Obvious parallel between Soloman and Adonijah and Jacob and Esau.
What's with all the gold in Soloman's house? I thought all the great men of the Bible were paupers and carpenters and fishermen.
This sounds dumb, but I didn't know that the Queen of Sheba was actually a character in the Bible. I just thought she was mythical historical figure, like King Arthur or something. I enjoyed reading about her, because when I was very little, like 5 or 6, I always used to put a towel over my head after I took a bath and my dad would always say I looked like the Queen of Sheba. Every time. I still don't understand why I looked like the Queen of Sheba, but at least I know now who she was.
11:1 "But king Soloman loved many strange women." Sounds interesting...
You would think that if God himself told you not to eat or drink anything, you wouldn't. You would think so, at least.
What a cool image of the ravens bringing food to Elijah. I admit, I wasn't terribly excited about Kings but this Elijah has some pretty interesting stories that no one really ever talks about.
Another parallel between Elijah and the woman with the meal and the oil and Jesus and the loaves and fish.
Also, no one ever talks about the number of times Elijah revives the dead. I can't count the number of times that people have told me that the "only ones in the Bible resurrected from the dead were Lazarus and Jesus." Obviously not true. I counted several instances of Elijah doing it.
Why do people say "Jumping Jehoshaphat?" I didn't notice him jumping any...
Monday, September 28, 2009
2nd Samuel
It kind of amazes me the relationship that David has with God. In 2 Samuel 5:19 he asks God, "Do you want me to go kill some Philistines?" It was just kind of amusing that David just outwardly asks God for things as if he is having a simple conversation with his boss or something.
Why was Michal punished and barren? Somehow it doesn't seem fair. David took her away from a husband who loved her only to curse her.
Some see the story of David and Bathsheba as a romantic Romeo and Juliet-esque tale, but it always broke my heart. Uriah was faithful to David and to God and yet David not only steals his wife, but also has him killed. Was that really necessary? David was the king of Israel; couldn't he take any woman he wanted? He took Michal from her husband.
Why did David get so angry at Absalom for killing Amnon? Amnon did something wrong. And the whole thing about locking the concubines up because they were with Absalom? First of all, he couldn't possibly slept with hundreds of concubines in a number of days. Second of all; they're concubines...
Why was Michal punished and barren? Somehow it doesn't seem fair. David took her away from a husband who loved her only to curse her.
Some see the story of David and Bathsheba as a romantic Romeo and Juliet-esque tale, but it always broke my heart. Uriah was faithful to David and to God and yet David not only steals his wife, but also has him killed. Was that really necessary? David was the king of Israel; couldn't he take any woman he wanted? He took Michal from her husband.
Why did David get so angry at Absalom for killing Amnon? Amnon did something wrong. And the whole thing about locking the concubines up because they were with Absalom? First of all, he couldn't possibly slept with hundreds of concubines in a number of days. Second of all; they're concubines...
Monday, September 21, 2009
1st Samuel
Chapter 2, verse 9 of 1 Samuel: "He will keep the feet of his saints." What? Yet another ancient, outdated idiom we don't understand...again in 3:19: "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." I kind of like that one though; it's very poetic, even if I'm not sure what it means.
Why five golden mice? Why not golden lions or golden gazelles, or birds even? What's so special about a metal rodent?
I think it's cool that the ancient Hebrews had confectioneries and bakers. I wonder what they made.
One of the neat parts of the Bible: that God creates a series of seemingly unrelated coincidences to lead Saul to Samuel. Saul becomes kind of the "Richard III" of the Bible, trying to kill Daniel because God rejected him and pretty much said, "I changed my mind, Daniel's going to be king now..." Saul was also really tall. I'm not sure why this is important, but whoever was writing this book felt it was important enough to stick it in there.
David was from Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
I love how David referred to Saul trying to kill him as "mischief."
Why five golden mice? Why not golden lions or golden gazelles, or birds even? What's so special about a metal rodent?
I think it's cool that the ancient Hebrews had confectioneries and bakers. I wonder what they made.
