Week 10- Final Outline of Paper

The final outline of my paper is viewable at: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfxckhzr_5g2m67mdj

Week 10- Classmate Response to Jason Heppner's blog

Jason I think you concluded on the right note.  I have to confess that I got really depressed and confused by all the lingo in the Barker book.  How can a person be sure of anything if culture and language constructs our own little personal realities, often shutting out the realities of others?  At the end of the day, we have to love.  Jesus is the one who can, who should, and who desires to shape our reality.  Jesus is all about love. As for what this love looks like? Well I think scripture helps in figuring this out, but I also think we need to not forget the Holy Spirit of God... God's Spirit is with us, surely the Spirit will have something to say to us as to how to love in the midst of all our jumbled and ambiguous cultures. 

Week 10- Wednesday Reflection

I am going to miss this class. I did get a bit tired of the circuit of culture, as I was hoping that we would talk a bit more about other aspects of cultural studies. However, overall this was an excellent course. I think that we all need more teaching on how to live out faith in a postmodern world. The postmodern has come whether anyone likes it or not, and we must love Jesus and love those around us in the midst of the culture that we analyzed throughout this course.

Week 10- Monday Class Reflection

The analysis of popular culture is extremely important. One aspect that was mentioned today, bricolage, is a vital concept to understanding much of what happens today. A movie is not self-contained, it refers back to former movies, the archetypes of the genre, and even ancient or classical literature and drama. We truly live in a day of hypereality.

Week 9- Second Draft of Outline for Final Paper

You can view the second draft of the outline for my paper at this url: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfxckhzr_4gd7sqgc6

Week 9- Cobb Chapter 9 (Life Everlasting)

Cobb's chapter concerning the life everlasting notes that popular culture producers are moving beyond the traditional American hesitation to discuss matters of death.  Currently, the popular culture is full of depictions of heaven, hell, and/or purgatory; but more importantly of the concept of the wandering spirit who seeks to finish the business left undone during life.  I think Cobb does a good job of revealing the great value in much of the cultures' hopes for a new direction in society that will lead to a better eschatological end. 

Week 9- Bevans Chapter 9 (Conclusion)

Stephen Bevans has written his volume out of a conviction that all theology is contextual and out of a conviction that the contemporary theological scene is one that must advocate for pluralism (Bevans 1994: 112).  Bevans thus offers several models, or tools, by which to engage in contextual theology, but he does not expect that any one should be applied universally.  I think the praxis model's emphasis on reflective action will prove to be especially effective for the purposes of my final paper.