Smith part 3

In Judaism, what is the role of revelation?

Revelation means disclosure. This means that when something comes as a revelation to someone, they understand something all of the sudden that was previously not understandable. This concept is important in Judaism because in many of the stories God’s role is unclear, then people have a revelation and realize that it’s God’s hand at work.

What is the concept of the "chosen people" in Judaism?
The concept of the “chosen people” in Judaism is the concept that the Hebrews were chosen by God and in context of the Hebrews, he would lead them to the promised land where they would be free.

1) In Judaism, what is the meaning of suffering?

The meaning of suffering in Judaism is to keep the Jewish people on the right path. It is to make sure God's will is the one being followed instead of the will of the people. The suffering of the Jewish people in the Bible and in the stories teaches them to be faithful in times of doubt, and those who do will be rewarded.

2) In Judaism, what is the meaning in Messianism?

Messianism in Judaism is the idea of the coming messiah. But, it is also hope of a brighter future for the faith. The Jews, always being the minority, had a vision for a better life which would be lead, or started with by the messiah. Everything about life would improve in this vision of the future.

3) In Judaism, what is meant by the "hallowing of life"?

Jewish life is mostly based around ritual. Rituals give meaning and perspective on life, but if one does not know what they mean the have no reason to do them, because they don't have any effect. They Smith also gives the example that if we need rituals to do the simple task of meeting someone, then imagine what kind of rituals we need to understand the world.

Chapters 6 & 7

Chapter 6

1) On page 191, why does Jacobs refer to the red heifer as not just "zany" but also "potentially dangerous"? What is his hang up with this particular idea of the bible?

Jacobs views the red heifer as potentially dangerous because when it arrives, it means that the Jewish people must rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This would not be that bad, IF the place where the temple was, is vacant. BUT this is not the case. The dome of the rock lies on the ruins of the temple, which is where Mohammed ascended to heaven. So to rebuild the temple the Jews would have to tear down the dome of the rock to do it right.

2) How does the following verse describe the author's dilemma as he is half way through his "spiritual journey"?

Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men by rote.

This describes Jacob's dilemma because he is praying to God everyday just like the bible says, but he doesn't have faith yet. He is still skeptical of God and religion, so he cannot be completely involved in the religion.

3) How does the author compare the Bible to wikipedia? Do you agree? Explain.

He compares the Bible to a Wikipedia entry by saying that it has evolved just like an entry. He thought is that things in Wikipedia are put together by different people, and just kind of pieced together. The Bible is like this because many different people wrote the stories that are in the Bible, then they have been translated and transformed into modern language. This shows that the Bible is like Wikipedia because both are pieced together from many different authors.

Chapter 7

1) On Page 208 Jacobs is told to stop using the Bible as a "self help" book. Based on the the information given by his adviser Yossi what is the role of religion and why is Jacobs on "thin ice?"

Yossi says that religion is not just about helping yourself, but praising God as well. Yossi says that Jacobs is on thin ice, because he is looking to the Bible for self help when he should be glorifying God and Praising him.

2) On page 219 - 220 Jacobs describes his experience of being "hit" with a realization like a punch in the stomach and then he "praises the Lord." What was his realization and how does this reconcile a problem he previously had in his search of religion?

Jacobs earlier problem was that he wasn't able to praise God sincerely. This realization opened the door for him to do that. He understands now that God did not create everything and make everything so good for his benefit, but for ours. This allows Jacobs to connect on a deeper level than he has before with God.

Psalm Analysis

Psalm 8:

Write a summary

Choose TWO of the following questions to answer: 1, 2, 3, 4

This Psalm is about praising God for all animals on the earth, and praising God’s greatness. It is about praising God for how great he is and all the things he has done on the earth.

2. The tone of the first verse is just praise and adoration toward God. It sets the tone for the rest of the psalm because the rest of it is about praising God’s greatness and such. When the first phrase is repeated it sets great emphasis on the rest of the psalm by putting even more emphasis on the praise of God.

4. Poetry is a good way of expressing praise because it can sound especially dramatic, and overemphasizes things when they are repeated. It is also good because writing good poems can take a lot of effort and be very thoughtful.

Psalm 19:

Write a brief summary

Answer the following questions: 1 and 4

This psalm is about the speech or the teachings of God. It also talks about how God’s judgment is more desired than Gold. It is weird though because it seems like the psalm is a combination of two different ones. It seems like this because the praise and the direction of the psalm is toward two completely different subjects.

1. The first part of the psalm praises God’s speech, and the call of the heavens. The second part of the psalm, on the other hand, praises the righteousness of God. It praises God’s judgment, and the fear of him.