One of the neat parts of the Bible: that God creates a series of seemingly unrelated coincidences to lead Saul to Samuel. Saul becomes kind of the "Richard III" of the Bible, trying to kill Daniel because God rejected him and pretty much said, "I changed my mind, Daniel's going to be king now..." Saul was also really tall. I'm not sure why this is important, but whoever was writing this book felt it was important enough to stick it in there.
David was from Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
I love how David referred to Saul trying to kill him as "mischief."
Ruth
The story of Ruth always touched me a little. I thought it was incredible the devotion that Ruth felt for her mother in law Naomi. Naomi herself can hardly believe it; she says "why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?" (1:11).
Another thing I always thought was really cool about Ruth is the issue of maternity in relation to Jesus. Ruth was the great-grandmother of David. Mary was the descendant of David, and she was also the mother of Jesus.
Another thing I always thought was really cool about Ruth is the issue of maternity in relation to Jesus. Ruth was the great-grandmother of David. Mary was the descendant of David, and she was also the mother of Jesus.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Thoughts....
Reading Tai's blog made me start to wonder why I'm even in this class. After complaining about all the reading, my mom asked me, "So why don't you just drop out?" I thought about it; after all, I have 13 other credits to focus on and English isn't my major. However, I found I couldn't bring myself to drop the class. It's fun and thought-provoking, and how many kids get to blog instead of doing homework?
Other people told me that I should just find summaries for all the books of the Bible and paraphrase them for my blog. That idea slightly disgusted me, and at first I couldn't figure out why. It's logical. It would save me hours upon hours of time.
I realized that I continue to read the Bible and to go to class because it presents a challenge. And I'm not the kind of person that can resist a challenge; in fact, that's what usually gets me in trouble because I take on way more than I can possibly do. But in our day and age, where all information is short and to the point and instantly available, reading the Bible, I've discovered, may be far more important than we think. What better way is there to expand knowledge than to read the Bible? Everything is in the Bible! There isn't a situation anyone could come up with that doesn't have roots to the Good Book. It's like an Idiot's Guide to the Human Race. It possesses knowledge that is still relevant, 2,000+ years later; it's one of the most important, if not the most important, thing a human being could ever read. That's why I'm determined to get through the whole damn thing, no matter what it takes--because when I start my career, when I become a wife, when I become a mother and a grandmother, the wisdom that Good Book can impart to me is imperative and priceless. No amount of reality television or funny pictures of cats is going to let me gain the knowledge the Bible has to offer; and that's the raw truth of it.
On a side note--everyone should watch "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It's the story of Joseph and his brothers and Egypt. You can watch most of it on youtube, and it's really funny and entertaining, so I'd check it out if you have any spare time (Yes, I know you don't, but watch it anyway).
Other people told me that I should just find summaries for all the books of the Bible and paraphrase them for my blog. That idea slightly disgusted me, and at first I couldn't figure out why. It's logical. It would save me hours upon hours of time.
I realized that I continue to read the Bible and to go to class because it presents a challenge. And I'm not the kind of person that can resist a challenge; in fact, that's what usually gets me in trouble because I take on way more than I can possibly do. But in our day and age, where all information is short and to the point and instantly available, reading the Bible, I've discovered, may be far more important than we think. What better way is there to expand knowledge than to read the Bible? Everything is in the Bible! There isn't a situation anyone could come up with that doesn't have roots to the Good Book. It's like an Idiot's Guide to the Human Race. It possesses knowledge that is still relevant, 2,000+ years later; it's one of the most important, if not the most important, thing a human being could ever read. That's why I'm determined to get through the whole damn thing, no matter what it takes--because when I start my career, when I become a wife, when I become a mother and a grandmother, the wisdom that Good Book can impart to me is imperative and priceless. No amount of reality television or funny pictures of cats is going to let me gain the knowledge the Bible has to offer; and that's the raw truth of it.
