Senior Cycle Religion-The Inner Circle

For any teachers getting ready to return to work next week, make sure to get a copy of the workbook for the Senior Cycle religion book The Inner Place which has just been published by Veritas. I'm going back to school (literally) next week, to teach Senior Cycle Religious Education (i.e. there's no exam in the subject but it's taught as part of the commitment of the school to its ethos) and to train to be a fully qualified second level teacher. There may be a bit of slant to my posts in the next year!

The workbook contains worksheets to encourage students to explore further the ideas and concepts which are presented in the textbook and as any teacher of a non exam subject will attest, we need all the resources we can get!

According to the website blurb "there are also many suggestions for project work which will enrich the students’ involvement in the religion class and encourage further reflection on what is being presented." A mere €4.99 (plus €1.50 handling fee) it's well worth the investment. I'll let you know how it works out!

Using Word (Tag) Clouds in Teaching

I've been playing about word (or tag) clouds and teaching for a while now. My problem is that when I'm brainstorming with my students, I never know quite what to do with the results in terms of saving them for future lessons or for something that students can refer back to in their own time, for example when I use them with creative writing and ideas for an essay or story. My writing is the pits and words in a list like a word document don't ever seem to cut the creative mustard, so I've been hunting for an alternative.

While Word Clouds are not the answer to all the problems in life, they are a good start and something I'm going to try and use a bit more in class as an experiment. I use Wordle as a tool to create them but try to use others such as Taxedo, Tagcrowd, and Worditut. A word or tag cloud is simply a weighted list a visual representation for text data, typically used to depict tags on websites, or to visualise free form text. It's good to use to put together group work-for example if students are reviewing the Genesis creation accounts, you can see from the size of the word on your word cloud, the frequency it occurs in feedback.

Word Cloud for this website created on Wordle. Not sure why it looks like a hairdryer though...

Word Cloud of Exodus 15:1-18 created on Wordle.

And the Book of Jonah-I used this with some of my postgraduate students last semester when we were looking at the distribution of the divine names in the text.



Do remember that you have to set up Java to get the site to work properly and that you need to take a screen shot of the Word Cloud and crop it in a programme like Paint to save it as a png file you can work with. Most sites have a "help" section that guides you through the dumb questions :)

For more information on word clouds in education, have a look at research from Bath University (they have an excellent comparison of some of the top sites to save you the finger work), Box of Tricks (with great practical examples of use in a classroom) and more on Wordle in teaching with lots of samples. 

Teaching Resources-The Seder Plate

As part of my teaching on Exodus I talk about the Passover and have blogged on the resources I have used here.

One thing I always wanted was a Seder plate to bring into class (and here I include second and third level teaching) so that I can show my students. Now Seder plates are not the easiest thing to pick up in Ireland and any ones I found were very beautiful but prohibitively expensive for my salary (or lack of). The same with online as postage on a large ceramic plate from the US to Ireland always made it difficult-that was until I found ChocolateGelt and their Plastic Seder Plates for a mere €2.25 each. (Glet is slang for money)

They offer very reasonable shipping-here’s the copy from my invoice for shipping to Ireland

Products
------------------------------------------------------

2 x Plastic Seder Plate Jerusalem (EACH) (Item #1237) = $5.50

------------------------------------------------------

Sub-Total: $5.50

United States Postal Service (1 x 0.78lbs) (First-Class Mail International Package): $9.04

Total: $14.54

They arrived super fast too-though it gave my Dad something to puzzle over and he was very disappointed that there was no chocolate in the massive box that arrived for me!

I only wish I’d ordered some Chocolate Seder Plates at the same time :)

Some more resources since I last blogged:
 
The Virtual Seder Plate
How to Prepare the Seder Plate
Guide for Jewish Children: Contains Hebrew but also lots of bright and colourful illustrations that can be used in an Irish classroom
Colouring Page
BBC activities for the Passover (with info on the Seder Plate) Note the videos are only available in the UK.
Make your own Seder Plate (young children)

FaithConenct Website Review-for Second Level Teachers

Review of FaithConnect website for second level RE teachers in Ireland as published in the ever brilliant Intercom :)

The FaithConnect website is an interactive website for second level Senior Cycle non-exam Religious Education which was developed by a team from Mater Dei and Veritas, lead by Enda Donlon and Orla Walsh. The website centres on the ‘Search for Meaning’ segment of the curriculum framework for the subject, and the topic is presented in three separate sections that can be used with Transition Year, Fifth Year and/or Sixth Year students. These sections are A) Searching, B) Symbol and C) Religious Faith – a response to life’s search for meaning. One section is ample to make up an entire Senior Cycle Module or a full TY RE programme.

