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Adult Church School Study
I've taught the Adult Sunday School class at the Mission Road Congregation of the Community of Christ on and off for about 27 years between 1977 and December, 2005. Over the years, I've developed handouts which I've shared with the class. Those materials are available from this page of my web site...just select the topic from the menu on the left.
We finished studying The Illustrated World’s Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith at the end of September 2005. Beginning on Sunday, October 2, 2005, the class began studying Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller. Effective January 1, 2006, Paul Bennetts took over the class and we continue to study Muller's Sabbath book.
Some of the topics discussed over the past few years include Marcus J. Borg's Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith (March to September 2004) and the Life & Letters of Paul (started discussing in September 2001).
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, we began a study of Islam in an attempt to understand the religion and not ascribe to all Muslims the activities of the radical few. Though far from an expert, I prepared the attached document on "What Do We Know about Islam?"
We also discussed a document I prepared: Comparison of Basic Beliefs Statement which examines the differences between the 1970 and 1987 editions of Exploring the Faith (Herald House, Independence, MO).
Through the greater part of 1998 and January 1999, the class studied the "Words of Jesus." During that time, I concentrated on reading and comparing the different versions of the scriptures (Inspired Version of the Bible, King James Version, New International Version, New King James Version, The Living Bible, and so on). The following "handouts" were created for the class.
Comparison of Matthew, Luke, & John to the
Gospel of Mark (King James Version only).
Sermon on the Mount comparison between the Matthew, Luke, and
III Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
The Sayings Gospel Q includes the sayings of Jesus.
The Parables of Jesus a complete list with notes and
cross-references between the Gospels.
Blessed Are the Teachers...
Next we studied the Book of Mormon, specifically Helaman and III Nephi. Between February 1999 and January 2000, I created several new handouts, as listed below:
The Sermon on the Mount as recorded in
the Book of Mormon, Inspired Version of the Bible, and the King James Version
Version of the Bible
Manuscript/Printing History of the Book of Mormon (Note:
You'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in to view this PDF file. Click the icon below
to go to the Adobe site and download the plug-in).
III Nephi, Chapter 5 Cross-reference with concepts in
King
James Version of the Bible.
Links to handouts prepared for previous class sessions are also listed in the left-hand menu.
Your Comments directed to jbacon@jccc.edu are invited.