OERs: Right for Community Colleges (1)

OER stands for Open Educational Resource. An OER is any educational resource that is either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a way that makes it permissible for anyone to use. In other words, it's free.

In January of next year, Dr. Eric Fauss, a history professor and one of my colleagues at Amarillo College, and I will be teaching other faculty at AC about "How to Adapt an OER Textbook to Your Class."

The idea for the session grew out of our practice of using an OER in teaching American History at AC. Specifically, we use a free, online textbook called The American Yawp. (The title was inspired by a line from Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself"--"I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world").

Something we want to bring out in our session is that one of the best things about OERs is the price. A 2018 article in The Atlantic magazine featuring AC and its president took note of something that Eric and I witness routinely: at this school "poverty intrudes into the classroom every day."

Back in the early 1980s, a few months after I graduated from high school, I experienced one of those American college-going rites of passage: sticker shock at the bookstore. As young and dumb as I was, I understood all about tuition. You had to pay to go to college. But I had no idea the textbooks for my classes would be so expensive. What made it relatively painless for me was that my parents and my scholarship could cover the cost.

But what about students who aren't as fortunate as I was? For them, the prices of textbooks can be a serious problem. Every member of the AC faculty has heard about any number of students who began a semester without a required course book. Student loans or grant money had not yet arrived. In other cases, no money was on its way, and the student simply couldn't afford the book.

Because it is an online OER, The American Yawp eliminates those kinds of problems. No paying. And no waiting for it to arrive.

Using "Fight Club" to Teach Buddhism: 2nd of 2

This is the second of two posts about teaching Buddhism using the 1999 movie Fight Club. So if you haven't read the last entry here, you might want to take a look and then come back. I recently used this material in my Introduction to World Religions course at Amarillo College, and the class session went pretty well. To repeat, this approach is based on Fight Club: An Exploration of Buddhism, by Charley Reed. The article appeared in the online Journal of Religion and Film in October 2007.

The Tri Kaya Doctrine

A major branch of world Buddhism--and certainly the one that is best known in the United States--is called Mahayana. The word means something like "the great vehicle." It's the inclusive branch of the religion. Mahayana is "great" at least because it includes many people who otherwise would not be Buddhist. Mahayana also refers to a better-than-you attitude towards Theraveda.

By contrast, Theravada Buddhism insists that to be Buddhist means to strictly follow the example set by Siddhartha Gautama, the man who came to be known as the Buddha. When you see a Buddhist monk with his head shaved and wearing what looks like a toga, think "Theraveda." When you remember that Phil Jackson, the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, is a Buddhist, think "Mahayana."

One way for Christians to conceive of the distinction between Theraveda and Mahayana is to ask the question, "In what ways must a Christian be like Christ?" Jesus was a first-century Palestinian Jew who apparently worked as a carpenter until he began a public teaching and healing ministry that lasted for three years. At the end, he was arrested and charged by the authorities who had him executed. Throughout his life, Jesus lived in and observed the customs of Judaism, including synagogue worship and participation in major festivals in Jerusalem. He spoke Aramaic and could read the Jewish Scriptures in Hebrew. Jesus was baptized, once fasted for forty days, and washed the feet of his disciples. The particulars of his life go on and on. Question: how much must a person be just like Jesus in these and other particulars in order to truly be Christian? This is the sort of question that Buddhism has asked: how much must a person be like Siddhartha in order to be Buddhist? Theravada gives the conservative answer. Mahayana gives the liberal answer. My sense is that the relationship between Theravada and Mahayana is a little bit like the one between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, sometimes debating and dismissing, but at other times complimenting and cooperating.

Within Mahayana there is a teaching called Tri Kaya, which means "three personalities." The term refers to the idea that the Buddha has three bodies: (1) the Nirmana Kaya, the "apparitional body" (2) the Sambhoga Kaya, the "state of perfect bliss" and (3) the Dharma Kaya, which is the body of "most excellent law" and, according to Reed, symbolizes "the enlightenment of Buddha nature." He also observes:

The connections between the doctrine and Fight Club are blunt: One can easily label Tyler as the Nirmana Kaya, Marla as the Sambhoga Kaya, and the narrator as the Dharma Kaya, but the actual meaning to the story of the film, once these connections are made, is what is more important.

Once a viewer looks through this lens, seeing Marla, Tyler, and the narrator as actually separate manifestations of one common thought, the movie really opens up to numerous possibilities. For one, if Tyler is the embodiment of Nirmana Kaya, then his leadership qualities in the film make a lot more sense, especially as a teacher for the narrator. In Buddhist teachings, the Nirmana Kaya is the idea of the historical Buddha, and is what is referenced when a particular person hopes to become more than just a bodhisattva, and has that internal characteristic about them. Also found in Buddhist teachings, is the idea that the Nirmana Kaya manifestation of the Buddha has compassion for all beings. In the film, Tyler too has compassion for all beings, wanting to free the "middle children of history," almost ignoring the narrator near the end of the film in order to flesh out the larger picture. The same holds true once seeing Marla as the Sambhoga Kaya. After this connection is established, one can then understand why, even though it appeared the narrator had nothing but distaste for Marla, both he and Tyler had romantic feelings for her. In Buddhist teachings, it is Sambhog Gakaya which is needed in order to achieve Nirmana Kaya, which ties directly to Marla being the catalyst for the narrator being forced to manifest Tyler.

The core "body" in Mahayana Buddhism is the Dharma Kaya, which is a constant, enlightened presence in the world which gives rise to the other manifestations of Buddha. In the movie, the narrator is the one tangible character who is sustained throughout, in almost every part of the movie from beginning to end. Dharma Kaya is also seen as the "pure" and "flawless" manifestation of the Buddha. While it may appear that the narrator is the opposite of that idea of Dharma Kaya, it is the conscience of the narrator that causes him to risk his life in order to save his city and nation from a terrorist attack, . . . and his new found self control allows Jack to provide meaning and prospective to his journey.

Tilakkhana

In addition to illustrating Tri Kaya, Fight Club can also be used to help students understand what Zen Buddhism (a branch of Mahayana) calls "The Three Characteristics of Existence." These are:

1. anicca, which means "change." Reed points out that the big change at the beginning of Fight Club involves the destruction of Jack's apartment, which explodes while he's away. Virtually nothing is left. Humans typically want for our worlds to arrive at an ideal state and then stay that way. Anicca is the word that reminds us that life never works like that.