FaithConnect is an interactive website so each student needs to have their own personal account and an individual computer in front of them to use this resource successfully. A student licence provides access to the FaithConnect body of content, a personal profile page, online workbook, journal and blog (an option that the teacher must turn on). This licence is valid for the school year and the website can be accessed as many times as a student wishes from any computer. Student work can be downloaded and saved at the end of the year. For every 25 student licences purchased a school is entitled to receive a complimentary teacher licence (minimum purchase of 10 is required). This features all the management tools and support they will need to use this resource with your class. It is easy to set up and use. The teacher site also includes access to the virtual staffroom where teacher can ‘connect’ with other teachers to discuss and share ideas. The price for the school year is €10.00 per student per section.

Each theme is presented in three sections that are divided into three stages, for example Section A is “Searching” and is split into “The Search for Meaning in Today’s World”, “Sources for Meaningless” and “Questioning as part of the Search for Meaning”. Each section has three set Outcomes for the students to complete and it is here that the pedagogical benefits can shine.

Outcome One is presented in a creative web format that will enable the students to complete an online workbook, journal and blog. For students who are so familiar with these forms of communication and self expression in a more secular setting, it is fantastic to see these media being used to aid their religious and spiritual growth. This outcome also contains a variety of interactive content, which includes online texts, images, streamed videos and “just for fun” exercises. There are also lots of links to external websites for more information and additional material for debate.

Outcome Two empowers the students to take responsibility for the content explored in the first outcome of each section. This is achieved by students creating digital resources that may be shared with their own school community and uploaded to the FaithConnect website for use with the FaithConnect online community. The students develop their filming, editing, and production skills within this section, as well as expanding their own individual understanding of the importance of the search for meaning in their lives.

Outcome Three is parish based and proves that a good online resource does not mean that you are stuck in front of a glowing computer screen all day. This section requires the students to choose a specific topic from the sections studied and then to connect with people in their local area in order to explore how such an issue has affected, impacted upon, or transformed these people’s lives in various ways. The interview is recorded and uploaded to FaithConnect as a podcast.

In addition to these sections, there are also a number of features and resources which enhance the interactive learning experience for students and teachers. Each student can create their own “Profile”, working in much the same way as a social networking site such as Facebook. “Moments of Prayer” invite students to take time out of their day, either alone, or within their own class group, to establish an online prayer routine. There is a huge library of prayers that both teachers and pupils can use. The Words of Wisdom section contains inspirational and motivational quotations which can serve as a link between different sections, or allowing the student to engage at a more thoughtful level with the material discussed. There is also a workbook and a blog, where students can answer specific questions relating to the outcomes above. The student Journal is an online resource whereby they can record their thoughts and answers in relation to the different outcomes. Very usefully, teachers can view these journal entries and leave comments for the students.

For further information please contact Ailís Travers.

Just War Theory for Teenagers #2 Film Studies

In a previous post I introduced my lesson plans for my fifth year class on Just War theory and I thought it was about time I gave you a progress report. It took a little more time than I envisaged getting through the Principles of Just War that I listed in the previous post with the class-they just don't have a very high reading ability or attention span for anything that they don't understand so I reverted to the more simple Rules of War that are located on page six of the booklet. I printed out the text and we (eventually) read through them all. I had also collected a mish-mash of newspaper articles from the previous week to show them examples of the various rules in action (either being followed or disobeyed). If you have a data projector in class (lucky, lucky you) it's a good idea to use Google news and you can project them for all to read. If any of you have access to this weekend's Sunday Times Magazine, this has fantastic photographs of situations of conflict.

