FASTLY - Faith & Science Teaching

Moabites: Friend or Foe?

In Brief

This activity focuses on the question of how Moabites are viewed by Israel in the Bible — are they enemies only, or can they become part of God’s people? The activity engages students in exploring how different conclusions can be drawn from different passages and how the apparent disagreements might be resolved within the Bible. This continues the focus in this activity map on helping students explore the nature of disagreements among people of faith.

Goals

Students will study Israel’s relationship to the Moabites as an example of the Bible’s approach to differing perspectives.

Students will understand the range of perspectives present in various biblical passages on Moabites and the importance of consulting multiple sources.

Thinking Ahead

This activity explores a topic on which biblical passages seem to offer differing perspectives. Think ahead about how you will balance helping students to see that the authors of Numbers and Ruth seem to have different perspectives on Moab than the Bible’s overall movement toward an inclusion of all tribes and nations in the kingdom of God. The aim is to actively involve students and help them see that God’s people needed to wrestle with this issue over time and that basing a view on one or two passages can miss the overall thrust of Scripture. The connection to teaching FASTly is implicit: considering how tensions and disagreements are handled within Scripture helps students frame how to approach differences around faith and science questions, which also often require patient engagement over a long period of time. The activity demonstrates through its specific practices the value of considering multiple perspectives before reaching a conclusion.

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Copies of Moabites: Friend or Foe

Directions:

You will need to print Moabites: Friend or Foe, which contains four different group response sheets. If possible, copy each of the four sheets on different colored paper to help you keep track as the groups’ findings are circulated in the second phase of the activity.

Students may read the relevant passages from classroom Bibles or from the sheets provided. If your class is too large for four groups to be practicable, consider whether you can double the number of sheets and have two groups for each passage, making eight groups.

Teaching the Activity

Tell students that this activity relates to the larger theme of how the Bible handles unity and difference. Introduce the activity only by saying that the class will be studying how Israel viewed its neighbors. Divide students into four groups without mentioning that each will read a different passage. Give each group a response sheet to make group notes related to the questions provided and using the assigned passage(s). See Moabites: Friend or Foe which has the four passages listed below, each with a response sheet. Have each group appoint a scribe to write their findings on this sheet.

Passages:

• Numbers 25:1–13 and Deuteronomy 23:3: Israelites are seduced and led into idolatry by Moabite women, provoking God’s anger against Israel. No Moabites may enter the assembly of the LORD.
• Numbers 22:1–12 and 24:17: The Moabites attempt to use divination to curse Israel, but instead reap a prophecy that they will be destroyed by Israel.
• Judges 3:12–30 and 2 Samuel 8:2: Israel becomes subject to Moab for 18 years until an Israelite hero slays the Moabite king and Israel subjugates Moab. Later David conquers the Moabites and forces them to pay tribute.
• Ruth 1:3–5, 16-17; 2:3–8; 4:9–13, 17: As a result of the Israelites emigrating and marrying Moabites, Ruth, from Moab, becomes part of the family line of David.

Questions:

Make as many notes as you can on the following, being sure to base what you say on the details of the text:

• What does the Bible say about Moabites? What are they like?
• How did Israelites view Moabites?

After giving students a few minutes to complete this task, collect each group’s response sheet and give it to the next group, moving clockwise around the room. Ask the groups to first read the ideas of the group whose sheet they have received and decide whether they agree with them or are surprised by them. After they have done this they should read the passage that was assigned to the group whose sheet they have to see how they arrived at their conclusions. Repeat this step until each group has seen the responses of all of the other groups.

Debrief by discussing the process with the whole class. Draw attention to how an issue can seem clear based on one passage, but may become more complex when other passages are brought into play and how disagreements might arise because different groups are basing their conclusions on different parts of Scripture. Discuss also whether there seem to have been varying views about Moabites among the Israelites. Consider with the class whether these differences were eventually resolved, and what turns out to be most important. Have the class consider Matthew 1:1–5 in which the New Testament begins by showing that Ruth of Moab belongs to the ancestry of Jesus. Read Genesis 12:3 where Abraham is promised that all nations will be blessed through him. Finally, consider Revelation 5:9–10 in which people of every tribe and nation are found joined in worship.

