Reading Biblical Literature: Genesis to Revelation by Craig R. Koester Ph.D.

Professor Koester takes his students through an enlightening trip through the bible.  Each book or group of books is set in the context of the events of the time that shaped the writing of each book.  Each book is looked at through the style of literature employed.  How is the literary structure used to convey the message? 

His description of the separation of the Jewish state into Israel and Judea helped clarify the sections in the Old Testament where the tribes were in conflict.  He also explained why the Jews in Samaria were not considered accepted as part of the Jewish community and both Judea and Israel.  Invasion, foreign occupation, and persecution also shaped the biblical text.

Reading Biblical Literature Genesis to Revelation Course Summary - 1 min. 

The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History by Craig R. Koester PhD.

The Great Course, The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History provides a thorough review of the last book of the new testament, The Book of Revelation.

I appreciated Professor Koester's efforts to place the book in historical context helping to interpret the figurative text as viewed from a person reading in the early first and second century A.D.  Attempts by many individuals in later centuries to use it to describe the current situation are probably misplaced although it highlights that the struggles noted in the book are universal and often faced by people thorough out history. 

Although Revelation is often thought of as a book that provides a fearful vision of the future, it offers a vision of hope that things will turn out alright in the end.  The struggle outlined is an adventure where evil forces attempt to cause misery but never succeed in the ultimate goal.

Before this lecture series I was unaware that the Book of Revelation was a source for many church hymns and religious music including Handel's Messiah. There are choral interludes between many of the significant passages in the book.

Apocalypse, Archeology, and the Dead Sea Scrolls - 54 minutes

How to be a Gentleman by John Bridges

John Bridges provides a current guide to good manners in the book, How to Be a Gentleman Revised and Updated: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy (Gentlemanners).  I was familiar with most of the social customs listed in the book but appreciated the finer tips on how to behave in front of dignitaries and royalty. 

The tips are a useful refresher for all those who aspire to be a gentleman and a good guide to the social graces for young men navigating the social scene.  As many people have been fired for boorish behavior, it may also serve as a guide for staying employed. 

Early chapter of How to Be a Gentleman audiobook - 9 min. 

A gentleman is there when he is needed and knows when to leave - 53 sec. 

How to Boost Your Mental and Physical Energy by Prof. Kimberlee Bethany Bonura

 

  

Professor Bonura provides clear evidenced base information on how to boost your physical and mental energy through proper nutrition, exercise, mindfulness and sleep.  Her description and demonstration of the several kinds of Yoga breathing was very helpful. The bellows breath provides a boost of energy equivalent to a cup of coffee.  The box breath and a similar breath through the nose and out the mouth aid in relaxation and stress management. 

The series is available from the Great Courses. 

Box Breath -1 min.  (Inhale air through the nose; expand the diaphragm; exhale through the nose.) 

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin

George Carlin skewers a wide range of targets in this compilation of humor.  As usual some of the material is for adults only and not for those easily offended.  His mastery of the increasingly euphemistic world we live in make it worth reading.  I've included a section of his speech to the National Press Club below on the phases of a political scandal.  It it a helpful primer for predicting the inevitable path of future events. 

Anatomy of a Political Scandal - Approx 4 minutes

Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature by Thomas A. Shippey

The audio course  by Thomas Shippey, Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature, is also available through Amazon Prime Great Courses Signature Collection.  

I enjoyed going from Odysseus and Beowulf to James Bond and Harry Potter.  Each of the 24 episodes covers a different style of hero.  Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings is not a typical hero.  He comes ill prepared to the task and grows into his role as an unlikely hero.

The Icelandic poems of Thor reveal the human and often humorous side of a hero with tremendous strength.  Lesser know characters such as the colorful Wife of Bath by Chaucer are discussed alongside Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennett.

Each of the stories is put in historical context to give a better understanding of the character and the author.  The series is a useful overview of the types of heroes available to authors creating their own memorable characters.



Writing to the gaps in literature from Tolkien by Thomas Shippey 5 min 30 seconds

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman

The book, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character), covers the life of this physicist from his early days devising more efficient ways to answer the telephone at a hotel front desk, his encounters with Einstein and Bohr, to his consternation at receiving a Nobel Prize.

Professor Feynman is up for adventure.  He spends a year in Brazil, at first working to convert the Spanish he just learned into Portuguese and eventually moonlighting as a pandeiro player for a local samba band. He offers up a critique of the Brazilian educational system that is applicable to flaws in the US system. We learn by memorization but don't know how it applies to the real world.  


Leading up to World War II, he works for the military and then is pulled into the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.  He is sent off to Oak Ridge Laboratories and discovers a storage problem with the nuclear material.  It is being stored too close together and could result in an explosion. He helps them redesign he plant even though he's never seen a blueprint before. 

When he returns to Los Alamos, Mr. Feynman learns how to become a safe cracker combining physics with psychology and illustrating lapses in the security system. 

The book celebrates the joy of saying yes to an adventure and yes to continually learning new skills to live life to its fullest. 

Richard Feynman - The Great Explainer -Sci Show - 10 min. 

Richard Feynman talks about light - 6 min.

Feynman''s Learning Technique - 2 min.