On a side note--everyone should watch "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It's the story of Joseph and his brothers and Egypt. You can watch most of it on youtube, and it's really funny and entertaining, so I'd check it out if you have any spare time (Yes, I know you don't, but watch it anyway).
Monday, September 14, 2009
My Personal Religion Story
I saw that a lot of other people had posts on here about their own experiences with religion, so I thought I'd throw mine into the pot.
My mom actually rebelled against her anti-religion parents by becoming a member of the Presbyterian church when she was in college. My dad grew up Episcopalian and absolutely hated it. When they got married and had me and my brother, we went to Presbyterian church because my dad didn't really care where we went, as long as it wasn't Episcopalian.
Church when I was little, until I was around 10 or 11, I remember fondly. The pastors were always nice, there was lots of free food after church, and I had friends in youth group and awana that I went to every summer for arts and crafts. My mom sang in the church choir, and I used to love to go to her practices and hear her sing. When I was five I even sang a solo with the choir.
When I was 10 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had moved to Bozeman a year before and had not really found a regular church, we just went to church randomly. After my mom found out she had cancer, we joined a little church called Gallatin Valley Presbyterian church. At first, they did all the fun things we always did in church--Sunday school, breakfast after the service, even church potlucks. My mom was very strong about her cancer, but after a couple of chemo treatments, she was physically and emotionally weakened. Becoming depressed, she began to go to the pastor for counseling. Meanwhile, she pulled me and my brother out of public school and put us in a tiny private school that was operated out of two houses.
The pastor counseled my parents, but I use the term "counsel" loosely. He told my mom that she got cancer because she didn't have enough faith. He told her to stop spending money on food and give it all to the church. She listened, and we lived off of canned tuna and spam from the food bank for months. He told her to hit us. So my parents tried to hit us with a belt when we were bad, but they only did it a couple of times before they couldn't bring themselves to do it again. Meanwhile, in the private school I was in, they told me that women weren't allowed to pray or work and that the Christians were really the chosen people, not the Jews. It was a bit damaging for me, because my mother had always worked and I knew from when I was little that the Jews were the chosen people; I was very confused.
Then one Sunday, we were sitting in church as the pastor was giving a sermon. At one point in the sermon, he said something like, "There are no demons. There is no Satan. They are inside of us." Always having an unexplainable fear of Satan and demons (which I still have...I never really figured out why), I began to cry. My mother took my hand and my family walked out of the church. My mom said it wasn't Biblical, that the Bible says there are demons and Satan, but that Jesus would protect us from them.
After we left the church, my parent's kind of lost their religion and they said they didn't believe in God anymore. I was very depressed and confused because, even after everything, I still believed in God. Then my dad's good friend Tony invited him to a Bible study. My dad went, mainly just to hang out with the guys, then began to read his Bible again. My mom started going too, and my brother and I would go with them to a coffee shop that used to be downtown called The Gathering Place. I think it was specifically a Christian coffee shop. I loved to go because I was happy my parents believed in God again and me and my brother would go there and play board games and the guy that owned the place would give us free cookies and drinks.
Tony went to a church called Grace Bible Church, so he invited my parents to go. My mom was still hesitant to get involved with another church, but my dad went with him. When he came back afterwards, he said that no church he'd ever been to had made so much sense, and that my mom just had to come with him. This was strange because my dad had never been especially religious, he just kind of went where my mom went. The rest of us went with him one Sunday, and it was true; I'd never understood a sermon better than the one at Grace. We still go there, and I like it because we learn a lot outside of just the Bible, like about history and etymology and all sorts of things. I don't know if I'll go there forever, because I would kind of like to explore some other churches first and I've always been curious about Catholicism, but I'd definitely advocate Grace for those who aren't quite sure what they believe.
I call myself a Christian, but I think I'm religious in a very personal sense. I don't want to preach to anyone because I'd rather do good things and have people come to Christianity by seeing my good acts rather than acting holier-than-thou. Even with all the stuff that's happened with strange churches, I never really stopped believing in God, and I don't think I ever will. I question him sometimes, and the Bible is confusing at times, but I don't see a reason not to believe in God and Jesus. I'm excited to get through the whole Bible because I've been learning new things everyday, and when I talk religion with others, I'd like to know exactly what I'm talking about.
