Hugo Arellano, and Sebastian Figueroa

During this last retreat, we experienced something different from what we had already done. It was different, because we got to meet the teacher in a different "plan" if you could say. It was a very good idea to let us as students choose where did we wanted to go, because we  felt better talking with the teachers that we already know, and trust. 

It was also awesome, because we had a lot of fun. It was fun, because meetings were not the only thing we did, we could also go in the pool and the lake. you could also concicer as a time for us to reflect and turn in to better people, well if you could say we are good people. 

retreat...Gaby

This year retreat was okay. I like the fact that we could split up into groups and talk about a certain topic and that the groups were small enough so we could share our opinion. I liked the fact that we changed the location to Pana, though the hotel wasn't very nice. Next year they should plan with more time. I didn't like the fact that we had to cram into little beds because we didn't all fit in the room and that we didn't have any toilet paper so we had to go to other rooms and ask for some. I liked the bamboo because of the hotel but what i did like about this years hotel was the view we had. I liked the fact that the lake was right in front of the hotel and that you could go in it and i liked that it was a very wide open space. There was a lot of space to be around on. I also didn't like the food but that was the least of a things since we had the big box of food in our rooms. The activities were fun and the night game was fun too, and ice cream night was fun also.

Felipe Retreat

I learn something new about this retreat. You cannot have the same hobby for ever you need to change ones in a while. I think the retreat needs to be cooler this retreat did not have any games so it was kind of boring. 

Retreat... Jessi, Tamari, and Ani

Ana's story:

 As Jessica was flipping though channels on the TV I noticed Alvin and the Chipmunks were on, so I started yelling to go back. Finally they found the channel again. It had been a while since I had heard the chipmunks talk, so when I heard Alvin talking in Spanish I found it hysterical. I found myself wanting to use the little lady's room so I got up the bed with difficulty (because of how much I was laughing) and ran to the bathroom. What I didn't remember though was that Ms. Rivera, Tamara, and Jessica had showered before, so there was a huge puddle in front of the bathroom door. I slipped, obviously, and fell on my knees/legs, and started laughing even more. I had to crawl to the bathroom, and laughed all the while. What made it even worse was that I could hear the chipmunks' voices as I was in the bathroom. I washed my legs, and when I came out of the bathroom I was still laughing. For the rest of the show I kept laughing and laughing. Haha. =D

Tamara's Story:

After dinner the first night of the retreat, Jessica, Ana, Christian, Michael, Catia, Skyy, and I went down to the pool. Catia shared with me the brilliant idea of throwing someone into the pool. The sky was quite dark, a velvet blue as we concocted our master plan. We informed the others of our plan and settled on Skyy as our target. Thus we began the process of trying to get him in the pool. We seemed so close; he was holding on to the edge of the pool with curled toes. Yet somehow with the six of us we could not manage to get him in. We pushed, he pulled, he ran, we caught him, and forced him towards the pool again. Unfortunately for us, we had a couple weaknesses. Mostly Ana's fear of getting her jeans wet was our greatest disadvantage. A disadvantage that our foe, Skyy, very quickly picked up on. He would grab hold of Ana's wrist with amazing strength and relentlessly pull her towards the pool. Ana would yell, "No! No!" And one of the Sanders twin would pull her back. This happened a couple times and greatly slowed our progress. At one point Skyy had a firm grip of my hand, I pleaded with him like Ana, and managed to pull myself free only to be under a pile of bodies. After I was able to recover from this we went after Skyy with renewed force. Finally his body splashed into the pool, and the six of us remained dry. Victorious at last! 

Jessica's story:

 We (Ana, Tamara, Catia, Jana, and I) were bored in our room and decided to play poker. I had brought with me my brother's Texas Hold'em Poker set so we settled in the balcony and played it but we had some troubles in the way we knew how to play it so we just stopped playing it. Then Jana went out and we decided to play BS with Michael, Christian, and Skyy but since they could not go in our rooms we had to go outside to play it. We had so much fun, but since the name BS includes an inappropriate word, we decided to change it. Christian brought up the idea that some people say "baloney sandwich" instead of it. Ana thought it was hilarious. Then Skyy brought up another phrase for the game which was "M&M's" which was used to say that you had gotten away with lying after your turn, since no one could do anything about it. We kept playing it until dinner time, and played it while we were eating. Ana, Catia, the Sanders twins, and I got bored so we ended the game. Too bad for Skyy and Tamara.

*We think retreat should be longer... and have more free food. =]

Retreat Experience-Jose P.