2. dukkha, which means "suffering" or "pain." One doesn't have to watch Fight Club for very long to figure out that it's all about every kind of pain. The Buddha taught that to live is to suffer (the First Noble Truth). This includes physical pain. But the concept of dukkha includes what many people regard as something worse: emotional or psychical pain. Consider that many counselees say that they would rather be physically beaten than be verbally, emotionally abused. Jack encounters and endures big doses of all sorts of pain and suffering.

3. anatta, which refers to the concept of "no permanent self." As viewers of Fight Club eventually find out, a major theme of the film is identity. Anatta says that, in spite of my perceptions and desires, there is no permanent, immortal person, no enduring spirit. To think that a person, who once never existed and will someday be dead, has a unified, permanent existence is a little like thinking a car has such an existence. If the car is without its engine, or its tires and wheels, or without an interior, would it still be that car? What if you take the body off of the chassis? Is one or the other, or both, that car? And in that case, would the car have become two? What constitutes the car's permanent identity? At what point did it become a car? How much does it have to decay and come apart before it is no longer considered a car and ceases to exist as such? You could (and should) ask the same question about a human being who supposedly has a singular, permanent identity.

Using "Fight Club" to Teach Buddhism: 1st of 2

Good teachers are always looking for new ways to effectively communicate their subjects. They want to use the best methods possible in order to engage their students in the material. The more memorable, the better. Over the past five years, I've taught ten or more sections of courses like Old Testament, New Testament, Life of Paul, and Introduction to World Religions. But I can tell you that I'm far from the teacher I want to be. I haven't gotten it all figured out.

Recently, I came across an article by Charley Reed published in the online Journal of Religion and Film. Reed's work led me to start thinking about using clips from the 1999 film Fight Club as way of exploring Buddhism in class. It's an interesting possibility to me. And, in fact, one of the movie's leading actors actually hinted at the connection back when the film was still in production. According to an interview article in Premiere Magazine, Edward Norton remarked, "In Buddhism there's Nirvana and then there's Samsara, the world of confusion and disharmony. That world is our testing ground, where we have the experiences that help us become enlightened. . . . Fight Club . . . is kind of that idea: You're challenging yourself to break out of the world."

Anyway, I think this way into the subject is something my students would like. At the same time, the project does have its pitfalls. I'm thinking especially about how Fight Club just happens to be one of the most violent and profane R-rated films out there. A classroom full of college students is a mixture of personal and religious sensibilities that a movie like this might trample on. People who are uncomfortable or upset about something are not really available at that point to learn something else. So I think that when using a movie, especially one like this, it's important for the instructor to (1) issue some sort of non-endorsement disclaimer and (2) carefully edit the clips that are used in class. That said, here's what I've put together so far:

Fight Club begins with the main character played by Edward Norton. Ironically, viewers never learn this character's name. In most discussions of the movie, he's usually referred to as "Jack" so I'm going with that. Jack has it all, or so it would seem. He's a young man, with a corporate job and a stylish apartment on one of the upper floors of a city high-rise. There's only one problem. Jack personifies the empty person who is controlled by fadish, mudane American consumerism. As Reed describes him, he's "a person who values the material wealth of his life more than his actual life and as a result of the blandness of his existence, finds himself constantly lying awake at night."

The First Noble Truth

So Jack goes to a doctor, asking for something, anything that will get him over his insomnia. The doctor refuses to prescribe a drug, assures him that he's not going to die, and mentions that Jack should get more exercise. And then, Jack announces the first of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths: "I'm in pain!" This is the truth about human life from beginning to end: dukkha. To live is to suffer, said the Buddha.

Samsara and Reincarnation

The doctor suggests that Jack should look in on testicular cancer support meetings. That's real pain, he says. So Jack goes. And there he begins to sympathize with the pathetic men at the meeting. He even cries. As a result, he's able to sleep soundly again. In time, Jack becomes addicted to his visits to support meetings for all sorts of victims. Seeing, hearing, and sympathizing with people in real pain is his chosen path of therapy. Of course, he hasn't solved his own problems. He's only seen the greater pain of others. In a sense, he has simply discovered samsara, an idea that Buddhism inherited from Hinduism. Samsara expresses the notion that life is a circle from which we cannot (or do not) escape. Because of the failure to escape samsara, individuals are reincarnated many times over. Leaving one of the support meetings, Jack narrates, "Every night I died, and every night I was reborn." Samsara. Reincarnation.

At that point, Jack's method is derailed by the appearance of Marla Singer (played by Helena Bonham Carter). Like him, she's a faker who comes to all the meetings because, as she says, they're "cheaper than a movie and there's free coffee." Disturbed by the presence of another impostor, Jack finds that, once again, he can no longer sleep. (The previous sections--on the First Noble Truth, Samsara, and Reincarnation--correspond to chapters 3-5 of the Fight Club DVD. These chapters contain a minimum of vulgar language, and no violence or nudity).

Jack's Koan

About that time, on one of his business trips Jack expresses something that sounds very much like a Zen Buddhist koan. A koan is a paradoxical question used in order to break up tired old patterns of thinking and open up the mind. One example of a koan goes like this: A man hangs over a precipice by this teeth, which are clenched in the branch of a tree. His hands are full and his feet cannot reach the edge. A friend leans over and asks him, "What is Zen?" What answer would you give? (Warren Matthews, World Religions 6th ed., 2010, p. 126). In the airport, Jack asks himself: "If you wake up in a different time in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?" It is no accident that, at this point in his life, Jack meets up with Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Tyler is this completely self-assured nonconformist who, like the Buddha, rejects the importance of material possessions. (This section corresponds to chapter 8 of the DVD which is mild in content).

Fight Club as the Eightfold Path

Soon, Jack and his new friend, Tyler, begin Fight Club. It's a series of clandestine meetings where disenfranchised young men have brutal, bloody fist fights. In one scene, Tyler describes the members of Fight Club and the source of their rage: they are all "slaves with white collars . . . the middle children of history." They have "no purpose or place. . . no Great War, no Great Depression. Our great war's a spiritual war, our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." Without an interpretive key to all of this, Fight Club might seem like mindless brutality to go along with a mindless existence. Why not? Alternately, the club can be seen as the last of the Four Noble Truths.