My mom actually rebelled against her anti-religion parents by becoming a member of the Presbyterian church when she was in college. My dad grew up Episcopalian and absolutely hated it. When they got married and had me and my brother, we went to Presbyterian church because my dad didn't really care where we went, as long as it wasn't Episcopalian.
Church when I was little, until I was around 10 or 11, I remember fondly. The pastors were always nice, there was lots of free food after church, and I had friends in youth group and awana that I went to every summer for arts and crafts. My mom sang in the church choir, and I used to love to go to her practices and hear her sing. When I was five I even sang a solo with the choir.
When I was 10 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had moved to Bozeman a year before and had not really found a regular church, we just went to church randomly. After my mom found out she had cancer, we joined a little church called Gallatin Valley Presbyterian church. At first, they did all the fun things we always did in church--Sunday school, breakfast after the service, even church potlucks. My mom was very strong about her cancer, but after a couple of chemo treatments, she was physically and emotionally weakened. Becoming depressed, she began to go to the pastor for counseling. Meanwhile, she pulled me and my brother out of public school and put us in a tiny private school that was operated out of two houses.
The pastor counseled my parents, but I use the term "counsel" loosely. He told my mom that she got cancer because she didn't have enough faith. He told her to stop spending money on food and give it all to the church. She listened, and we lived off of canned tuna and spam from the food bank for months. He told her to hit us. So my parents tried to hit us with a belt when we were bad, but they only did it a couple of times before they couldn't bring themselves to do it again. Meanwhile, in the private school I was in, they told me that women weren't allowed to pray or work and that the Christians were really the chosen people, not the Jews. It was a bit damaging for me, because my mother had always worked and I knew from when I was little that the Jews were the chosen people; I was very confused.
Then one Sunday, we were sitting in church as the pastor was giving a sermon. At one point in the sermon, he said something like, "There are no demons. There is no Satan. They are inside of us." Always having an unexplainable fear of Satan and demons (which I still have...I never really figured out why), I began to cry. My mother took my hand and my family walked out of the church. My mom said it wasn't Biblical, that the Bible says there are demons and Satan, but that Jesus would protect us from them.
After we left the church, my parent's kind of lost their religion and they said they didn't believe in God anymore. I was very depressed and confused because, even after everything, I still believed in God. Then my dad's good friend Tony invited him to a Bible study. My dad went, mainly just to hang out with the guys, then began to read his Bible again. My mom started going too, and my brother and I would go with them to a coffee shop that used to be downtown called The Gathering Place. I think it was specifically a Christian coffee shop. I loved to go because I was happy my parents believed in God again and me and my brother would go there and play board games and the guy that owned the place would give us free cookies and drinks.
Tony went to a church called Grace Bible Church, so he invited my parents to go. My mom was still hesitant to get involved with another church, but my dad went with him. When he came back afterwards, he said that no church he'd ever been to had made so much sense, and that my mom just had to come with him. This was strange because my dad had never been especially religious, he just kind of went where my mom went. The rest of us went with him one Sunday, and it was true; I'd never understood a sermon better than the one at Grace. We still go there, and I like it because we learn a lot outside of just the Bible, like about history and etymology and all sorts of things. I don't know if I'll go there forever, because I would kind of like to explore some other churches first and I've always been curious about Catholicism, but I'd definitely advocate Grace for those who aren't quite sure what they believe.
I call myself a Christian, but I think I'm religious in a very personal sense. I don't want to preach to anyone because I'd rather do good things and have people come to Christianity by seeing my good acts rather than acting holier-than-thou. Even with all the stuff that's happened with strange churches, I never really stopped believing in God, and I don't think I ever will. I question him sometimes, and the Bible is confusing at times, but I don't see a reason not to believe in God and Jesus. I'm excited to get through the whole Bible because I've been learning new things everyday, and when I talk religion with others, I'd like to know exactly what I'm talking about.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Joshua and Judges
God must really like prostitutes. First we have Rehab. Then Mary Magdalene. There must have been a lot of harlots hanging around back then.
