Blog Mission Statement

I am taking an Old Testament class this semester while I am on study abroad in Jerusalem. Today in class we talked about using various study aids to help us understand the scriptures. These aids would include footnotes, bible dictionaries, and various other commentaries on the script. All of this talking about commentaries gave me an idea: this blog.

My plan is fairly simple. I will take a chapter of scripture a day, study it as thoroughly I can on my tight budget of time, and post the results of my findings here. Hopefully this can become a resource both for myself, and (perhaps) for others.

Also, as I go through with this, I hope to gain a more thorough knowledge of the scriptures, and become adept at finding answers to questions I might have about the text.

I suppose I ought to let anyone reading this blog know a little bit about myself, so that you will know the lense through which I am viewing the scriptures. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which means that I will include some more of my own religion's doctrine than another person undertaking the same task would. But I will attempt to give a fair representation of what everybody is saying as far as I am able. If I run into a conflict of opinion on a topic, I won't push it under the rug. I like (friendly) conflict; it makes me think about things more deeply. As far as being qualified to make commentary on the scriptures, I have taken several college level religion classes, including those on the Old Testament, and the first half of the New Testament. I also took a Bible as literature class a couple of years ago, and have had gospel instruction for my entire life. I am an English Language major, and should graduate this April from Brigham Young University. I am living in the Holy Land at the moment, and visiting places of scriptural significance, which is also helping me better grasp the meaning of the scriptures.

That isn't to say that I am a particular wealth of gospel knowledge. However, I hope through this experiment to eventually become one.

That's that. I plan to begin with the Old Testament tomorrow. We'll jump in with Genesis 1, and see how it goes. If all goes as planned, I will have completed an analysis of all chapters of scripture by the end of 2012. It seems a long journey right now, but I will be glad if I can make it a reality.

Sincerely,

Piper Armstrong