First, said the Buddha, to live is to suffer.

Second, our suffering is the result of our craving, our thirst for life itself and for permanence. Such desire is always, invariably frustrated (and frustrating!) because we're all marching towards death, and nothing ever stays the same.

But, said the Buddha, if one eliminates such craving, he would in effect eliminate suffering. This is the third noble truth.

The fourth and last noble truth is that one can defuse desire by following the Eightfold Path. Among the English translations, one finds variations. But here's a typical version of the path:

1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

Notice the connection to the number of Fight Club rules announced by the Brad Pitt character, Tyler Durden:

The first rule of Fight Club is, You do not talk about Fight Club
The second rule of Fight Club is, You do not talk about Fight Club.
The third rule of Fight Club: Someone yells "Stop" the fight is over.
Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight.
Fifth rule: one fight at a time fellas.
Sixth rule: No shirts, no shoes.
Seventh Rule: Fights will go on as long as they have to.
And the Eighth and final Rule : If this is your first night at Fight Club, . . . you have to fight.

As Reed says, "there is not a literal translation of the eightfold path in Fight Club." On the other hand, it's obvious that the number of rules could just as easily have been five or seven or ten. Clearly, then, the values and the fighting of the club represent the commitments and activities demanded by the Buddha's Eightfold Path. This is why the viewer should try to look past the film's violence, which is common, often graphic, and sometimes comical. It is a depiction of what it means to be a disciplined Buddhist. Jack makes little progress, though. Going down the list in order, Reed describes him like this:

"He is unable to understand Tyler's thinking,unable to think for himself, he minces his words in discussing Tyler, does not participate fully in Fight Club or its later form in Project Mayhem, does not fully accept the sacrificial aspect of his living situation, does not put the effort to rid himself of his worldly possessions, and of course, keeps the two divisions of his personality, the narrator part and the Tyler part separate."

This is the root of Jack's prolonged suffering throughout the film. (This section relates to Fight Club, chapter 15, which includes lots of violence and some profanity).

Okay, more later. Till then, feel free to add your comments. Tell me what you think.

Religion Courses for Spring 2010 at Amarillo College

This is likely my last post for this year. Maybe one more on the best books I read in 2009.

Once we make it to 2010, I plan to resume the series on American Evangelicalism and Old Testament scholarship. Next up: The Boom and Bust of Biblical Archaeology. But now it's time for an announcement:

Classes for the Spring semester at Amarillo College will begin on Tuesday, January 19, 2010. This time around, I'm scheduled to teach the following courses:

The New Testament (RELG 1302), Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:00-10:15 AM.

A first-year survey course. I try to get to all 27 books of the NT. Before that, the class spends some time on units like "Why Study the New Testament?" and "The New Testament Canon." Like my Old Testament course, this one frustrates me. We're always just getting started with a book when it's time to move on. But move on we do. At the beginning of this college-teaching thing, I remembered one such O.T. survey course I took many years ago. I felt so let down when, at the end of the semester, we were about halfway through Judges! I vowed never to do something like that in a survey course. So the class stays on pace.

Life of Paul (RELG 2302), MW, 10:30-11:45 AM.

A second-year course focused on the life, letters, and legacy of Paul the Apostle. Using the two primary sources (Paul's letters and the Book of Acts) the class establishes a minimal biography. As we work our way through, we survey each letter at the point where it was most likely written. Thus, the first letter we get to is either Galatians (ala Ben Witherington) or 1 Thessalonians (ala Abe Malherbe), depending on how I'm feeling about it at the time. I usually start with Galatians. Do you think that's right? Anyway, the last letter we take up is 2nd Timothy. And, yes, I consider all thirteen letters in the Pauline corpus to be genuine, although we do give some attention to the case against Paul's authorship of the Pastoral Letters. At the end of the semester, we usually have a couple weeks to take up special themes like Paul and the Holy Spirit, high-profile women in Paul's network (a.k.a., "Women's Role in the Church"), and Pauline ethics (e.g., homosexuality).

Introduction to World Religions (PHIL 1304), MW, 1:30-2:45 PM.

I begin this course by telling my students that this is the most impossible one I teach. "Impossible" because it's just so vast. Besides, what do I really know about Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam? A lot more than I used to. But still next to nothing. Almost all of them are in the same situation, although I occasionally have, for example, an Asian student who grew up in a Buddhist family. But we begin with a strong dose or reality regarding what students should hope for the course to accomplish. If at the end of the semester they have a basic, working glossary of five or six major world religions, then it's a success. In my opinion, this is the sort of course that really should be taught to all high-school seniors. Religious literacy in the United States is astonishingly low. We really can and should do better.

Elementary Biblical Hebrew II (RELG 2312), Thurs., 7:00-9:45 PM. (Sorry, no link for the syllabus. But here's the textbook we're working through).

Following our start in August with more than 50 students, as of last week about 20 were still showing up. We'll see what the numbers are like in January. Many are called, but few are chosen. This class is one of the highlights of my week. Not only do I get to sing and read and study Hebrew, my enthusiasm never fails to make Michele roll her eyes, groan, and call me a nerd. All the better.

If you're interested in any of these courses, to register you need to follow the appropriate links at the Amarillo College website. Also, anyone is welcome to audit my classes. I don't require auditors to register. You may simply come to class. However, I would appreciate it if you would call just to let me know who you are, and that you're planning to sit in. Phone: 806-372-5747.

Best Books for the Break?

The last three posts have outlined the early history of American Evangelicalism. They explain, among other things, where Christianity Today magazine came from. The next installment in this series will be a few posts about American Evangelicals and Old Testament scholarship.

A few years ago, starting with Volume 1, I read through Christianity Today, focusing especially on evangelical stances towards mainstream Old Testament studies. The survey revealed a mixed bag that illustrates, I think, an inherent dilemma (and sometimes double-mindedness) when it comes to Evangelicals and the world in which they live. This has implications for the Churches of Christ, which sort of are and aren't members of the evangelical tribe. More later.

