The Rev. Dick Osing offers new course

The Rev. Dick Osing offers a four-week course, “Re-imagining Salvation History: Getting Along Without Adam and Eve,” in March. Sessions meet Tuesdays, 7 to 8:30 p.m., March 1, 8, 15 and 22. The same material is covered on Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., March 2, 9, 16 and 23.

“I was motivated to teach this class because I searched for a book that would relate Old Testament scholarship on the Creation and Fall and their relationship to the doctrine of original sin.  I could only find one book.  So I wanted to think through the implications of what happens to the notion of original sin if there never was a literal Fall,” says Osing.

“Biblical scholarship over the last 75 years has shown that Adam and Eve were not historical persons, yet many Christians still think the story of the Fall in the Garden of Eden was an historical event,” says Rev. Osing, author of 2 books, How to Love and Be Loved and Love and Marriage at Mid-Life, and known especially for his Old Testament scholarship.

“In this course I want to explore how those stories should be interpreted and how that changes our understanding of Evolution, Original Sin, and Salvation” Osing explains. He says the class is for anyone: clergy, laity and for Christians of any denomination.

Classes are held at Christ Episcopal Church, 220 40th Street NE. Preregistration is required. For more information, and to preregister, call 319-363-2029. There is no fee for the class. Sessions are 90 minutes in length, including 60 minutes of lecture and 30 minutes for questions and discussion.