We also spent some time discussing civil war. Dundalk where I teach is a border town and my students would in general have more of an idea of civil unrest than the average Irish student. We talked about what "peace" meant and how it was a fragile term-how can you have a peace process and still have conflict? What does conflict mean to them? How has the "situation" (oh I've been well-trained in my PC terms and I can say that in a lovely Nordie accent too) in the North affected them? I did get a lot of "bovvered?" answers but at least I got them thinking about the fact that they might be oblivious and apathetic to the longest running civil conflict in the world right on their door steps.

I then looked at different approaches to war-more on Just War here and focused on the example of pacifism. One student was very emphatic that "all war is stupid and never works" and reckoned he was a pacifist. After some careful probing about his attitude towards Hitler, Saddam Hussein and various other clichés designed to get the blood of a teenager who likes Call of Duty boiling. And as it so happens, with an attitude like "kill the feckers" he might not be a pacifist! We worked on material from their textbooks (oh who writes these things, and have they never come across my fifth years!) and reached the dizzying heights of writing answers to questions in a copybook-this is achievement indeed for 5P and I made sure to boast in the staffroom.

As a reward for all the hard work we looked at two films to get a comparison and to look at the way the idea of war has changed through the years. We firstly looked at “Everyman’s War” (1999) which is the true story of Don Smith's heroic experience at the Battle of the Bulge while with the 94th Infantry.

As the seasoned infantry and tank units of the German 11th Panzer "Ghost" division move silently into position on the snow covered hills around Nennig Germany ,a battle weary GI and his unit stand ready to defend the small town, a key position in the Allied advance to win the war. Outgunned and outnumbered, S/ Sgt Don Smith struggles to find hope and courage against overwhelming odds in one of the decisive confrontations in the "Battle of the Bulge" during WWII. His squad of GI's of the 94th Infantry Division lay dug in on the ridge-line outside of town. No one in high command believed that German forces would attack in the sub zero temperatures and near blizzard conditions. As the pre-dawn attack comes, with communications down Sgt. Smith is left with no choice but to make his way through enemy fire, unarmed and wounded, into town and warn of the coming attack. Based on actual accounts.

They "kinda" like this and had a few questions-mostly about why people bothered fighting wars and why would people see being a soldier as a job or career? I gave out a handout with questions to fill in as we went along which I'll post soon once I get my feedback on them.

Just War Theory for Teenagers-Musings on my Lesson Plans!

As you might know, I've been teaching senior cycle Religious Education in my hometown, Dundalk since September and as such I've had to move away from my comfort zone of the Bible (no bad thing you might say) and have been dipping my toes in other topics. For the next few weeks, I am working on Just War Theory with my fifth years. The school I teach in is Catholic but does not offer RE as a Leaving Cert subject so my students do not have to sit an exam-just participate. This you may think would be a dream come true for an RE teacher-the freedom to explore and debate without the looming fear of exams. For those who have ever come across a teenager before, you will recognise that for most teenagers, a bit of a looming fear is the only thing to get them to do anything. This coupled with issue of ability and time constraints (I have two 35-minute classes a week) means I have had to juggle a bit. My lovely lesson plans go out the window when I have to spend an entire class either keeping order (if a teenager wants to talk, talk they will) or explaining something I thought would be easy to grasp.

I also went to some lengths to see what the students would like to study (within reason. Moreover, never ask what films they think would be suitable. You will never persuade them why you cannot in loco parentis show a group of 16 year olds an 18s Cert film) and they liked the idea of War and the morality of it so this is where we are going to explore. I spend the first class after the midterm "brainstorming" (oh the glamour of it all) to see where we might take the debate. I seem to have a great even divide of pacifists and war hungry Medal of Honour gamers and all in between in the class so I'm going to try the debate route (again being careful-one class cannot handle debates-the idea of one person talking without interruption is not yet a class rule but we're working on it.) They are also obsessed with the idea of "the Muslims" being at fault for everything and I have one student who readily admits to watching too many conspiracy theory videos on YouTube so this should be fun if nothing else.

While looking for some online resources I found some great starts for teaching the about Just War Theory. Trocaire has two Pdf resources on conflict Give Peace a Chance (This is an educational resource for post-primary educators on the conflict in Gaza. It contains information and activities to help you explore the issue with Junior and Senior Cycle students) and Bread and Bombs (An educational resource on war & Afghanistan for post primary teachers. Produced after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, this resource offers educational activities for the classroom as well as suggestions for CSPE action projects.)