Psalm 23:

Write a brief summary

Choose TWO of the following questions to answer: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6

This psalm is talking about how God is a leader, and shows the way through life. It also talks about how if God is followed through life, then you will live in his house after death, meaning heaven.

5. This showing that God is like a shepherd is like in David and Goliath, when David says that God will lead him through the struggles forthcoming. This is the same as showing that God is a shepherd because the shepherd leads and guards his flock through hardships.

6. This psalm is recited in a person’s final moments of life to help them remember that God is with them, and that he will guide them to his house.

Psalm 137:

Write a brief summary

Choose TWO of the following questions to answer: 1, 2 or 3

This psalm is from the viewpoint of a person who was kidnapped from Jerusalem, who is being forced to sing by his captors. This reminds him of Jerusalem and saddens him because they are in a strange land that is unaccustomed to God.

1. This situation is different because the one who wrote it is mourning instead of worshiping. He is still praising God, but he is not praising his greatness in writing in the psalm. The problem this presents is that they aren’t able to praise God out loud, and was being suppressed by their captors – who don’t believe in God.

2. This psalm would appeal to God’s pity and mercy. This is because the people are mourning about no being able to praise him openly.

Chapter 5 response

Due Date: Friday November 20

For this week your task is to take two of the Bible verses Jacobs uses at the beginning of each day he writes about and analyze both the meaning behind the quote and how this applies to life / how it is interpreted by Jacobs. So for both: Write the quote, describe what it means and apply it to either Jacobs journey in literalism and/or what it means, metaphorically, in the modern world.

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you - for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. - Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (NIV)

This quote is telling us not to listen to everything people say about others and ourselves, specifically negative things, because they may lead to sinful action, also if you become angry about someone saying something about, you are being a hypocrite because you have said something against another person at one point too. Jacobs incorporates this into his life by deciding that he should stop trying to find out what other people are saying about him in book reviews and other things. He also decides that when he does read something, or hear something about him that is demeaning, that he should ignore it and not worry about it.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house... - deuteronomy 6:9

This quote is talking about the 10 Commandments, and how you should put them on the threshold or doorway of your house. It says this, because when you spend that much time writing them down, you have time to think about what they are said for, and how to incorporate them into your life. Jacobs incorporates this into his life by following it directly. He writes the Ten Commandments around his door in pencil. He spends three hours on this and by doing this he would now be reminded every time he walked through his door to follow the Ten Commandments.

Of the three sections of the Bible, choose two to read.

Your choices are:

The Flood
The Book of Ruth
David vs. Goliath

For the two sections you choose to read you are assigned to answer three questions from the end of the reading. You can choose any of the questions to answer as long as each has clear connection to what we are studying. (In other words, try to avoid answering literary analysis questions.) In total you will answer 6 questions of your choice from two of the three readings.

The Food

1. What is the meaning of the statement, "Noah walked with God"? What does God's willingness o spare the earth because of Noah suggest?

The meaning of the statement suggests that Noah was probably praying while on a walk or something, and God began speaking to him. It could also mean that Noah was connected to God and therefore took him with him wherever he walked. God's willingness to spare the earth because of Noah shows that he did not want to give up on what he created. He did not want to destroy everything he had made and start over, so he took the people who were good of heart and loyal to him, and saved them. He also did this so they could repopulate the earth.

2. How does the Flood reduce the Earth to the early stages of creation? How might this fact make humans especially eager to have a covenant?

In the early stages of creation, there was nothing but the animals God had just recently created, and no people inhabiting the earth. After the flood, there were only the animals God had saved on Noah's arc, Noah, and his family. This shows how barren the earth must have been after the flood and how it would've seemed a lot like after he had just created it. also, God rose the ground from the seas in the creation of the earth so it seems like when the waters were lowering that it would've felt a lot the same. The power that God has to be able to do this to the entire earth scares humans, so it would influence them greatly to make a covenant with God to be sure he doesn't do it again.

3. How does God's giving of all creatures into human hands look back to Genesis 1:26? How do God's commandments to Noah look forward to the Ten Commandments?

God's giving of all creatures into human hands is like in Genesis when he allowed Adam to name every creature whatever he wanted. It also shows human dominance over all the animals of the world just like Genesis did. God's Commandments to Noah look forward to the Ten Commandment because God gives many of the same rules to Noah, in just a less refined way.

David and Goliath

1. It is fair to call the combat between David and Goliath a contest of good and evil? Explain.

It is fair to call the Combat a contest of good and evil. It is fair because God is on the side of David and the Israelites throughout the conflict. This makes it a contest of good and evil, because God takes sides. If it was a petty fight about land or something God would not take a side in the matter because it does not concern him, but in this conflict God guides and helps David to defeating Goliath who represents evil.