In Chapter 7, God advises against pillaging and plundering. Just an interesting note.
I would've liked to have seen the Gibeonites dress up as the Israelites. Sounds entertaining.
In Joshua, I liked how the "deliverer" Ehud was left-handed, and it specifically mentions it. Also, when he stabs the King, it says, "so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly and the dirt came out." What?
So...Jael killed Sisera, but Deborah took credit for it...
I just thought this was a funny verse: "At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead." (5:27)
In Chapter 7, God advises against pillaging and plundering. Just an interesting note.
I would've liked to have seen the Gibeonites dress up as the Israelites. Sounds entertaining.
In Joshua, I liked how the "deliverer" Ehud was left-handed, and it specifically mentions it. Also, when he stabs the King, it says, "so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly and the dirt came out." What?
So...Jael killed Sisera, but Deborah took credit for it...
I just thought this was a funny verse: "At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead." (5:27)
Deuteronomy
I found it a little sad that God told the Israelites they they would go into the "Land of Esau" and that "they shall be afraid" of the Israelites. First Esau is tricked out of his inheritance, then his ancestors fear the Isrealites?
I also noticed all the instances of giants in the early books of the Bible, so I did some research. I found out that not only does the Bible mention giants, but the Sumerians and Egyptians mentioned them too, and that scientists have even found remains of a giant Indian tribe in North America.
When God says, in 12:20, "thou mayest eat flesh, whatever thy soul lusteth after," what exactly does he mean? He can't possibly mean that they can have everything they lust for, because he goes on to list what they can and connot eat, who they can and cannot marry, ect.
I thought the part on debt release was intriguing. I wonder why this practice didn't continue to today, of releasing debts every seven years. I guess because no one would ever actually pay the money back...
I liked the rights that Chapter 21 outlined for the women. If the man doesn't like her, he can't sell her to another man; she has to be given freedom. She can also remarry. And if the man has two wives and he likes one better than the other, he is supposed to give more to the son of the disliked wife.
What the hell are "tokens of virginity?" Did the poor girls have to prove it how I think they had to prove it?
If a man raped a woman, he was put to death. Sounds good to me.
I also noticed all the instances of giants in the early books of the Bible, so I did some research. I found out that not only does the Bible mention giants, but the Sumerians and Egyptians mentioned them too, and that scientists have even found remains of a giant Indian tribe in North America.
When God says, in 12:20, "thou mayest eat flesh, whatever thy soul lusteth after," what exactly does he mean? He can't possibly mean that they can have everything they lust for, because he goes on to list what they can and connot eat, who they can and cannot marry, ect.
I thought the part on debt release was intriguing. I wonder why this practice didn't continue to today, of releasing debts every seven years. I guess because no one would ever actually pay the money back...
I liked the rights that Chapter 21 outlined for the women. If the man doesn't like her, he can't sell her to another man; she has to be given freedom. She can also remarry. And if the man has two wives and he likes one better than the other, he is supposed to give more to the son of the disliked wife.
What the hell are "tokens of virginity?" Did the poor girls have to prove it how I think they had to prove it?
If a man raped a woman, he was put to death. Sounds good to me.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Leviticus and Numbers
It's actually kind of interesting reading all the very elaborate rules for the sacrifices. It seems like everyone thinks of the Ancient Hebrews as a group of savage wanderers, but even the earliest of Hebrew people were somewhat agriculturally and scientifically advanced. In Chapter 3, they display a surprising knowledge of anatomy.
I noticed in Chapter 5, 6, and 7 that it repeatedly says, "Every male among the priests." Does that mean they had female priests also?
I laughed at how it went on for several pages about which animals the Jews couldn't eat, instead of a very short list of what they could...
