Term Paper

In class today, it hit me. I'd been trying to come up with a great topic for discussion in my term paper (which i hear is due in a week and a half). Only it dogged me for weeks, until i realized i was really stressing over it, and needed to come up with something quick! It has to be something in the Pentateuch, but I didn't want to do the usual: "i'm gonna prove evolution false" or "the flood really did happen". Nor did i want something obscure and irrelevant such as "old testament sacrifices" or "what are the nephilim". (Not to discredit those who are doing those papers there. i respect you guys! i'm simply stating my thoughts and opinions! this blog is not being monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes!)

So, i figured that what i really wanted to write on was something:
...that was a large theme throughout the Pentateuch
...that is well documented from the OT
...that is relevant in today's culture
...that is controversial

Capishe? cool, now to find something that fits into all that! hmmm.....

Then we're discussing the story of Joseph this morning. Picture this: Joseph gets a visit from his brothers. Joseph plays his part as an egyptian bully. Joseph withholds info from his bros. Joseph orchestrates a situation without his family's knowledge to bring them all back together. Joseph is my hero. Joseph did the right thing when he was in the wrong place. Joseph did the right thing when he got to the right place. Joseph's a stud.

The point being this: was the fact that joseph didn't tell his brothers right away that he was their brother, was that deception? and if it was, was it right? was it justified? does the end justify the means here? were his brothers simply not ready to accept what Joseph had to tell them? What gave Joseph the right to determine that they weren't ready? This scenario played out with a happy ending.

But what about the myriad of times elsewhere in the OT where deception was used. Abraham and Sarah, in Egypt. Jacob and Esau, with the blessing. Jacob and Laban, with the wives. And i'd be an idiot to leave out Eve and the Serpent, in the garden.

Deception is a major theme in Genesis, at least.
There are a lot of stories about it (documentation).
It's a big issue in today's culture.
And being a big issue, people are on both sides of the fence. Both for and against. It's straight up controversial. (cause honestly, there's a difference between lying, and deception, right?)

I got my four points. What else do i need? All i need to to is find some sources to quote (a few lines of matthew henry pasted from e-sword should work), put together an outline (a brief purusal of Genesis should suffice to provide material for such), and fill in the meat of it with a bunch of BS to fill in 2000 words! It should prove to be an interesting study, as i am curious to see how evidence stacks up practically. i'm excited...

so what do i do? crack open the books like a good college student?

Heck no! I'm puttin' on a movie party tonight! Yee haw!!!!