When reading “Back Door intro to the Bible,” I appreciated the authors pointing out the common misconceptions when reading the Bible. I already had knowledge of some of these due to my previous courses, but the new ones were interesting. One thing that stuck out to me is how the Bible discusses human beings in daily life. I had never read that part of the Bible. I was pleasantly surprised when it discusses real people doing real things. The other important misconceptions are that the Bible is not a history book and that it is actually not a single book but a collection of different works.

One thing that stuck out to me when reading “Depatriarchalizing the Bible” is the discussion of gender-neutral deities. I had never read nor heard of this before today. I also found it ironic how the contrast between woman and man fades after disobedience. I feel like this is an example of why we are so misogynistic and sexist. It also says that man fails to be responsible which I find funny and to be very true in real life!

Our class discussions of what type of things are found in the Bible really expanded my knowledge. I did not know letters, poetry, proverbs, parables, gospels, songs, and prophecy are all found in the Bible. This is another reason why it should not be called a single book, but rather a collection of works.