Month 17 - Esther

The final session before I hand over to Stu for a month whilst Mel has our baby. 7:30pm at 41 Linden Road looking at Esther.

Not got much time to talk about resources, but I will point you towards the various posts I've written on Esther films over at Bible Films Blog. I'm going to use a clip or two.

Hopefully see you there.

Month 16 - Nehemiah

I'm posting this after the event as it seems a shame not to have a post for Nehemiah. So here it is.

One of the books I've been reading quite a bit for this session is David Weiss Halivni's "Revelation Restored". I actually wish I'd read it before the Ezra session.

The other thing to say about resources for Nehemiah is that in May I remarked that there's never been a movie made about Ezra. I did, however, trip over his appearance in the 1999 film Esther which I've made a few comments on at my Bible Films blog.

Month 15 - Ezra

May's Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years is looking at Ezra, a love it or hate it book about life after the Jewish Exile. There are no free Thursday's between now and the end of the month, so the new-group session will be on Wednesday 21st May from 7:45pm. The original group will be on Monday 26th May at 7:30. What better way to go finish a bank holiday weekend?

There are some useful extra resources for Ezra, namely the other books / chapters attributed to Ezra that are absent from Protestant Bibles. That may lead us into a discussion on canonicity. I'll be using all the usual favourites, and the Peter Ackroyd commentary I used briefly for I and II Chronicles also covers Ezra and Nehemiah.

Film-wise it appears that there's never been a movie made about Ezra. Not hugely surprising, but it means that for this month's image I've had to rely on a photo of the Behistun Inscription.

Month 14 - 2 Chronicles

Following on from last month we're covering 2 Chronicles this month. Resources will be largely the same, although I've picked up a couple of new ones as well so they will hopefully be useful. There's a useful table here plotting the reigns of the different kings and timings of the prophets and so on.

The Monday night group will be on 28th April, I think the other session will happen on the 1st May, although we're looking at an alternative date as a lot of the people who want to come can't make it. Watch this space (or, at least, the one to the right). Both sessions start at 5 Meadow Lane at 7:30. I know that for a while I've been saying that the next session might be the last at Meadow Lane, but this time I really think I mean it. I'm also looking to gradually move the sessions to slightly earlier in the month in case the baby is a few days early (he's due 1st August). In other news, the one and only Mr Stuart Jesson has kindly agreed to cover August's session for me, so that will be a treat for those who are around then.

Month 13 - 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles marks the start of something new for "Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years". For those of us that have been doing this since the start, we're now a year through. I don't know about you guys, but it doesn't seem that long since we sat down to look at Genesis.

But it's also the start of a new group, so welcome to any of you guys who are joining us for the first time. Despite being the 13th book of the Bible, 1 Chronicles is actually quite a good place to start. It's obviously not quite as good as Genesis or Matthew, but there is something to be said for it. I'll say more about that at the sessions.

This month's sessions are happening as follows: Next Thursday 27th March, and the following Monday 31st March. Both kick off at 7:30 at 5 Meadow Lane. The idea is to keep the Monday group going as is, and starting the Thursday group up as fresh, so the content will be slightly different in two sessions to reflect that. By the time we hit Nehemiah, they'll be pretty much identical though.

In terms of resources, Chronicles is not the most over-done book. Other than the text itself there is also 2 Samuel which covers many of these events in its own way. In terms of commentaries there's Peter Ackroyd's on I and II Chronicles which also covers Nehemiah and Ezra. There's actually been a resurgence in interest in Chronicles in recent years so there are a good number of recent commentaries out there. Tyler Williams has a good list of them with some useful comments. Lionel Windsor's online notes are also useful.

Film-wise most films follow Samuel rather than Chronicles which tends to miss out the exploits of David's mighty men and focus on the affair with Bathsheba. There are two films in production about David so it will be interesting to see if either of them reverses the trend.

Month 12 - 2 Kings

February's Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years takes in 2 Kings, the last book in the so called Deuteronomic History. The session is on the 25th February at 5 Meadow Lane, starting at 7:30 as always.

Resources-wise I continue to recommend Genesis to Jesus for those just starting to get their heads around what's going on in this book in particular. I'll be using Hubbard's commentary again, although it wasn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped as well as the Wikipedia article.

