 2009, Introduction to New Testament” by Professor: Dale B. Martin, Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies. . (Note: This course does not look at the texts as scripture but rather as literature available at that time.)

All sessions are complete with resources, sessions in html, and transcripts in html.  I plan to study the material to better  my understanding of formal accepted theology and Christian practices.  

Quickly perusing the course has already given me a several topics I need to explore:

  • Kaufman’s Metadivine Realm vs. Hebrew God
  • Marcion’s teachings in early Christianity.
  • Melchizedek Genealogy.

For example,   Marcion, in approx.  145 CE :

“ It is ironic that perhaps one of the most influential figures in Church history is also one of the most reviled heretics……… taught that the God of the Old was not the God of the New Testament. The God of the Old Testament was the ‘creating God’, but he was a harsh, cruel, and incompetent . Marcion contrasted this creating God with the God of Jesus, who was nothing less than love and grace.”  (Early Christian Writings,P. Kuby)

In his teachings Marcion rejected entirely the Old Testament,  butchered Paul’s letters, and taught that there was ‘secret knowledge’ taught by Jesus to his disciples and only the church few knew. Heresy indeed.

It is interesting to me that his differences noted between the ‘creating’ God of Geneses 1 and the ‘making’ God of Geneses 2 is not fully considered.   Traditionally “God”  becomes the collective of 1 & 2  but with different names to describe his attributes according to later standardized Jewish doctrine.. I believe Marcion saw a glimpse of the truth but was unable to express it in words or ideas and mistaking  threw out the Old Testament.and other basic doctrine which would be considered heresy.  I will explore this in future posts and submit a model of the “Illusion of realty” which I call the Dream of Specialness or Separation, the basic problem.  I believe this is what’s  fully presented in “A Course in Miracles”.   It does not lessen Jesus’s role or doctrine, and explains many of Jesus’s sayings, teachings and commandments.

Since I began this search for the truth, additional information is coming to light that shows that ancient Chinese characters actually tell the same story as  expressed in the Hebrew Bible using a common oral-based tradition.  Where the Hebrew Bible has Elohim – Yahweh,  Chinese have  Tian – Shang Di  I hoping I can bring this all together.

God Bless    Ciao