I had a nice experience in the retreat. It was fun, I think it's good to have a retreat, to create a closer relationship to God. I really liked sharing some time with the teachers. I liked hearing their advice on several topics. I think it was good to hear different answers, especially from bothe genders. The lake in my opinion was the best thing, i really enjoyed it. So this is what i think, this is my experience.

Carmen

Well what i thought about the retreat was that it was a good retreat.  But i think it could of been better. But still i did liked the retreat this year.  i really did not like the hotel rooms jajaja. so i hope next years retreat be in another place. i dont care if it is in pana but i would like to be in another hotel.  

Maggie and Jimena

We learned many things in the retreat.  We learned about the beginning, the middle, and the ending parts of a faith journey.  We also got the opportunity to hear many anecdotes and funny stories from different teachers at IAS. Maggie's and Jimena's favorite part was Gender Time, because many weird events occured during this time. Girl readers may know about this happenings. Seniors told us about there fun activity about baptism.  The night games that we play throughout the whole retreat were awesome, too.  We had so many experiences, from which we learned different things.

Ricky and Gabriel Retreat

On the first day of the retreat we arrived at Vision Azul at Pana.  There we enriched our religous faith and the teachers passed down their knowledge.  On the second day we had two meetings where the teachers passed more of their knowledge and we went to swim in the lake.  In the lake we had a "seaweed fight"  and played a game called mafia.  We came back to Xela on Friday.  It was a very fun experience. 

Jessica, and Ana... Spiritual Emphasis

Our study of the New Testament has given us an understanding of what spiritual concepts the first Christian communities had and how they relate to our own.  We have also learned about events that are clearly spiritual throughout the whole of the Testament. Through these events we have learned about the direct interaction with the Holy Spirit and the Christian community's quest for a close relationship with God. 

Jimena Marquez

I think that knowing about the New Testament as we go to the retreat is very important because you are going to learn about the bible. You are going to the retreat to learn about what God made for us and all of the good things that he has done for us. 

Maggie

The New Testament is important for the Spiritual Emphasis Retreat in many ways.  For example, in the New Testament we can see different topics that we can relate for the Spiritual Emphasis Retreat, like topics on revolution, death, trouble, faith, and many more.  I think that the Spiritual Emphasis REtreat is gonna be great!

Spiritual Emphasis Week..Gaby & Lu

• For Spiritual Emphasis week this year i think that it will be very different than the past years. I think that it is gong to be fun to change places from the coast to Pana. Though we don't have any speakers coming to talk to us this year i still think that it will be fun, and i am looking forward to it since we weren't even sure if we were going to have a retreat this year.  
  

• Well i am looking forwards for this years retreat. i think it will be a lot different from the passed retreats. but i hope it will be a great retreat! 
  

FElipe marquez Jesus death according to the scriptures

 Jesus was the one whom God had shown special favor. Jewish messianic expectations reflected in the surviving  source are quite disparate.

Jimena

The term Son of Man for example might have made sense to jews familiar with the prediction of Dan that one like a son of man was to come on the cloud of heaven. The term Son of God would have meant something quit different to Jews, who could have taken it as a reference to the king of Israel, then to gentiles for whom it would probably mean a divine man.

Assignment

By Jessica Jeon

JESUS' RESURRECTION FROM AN APOCALYPTIC PERSPECTIVE

"For them, Jesus himself was now exalted to heaven; clearly, he must be the judge about whom he had spoken. Therefore, in their view, Jesus was soon to return in judgment as the Son of Man."

Gabriel 17.2 Jesus, the Messiah, and Resurrection

Some people use Jesus' resurrection to prove that Jesus was the messiah.  Jesus was not the messiah that anyone had expected.  Jesus died for the sins of the world and then he resurrected.

Assignment lu gaby, & joseph

The gospel of Thomas is growing in acceptance among liberal theologians. It includes many sayings of jesus that are not found in the four canonical gospels. this gospel is a collection of 114 sayings of jesus that includes wisdom sayings, parables, proverbs and prophecies. It was believed to be written around 60 CE and in greek. "The gospel of thomas had core elements as old as the synoptic gospels."

The gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical gospels in the new testament and the first of the three synoptic gospels to be written. it was written anonymously. it talks about the life of jesus of nazareth from his baptism by john the baptist to the ressurection. the messianic secret and "obtuseness of the disciples  are important factors.