Tomorrow I'm planning on working through these edited ideas of Just War principles:

Principles of a Just War


1. A just war can only be fought as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

2. A war is just only if it is fought by a valid authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.

3. A just war can only be fought to put right a wrong suffered. For example, self-defence against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause. Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only allowed aim of a just war is to put right the injury.

4. A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.

5. The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. The peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.

6. The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. Countries are not allowed to use force excessive force.

7. The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

to work up to the United Nations documents on peacekeeping and the Geneva Conventions. I will let you know how it goes!

Some Films for use in class-Bruce Almighty & Evan Almighty

Horrific puns aside, these two comedy films are useful in a debate on the images of God (one suspects that God himself would be pleased with the choice of Morgan Freeman playing him in both films).

Interestingly, Freeman's God is far more the God we see revealed in Jesus than the God of the original flood story. When Evan questions his motives he replies "let's just say that whatever I do I do it because I love you". It seems to contrast with his prediction of a flood, but ultimately he's shown to be true to his word.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the God of the ‘Almighty’ franchise is that he's a God who prefers to work through his people. While he may laugh at their plans, and use their prayers as an opportunity for growth, he longs to make the world a better place primarily by relying on "one act of random kindness at a time". Bruce Almighty also deals with the themes of injustice in this world, our response to God, and the goodness of God’s authority over our lives.

Have a look at some theological investigations of the film. Lessons about prayer. The Bible Society get in on the act.

Book Review:

This was published by the great and mighty Intercom and is republished here with kind permission. Subscription to Intercom is as always heartily encouraged by this blog! I really like this book and intend to use it frequently this year.

All Together: Creative Prayer with Children makes it clear from the outset that it is not a “last minute” resource that should be dipped into to help facilitate last minute prayer groups or assemblies, rather it seeks to nurture and deepen the prayer life of the adults involved with children and facilitating their prayer. While it is primarily aimed at those working in an educational environment, it is extremely useful for anyone involved in a parish situation and appeals to a wide variety of age groups and abilities that may participate in the increasingly popular children’s Liturgy of the Word.

If we as adults consider how we worship, it is often a linear practice-we do the same things at the same time, following instructions such as “Let us pray together” or “now we shall stand and sing”. This is the outer symbolism of how we as a community come together to worship God. Anyone who has worked with children of a primary school age knows that children seldom operate in this way. They are used to fulfilling individual tasks, often several at a time, or working in small groups. It is always recognised that children present with different abilities and levels of participation and the often packed schedule of a children’s Liturgy of the Word can often struggle to accommodate their individual needs. This book, written by experienced catechists encourages you in a friendly and supportive way to engage with the children in your group so that the prayer is their prayer and in turn, it is their hearts and mind that are raised to God. The group exercises and methods of prayer detailed under various themes lend themselves well to the interactive classroom and curriculum or to the group format most commonly adopted during a children’s Liturgy of the Word. The authors strive to highlight that “prayer can never fully be taught” (93). Those who engage with younger children need to understand that it is much more than a technique, or a time when we ask God for favours but rather a conversation we have with God, not just using words, but engaging our hearts and minds. Children embrace change and can easily bore of the same format and this book promotes the need to make prayer accessible for all children. Formats of prayer discussed include dialogue, litany and eye-witness accounts, examples of which are all provided.

The book is clearly divided into sections and it is fruitful to read them in sequence, as the initial section on the Foundations of Creative Prayer with Children underlines the basis for the entire book, including an explanation of the keeping prayer with children “real”, namely that prayer must emanate from their concerns and express these concerns so that it truly is their prayer to God. The text allows for excellent guidelines and principles for the adult to begin the positive, creative and engaging liturgy, encouraging a rooting of the prayer in scripture and to provide a respect for Tradition.