Now I want to ask you a few questions. But before we get to the questions and your answers, let's talk about me. Life gets busy. I know that most folks have a lot going on. It's been like that for me the last several days.

Over the past two weeks, I finished reading all of the term papers and projects assigned to my students. And then there were final exams to put to together, and give, and grade. Once the finals were scored, I calculated course grades for the semester and submitted them to Amarillo College. This was for five classes I taught during the fall 2009 semester

• The Old Testament
• The New Testament
• Introduction to World Religions
• Gospel of John
• Elementary Biblical Hebrew I

While that was going on, I was also finishing up work on another course: the one where I was the student instead of the teacher. This past semester, I was part of a graduate seminar at West Texas A&M U. on the History of Europe before 1648. The seminar focused on England, especially London, during the Middle Ages. I know it's cliche, but I what I learned most of all is how much I don't know.
Which is not to say I didn't learn a lot. We spent most of the semester reading and discussing primary texts. I wound up writing my paper on a first-person account written by a follower of John Wyclif, the Lollard priest William Thorpe, who recorded his informal heresy trial before Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. Fascinating stuff. The professor, Dr. Bruce Brasington, was really good too.
Anyway, while all that was going on, I was also teaching a Wednesday-night class on the Book of Isaiah at the Colonies Church of Christ. We finish up next week.
Which means . . . between now and mid-January, I'll have some downtime. Yes, there's the Holidays in the middle of all that. But especially after the first of the year, the good Lord willing, I'll have several reading days. My question is, What do you recommend? Especially in these three categories:
1. Fiction. I'm in the mood for a really fine novel (new or classic). I would also consider a collection of great short stories; but since that genre isn't doing so well these days, it would have to be a strong, convincing recommendation.
2. Bible-Theology. I'd prefer not to work through a new commentary, although I'm sure there are a bunch of fine new ones out there. I think I'm looking for something that takes a big, broad view of Scripture or a theological theme.
3. History. At this point, I'm thinking "American." But since I'm one of those dogs that'll chase any rabbit, I will consider any suggestion in the category.
4. Society-Culture-Politics. I like to learn and think about the past. But I also need to have a sense of what's going on right now. What's a good book for getting that?
Suggest away. I'll be buying or borrowing books soon. If I wind up reading something especially good, you'll be sure to hear about it here. Thanks!

Biblical Hebrew at Amarillo College

It's official. I got the letter about three weeks ago. Here's the Reader's Digest condensed version:

At the September 18, 2009 meeting, the Academic Affairs Committee reviewed and approved your request to add the following courses to the Amarillo College course inventory:

RELG 2311: Biblical Hebrew I

RELG 2312: Biblical Hebrew II

Yea! I'm so relieved and excited. This is something I've been working toward for a long time. More later. I've got to get ready for class.

A Frenzied, Frantic Fall Semester

I know. Til now, I haven't posted anything in the entire month of September. Thanks for checking back with me. So what's been going on here?

1. School started. And, boy, did it ever start. Amarillo College set a record enrollment this fall, with well over 11,000 students, more now than ever before in the history of the school, and one thousand more than this time last year. My classes are packed. One of them, New Testament, maxed out at 30 students. (That's about as many as we can comfortably seat in our classroom). The other classes--The Old Testament, Introduction to World Religions, and The Gospel of John--are also pretty full. So it's a busy time at the Bible Chair. Lots of students, and that's nice.

2. School started. Yeah, I said that already. But I also went back to school as a student. I've always enjoyed the structure, the challenge, and the opportunity of a college course. Well, almost always. So I signed up to take a graduate seminar at West Texas A&M. It's a history class focused on medieval England, especially London. The professor, Dr. Bruce Brasington, is a full-fledged medievalist. He really knows his stuff. Best of all, he's challenging us to do almost all of our reading in the primary sources. I've decided to do my seminar paper on some aspect of the Lollards, those religious eccentrics who took their inspiration from John Wyclif. My working title is "Hell's Bells: Lollard Objections to Church Bells, the 'Horns of the Antichrist'." I hope the project turns out to be as juicy as it sounds. Maybe a Ph.D. in religious history some day? We'll see.

3. Hebrew. Oh, I'm also teaching another course this semester: Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. So far, student turn out has been high to say the least. The second week, we stuffed nearly 50 people into the classroom. We ran out of chairs. A few people went back to their cars and brought in their lawn chairs. I won't soon forget a doctor, still in his scrubs, sitting on the floor just a few feet away from me as we learned the Hebrew alphabet song. Here's the most exciting news about Hebrew: we're right on the verge of finishing up the process so that Hebrew I and II will be added to the curriculum of Amarillo College. This has been one of those long, drawn-out things. You wouldn't believe the work that goes into adding two classes to the course inventory of a college. But now it's done, and I'm just waiting to hear from the school that this has now gone through. If and when I get the news, then Biblical Hebrew I will be offered in the "Fall Too" semester at AC, which begins in early October. In the Spring semester, the second course would be offered on the regular schedule. Stay tuned.

4. Beautiful weather. This time of year it's very pretty here on the high plains. We've had some absolutely gorgeous days, with hardly more than a slight breeze. So I've gotten to spend a lot of time riding my bicycle and walking.

5. Preaching and teaching. Over the last few weeks, I did a couple of the sessions in the Wednesday-night summer series at my home church. Currently, I'm the fill-in preacher at the Church of Christ in Panhandle, Texas. For three weeks, I'm driving out for the morning Bible study and worship. The auditorium class is looking at a different psalm each week. That's something I really enjoy. So far we've looked at Psalms 4 and 113. Not sure which one we'll go with next Sunday. Any suggestions? (You have to say why). The sermon mini-series is entitled "Real Christianity." Seems like the lessons are about to convert the guy in the pulpit. But he's a sluggish soul. . . .

So what's going on in your world these days? I'd enjoy reading a few updates that I might not get from the blogs. Oh, anyone else going to the Moser Ministry Conference at Lubbock? Lemme hear from you. Cheers!

In the Beginning

Yesterday was the first day of school at Amarillo College. Needless to say, for the past week or so it's been a little hectic here at the Bible Chair.