The first thing I noticed about Numbers was 5:7, where it says, "Then they shall confess their sin...let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest." The first confessional!
I couldn't believe that the Israelites complained about the manna. God's meat solution reminded me of parents who make their kids smoke a whole pack of cigarettes at one time to discourage them from smoking.
I love how there is a "sin of ignorance." I wish ignorance was a sin in America...
I noticed in Chapter 5, 6, and 7 that it repeatedly says, "Every male among the priests." Does that mean they had female priests also?
I laughed at how it went on for several pages about which animals the Jews couldn't eat, instead of a very short list of what they could...
The first thing I noticed about Numbers was 5:7, where it says, "Then they shall confess their sin...let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest." The first confessional!
I couldn't believe that the Israelites complained about the manna. God's meat solution reminded me of parents who make their kids smoke a whole pack of cigarettes at one time to discourage them from smoking.
I love how there is a "sin of ignorance." I wish ignorance was a sin in America...
Exodus
Before I delve into Exodus, I have a few more thoughts on Genesis from Plotz's book.
The first thing that jumped out at me was when Plotz says, about Lot's daughters, "what exactly is the moral lesson here? (15)" That got me thinking: is the Bible supposed to have a moral lesson? I mean, obviously that's the intention of the Ten Commandments, Jesus' teaching, and most of Paul's letters, but I tend to think that a lot of the Old Testament is purely informational; like a historical account of what happened, not what was supposed to happen.
The second thing I would argue with Plotz about is how he speaks about the Genesis women around page 20. He says that the female characters are evil, conniving and have no rights. First of all: are the women in Genesis any more badly behaved that the men in Genesis? Second: I know from my own research that Hebrew women had a lot of rights. They could own their own land and possessions, they could veto a potential husband, they could get divorced, they could even hold jobs. There is significant evidence to suggest that Jesus' own mother had a job sewing tapestries for the Temple.
I think it's awesome that the midwives foiled Pharaoh's plan to kill the Hebrew babies. Go midwives!
The plagues of Egypt was actually always one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I don't know why; I guess I just have a sick sense of humor. I understood why Moses was hesitant; his going up against the High Priests would be like myself or one of my classmates going up against the Presidential Cabinet...
I don't completely agree with Plotz when he says that God was responsible for Pharaoh's non-cooperation; though he "hardened his heart," Plotz leaves out the inevitable fact that, in the end, we all have free will.
Why were the Puritans against dancing when Miriam herself does it in Exodus? It seems like a lot of radical Christian groups give the rest of us a bad name by picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to actually believe. I guess it's a good thing to read all of it...
The first thing that jumped out at me was when Plotz says, about Lot's daughters, "what exactly is the moral lesson here? (15)" That got me thinking: is the Bible supposed to have a moral lesson? I mean, obviously that's the intention of the Ten Commandments, Jesus' teaching, and most of Paul's letters, but I tend to think that a lot of the Old Testament is purely informational; like a historical account of what happened, not what was supposed to happen.
The second thing I would argue with Plotz about is how he speaks about the Genesis women around page 20. He says that the female characters are evil, conniving and have no rights. First of all: are the women in Genesis any more badly behaved that the men in Genesis? Second: I know from my own research that Hebrew women had a lot of rights. They could own their own land and possessions, they could veto a potential husband, they could get divorced, they could even hold jobs. There is significant evidence to suggest that Jesus' own mother had a job sewing tapestries for the Temple.
I think it's awesome that the midwives foiled Pharaoh's plan to kill the Hebrew babies. Go midwives!
The plagues of Egypt was actually always one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I don't know why; I guess I just have a sick sense of humor. I understood why Moses was hesitant; his going up against the High Priests would be like myself or one of my classmates going up against the Presidential Cabinet...
I don't completely agree with Plotz when he says that God was responsible for Pharaoh's non-cooperation; though he "hardened his heart," Plotz leaves out the inevitable fact that, in the end, we all have free will.