Section two contains insights, explanations and creative resources for various liturgical seasons and occasions such as Advent and Lent as well as foundations, ideas and resources for celebrating Mary and the Saints. These three chapters focus on praying together in a group situation such as class or an assembly time. The fifth and final chapter focuses on creative ideas for individual prayer and is appropriate for group and individual use. All of the exercises are adaptable to a variety of situations, as well as ages and abilities. Each exercise is clearly laid out with foundations for the prayer subject, for example the exercise on Sorrow and renewal of life (105) explains how prayer is a movement from us to God and from God to us and how this explanation can be illustrated with the image of a bridge. The children write on one half of a piece of paper how things are now and on the other half how they would wish god to make things. They can then make a simple (depending on skill levels) Lego bridge and imagine in prayer the crossing from one side to another. Due to time constraints, a children’s Liturgy of the Word cannot always be completed in the church and therefore some of the prayer activities described can be adapted for home use, possibly involving parents and other family members.

Main points for the religious educator to communicate with the children are clearly laid out at the beginning of each prayer theme. It is imperative that the educator fully comprehends the liturgical basis for the activities also allowing for their prayer. Children can adopt what they have heard in the children’s Liturgy and apply it to their own life, facilitating Christian practice into their everyday being. Activities such as Sin Bin and Sorry beads are eminently suitable for this purpose.

Bible and Film-Films that Retell Biblical Stories

I've been meaning to post a bit more on the wide subject of Bible and Film for a while now-it's such a large, and in my mind, underdeveloped side of teaching the Bible that it really needs some serious consideration. One thing that I’ve learned from giving second level in-services and teaching in a teacher training college for primary school teachers is that teachers are much more able to use multimedia in the classroom (times have moved on from no one being able to work the video machine in my day) but they’re not being given enough resources to use them.
In part of my workshop with the School Chaplains’ Association of Ireland in November 2009, I talked about the three ways you can use films in discussing biblical themes in the classroom. Have a look them in the selection of the PowerPoint slides I used during the workshop.

Selected Slides on Bible and Film

View more presentations from guest051221.

I’ll start with the easiest which is Films that Retell Biblical Stories:

Some of most ♥ loved ♥ and some you might not have thought of using-for example only one of the participants in the workshop had used Life of Brian (and he got a gold star for being brave!

Exodus (2007, 15 Cert)

Exodus transposes the events of the biblical tale to Margate of a dystopian future in which a Pharaoh dictatorial leader has declared war upon society's 'undesirables'. Drug abusers, refugees, criminals and the homeless are all considered equally worthless and entered into a restricted ghetto where they cannot leave. When Moses learns he was adopted by Pharaoh and is actually the son of an asylum seeker, he shuns his life of privilege to lead the ghetto's inhabitants in a revolt against his father.

An excellent film that was first shown on Channel 4. It shows how the biblical text is not only relevant today but in the future (the treatment of the Israelites in Egypt, compared to the treatment of asylum seekers today and in the future). The “parting of waters” scene is useful to start debate-where is God featured (if at all) in the scene? Does the water actually have redemptive, cleansing qualities rather than just being used for harm?

Buy the DVD

The Prince of Egypt (1999, U Cert)
The film was nominated for 2 Oscars in 1999 and won the Oscar for Best Music, Original Song. The lyrics for the song ("When You Believe" sung by the formidable duo of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey (which is sung at the end of the film in full) contains a section sung by a child in Hebrew-these are verses 1, 11 and 13 from Chapter 15 of the Book of Exodus.



And if you think the song sounds familiar, it was sung by the winner of the “X Factor” on ITV1, Leon Jackson. And no, the Hebrew wasn’t included on that release!

The film is a good overview of the Exodus event in general but also can be used as an exercise on comparing the biblical text and the film’s interpretation of it. Chapter 25 of the DVD on the parting of the Red Sea is especially useful. Firstly to get a sense of the magnitude of the event but also to see how it compares to Exodus 15 (The Song at the Sea). The Director’s commentary on the scene is useful here.

Joseph, King of Dreams (2000, G Cert)

Yes, Ben Affleck is the voice of Joseph (don’t let that put you off!). This “sequel” to The Prince of Egypt tells the story of the Joseph from the book of Exodus. There’s not a lot to debate here but for weaker groups who have difficulty in grasping the context of the biblical stories it is an excellent tool. Also helpful if you want to avoid anything about Technicolor dreamcoats. (if you cannot resist the sing-along!)