2. David describes to Saul his role as a shepherd. What does this description suggest about God's role in relation to the Hebrew people? How does the story of David and Goliath illustrate this role?

God's role, in relation to the Hebrews, is the same as David's to his flock. God must guide his flock and keep them safe from whatever danger he can. This is shown well in the story of David and Goliath, because under normal circumstances, a boy would not be able to take down a man who is over nine feet tall who is a trained warrior. But with God's guidance, David is able to slay Goliath and become victorious.

3. David refuses to use conventional weapons. How is this refusal a statement about the relationship between the Hebrew people and God?

David's refusal to use conventional weapons shows the relationship between the Hebrews greatly, because even though he is just a boy/young man he still has a ton of faith in God. He has enough faith to go up against a giant of a man with nothing but a sling and some rocks. This shows his incredible faith that God will aide him through the battle he is having with Goliath, which also shows how much faith the entirety of the Hebrew people have.

Chapters 3 & 4 responses

Here are your questions for Chapter 3. Choose three of the seven to answer. You choose which you want to address. Answer them via the blog or have a hard copy when you get to class.

1) Comment / summarize on why Jacobs has such a hard time speaking biblically or avoiding Lashon Hara - "The Evil Tongue"

Jacobs has an extremely hard time avoiding Lashron Hara, because it includes many things that are frequently the center of conversations, are completely forbidden in the Bible. These include not lying, not complaining, and not gossiping. Jacobs even goes to say that one should avoid negative conversation all together!

2) What did Jacobs mean when he stated: "It is exactly what I was always most afraid of with religion. To embrace religion, you have to surrender some control."

Jacobs likes to be in control all the time of himself and what is happening around him. In religion though, he must give up some of his control and have blind faith in God. He must truly believe what in the bible and what it is teaching him to be truly religious, which would make his experiment worthwhile.

7) What is meant by the term Chasid Shote or Righteous Idiot? What does this address about religious belief?

A Righteous Idiot is someone who takes the meanings of the teachings of a religion too far. They take the teachings as far as to where they cherish them over human life. This means that if someone is dying, but the "idiot" is too caught up with whether it would be ok from a religious standpoint to even touch them.

Chapter 4 comment

In Chapter Four Jacobs finally understood what the Sabbath is about. He gets locked in his bathroom for four hours with nothing to do. But, after being in there for couple hours he begins to realize that the world is rushing past him while he is just sitting there, he can do nothing about it, but he is ok with it. He realizes that this is what the Sabbath should feel like, serene and peaceful, without the strain of city life, or the strain of any kind of life for that matter, just relaxation. He also realizes to accept what he has and appreciate it in this time.

Summarizing the Bible and Genesis

The bible is a collection of religious works tell morals and stories to live by. The Bible has been traditionally divided into sections. The first five books are from the Hebrew bible, the Torah, and is concerned mainly with creation and the law. Many sections of the book contain historical accounts from prophets, or the apostles. There are even parts of the Bible that contain poems and songs. The Bible was compiled from around the tenth century BC onward. No one person was able to write the whole bible, but rather many people expanding on their predecessors work. The Bible is also based on basic themes of power, goodness, and mercy of the one God. The importance of this text is mainly to the faiths of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but also to other people such as historians trying to glean any solid historical evidence from it.

Genesis

what meanings are associated with light and darkness in the first chapter in Genesis?

light is associated with goodness, and darkness is associated with evil. so he separated them to make day and night which could symbolize the split or difference between heaven and hell.

Naming is an important theme in Genesis. Find five separate passages in which God names things. How does the act of naming seem to be related to the act of creation itself? What does Adam's ability to name the animals reveal about him?

Adam being able to name animals and the things around him show that humans are superior from other animals and that they have control. It shows that because God created humans in his likeness, that they have superiority.

what are the implications of the relationship established between humans and the rest of creation?

the implications of the relationship established is that humans are in control of everything around them.

Man vs. God

Read the packet from the Wall Street Journal titled "Man vs. God"

Although the packet has Karen Armstrong's article first - read Richard Dawkins articles first.

1) After you have read the articles: write the main thesis / argument for each and then give as many of the main supporting arguments for each. I suggest that you take notes as you go so you can formulate the argument after you've read.

Richard Dawkins said that because of the theory of evolution, God became less believable for most people in the world. He also said that if there was a God, he had no hand in the creation of life due to evolution. If that was correct then he would've been very bored with everything in the world. Dawkins stated that life was the only thing that could manipulate the laws of physics. He states that the possibility of life is out there, but if there is extra terrestrial life, then it is probably unsophisticated.

