I really enjoyed Linda Sexson as a guest lecturer. The thing I appreciated most about her was her appreciation for the Bible from many different view points. I'm not sure that I would agree to the order of emphasis but none the les... The story of the Levite and the concubine was the most interesting to me mainly b/c I don't remember reading it before. I have read it...I don't remember it, that is what I find wierd. It is a pretty memorable story. The role women play in both the old and new Testaments is an interesting one. It is easy to assume that because woman were so easily belittled in the Old Testament that God must have intended it to be that way. Sometimes it really seems that way. BUT, that ideal does not match up with the New Testament. I realize we aren't covering the N.T. but I feel like the best approach to reading the O.T. is through the lense of the N.T. Afterall, the N.T. is the fulfillment of the old. (No, I did not say the better of the two) They belong together. The latter completes the former. I think that the way women were and are treated in many circumstances is a direct result of the curse given in Genesis. In the NIV, the word pain or others like it are perhaps an example of repetitive paralelism. Gen. 3: 16 "Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you." Sadly, men's curse could be sumarized by saying that he will fear being a failure. This combonation is a recipe for disaster. I think that the story of the Levite is a great example of this.