The Nativity Story (2007, PG Cert)

This in an excellently produced and directed film released in 2006 that retells the Nativity to the point of the flight to Egypt. In general it is a good all round film which helps students understand that the stable wasn’t Ye Olden Times Holiday Inn and a more realistic portrait of the characters. I’ve successfully used it to debate the Catholic view of Mary (The actress playing her, Keisha Castle-Hughes, is never seen without full make-up and a serene smile) and I use it with the class discussion included in my presentation on Advent. One word of warning-make sure you use this DVD in a room you can darken easily-most key scenes take place in darkness and it’s sometimes hard to make sure everyone can see what’s going on!
There are very good high-res stills from the movie for download

The Life of Brian (1979, 15 Cert)

A motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.

But it’s funny. And that has to be a good thing! The excellent depiction of the Sermon on the Mount (DVD Chapter 3) is a good starting point for the great discussion of “Is everything in the Bible true then?” Maybe Jesus really did say “blessed are the cheesemakers”! It is an excellent example of how oral traditions have passed on the “words” of Jesus and how the biblical text may have a shifted idea of what Jesus said. Check out the clip below but be warned about rather un-biblical language.

Creation Myths

One day I'll get to teach an entire course on Genesis Creation Accounts and I'll still be stuck for time to fit all it! I found this great resource recently that will be great to use in comparing the Genesis creation accounts with other creation myths. The website is for supplementary use when you buy the CD ROM, but you can still access animated accounts (using Flash animation) of the Norse, Babylonian and Egyptian creation myths (among others) without having to pay. The animations and sound effects are excellent and fun to use. For example, the Babylonian creation myth has an animation (you need to use a next command to go through each slide so it’s probably more useful for individual use rather than in a classroom situation. There are segments on Babylonian culture and the Babylonian idea of the pantheon as well as exercises (which would be great for using with a younger group) and a handy word document of the presentation for use with a larger group. If you look under the Teacher’s Guide section, there are lots of hints and tips for using the programs in various classroom situations.

Other Creation Stories (for use with children) available:

Aborigine
Native American

Japanese (Shinto)

African

Egyptian (Animated)

Hindu (with video)

Aztec

Inuit

Some books I've found helpful for working with children (thanks to my students in Mary I for some of these!)

In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton 

The Creation Story: See and Say (Board book) Christina Goodings

The Coming of Night: A Yoruba Creation Myth from West Africa (Big book)

Film in the Classroom-The Passion of the Christ and the BBC's The Passion

In my work with inservices for both second level teachers and chaplains in second level schools, one of the main things I work with is how to rethink the way you use film (and indeed any audio-visual resources you employ in the classroom). One of my clearest memories of secondary school religion class was watching seemingly endless Channel 4 documentaries on abortion in Russia. My brother attributes his love of film to watching films in every religion class in his senior cycle, and they weren't all Shawshank Redemption either! This of course led me to rethink things over the years and I'll post more on the technicalities in future weeks. In keeping with the upcoming Holy Week, I'm starting with a film that is fast becoming a staple in Religion class, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ
This film is not suitable for all students and to be honest I've never watched it myself as I'm not good with violence (or blood!). The film has an 18 cert in the UK but the Irish film classification board gave it a 15PG. The violence portrayed is harrowing and disturbing and the use of Aramaic dialogue makes it heavy going. Teachers may like to use selected scenes or chapters to illustrate some biblical passages. Various pieces of feedback over the years that I've received from teachers who use it regularly is that girls tend to like it less than male students (staying true to our stereotypes then) and most students find it very hard work-not in terms of understanding it, but coming to terms with the violence and the actual killing of Jesus. On the whole, it is a film that promotes debate and discussion and this is to be welcomed!








An interesting exercise is to try and “follow” the film using the biblical text to see the liberties the director, Mel Gibson has taken with the text. Students are usually fascinated with Gibson himself, was he really against the Jews? What kind of Roman Catholicism is he representative of? Another interesting slant is to see the prominence of women in the film, particularly Mary and tie it in with how Luke depicts the women in his Gospel as the first to spread the “good news”.