The gospel of is the fourth gospel in the canon in the new testament.  It contains the sayings of jesus of nazareth.  It appears to have been written with an evangelistic purpose or to strengthen the faith of christians.  Another purpose was to counter criticisms or unorthodox beliefs of jews. John tells the story in four parts: the Prologue, the book of signs,the Passion narrative, and the epilogue. 

Boys Review 3rd Quarter

This quarter we learned about the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  We also talked about how Jesus is portrayed in each of the Synoptic Gospels.  In Matthew Jesus is portrayed as the Jewish Messiah, while in Luke he is portrayed as the savior of the world.  Acts, John, and other gospels were also our topics for this quarter.  Acts was written at the same time as Luke and was written by the same author.  The Gospel of John was traditionally written by John the son of Zebedee and was written in Greek.  We also learned about how Jesus was viewed by other gospels that were written at this time but were not included in the Bible.  This has been an enlightening quarter where we have learned much about the New Testament. 

Assignment

By Jessica, Ana Luisa, and Tamara 

Our study of the New Testament over the past quarter has been quite extensive. We have covered the four Gospels and the book of Acts. As we studied each of the Gospels we used different techniques of analyzing the text. All of the Gospels are now thought to be a form of Greco-Roman biographies. The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus to us as the Jewish savior from scripture. The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as a universal savior, the savior of the whole world. The book of Acts, though is drastically different. This book appears to be in the form of a historical novel. The reasons for why is the idea that the writer of the book simply adapted a travel diary. This is how far we have gotten under the guide of Mr. Mac. 

Maggie and Jimena

We have learned many things this third quarter. For example, we have learned that the word edit can describe the redaction method of the Biblical interpretation. Literary-historical is the method of interpretation that compares a Biblical document to similar contemporary documents and looks at the cultural and historical context. According to Matthew seven is the number associated with the divine, which is the same number for the number of stages that there is someone's personal life. The Golden Rule says: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Matthew is written in the Greek language. Matthew uses the sources of Mark and Q, and it is a kind of Greco-Roman biography. The prophecy states that the Messiah is the son of David. In Israel's history, every fourteenth generation something cataclysmic happens. The Holy Spirit is said to be responsible for Mary's pregnancy. Marcion was the early Christian teacher. One of the five teachings of Jesus in Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount, where Matthew portrays Jesus as a new Moses, and where Jesus gave the golden rule. According to Matthew, Jesus was the fullfillment of Jewish Law, not the opposition to it, the Jewish Law is basically a commandment to love. Anthesis is a contrary statement. Luke was probably written between 80 to 85 C.E. Luke was written by a Greek speaking Christian. Luke probably used the sources of Mark, Q, and L. A comparitive is a method of analysis that can reveal many different themes. Ancient scholars believe that Acts is more like an ancient novel. The death of Judas is portrayed differently in Acts and in Matthew. The Acts of the Apostles has two volumes. Acts was written between 80 to 85 C.E. just like Luke. The unity of the church is thanks to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The hand of God directs the course of the Christian history.

MrMac: Assignment

Review (using book, study guides, homework, and past tests) and write a summary blog of what we have covered so far in this course during the 3rd Quarter. If you need resources, please ask your teacher for permission to get them.

The Gospel of the Ebionites

The Gospel of the Ebionites is related to the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel of the Nazoreans.  The Gospel of the Ebionites is only partially complete and we only have writings from Epiphanius, and the book is supposed to be a summary of the synoptic gospels.  This gospel is different than the Gospel of the Nazoreans and it is made distinct that they are different. Because of a small mix up of words the gospel makes Jesus and his followers vegetarians.

Sir Skippy Star

Marcion gospels as it said in the book is the most strict of all of them, because it is the one that is the most separate if you could say. it was the most strict, because they use to punish the people who disobeyed the law of God. in my opinion the best religion should be praising God our own way. 

Gabriel The Gospel of the Hebrews

The Gospel of the Hebrews was also written in Greek and was used by Christians in Alexandria, Egypt.  The Gospel was first called the Gospel of the Egyptians.  The Gospel of the Hebrews talks about important events in Jesus' life like his baptism, temptation, and resurrection.  Quotes in the book show that the Gospel was original and not just a collection of parts of other books.  The Gospel has a gnostic slant, and the place were it was written was a center of early Christian Gnosticism; Alexandria.  This book can be found in certain places but it was not included in the bible so you can't find it in a normal library. 

Overall we do not know fore sure the meaning of the gospel of Thomas. Many of the misunderstood and puzziling sayings in the gospel of thomas are apparently are reflecting the notation that within the listener there is a great spark of divine that has a heavenly origin.