But there is a real shortage of film's based on this book, which is strange for a book where there is so much story. I guess most Bible Films have drawn on stories people know from Sunday school as that boosts the likely audience, rather than looking for what might just make the best film overall. I'll probably write a longer article on that over at Bible Films Blog

There's also a useful Samuel, Kings and Chronicles harmony.

Month 11 - 1 Kings

2008 kicks off with a look at 1 Kings, still at 5 Meadow Lane, still at 7:30pm. The date, however, is 21st January (which is a week earlier than the date I gave out at the last session).

Resources-wise, I have to recommend the relevant chapters in Dave Burke's Genesis to Jesus. It's brief, and I probably would question the odd bit these days, but on reading it for the first time all those years ago it dropped a whole load of things into place, and started me down a particular road which has lead me to here.

I'll also be drawing on Hubbard's commentary. though at the moment I have no idea whether it'll be worthy of my attention.

Online material as ever includes the Wikipedia article. There's also a useful Samuel, Kings and Chronicles harmony.

Filmwise, there are only a couple and whilst the Bible Collection's Solomon doesn't get quite as embroiled in the story of the queen of Sheba, as 1959's Solomon and Sheba it still spends more time on that story than perhaps it should. There are also a few animated versions, although one of them is from the Simpsons. The others, though, are of Elijah perhaps the most criminally underfilmed story in the whole Bible. One is by the Testaments series, the other from Friends and Heroes. Finally there is an hilariously stiff and dated version of the Elijah story that appeared in the Living Bible series.

Month 10 - 2 Samuel

Session 10 of Through the Bible in Five an a Half Years is reconvening on the 17th December, just in time for Christmas. 5 Meadow Lane starting at 7:30. I don't want to give too much away but it will feature a clip of Richard Gere in his underpants getting even more undignified that this. (la la la la la la hey...).

Month 9 - 1 Samuel

November's Session will look at 1 Samuel. The date is Monday 19th November, and, as usual, it'll start at 19:30 at 5 Meadow Lane.

I've not really started looking into this yet, so I've not got many resources to discuss. There are, however, plenty of films which deal with bits of Samuel, including the hilarious Richard Gere one, and Peter O'Toole's brief cameo in the recent One Night With the King.

Month 8 - Ruth

As I said after September's session, October's Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years is taking place on Monday 22nd as it's Mel's Birthday the following week. Hope that doesn't catch too many of you by surprise. AS always it's a 7:30 start at 5 Meadow Lane.

In terms of resources, hopefully everyone will find the time to read the book in question this month as it's only 4 short chapters. Of the stuff I've read so far the final paragraph of the brief introduction in the NIV study Bible stands out.

There are a couple of filmy bits too, but I want to use them in this month's session so I won't say too much here!

Month 7 - Judges

September's session will be looking at the book of Judges and will take place on Monday 24th September at 5 Meadow Lane. As usual we'll be starting at 7:30.

I did a study on Judges years a go (when I was a student) so I'm quite intrigued to see how I find it this time around. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the book inspite of the problematic violence.

In terms of resources, I've got hold of a copy of Clinton McCann's commentary, and I can recommend the Tyndale one as well (Cundall and Morris). I also have another one, which is more a collection of essays but the title alludes me.

Film resources for Judges are a little odd. There have been a ton of films on Samson and Delilah including the most famous one by Cecil B. DeMille from 1949 (as per the picture). There have also been a number of hilariously poor ones like the one that star Liz Hurley as Delilah. But no film has ever got the whole of Judges, and in fact, other than Samson, only Gideon's story has been made into a film (and only an obscure one at that). Surely in this post Xena age it's time for a Deborah / Jael film? One film that is certainly not a direct film interpretation of Judges, but does have a lot in common with it is Pulp Fiction but more on that when I've had a chance to revisit it.

Not had time to peruse the online resources, but if I turn up anything significant I'll be sure to post it.

Month 6 - Joshua

Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years continues tonight with the book of Joshua. I have to confess it's probably my least favourite book of the Bible, but as a result I'm certainly looking forward to this session as I think I have some important things to discuss and I'm interested in everyone else's perspectives.

In terms of resources I've focussed on printed matter mainly for this session looking at two very different perspectives - Richard Hess's commentary and Gerd Ludemann's "The Unholy in Holy Scripture: The Dark Side of the Bible", as well as the usual resources.

Anyway the session kicks off at 7:30pm at 5 Meadow Lane tonight (20th August)