A square peg...

I'm sitting in a cafe in between classes trying to work on this class I'm putting together for my Church. I only have a couple of weeks left until it begins and I've probably written the overview class three times, the Torah section about 5 and I've just started on the prophets. I'm running into two problems.

The first is time, I'm not sure how much information will take up an hour's worth of time, this isn't that big of a deal, I'll just keep talking until the hour's up. Hopefully I won't run out of time and not be able to cover everything I want to talk about, but I'm pretty good on the fly and I'll have notes to work from. I'll manage the hour.

The second and larger problem, is figuring out exactly what I can get away with. Can I say that Moses didn't write the Torah? Can I talk about Genesis and Exodus in terms of mythology? Specifically can I say that the last time I spoke with a walking talking lizard was, Oh....never, and that in the ancient near east animals had a specific meaning? I'm thinking of talking in the sense of parables instead of myth, but it is possible that even hinting at a non-literal understanding could get me in trouble.

Can I mention that the Bible isn't really God's mouth piece to the world, but men dealing with God in certain situations and cultures? Can I bring in the Jewish culture and their understanding of evil as not being from Satan, but being from God and that men are not created wicked, but innocent and blessed by God? Can I tell them that prophecy has less to do with the future than the present historical framework of the prophet?

I'm having all these problems because I like this church, I like the people that I know, and I don't want to be ostracized. I don't think I would be, but if I play my cards right I'll be able to teach other classes and hopefully, over the next two years infiltrate enough liberal theology to make some difference within the church. With this being my first time, I just have some anxiety about how much is too much. As of right now, I'm leaning toward being more open about scholarship and Judaism. I guess part of it is going to depend on who signs up for the class and what they're like...I might just have to play it by ear...I can do that, I'm just not going to be able to give handouts and all that fun stuff.