As all teachers know, there are a thousand and one things that just have to be done before you start a new school year. And even when you think you've got all the is dotted and all the ts crossed, a couple more issues always come along at the last minute. As the first day got closer and closer, I knew I had to have everything set. Here's the schedule for Monday:

The Old Testament 9:00-10:15 a.m.
The New Testament 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Intro. to World Religions 1:30-2:45 p.m.

A total of 62 students signed up for those three classes, one of our best enrollments ever. And yesterday, every single student on the roster showed up. In the time I've been teaching, that's never happened before.

So far, the hard work of the last few weeks has paid off. The first day went pretty well. The biggest snag came in the afternoon. Within the last few days, there was a location change for the World Religions class. So students who printed off their schedules early went to the Music Building for class. Students who printed off their schedules later came to the Bible Chair instead.

When I realized what had happened, I told the people at the Bible Chair to stay there, ran to the Music Building to meet the other students, explained to them what was going on, wrote instructions and drew a map on the chalkboard for anyone who arrived late, then walked everyone over to the Bible Chair where we started class a few minutes late. No one got lost, and more than half the students took in a little exercise for good measure.

Tomorrow's schedule will include all of the Monday classes plus a short session on the Gospel of John, from Noon til 12:50. Then, beginning September 3rd, there will be a Thursday evening course in Elementary Biblical Hebrew, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Auditors are welcome to attend any of these classes other than The New Testament, which is completely full.

I like this job, and I'm thankful for it. I think it's going to be a good semester.

Free Course in Elementary Biblical Hebrew

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

What efforts I spent on that task (i.e., learning Hebrew), what difficulties I had to face, how often I despaired, how often I gave up and then in my eagerness to learn began again … I thank the Lord that from a bitter seed of learning I am now plucking sweet fruits! – Saint Jerome, Epistula 125.12.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beginning Thursday, September 3rd, a course in Basic Biblical Hebrew will be offered at Amarillo Bible Chair. There are no pre-requisites for this course. No previous knowledge of the language is expected. Anyone interested is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The class will meet each Thursday evening, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at the Bible Chair building, 2501 S. Jackson (corner of Jackson and 25th), just across the street from the south parking lot of the Washington Street campus of Amarillo College. Students should plan for class sessions lasting about two hours.

As soon as the course is added to the AC curriculum, students will be able to receive full credit. It is anticipated that the first semester of the course will be offered as a “Fall Too” (late fall) class.

Regarding textbooks: Students will eventually need to purchase Biblical Hebrew, Second Edition SET (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004). The two books and three audio CDs should be purchased as a package.

Questions? Please call the instructor, Frank Bellizzi, at (806) 372-5747, or send an email to . . . frankbellizzi@aya.yale.edu

Final Countdown to the Start of School

Two weeks from today we start a new school year at Amarillo College. I hope to make these some of my best classes ever. I've been doing this for three and a half years now. During that time I've learned a lot about myself, about the subjects I teach, and about the kinds of things that work (and don't work) in the classroom.

From one semester to the next, I've tried to improve the content of each course and my own delivery of the material. One principle I keep going back to is that students learn and retain the most when they are actively engaged in what's happening in class. It helps them, I think, when they do a good bit of the talking: raising and answering questions, expressing what they've learned, etc. If a person can accurately describe something and clearly explain it, then it's a sure thing that they understand it.

I also try to accommodate the wide array of learning styles among my various students, giving them things to see and touch, as well as hear. I'll never forget the strained look on one lady's face as she listened to my sermons week after week. I thought she was angry or distressed. So I finally asked her about it. She told me that she didn't object to what I was saying. There was no "problem." She was just doing her best to really listen to what was being said. Sometime later, I noticed that whenever my sermons were accompanied by projected text or artwork, her expression was much more relaxed. It was a wake-up call on the importance of making it easier for people who are highly visual and who don't learn very well by simply hearing. (It makes me wonder if, for example, Jesus actually picked a flower when he said, "Consider the lilies of the field").

Anyway, these are just a few of the things running through my mind these days. Here are my questions to you: Who was the best teacher you ever had in high school or college? What made that person's classes so great?

Starting Summer, Useful URLs

The spring semester at Amarillo College is long gone. Students were taking their final exams two weeks ago, and Commencement ceremonies were held on Friday, May 15th.

The week after that, I'd been preparing to teach a summer section of Introduction to World Religions. It was to have started yesterday. But hardly anyone had signed up for the class and it wound up being canceled late last week.

It's not like I don't have anything to do, though. Here's a bit of what's going on in my world:

• Last Sunday, I visited the little Church of Christ at Adrian, Texas. What a great group of people. When you go to Adrian, you teach the Sunday morning adult class and preach during the morning worship. Then, you go home for lunch with one of church families and, then, preach again at 4:00. It's a full day in the country.
• Tonight, at The Colonies Church of Christ, I'll finish out a series of lessons on the Psalms. We'll close with Psalm 137.
• Of course, a few projects around the Bible Chair are waiting to be done.
• Next Monday, we start a nightly Vacation Bible School at San Jacinto. As usual, I get to lead the opening and closing assemblies.
• At the end of next week it's off to Connecticut where I'll get to spend a little over a week.

- - - - - -

Every once in a while, I spend some time searching (not surfing) the Web for sites that I can use and recommend to my students and people who show up at this blog. Here's some of the better stuff I've recently seen for the first time:

1. A complete, searchable Greek New Testament edited by Westcott and Hort. Yes, that's an old edition of the Greek text. But most of the differences between this and newer editions are few and insignificant. What I really like about this on-line edition is that you can click on any Greek word and get a ton of grammatical information about it. One odd thing about this page is that the NT books are listed alphabetically.

2. Here's the English version of the official website of the Vatican. Want to look around? The homepage has a search window. I typed in celibacy and, later, Vatican II and came up with dozens of hits for each. Interesting stuff.

3. You might also check out the searchable Yale Divinity Digital Image and Text Library. By going to this site, you get both the image database for biblical studies plus the image and text database for Christian history. Thinking about biblical studies, I searched for Crete and came up with several photos (along with descriptions). Predictably, searching under Ephesus gave me even more hits. Turning to Christian history, Campbell brought up nothing (ironic for some Church of Christ people), but Geneva rendered several hits, and Luther dozens.