Some websites that may help:

The official site has lots of information about the cast as well as the making of the film and the background to it. You can also purchase a church resource DVD on the site (as yet only available in US format), various film merchandise, as well as free downloadable screensavers and wallpaper.

Mark Goodacre's excellent blog had a post on an interview at he SBL in 2004 with Benedict Fitzgerald, co-screenwriter, and William J. Fulco, S.J., the film's theological consultant, who was responsible for the translations to Aramaic and Latin. David Shepherd from Belfast gets favourable mention as well he should!

For some more resources you might find helpful have a look at some discussion on the anti-Semitism in the film and an interesting article on the general reaction to the film.

For copies of the DVD, I found the cheapest to be on ebay but you can try Amazon or support your local record/DVD shop!

BBC's The Passion

The BBC screened a series entitled The Passion in 2008 and has a fabulous website to provide additional information about the drama. This includes an episode guide, a photo gallery, a timeline of Jesus' last days and an interesting look at what evidence there is for the drama's portrayal of the crucifixion as well as various articles on all aspects of the Passion. The site also has an audio version of the Passion story according to the Gospel of Mark. As yet there is no indication that the BBC are showing the series next week but I wouldn't be surprised if it appears at some stage on BBC4. The DVD is also available on the BBC shop though it is temporarily out of stock. It's cheaper and in stock on Amazon.

Some of the cast of the film:
Joseph Mawle (Jesus), James Nesbitt (Pontius Pilate-see above), Paul Nicholls (Judas), Ben Daniels (Caiaphas), Penelope Wilton (Mary), Denis Lawson (Annas) and David Oyelowo (Joseph of Arimathea)

The Bible Society has a rather expensive resource pack but you'll be able to find some idea for free on the Internet! Have a look at the excellent bog by Matt Page for his comments. Mark Goodacre over on NT Gateway was an historical consultant for the film (oh what a great job!). Both blogs are a good starting point for looking at themes you can use.

Images of God-The Simpsons

I'm teaching my first postgrad course in Milltown on Images of God in Prophetic Literature. It's fantastic to have a course with postgrads (even though there's only five of us in the group) who are only too eager to share their ideas. The fact that they actually do the readings and assignments helps! As usual it's me who does most of the learning out of the course and one thing that it's renewed my interest in is the images of God (as in the physical images, rather than the metaphorical) that we come across in out daily lives and how these images shape our understanding of God.

One of the images I find most interesting and that is useful to those involved in second-level education is the character of God in the hugely popular Fox network television cartoon The Simpsons. While God does not appear on the character list on the official website he (and God is very much depicted as male) has appeared in several episodes as a reoccuring character , including "Homer the Heretic", "Thank God It's Doomsday", and a quick scene with him, Buddha, and Colonel Sanders in "Pray Anything".

The characeter is voiced by Harry Shearer and is normally seen as portrayed in a very traditional depiction of the Abrahamic God in the Western world: a gray-haired Caucasian man in a white robe with a booming voice. Though is is worth noting that God in The Simpsons is yellow-skinned (like the main “human” characters, but is clearly not of a different race (for instance dark-skinned like Carl, or Asian, like Apu).

In one episode, "A Star Is Burns" that he speaks in "Flanderese", responding to Ned Flanders' "Thanks, God!" with "Okely-dokely!"). His face is only seen in a picture owned by Homer in "Pray Anything" (though this was likely an artist's depiction), a picture owned by Ned Flanders in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", and the opening sequence for "Treehouse of Horror XVI". In all other episodes, only his beard is seen as the camera only films him up to the shoulders (God is a head taller than everyone else). His body is usually surrounded by a glowing light, and his robes float around him, though not always. He always wears old-school sandals.

He does not seem to be all-knowing; for instance, when referring to his son, he states that he does not know "what you people did to him" but "He hasn't been the same since". Also, in the Treehouse of Horror XIV segment "Reaper Madness" Homer tricks God by dressing Patty up as Marge. In the episode "Simpsons Bible Stories," where stories in the Bible are played by Simpsons characters, Ned Flanders plays the character of God in the story of Adam and Eve while Homer and Marge play Adam and Eve. In this episode, God's voice sounds like that of Ned Flanders; and while he is not actually seen we do see God's arm pop out of a cloud wearing Ned's trademark green sweater. One of God's distinctive features is that he is the only Simpsons character to be drawn with five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot, though not always (there have been scenes where God has only four fingers like everyone else in the show).