There is no word in the gospel of Thomas about Jesus' cruicifixion and resurrection. For the gospel of thomas, jesus' earthly life and activities 

The character of the Sayings (JIMENA)

This sayings in the Gospel might be similar to those of the synoptic gospel. It also states that they are blind . each message In the bible it also states that many of the people in the gospel where blinded by their thoughts about religion. 

Thomas and the synoptics. gaby robles

The gospel of thomas, some scholars debate whether it is considered a form of christianity that is early and independent of that preserved,say, in the synoptic gospels or whether it represents a later development of christianity, based in part on the teachings of jesus found in the synoptics but modified in light of gnostic belief. The gospel of thomas is growing in acceptance among liberal theologians. it includes many sayings of jesus that are not found in the four canonical gospels. some theologians believe that it was first written about 60 CE and later expanded. it was written in greek. three greek fragments from the gospel were found about 1900 CE. basically people dont know whether they should include the gospel of thomas as a gospel because of these reasons.

Maggie

The Gospel of the Nazareans

The Gospel of the Nazareans is also called The Jewish Gospel.  It was written from 100-150 C.E.  Many say that the Gospel of the Nazareans might have been a loose translation of the book of Matthew, but in Aramaic.  But there are others scholars who say that there are different stories in both of them, which makes it hard to know if the author of Matthew and the author of the Gospel of Nazareans are some how related.  In a small community in Western Syria, the Nazareans lived, where many scholars believed that it was the location were the Gospel of the Nazareans was probably composed during the second century.  Many scholars think that this might be the location where Matthew was composed, too.  The bad news is that we don't have a copy of the Gospel of the Nazareans, we just have some quotes from the Gospel of the Nazareans quoted in other written sources.

Felipe Marquez

In a traditional point of view Thomas wrote the Gospel.

MrMac: Assignment Non-Canonical Gospels

Research and blog on the non-canonical gospel that you were assigned from the text.

THE GOSPEL OF PETER - By Jessica

The Gospel of Peter is known to be written by the 8th or 9th century by the Apostle Peter in Syria. It was a prominent passion narrative in the history of Christianity, but over time it passed out of common usage. Only some fragments remain and they ascribe responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus to Herod Antipas rather than to Pontius Pilate and for representing the true Cross as miraculously capable of speech.

This gospel was popular by the second century, but the actual text is still not found. In 1886, parts of its actual text was discovered in Egypt. Since then, we have known of the existence of this gospel.

SOURCES

It is said that the Gospel of Peter has parallels with the three other gospels but actually there are two different opinions about the sources of the Gospel of Peter.

1. Ron  Cameron and others conclude that the author may have been independent from the synoptic Gospels and that he indirectly used the Q Gospel.

2. Raymond E. Brown and others conclude that the author may have been acquainted with the synoptic Gospels including the Gospel of John.

Although sources are not certain, it is possible that the original text was vastly changed by oral tradition.

CONTENTS

Basically it talks about the death and resurrection of Jesus, but there are two main characteristics that stand out.

1. Anti-Judaism. The author opposes to Judaism and Pontius Pilate is exonerated of all responsibility for the Crucifixion. 

2. At the final parts of the text, the author talks as the cross itself is speaking, and it is even floating out of the tomb.

AGAIN, we do not know full content of the Gospel of Peter, and it is not longer used, but some parts are very interesting and they are used to study the Bible by the scholars. ^_^

Thomas and the Q source... Ana.

Some scholars have said that the Q source was made up completely of Jesus' sayings and that the community it was written to was not concerned about Jesus' activities and experiences. 

But many other scholars have doubts about that. There are in fact some stories in the Q source (the temptation of Jesus and the healing of the centurion's son.) But there are no more narratives in the Q source that are known for sure, such as a Passion narrative. The only way to find out is to see the similarities in Matthew and Luke, that re not found in Mark. Yet the Passion narrative between Matthew and Luke are different than Mark.  But that doesn't mean that the accounts were specifically taken from the Q source. There are other sources, such as M and L, that could have been used.

The biggest difference between the Q source and Thomas has to do with the way different communities had preserved them. Thomas denies the future coming of the Son of Man in judgement upon Earth. This theme, though, is important in the Q source. But some scholars, though, say that maybe the theme was added on later. The Q source is thought to be originally not apocalyptic "in its orientation." If the apocalyptic sayings were removed  it would be very similar to Thomas. Therefore, the Q source was originally like Thomas.