The topic of the study will be the book, The Long Road Home, written by James S. Lowry. Borrowing from the ancient rabbinic use of midrash as a means of opening Scripture to students, James Lowry has chosen six texts from among those in which he believes Mark deliberately left silences. The author is convinced Mark hoped his readers would be encouraged to raise a variety of possibilities as to what the evangelist left unsaid. Beginning with Mark choosing not to name the temptations of Jesus (Mark 1:12-13) and concluding with Mark choosing to conclude his narrative with the women leaving the tomb of Jesus in stunned silence (Mark 16:8), Lowry spins short stories that suggest several alternative ideas as to how the biblical narrative might have played. In half of the tales, Lowry enters the text and adds fictitious material to Mark’s narrative. In the other half, his stories are set in the small textile town of Great Falls, South Carolina, where the author grew up in the 1950s. The hope is these stories will encourage readers of Mark and groups of his readers to raise other possibilities.
James S. (Jim) Lowry is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is retired and lives with his wife in her ancestral home on a small farm near the small town of Great Falls, South Carolina, which is also where he grew up and where he set many of the fictitious short stories in this volume. His last installed pastorate was Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee.
The 6 sessions will begin on Monday, February 3 and will continue through May 19.
The Bible Study group meets from 9:30-11:00 a.m. in Second Hall. All are welcome to come. Study books may be purchased in the church office for $14. Participants are asked to read the Introduction and Chapter 1 before coming to class on Monday, February 3.
If you have any questions, please call Karen Akin, 227-0000, or email karenakin@secondpreslr.org.
First and Third Monday Morning Women’s Bible Study Syllabus
Introduction and Chapter 1: Mark 1:9-13 – The Temptations of Jesus
Chapter Two: Mark 4:35-5:13 – Demons Know Best
Chapter Three: Mark 6:30-44 – You Give Them Something to Eat
Chapter Four: Mark 8:22-26 – The Second Touch
Chapter Five : Mark 14:51-52 – The Naked Truth
Chapter Six: Mark 16:1-8 – But What Does It Mean?