Karen Armstrong agrees with Dawkins on his belief that the theory of evolution has dealt a serious blow to the concept and the belief of God. But, she thinks that God is and should be seen as a symbol, and thinks that the idea of God has not been given up on due to the fact that people see him through symbols. She also said that religion should now, not instead of answering unanswerable questions, but along with it, be a way to guide one's life. Religion should now be viewed and understood more for the moral actions and values in life.

2) Also as you read make notes of what is most intriguing and / or interesting to you. Give at least one example of something that made you "think".

Something i found very interesting, was when Karen Armstrong was talking about the ancient Greeks. She said, "Most cultures believed that there were two recognized ways of arriving at truth. The Greeks called them Mythos and Logos. Both were essential and Neither was superior to the other; they were not in conflict but complimentary, each with its own sphere of competence." This intrigued me because we talked about a chart in class where it was a circle that was not connected in the middle, and the ends were reason and religion. Which, in essence is what she is saying the Greeks believed a few thousand years ago.

3) Finally, develop a ToK approach to the reading. What is the "knowledge" presented by each of the authors.

Neither author has complete proof of what they are saying, but they both use the metaphysical knowledge of God to describe what they are trying to say.

Ways of Knowing

Within ToK there are 4 main "ways of knowing"

Although you do not know what the definitions of the "ways of knowing" the four "ways" are given below. For each of the ways of knowing I would like you to answer the questions given. Don't worry if your responses are right or wrong, take an intelligent guess and then we will discuss.

Sense Perception:
- What is it? - Using the 5 senses to describe and understand something.
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - you must be able to sense something to know about it. you must be able to touch taste hear see or smell something or observe multiple ones of these to be able to know about it.

Language:
- What is it? - A way of communicating ideas and knowledge between multiple people
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - you must be able to communicate your ideas and be able to hear other peoples' ideas to know anything.

Reason:
- What is it? - it gives logic to our ways of thinking and makes things seem possible.
- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - things must seem logical to know them, and things must be reasonable. ideas we have must be reasonable for us to study them and learn about them.

Emotion:
- What is it? - they are the reason we learn about something if we like it. they also give an identity to our memories, like if we remember something in a good way it it a good memory

- Why or how is it a "way of knowing" - we must have a reason to learn something or we must care about it to learn about it.

Jesus Saves Assesment

Read the article: "Jesus Shaves" by David Sedaris. Although a humorous essay, what is the important point Sedaris addresses in relation to religious belief? Why is this an important thing to keep in mind when studying religions?

Jesus Shaves addresses the miscommunication and the differences in religions belief in different places. the specific example they give is that when they are describing easter to a student in their french class who has never heard of it, they all have different views on it. In the class, they explain that in France they believe a bell comes from rome and leaves the people chocolate, where in the US a bunny brings chocolate to the children and hides eggs that they can find. The significance of this is that religions are interpreted differently everywhere and that people have different traditions and beliefs in the same religion.

The Ways of Being Religious

From the essay hand-out Essay IV: Ways of Being Religious and Essay V: Distinctive Traits of Western Religions answer the following discussion questions.

Read pages 4, 5 and 6:

Describe each of the 6 "ways of being religious"

Sacred Rite is the use of rituals and symbols to bring the religious experience to a physical form and to a more personal level.

Right Action deals with the way things are supposed to be. It deals with ultimate reality and the sacred intendedness of life.

Devotion is the forming of a personal relationship with god or ultimate reality.

Shamanic Meditation is the entering into an altered state of consciousness to reach atonement

with ultimate reality

Mystical Quest is where one is on a deliberate path to become free of the obscuring limitations

of ordinary life, and obtain a direct connection with ultimate reality.

Reasoned Inquiry is the study of religious scripture in an attempt to obtain divine wisdom.

Using page 9 - 10:

What are the advantages of studying religion using this method.

Get rid of generalizations that could lessen the ability to view different aspects of the religion.

To help understand different aspects of individual religions.

to help recognize similarities and differences between religions that aren't usually seen.

Help see true differences in religions and rule out misleading and false ones.

Open comparisons between religions that doesn't get rid of the importances of the religions.

Open paths for dialogue and understanding.

Using the "distinctive traits of Western Religions"

Explain what you think are the two greatest differences between the western and eastern traditions.

One of the greatest differences between the eastern religions and the western religions is that the western are monotheistic and the eastern and polytheistic. The western religions all have God being ultimate reality, where the eastern religions are mostly focused on the individual. In the eastern religions there are gods and idols that lead the way to a better life, where in the western religions there are the prophets. Another large difference between the religions is the difference between good and evil. In the Western religions God is the all-knowing judge of god and evil and is the ultimate decider of good and evil. In the Eastern religions good and evil is focused more around morals and karma.