Ask students:

• What we can learn from this activity about navigating conflicting views? For example, it is important not to develop one-sided conclusions from a single source. It can take time for issues to unfold. Reconciliation is a Christian goal.
• Can you think of any current issues on which Christians have divergent perspectives that might fit these patterns?

Optional Extra

In a similar manner guide students through the different viewpoints toward the people of Nineveh as represented by the minor prophets Jonah and Nahum.

The Jerusalem Council

In Brief

This activity focuses on a key disagreement in the early church about the basis for belonging in the Christian community. It engages students in viewing the debate from both sides to see how the concerns of the side that “lost” the argument were taken into account. The activity aims to help students see the argument as about more than winners and losers, since both sides will have to live together in community. After the Jerusalem Council the church officially included both Jewish and Gentile believers who were called to unity, but not to uniformity.

Goals

Students will learn how diversity and significant disagreements were handled in the early church.

Students will reflect on how this could inform present day Christian debates.

Thinking Ahead

This activity focuses on the early church’s decision to welcome Gentiles into “the Way” of Christ without demanding either circumcision or strict Torah observance, resulting in diversity of religious practices within the church. Consider whether the maturity of your students will make circumcision an awkward topic.

It will be helpful as you prepare for this activity for you to work through the questions and notice how the passage balances the need to arrive at a true answer with the need for both parties to remain in fellowship while the matter is being resolved, as well as afterward. Consider how this relates to your own classroom practices as you teach controversial issues — do you imply that the goal in debate is  only to establish the correct answer, or do you also emphasize that how we treat one another as we disagree and whether we can live well together as we process disagreements are also important? How do you work to keep everyone included?

Related Book Review: After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright.

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Bibles

• Jerusalem Council presentation slides or handouts

Directions:

Students will need Bibles and you will need to provide the presentation slide and/or handout in Jerusalem Council (slides) and Jerusalem Council (handout).

Teaching the Activity

If possible have students read Acts 13–15 for homework to give them a sense of context before using this activity in class. Read Acts 15 aloud together at the start of the activity. You may need to explain to the students why circumcision was such an important symbolic issue, referring them back to Genesis 17:10.

Divide the class into two groups, assigning one group to take the perspective of the pro-circumcision group and the other to take the perspective of the anti-circumcision group. Have both groups complete the following tasks which are provided as a presentation slide and handout:

• State clearly the terms of the disagreement in Acts 15. What exactly is at stake? What arguments are used? What does each group care about?
• Read Matthew 5:1–20 and find any ways in which your group might draw support for its position from the teaching of Jesus.
• Examine the decision reached by the Jerusalem Council and the way it is communicated to the church. In what ways did the Council take your group’s concerns into account?

Circulate the classroom and make sure the pro-circumcision group is able to identify verses 20–21 as showing concern for the sensibilities of Jewish believers as Gentiles are admitted. After students have had ten minutes to take notes as a group on these questions, have the two groups switch roles so that each group now takes the opposite perspective from their first assignment. Have them repeat the exercise with the same questions. This may go a little quicker than the first time due to growing familiarity with the passages.

Finally draw the class together for a discussion of what they have learned about how this strong disagreement in the early church was handled and resolved.

• Discuss with students how Matthew 5, as an example of Jesus’ teaching that might have been referred to in the early church debates, could have been used in support of both sides. It includes an emphasis on not setting aside even the least of the commandments, yet it also emphasizes showing mercy and loving enemies even at the expense of familiar commands. Talk about the kind of conversation that would have been needed to discern the intent of Jesus’ teaching.
• Draw students’ attention in particular to how, after the decision has been made, believers will coexist in the church with different cultural identities and sets of religious practices because the Council does not require Gentile believers to become in every way like Jewish believers. Both parties to the disagreement will have to live together in community after the debate, so winning or losing is not the only concern. Focus on this question of how to disagree and take seriously the issues at stake, yet still aim for continued fellowship.