The Simpsons has a surprising amount of scholarly work on the idea of religion and the use of biblical texts. The show is very useful as the episodes are widely available, most students (and teachers and chaplains!) have seen the episodes in question at least once and due to the nature of the cartoon, it is easily to show either entire episodes or some snippets in order to spark debate or find another angle of looking at a biblical passage or concept

Some Internet Links for Resources on the animated series and the film:





Article on The Simpsons Movie and Religion
The Simpsons Archive

Religion on The Simpsons

God and man, and The Simpsons by Terry Mattingly

D'Oh! Top Ten (Plus One) Religious Episodes on 'The Simpsons'

Blessed Ned of Springfield by Mark I. Pinsky

God and The Simpsons by Gerry Bowler [online booklet]

The Simpsons Movie

Simpsons Movie Search for “Simpsons” and you get over a page of results-articles and graphics.

Springfield’s Saints by Cary McMullen

The secret of The Simpsons by William Langley

What would Homer do? By David Crumm

One DVD I have found particularly helpful is The Simpsons Classics "Heaven and Hell" available from lots of outlets including Amazon.

U2 and the Bible

Admittedly I'm not the world's greatest U2 fan-my Mum used to play The Joshua Tree when I was younger so maybe I'm stuck in the idea of anything my Mum might be into, couldn't possibly be that cool. For several years I've managed to get away with only a passing interest in anything to do with them (towers, taxes and big claw-like structures seem to be my main association with them) but as my foray into reception theory and biblical studies grows (it's what all the cool kids are doing these days) I come across more and more work on how U2 use the Bible in their music.

The first time I came across any serious scholarship on the subject was as the SBL in Boston where I heard Andrew Davies, who originally taught in Sheffield give a paper on "The Bible under the Joshua Tree" which the SBL helpfully published here. Andrew's presentation was resplendent with graphics and audio snippets. And I admit it, I was jealous. I wished I studied something cool enough to have audio clips (people singing the Psalms in Hebrew doesn’t count). The paper was also memorable as it was the first time I’d ever asked a presenter a question (those who know SBL know that you must have a certain degree of brass neck and verbosity to stand up at question time-you’re not really asking for information, more to prove someone wrong). But I thought I’d stand up for the Irish interest and asked about what their religious upbringing might have to do with what seems to be a rather biblically literate group.

Recently the rather brilliant Faith Central blog on The Times website had an entry on Bono and the Bible, looking at a new book in Italian, U2: The Name of Love by Andrea Morandi. There's 664 pages of Italian I won't be reading anytime soon, but the blog does give a link to one of the better sites that list biblical references in U2 lyrics.

I have actually used U2 lyrics in some of my resources for second level inservices. I try to get teachers to see that rather than try to be trendy and bring a recent "hit" into the classroom and try and read God and moral theology into it (a popular one of late seems to be "Where is the Love" by the Black Eyed Peas (and the lovely Justin). I would think "can do better"-it's far too obvious and was released in 2003-trendiness moves on quickly!). Rather than try to keep up with trends (you'll never please all of the people all of the time anyway), try and use modern song lyrics that use the same style as the biblical text you're looking at, or address the same themes. Often students understand the reasoning of modern song lyrics very easily-and then bring that comprehension back to the "difficult" piece biblical text you are trying to work with. U2 lyrics work well here:

"U2 “40” (Rock, 1983). This version of Psalm 40 combines the elements of thanksgiving with the cry of lament. The song could be used to consider the nature of the faith of the Israelites as expressed in the psalm, or to illustrate how one individual psalm can express seemingly contradictory emotions and sentiments.

Another U2 song to consider is “The First Time” (1993) which according to Bono is a retelling of the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) where the son rejects his father’s welcome. Useful in looking at the idea of a parable or another angle for trying to untangle this difficult parable"

At the SBL in New Orleans (Who Dat?) I found this book by Westminster John Knox which might be useful to anyone who wishes to pursue the idea further-the book is more on the spiritual and ethical side but well worth a look.