Why were the Puritans against dancing when Miriam herself does it in Exodus? It seems like a lot of radical Christian groups give the rest of us a bad name by picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to actually believe. I guess it's a good thing to read all of it...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Genesis
This is the second or third time I've read Genesis, so it hasn't been anything too terribly new so far. I do remember reading the story Plotz mentions about Dinah when I was 11 or 12. One thing that stood out to me this reading was when Plotz says, "But the founding fathers of Israel lying, breaching a contract, encouraging pagans to convert to Judaism only in order to cripple them for slaughter, massacring defenseless innocents, enslaving women and children, pillaging and profiteering, and then justifying it all whith an appeal to their sister's defiled honor? (2)" I saw that sotry completely different. First of all, Plotz says that they "encouraged pagans to convert to Jusaism." Jacob's sons did no such thing. They convinced the pagans to be circumcised. While circumcision is certainly important to the Jews, it does not a Jew make. Secondly, I always liked that Jacob and his sons pillaged the village. Why shouldn't Dinah have her justice? Rape and "defiled honor" are two very different things. Call me a feminist if you must, but making an inappropriate comment at a cocktail party is "defiling honor;" rape is in a whole nother class.
The second thing I always found interesting in Genesis is, of course, the fall of man. I noticed for the first time that Genesis 2:17 says, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." I noticed that God says to Adam "for in the day that thou eatest." It sounds to me like God knew Adam was, eventually, going to eat the apple. Was it inevitable? It reaminds me of Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Milton argues that the fall of man was inevitalbe and that it was all in God's plan. However, he never tells us why. Neither does the Bible.
Also, Plotz said that God broke his promise to Adam and Eve, telling them they'll die if they eat the forbidden fruit. Plotz took the promise literally. I think that God meant that Adam and Eve would die spiritually and lose their connection with God, which they did.
Where did the taboo of incest originate? Obviously not from the Hebrews, because Lot's daughters conceived children...they conceived their own siblings, oddly enough. I'm not saying that incest isn't wrong, but why do we, as a culture, treat it as the ultimate taboo?
Some random thoughts:
I always thought it was funny that Adam and Eve tried to hide from God.
Why did God put cherubim in place to guard the Tree of Knowledge? Wasn't the damage already done anyway?
Did the people who built the Tower of Babel really think they could reach up to Heaven?
The second thing I always found interesting in Genesis is, of course, the fall of man. I noticed for the first time that Genesis 2:17 says, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." I noticed that God says to Adam "for in the day that thou eatest." It sounds to me like God knew Adam was, eventually, going to eat the apple. Was it inevitable? It reaminds me of Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Milton argues that the fall of man was inevitalbe and that it was all in God's plan. However, he never tells us why. Neither does the Bible.
Also, Plotz said that God broke his promise to Adam and Eve, telling them they'll die if they eat the forbidden fruit. Plotz took the promise literally. I think that God meant that Adam and Eve would die spiritually and lose their connection with God, which they did.
Where did the taboo of incest originate? Obviously not from the Hebrews, because Lot's daughters conceived children...they conceived their own siblings, oddly enough. I'm not saying that incest isn't wrong, but why do we, as a culture, treat it as the ultimate taboo?
Some random thoughts:
I always thought it was funny that Adam and Eve tried to hide from God.
Why did God put cherubim in place to guard the Tree of Knowledge? Wasn't the damage already done anyway?
Did the people who built the Tower of Babel really think they could reach up to Heaven?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
First 240 Blog
Hello everyone! I'm Alicia, and this is my first blog for Dr. Sexson's Literature 240 class. I'm very interested in this class because I was raised in a strict Christian home, but lately I've felt a draw towards Catholicism. I want to inform myself and learn about the Bible before I decide for myself whether to believe in it or not, instead of following my parents' religion.
I am a sophomore here at MSU, studying psychology, but literature really is a love of mine. I can't wait to start the class!
-Alicia
I am a sophomore here at MSU, studying psychology, but literature really is a love of mine. I can't wait to start the class!
-Alicia
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