If you have used Activity 3: Moabites: Friend or Foe? and/or Activity 4: Samaritans, Eunuchs, and Gentiles: Insiders or Outsiders? from this map, discuss whether there are similarities in the approach to conflict. How do truth and love relate? How do these debates offer us a model? Give some time to discuss whether the early church’s approach to this disagreement resembles or differs from common Christian approaches to disagreements today. This may be a good time to begin to consider faith and science disagreements as examples, looking ahead to Activity 7: Christian Differences Today: Creation and Evolution. Ask students to consider the parallels to current debates about faith and science issues within the church, and how what they have learned might apply to how these debates should be conducted.

Optional Extra

Have students research the viewpoints and reasoning of early Christians who disagreed over whether to emphasize the humanity or the divinity of Jesus Christ. How was this diversity of opinion resolved at the Council of Chalcedon?

Paul’s Missionary Journeys

In Brief

This activity continues the learning from the last two activities about how difference and unity were approached in the early church. Here the focus is on Paul’s missionary journeys. It engages students in collaborative investigation and moves them from learning about this topic to drawing conclusions and then presenting them to others. It also asks them to see the context of their learning in the way they work together, relating the challenge of how the early Christians lovingly handled differences to the students’ own experience in class.

Goals

Students will relate what they have learned about community to the task of working collaboratively with others.

Students will learn about how differences were handled during Paul’s missionary journeys.

Thinking Ahead

This activity asks students to investigate one of Paul’s missionary journeys. There are several possible approaches, such as designing a poster or display or video, constructing a web page or blog, or preparing an oral presentation with visuals. Decide what kind of outcome you would like students to work toward, and whether you would like to give them options. Think through how to distribute the work evenly so that the main cities Paul visited are researched and that the contributions of individual students are not disproportionate to the group work.

Encourage students with artistic interest to use pictures, drawings, and other visuals, but make sure the time investment implied does not become too large (remember that good artistic work takes a lot of time and those who care most about art want to do good work). Also, make sure that students working on illustrations do not become detached from the other aspects of the investigation.

The activity may go better if you carefully define a range of roles for students to assign within each group rather than just asking groups to collaborate, which could result in a subset of students taking on too much or too little work. It is not uncommon for group work to generate small resentments, so consider how your classroom practices in this activity can help students to work together fruitfully. Also help them reflect explicitly on the connections between examining how Paul struggled with differences and their own learning interactions. Clearly address at the outset the importance of learning to work together fruitfully. Teaching FASTly often involves explicit attention to how we interact, as well as to what we are learning; here the focus prepares for a shift to looking at present-day disagreements in Activity 7: Christian Differences Today: Creation and Evolution.

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Copies of Paul’s Missionary Journeys

Directions:

The kind of preparation needed will vary depending on the kinds of products you assign, so consider what products to permit and what resources students will need for each. You will need at least one copy of Paul’s Missionary Journeys per group.

Teaching the Activity

Divide students into small groups and either assign or allow groups to choose one of Paul’s three missionary journeys in Acts 13-20. (It is a good idea to require students to read this section as a homework assignment before this activity). Provide at least one copy per group of Paul’s Missionary Journeys. Tell students that they are going to work together to create a final product in the form of a poster, display, online resource, or oral presentation that offers insight into how differences were handled during Paul’s journeys.

It may help in structuring group work if you offer students a list of roles to assign within the group, such as an editor responsible for gathering and editing/proofreading contributions to the final product, an illustrator, a moderator to lead discussion and make sure it stays focused on the questions under investigation, and a scribe to take notes as discussions unfold and keep track of what information needs to be included in the final project.

Ask each group to investigate:

• What kinds of differences are encountered during this missionary journey (e.g. opposition, disagreements, cultural and theological differences)?
• How are these differences handled? What can we learn from these historical situations to help when we wrestle with differences in our own contexts?

Allow time for both investigation and for creation of the visual product. Set aside enough class time for students to present their work to each other, with time for questions and answers. Consider having students also present their research to another audience such as a Sunday school class at church.

At the end of the project set aside some time to debrief and have students discuss whether any differences emerged among them as a group during work on the project. Did anyone feel at times as if they were contributing too much or that others were being unreliable? Did they have any differences of opinion about what to conclude from the readings? Did they find anyone uncomfortable to work with? Discuss whether what they learned from the texts was relevant to how they should think about their own differences. You may wish to allow time for students to journal about this.