Heart's of Christianity's Next Sunday's Class, 9 February 2014 at San Diego First United Methodist Church

Hi Everybody:
Next Sunday we'll only discuss chapter 8: The Mother of Jesus: Introduction to the Book of Signs.   Here are some issues and questions to ponder for our discussion. 
1. Throughout his book, Spong suggests that there are no miracles; that what are perceived as miraculous events are literary signs pointing to some other matter or concept.  In this chapter, Spong argues that the "mother of the Lord" does not refer to Mary, but, in fact, refers to Israel (See p. 84).  Can you cite from this chapter one or two ideas he uses to buttress his argument?
2. In connection to #1, above, p. 77 (1st page of chapter 8) gives a clue to the writer(s)'/editor(s)' reference materials used in creating the Fourth Gospel.  What is that clue?  [Welcome Sherlock Holmes!]
3. P. 78.  What is the first of the "signs" used in John's gospel?  What is the significance of this sign?  Please explain.
4. P. 78, 3rd parag.  Spong writes about Mary: "...she is not nearly as significant a figure in the New Testament as Christian history has portrayed her."  Couple this paragraph with the last paragraph on p. 79.  Your thoughts about Spong's statement?
5. P. 80, last 7 lines of the one long Parag., starting with "My readers also need to be aware..." and reading to the end of the paragraph.  Your thoughts?
6. P. 81.  What are the three distinguishing marks about the two Josephs, mentioned at the end of p. 80 and on p. 81?
7. P. 81.  What does Spong's analysis of Herod, Moses and Jesus end up revealing about mythology?  Explain.
8. P. 82, last 3 lines and on through the 1st half of p. 83.  What do we learn from Spong about the mother of Jesus?
9. P. 83, 2nd half of page.  How is this half page of text a reflection of the "mysticism" Spong asserts in this book?  Your thoughts?
10. P. 83, last Parag. and all of the last page (84).  To quote Spong: "What is going on here?"
I look forward to another robust discussion.  Remember that we'll meet below the sanctuary.
I lI'm attaching, below, a short bibliography from Kathee for those members of the class who want to know about children's exposure to stories of various kinds, and their readiness to deal with these stories at a concrete level and gradually more abstract interpretations.   
February, 2014
In my opinion, anyone interested in the scientific investigation of cognitive development and moral intelligence in children would benefit from reading these books.  I used them in my work at SDSU and still use them for reference in my post-SDSU projects.
1.      Singer & Revenson (revised).  A Piagetian primer:  How a child thinks.  Highly readable with lots of examples.  You can read it online.
2.      Robert Coles (1997).  The moral intelligence of children.  Coles is a respected child psychiatrist, author, and Harvard professor.
3.      Bruno Bettelheim (1976).  The uses of enchantment:  The meaning and importance of fairy tales.  Although Bettelheim, a child psychologist, addresses much of his research to the population of children with mental and emotional special needs, his work is fascinating.
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