What are some of the more interesting or useful websites you've recently discovered?

Lots of Class

This semester, I have to be loaded for bear every Wednesday. It's the one day of week when I teach all day long. I start at 9:00 a.m. and stop at 8:00 p.m., with lunch and supper in there somewhere. It's a long day, but I'm not complaining. When it goes well, it's actually a lot of fun. Here's the schedule of classes:

New Testament

Today we're looking at 2nd Peter and Jude. Many of my students are involved in some sort of church work. Some of them plan to be pastors and teachers. So when we take up these two letters, I like for my classes to notice what the New Testament does and does not mean by the term false teacher. That's important to know.

Life of Paul

We've made it to the Sixties. Having appealed to Caesar, Paul is under house arrest in Rome where (I think) he'll write the so-called Prison Epistles. I prefer to call them the Captivity Letters. We'll start by reviewing the history from Acts and by noticing markers in these four letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) that make them appear to come from the same period in Paul's life.

General Epistles

Today the class will start walking through 2nd Peter. I never get tired of the add to your faith section of the first chapter. Seems like that passage was standard sermon material in the church of my youth. Just a thought: Is there anyone in the Christian world you'd talk about as Peter talks about his opponents in this letter? Who? Why?

Introduction to World Religions

A whirlwind tour of (some) Islamic history. During the Dark Ages of the Christian world, Islam was leading the way in virtually every area of human learning. This is where we got Arabic numerals, for example. I like them better than Roman numerals, don't you?

Ecclesiastes

Tonight's class will be the third in a series of four lessons I'm teaching at the Colonies Church of Christ here in Amarillo. In the providence of God, there were people who decided to just get over the unconventional character of Ecclesiastes and welcome it into the Jewish Scriptures. We cannot be sufficiently thankful for that.

So, I 'm curious. If you were in my shoes today, how would you approach any or all of these classes? What are some of the best resources (books, articles, websites, videos, etc.) for these subjects? I like to hear what other people have noticed and learned.

Anakin and Luke Skywalker in Paul's Theology

One of my current reads is Michael F. Bird's new book Introducing Paul: The Man, His Mission and His Message. Bird says that his aim is to introduce Paul "without losing people in the mire of scholarly debates and complex technicalities" (p. 6).

I'm about a fourth of the way through and have already decided that, barring some sort of unexpected problem with this book, it will replace F. F. Bruce's introduction as the supplementary text in the "Life of Paul" class that I teach every spring. Bird's explanations and overviews are really good and, for the most part, accomplish his goals quite well. I especially like the way he deals with the Adam-Christ typology in Paul's thought:

The argument of Romans 5:12-21 involves a synkrisis, or comparison between two 'types' or figures, Adam and Christ. In Adam we have a story of a world gone horribly wrong. As the one who was made to rule over creation is now subject to it, he forfeits his wonderful privileges of intimate fellowship with God. He suffers a severe loss of fortunes, loses divine favour, is exiled from paradise, and even his own being becomes disfigured and corrupted. The one created for immortality experiences the painful horror of death, and so do all of his offspring, . . . Death begets death. Sin dehumanized humanity, so that, despite possessing the divine image, they act like little more than complex beasts, fighting and devouring one another.

But in Christ we have a story of a world put right, as Christ is faithful where Adam was faithless, and is obedient where Adam was disobedient. Through his act of righteous obedience, Jesus overturns the transgression of Adam and so is able to deliver and transform the fallen progeny of Adam. Christ creates in himself a new humanity, which, through the renewing power of the Spirit, is able to undo the effects of the fall and become the new Adamic race.

In want of a modern analogy, George Lucas's six-part saga Star Wars can be called a "Tale of Two Skywalkers", and in many ways mirrors the Adam-Christ contrast of Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, where Adam and Christ stand for the two respective heads of humanity. They are representatives or types of either a corrupted humanity (Adam) or a redeemed humanity (Christ). The first Skywalker (Anakin Skywalker) faced the temptation to give in to the dark side of the force: he gave in to it and death, destruction and chaos followed. In contrast, the second Skywalker (Luke Skywalker) faced the same temptation, but was faithful and obedient to the Jedi vocation, and consequently hope, life and the triumph of good followed. In fact, Luke was able to redeem the first Skywalker, his father Anakin, from evil through his faithfulness (pp. 42-43).

Now there's a fun sermon possibility.

A Trip to the Wat Lao Buddharam of Amarillo

On Wednesday, Feb. 25th, my "Introduction to World Religions" class took a field trip to the one place here in Amarillo, Texas where we could get a taste of traditional Buddhism: the Wat Lao Buddharam, which means something like "Laotian Buddhist Temple." The campus, which includes several acres and a number of buildings, is located at 4695 Hwy. 136, just inside Amarillo Loop 335, and is open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm every day.

I had been trying to set up such a trip for a long time. Some of my first phone calls were answered by a monk who didn't speak much English at all, just enough to tell me that the one man who did speak English wasn't there. And since I hadn't gotten very far with my Laotian language studies, well. . .

Eventually, though, I was able to meet up with a new friend, Bantun, a monk who speaks English quite well and who agreed for my class to come out.

Coming through the entrance gate, we saw the small temple pictured at the top. We were told that this facility usually sits empty, used only on special occasions like the ordination of a monk.

Once inside the main building, which doesn't have the ornate exterior, we were greeted by Bantun who spoke to the group and answered our questions. Over all, it turned out to be a good trip, one that my students and I won't soon forget.

I really like it when my classes can get out of the classroom and do something out of the ordinary, something they didn't expect when they signed up for the course. People truly learn and retain things they actually do. And, while field trips, experiments, etc., always involve more risk and inconvenience than keeping everyone in the classroom, I think the extra effort is worth it.

Between Semesters

Last week was Finals Week at Amarillo College. On Thursday, we reported all of the course grades for the semester. Looking back on a term just completed, I usually have two feelings:

1. I wish that I'd done a better job of teaching. One of my great fears is that my classes will only reinforce the notion that the Bible is a boring book, tedious and impossible to understand. Teaching that engages students, that leads them to become invested in the subject, is not easy. Sometimes I do that fairly well. Other times I don't.

