To whom much is given much is required
1483 words by wwilliam
Dr. Homan’s theology class has been very interesting so far. From the two hours spent in that class, Dr. Homan seems like an intelligent down to earth professor. It is pretty neat that he wrote one of our required textbooks. The syllabus along with the required reading being on the web is new for me. I don’t usually get online, but seems like I will be getting online every week now. During ‘Babe Ruth and the Bible’ he describes an example of thinking critically about a movie and uses the same example when reading a text from the Bible. That is especially appealing because we can learn and decode the Bible the same way we interpret movies. I understand other things like Zion and the Jordan River, from his lecture, which are used for symbolism in movies and songs. He also gave a general clarification of the wars in the Middle East. The history of the Middle East described in the Bible clarifies why these people are so overprotective of that area. The region known as the Holy Land is a focal point for three main religions; Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Identifying religious occurrences and important geographical regions can help with understanding modern day happenings. Because of the intense writing and reading I assume this class will be one of the most fulfilling courses I have to take. The work load is quite intense but, “To whom much is given much is required”.
The Bible is an essential book for Christians and is quite hard to understand. By having someone telling you to read and abide by a book that you can’t figure out doesn’t make to much sense. The Bible is an interesting text, the stories can be interpreted in different ways to inspire or maybe to give warning to all people. I’m sure people who don’t really know what the Bible is saying have tried to teach or preach the Word and have gotten themselves and others confused. I have never taken a class or sat through a documentary of the historical or scientific aspects of the Bible. I’m not too informed about Biblical Studies, but in my opinion there are three ways to look at the Bible historically, scientifically, and religiously. I am use to reading the Bible for religious reasons, during church or Sunday school, and in ancient history class the teacher once described how relevant the Bible was to historical events. For example the great flood that is described in the Bible is documented in other historical sources. The pharaohs of Egypt that are mentioned in the Bible are also relevant to the Egyptian hieroglyphics on the walls. After completing this course I expect to be able to read and understand the Bible critically. I am especially interested in the role women played in the Bible days. They don’t have really main roles but I know they were vital to the men of the Bible days. I am anticipating the passages describing the people of Africa, and how the Biblical authors treated Africans. Reading the Bible critically includes citing biblical events, being able to apply the learned material to everyday life, and to enhance my knowledge of history. I hope to gain a better understanding of the Bible in relation to history and present times. I am also looking forward to learning more about the Holy Land and being able to recognize the significance and the religious worth of the Middle East.
I expect to change the world, probably not through my blogs but through my studies as a psychologist. I want to reverse the psychological damage on account of racial prejudice by counseling and activism. Knowing your historical background and what type of life your ancestors lived effects how young minds view their future, “In order to know where your going you have to know where you came from”. History is the most rewarding subject taught and Biblical History will have even more profit because of the impact the Bible has on present times. The Bible could possibly aid in discovering reasons for particular behaviors related to religion. Psychologists usually think logically about bizarre events that religion and the Bible would explain as acts of God. For instance the Bible would explain a psychotic person as having demons or being possessed by bad spirits, a psychologist’s explanation would be a chemical imbalance or some type of disorder. So majoring in psychology and wanting to be a Psychologist doesn’t seem to relate to Theology 1120, but as the year goes on maybe they will start to merge.
By reading over the syllabus I can see why it is important to attend every class. It seems as though each class discussion flows into the next class agenda. Tardy students and cell phones are noisy and can be distracting; I’ll try to remember to turn my phone off upon entering the library. I would participate in class, except right now I can’t answer any questions correctly. I agree to respect other opinions and refrain from holding side bar discussions. I truly understand how aggravating those can be. I will not plagiarize my work. The course commitments seem reasonable and I agree to the policy.
586 BCE is the year Jerusalem is concurred and destroyed. Jeremiah wrote Lamentations during this time. Lamentations is a crying out because of the horrible situation in Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem are thrown out of their country, tortured, killed and raped. Before Jeremiah wrote Lamentations he wrote the book of Jeremiah which pleaded with the people to obey God’s word or they will be punished. They didn’t pay attention to Jeremiah so they were punished and that’s what is described in Lamentations. Several passages are in poetic form. Poems use parallelism. Lamentations is poetic it relates the conquering of Jerusalem to a woman being taken. Lamentations uses a lonely widow to describe Jerusalem. The audiences at this time in the Bible were men. Displaying the nation as a woman gave Jerusalem sort of an innocent nature. The temple being defeated was compared to the woman being raped. The name Zion is used to mean Jerusalem in the text.
The physical geography of Jerusalem is important to why so many wars are fought over this land. It is where three continents touch, and who ever controls Jerusalem controls the trade route and conquest to and from those continents. Jerusalem is the meeting ground of all three continents and is quite diverse. It is hard to unify Jerusalem because o f the diverse cultures living in this region. The people of Jerusalem concentrate on the land more than the water because they live around mountains and small rivers instead of oceans. Mountains and desert set up good boundaries for some ancient cities in the Bible. With out these boundaries cities could have been easily taken. A city like New Orleans would not be a hard place to conquer. There are no mountains just flat land and no deserts. The Bible being set in New Orleans would have had the same type of outcome because of the different continents surrounding the tip of Louisiana. New Orleans does not have mountains or deserts anywhere near the city so it would be hard to defend.
Merneptah is an Egyptian king and Stele means stone with writing. From class discussion I understand that the king Meneptah was very arrogant. He claims to have conquererd several lands and he mentions each one. He begins is tale with a long description of how great he is. He describes how he is like a mighty bull and the king of Lower and Upper Egypt, etc, etc. He explains his accounts of what happened at the battle when he killed the soldiers and took their wives and possessions. He tells how Egypt is a great land now because Libya was conquered. The king he is suppose to capture and kill escapes. He describes the king as being a coward. The ending is another long description of how great he is. The Meneptah Stele is important because it gives an insight into what happens during the conquering of the Middle East and explains how these ancient people viewed themselves after battle. This historical writing is the only other resource besides the Bible that mentions Israel. In order to read the Meneptah critically you have to realize what is going on at this time in history. Who is writing the text and who he is writing the text to is also important in reading the passage critically. Everything written on the text may not be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Pay attention to symbolism and puns on words.