THE 311 Sexuality, Sex & Morality
Essay 5
Mission Impossible, if you choose to accept it (you’d better accept it if you want the grade): read Genesis 18 & 19 (about Lot and the men of Sodom) and Judges 19 (about the man and his concubine). Focus on Genesis 19 and explain (interpret) the story there (don’t retell it; I already know it). Use Judges 19 to help you explain Genesis 19. Warning: these instructions will self-destruct in 30 seconds.

1) Summarize (sum up) the point, the moral, of the story in Genesis 19.

2) Analyze (explain) the story. Use the tools of biblical interpretation (exegesis, historical-critical method, and application to our lives: see the outline of “Biblical Background on Blackboard).

Describe how the pieces of the story fit together. Explain what the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah (18:20) was, what made a person righteous or wicked (18:23), what Lot’s treatment of the strangers exemplified (19:1-3), why what the men of Sodom were doing was “wicked (19:4-7), and what the attitudes toward women (19:8) and of the women themselves (19:30-38) were. Try to give a sensible interpretation of this material.

3) Criticize (evaluate) Genesis 19. Why is this story in the Bible? What, if anything, does this story have to do with our course? Why do you think your professor assigned it (other than the fact that he is trying to mess up your minds)?