2. I'm confident that my students know and understand much more of the Bible than they did at the beginning of the semester. It recently got back to me that one of them commented, "He makes us work." I was glad to hear that. Without intimidating students, I want to set high standards for them. The Bible and Religion shouldn't be easy As, should they?

Anyway, on to the next challenge. Beginning in January, I'm scheduled to the teach five courses. Here they are, with a few notes about each one:

1. Introduction to World Religions

Few people on the planet can teach this course really well. I'm not one of them. Not even close. So this is the course where I abandon all hope of being the sage on the stage. I'm much more the guide on the side. Here's how it goes: First, we explore some definitions of "religion" and the growing diversity of religion in the United States. Then, one at a time, we take up

• Native American Spirituality
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam

The course textbook is the mostly-good World Religions, 5th edition, by Warren Matthews.

2. Life of Paul

Mucho fun, this is a sophomore-level course that Religion majors are required to take. But it doesn't count as a general humanities credit. What this means is, the class size is small and students tend to be motivated. There are so many ways this course might be taught. I haven't mastered my own approach just yet. Currently, we use the outline of Paul's life provided by the Book of Acts. As we go along, we study the letters at those points in time where Paul likely wrote them. After the Bible, the secondary textbook is F. F. Bruce's, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free.

3. The New Testament

This is a first-year level introduction focused on the content of the NT. For this course I've settled on a three-unit approach:

• Gospels and Acts
• Letters of Paul
• General Epistles and Revelation

The secondary text is Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament, 2nd edition. One of the best features of this text is that it comes with a CD-ROM that contains everything in the book, plus some short videos, questions and answers, etc. Really nice.

4. General Epistles

This is a first-year, one-hour credit class that meets at lunchtime on Wednesdays. We eat, drink, and read. No textbooks. No tests. No term papers. Grades are based on attendance, quality of participation, and one-page written responses to questions about the biblical text. The more questions a student answers, the higher the grade. 15 good responses earns an A.

5. Intermediate Biblical Hebrew

In the Fall of 2007, sixteen students began a first-year Hebrew class. About five of them made it through the first two semesters, one year's worth of language study. At this point, two of those students are still standing for the second semester of second-year Hebrew. Mah Norah! (How awesome!) We're one Christian, one Jew, and one Bible Chair director. And I have to say, studying with Rhonda and Trent is one of the highlights of my week.

Having completed the first-year grammar, Biblical Hebrew, by Kittel, Hoffer, and Wright, we're currently making our way through Readings in Biblical Hebrew: An Intermediate Textbook, by Ehud Ben Zvi, Maxine Hancock, and Richard A. Beinert (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993).

Some Thoughts on Teaching College Bible Courses

The Old and New Testament classes I teach are first-year, college level courses.

In both classes, we're halfway through the second units. What that means is, in the OT class we have surveyed the Five Books of Moses, plus Joshua through Kings, and some of the poetic books. Now we're into the writings of the prophets, going through in more less chronological order. In the NT class, we've done a fly-over of the Four Gospels and Acts and are now about halfway through the Letters of Paul (again, in something like chronological order).

If you've ever done something like this before, you know how difficult it can be. If you haven't done something like this, you might be surprised at the number of challenges it presents.

For instance, by definition, a survey course never gives you the opportunity to dive deep. The goal is to cover basic content, which creates a few dilemmas. For one thing, the teacher would like to spend more time exploring each book. The text begs for it, and that's hard to resist. I once heard about a teacher in an OT survey course who by the end of the semester had made it to the middle of Numbers. I regard that as false advertising. It's frustrating to students who expected what the course title promised. As it turns out, my preference for dealing with six books instead of sixty-six in the course of a semester is one of the least of my concerns.

Ironically, content survey is never easy in a Bible-Belt college. That's because of the pre-understandings that many of the students bring with them to class. For example, a good number of students arrive in a New Testament course thoroughly immersed in dispensational premillennialism, i.e, Left Behind-ism.

It usually starts a discussion--and gives the students some needed exercise in using a concordance--when I mention that "anti-Christ" doesn't occur one time in the Book of Revelation. In two 75-minute class sessions on the Revelation, I don't think that anyone is moved off of his or her paradigm for interpreting apocalyptic literature (provided they started with one). I consider it a small victory if students know something of what's in the book, that Revelation is far from unique, and that there's a wide range of interpretive takes, including the one I prefer, which is quite different from the only reading that most of my students know.

Anyway, those are just some of the dilemmas that go along with the real delights of my job. At the end of the day, I've gotten to study and think with and talk about Scripture. And that's a pretty good gig.

Good Questions for a New Testament Course Outline

The college course syllabus has changed.

As some of us can remember, years ago a syllabus might take up no more than one side of a single sheet. Three pages or more seemed hefty. But nowadays a syllabus can run to five or six or seventeen pages.

One reason is because colleges now see the syllabi distributed by their faculty as contracts between the students and the institution. Provisions and expectations are spelled out in great detail. For example, many of today's syllabi include performance/learning objectives (which tend to be written in Education-ese), as well as the college's disability statement, word-for-word from the catalog, etc., etc.

To me, some of it seems excessive and tedious. I think that to college administrators, it seems like very cheap insurance.

Anyway, there's one thing that I think really belongs in a syllabus: a course outline and calendar. This is the part that details the smaller segments of the course and identifies what will be discussed and on what date(s). When done right, this part of the syllabus will benefit both instructors and students.

It requires instructors to plan a semester's journey from beginning to end, and to identify what will be seen along the way. This seems like a reasonable expectation for tour guides.

For students, the course outline and calendar spells out what they can expect as well as what will be required from them. A good course outline will provide those who are being taken on the trip answers to questions like, Where are we going today? What will we see when we get there? And how do I prepare so that I can make the most of this part of the tour?

This is where I'd like to ask for your help. I've already put together the outline for the 15-week survey course that is to cover the New Testament. Not an easy task, by the way. For each of the one-week units, I want to include in the course outline at least one thought-provoking, discussion-starting question, the kind of question that might actually get students reading (or at least considering) the book(s) to be covered ahead of time.

What follows are the numbered weeks and the titles I've given to the corresponding units. In some cases, I've added a few notes about what is to be covered. For any or all of these units, what question(s) might you include in the course outline?

1. Getting Started. (I know, this could go anywhere. To be more specific, in this first week we will explore (a)some possible good reasons for studying the New Testament, (b) the question of the NT Canon, and (c) the historic, cultural significance of the New Testament).

2. Introducing the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke (includes raising the question of why the earliest Christians remembered and wrote down what they did regarding the words and the deeds of Jesus; also includes an introduction to the Synoptic Problem, which I rather like to call "the Synoptic Question").

3. Exploring the Synoptic Gospels: Similarities and Differences among the Siblings (explores the evangelists as, well, evangelists, and also provides some guidelines for interpreting the parables of Jesus).

4. Christianity as the Promised Restoration of Israel: The Unique Vision of Luke and Acts

5. Light, Signs, Belief, and Life: The Gospel of John

6. The Life and Thought of the Apostle Paul

7. Some of Paul's First Letters: Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

8. The Corinthian Correspondence

9. The Letter to the Romans

10. The Captivity Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon

11. Letters to Paul's Delegates: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus

12. Hebrews and James

13. The Letters of Peter and Jude

14. The Letters of John

15. The Book of Revelation

Free Course in Biblical Hebrew

What efforts I spent on that task (i.e., learning Hebrew), what difficulties I had to face, how often I despaired, how often I gave up and then in my eagerness to learn began again … I thank the Lord that from a bitter seed of learning I am now plucking sweet fruits! --Jerome, Epistula 125.12.

Beginning Tuesday, September 2, a course in Basic Biblical Hebrew will be offered at Amarillo Bible Chair. There are no pre-requisites for this course. No previous knowledge of the language is expected. Anyone interested is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The class will meet each Tuesday evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Bible Chair building, 2501 S. Jackson (corner of Jackson and 25th), just across the street from the south parking lot of the Washington Street campus of Amarillo College.

Students should plan for class sessions lasting about two hours (until 8:30). But sessions can go a little longer if body, spirit, and time permit. A full school year of language study will require students to remain committed through May 2009.

Regarding textbooks: To begin, students must purchase Biblical Hebrew, Second Edition SET (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004). The two books and three audio CDs may be purchased as a package. The SET is available for purchase at the Amarillo College Bookstore, located in the College Union Building on the Washington Street campus of AC. Because the College bookstore has been kind enough to order several copies of the SET, students are requested to purchase these materials from the bookstore.

Questions? You may call the instructor, Frank Bellizzi, at (806) 372-5747, or send an email to frankbellizzi@aya.yale.edu

A Learning Experience?

Teaching is not a lost art, but regard for it is a lost tradition.

The test and the use of a man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind. --Jacques Barzun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's issue of the Amarillo Globe-News contains a story that hits pretty close to my home. Apparently, some people have voiced their objections to a billboard ad campaign for Amarillo College.

I hadn't even noticed the billboards. The geezer in me won't take his eyes off the road. I proudly say in my raspy, old-man voice: That's twenty-seven years without an incident!

Anyway, here's an example of the controversial ads: One of the billboards pictures a shopping cart full of bagged groceries. The text: I wanted a job with choices. "Paper or plastic?" wasn't what I had in mind. At the bottom appears the Amarillo College logo next to the tag line: "Hire Education."

It seems like all of the negative reaction so far is of one sort. It says that the ads demean people who, for whatever reason, never went to college, folks who work for a lifetime in jobs that don't require a degree.

One of the many things my parents consistently taught me was that any honest, productive work should be honored. In my adult years, that view has become my own settled conviction. So I find myself siding with those who consider the ads irritating on that count.

What I don't hear about is how the ads tend to reflect and reinforce the debasing of higher education.

College is all about job satisfaction?

It's all about a better career? (And let's face it, in this climate better is code for more money).

No learning for learning's sake?

No becoming fit for public service?

No quest for knowledge or search for truth?

I know, in our current atmosphere, some of these questions sound ludicrous, a reflection of the problem.

Anyone who knows college life in the United States is well aware that student apathy and academic cheating are two of the biggest obstacles that professors face. There are reasons for that.

My question is why should a college ad campaign promote that culture of cynicism which undermines the academy's best reasons for being? For all of its instructing, shouldn't a college teach something of a higher order?

For a closer look, here's the story: Amarillo College ad campaign draws fire.

I'm curious. What do you think about this?

Which One Would You Pick?

It's Finals Week at Amarillo College. Monday morning, the Introduction to World Religions class took their final. Monday evening, it was The New Testament final. Tuesday afternoon: Life of Paul.

I don't think I'll give the Elementary Biblical Hebrew class a test. But if I did they'd pass with the proverbial flying colors. About a dozen students were there for the start back in September. Now they're down to five. I'm so proud of them. Rhonda, Dayna, Mark, Sam, and Trent have come so far. And they're determined to keep going with me through the summer. They know that once we start working with poetry, it's going to be an uphill climb. But they're ready for the challenge. What a fantastic group.

- - - - - - -

In early June, I'll be traveling to New England. My work provides for a week's worth of professional development, and I'm going to take advantage of that.

Each year, Yale Divinity School (shown in the photo) and the Institute of Sacred Music host a Summer Term that features week-long courses. To be specific, seven different courses are being offered during the Monday-Friday that I plan to be there. If you were going to one of them, which one would you pick, and why? Here's the list of courses and teachers:

At YDS

1. Foremothers in Faith: Women in the Hebrew Scriptures, Carolyn Sharp

2. Pastoral Ministry in the Classical Tradition, Christopher Beeley

3. Judaism in the Time of Jesus, Jeremy Hultin

4. Pastoral Care with Those Suffering from Depression, Jan Holton

At Yale Institute of Sacred Music

5. Reel Presence: Explorations in Liturgy and Film, Teresa Berger

6. A Fresh Look at Hymn Playing: Several Approaches to Enlivening Congregational Song, Bruce Neswick (clearly not planned with conservative Campbellites in mind!)

7. We Are Now One Body: Global Song, Patrick Evans

So these are the options. Any of them looks especially interesting to you?