Author: mmead

Revelation is often referred to as a prophecy. This book in the Bible was a vision that John received. This book is becoming more and more referenced as it talks of the “Anti-Christ” or the beast with the referencer to the number 666. As we talked about in class due to theses sign somehow everything can related to it including Barney the dinosaur, or specific dates. These markings/signs are referenced as becoming the last days of humanity. The End of the world, and religion. In class we also brought up the rapture. This was never specifically listed in revelation but it is the idea that all believers in God and pure people would be saved and sent to heaven as the rest of the people would be left on earth in a post apocalyptic world. Revelation was a very interesting chapter as it brought up a lot of different ideas.

When it comes Jesus a lot is know about his journey but a little bout his family lineage. We know his father was God and his mother Mary and Marys extended family, however nothing is known from there. Did Jesus have siblings not meaning other children of God but the Bible does not mentioned that Mary had other children. The reason I bring this up is because of the bone box labeled “Jesus brother of Joseph son of James”, could this be actual proof of Jesus having a sibling or an accident, maybe even planted there. There are a multitude of reasons why this has been critiqued as much as it has. In class we talked about the necessity of credentials. The location of this item would have to have geological resemblance in order to take it into account and in those important archeological areas you have to be qualified. With this it is imperative to have proper documentation to prove its legitimacy to that location along with biblical relevancy. Overall it is possible for this to be true but the odds are not in its favor.

Women throughout history have been oppressed. These women have been silenced and are still being silenced from even within the Bible and society. When thinking of women in the bible the first two names that i can think of are Eve, and Mary  (the mother of Jesus). These women play very important roles within the Christian religious beliefs. When looking at Eve you realize she was made from Adam, and Adam was created in Gods image. In addition while looking at the story of Adam and Eve it is Eve’s failure of grabbing the forbidden fruit. However while talking about it in class Eve hadn’t been created until after the rules. Does this make her mistake the fault of Adam. Mary on the other hand is very important and highly mentioned as she is the mother of our savior Jesus. Although throughout her story with Jesus Mary struggle as she sees all that her son is put through.Women in the Bible have important stories within the Gospel but are either unnamed or not called by their actually name but from where they are from. The emphasizes the idea that women in the Bible receive a lot less attention than the male characters receive.

The Synoptic Gospels are the three books of the New Testament. These tell the story of Jesus from his life, death and eventual resurrection. These three Gospels are Mark, Luke and Matthew. These are considered synoptic because they include similar if not the same stories. When comparing them in class we put them into columns and picked apart their similarities and differences. When it came to parts of the Gospel that are nit synoptic John was mentioned.  John came up as it does not line up with the other three Gospels in the same way.

I was never familiar with the infancy stories before. In sunday school not much was taught about baby Jesus. All that I knew was that Jesus was born by the virgin Mary on December 25. I knew that he was a carpenter, and that Jesus was actually Jewish. When it came to the stories of Jesus it was primarily focused on his journey of young adulthood. It is interesting to think of the Bible as a biography of Jesus. Primarily in the first few sections of Matthew. I was surprised to see that Herod would try to kill Jesus as an infant. I never knew this didn’t realize that even earlier on Herod saw Jesus as a threat. I never knew that the three wise men that visited Jesus when he was born were visited by an angel and were told to not report back to Herod. I always had the belief that that were sent by god to witness his birth. But from their his story jumps in my mind to his early adulthood. When I think of Jesus, I think of him as 20+ year old with a beard and long hair. Not as 6lb 8oz baby Jesus but this is also because his early adulthood is really when his journey of faith begins.

When it comes to wisdom many people might come to mind. Parents possibly, celebrities, authors, philosophers and more However, in class we didn’t mention those people instead we mentioned the idea of Proverbs. many proverbs were thrown around in class such as “The early bird gets the worm” and “with great power comes great responsibility” The amazing thing about proverbs for the most part is where do they originate? for the more common saying no one knows. Excluding a few of course. However my favorite Proverb comes from proverbs 13:20. He whom walks with the wise man becomes wise. I remember when my pastor told me this after getting in trouble at church and it lead me to surround myself with people who would push me to do and be better. But in all Proverbs no matter their origin the ideas are considered timeless. Going back to “The early bird gets the worm” you could trace that back to its literal meaning or in comparison for humans the time of hunters and gathers. Today it has the meaning of drive, ambition, and success. Proverbs provide us with not necessarily exact way to success but give us guidance on the path of success.

Who are the prophets of today? How are these people selected. In class we discussed the idea that many people are a modern versions of prophets. These people are scientist who can help correct the harm done by other people and can help support and guide us through many issues. In addition to Scientist we mentioned politicians. These are people elected to serve the people who elect them. They serve the communities by attempting to improve the lives of people living within them.

In class we talked about a multitude of things regarding monotheism however the thing that struck me as most surprising was when talking about the ten commandments. The exact commandment was  “you shall have no other Gods above me”. What is the meaning of this? Does it propose we can worship other gods but have God almighty still be the most important? or does it mean there are multiple gods and different beliefs. Personally I think this is in reference to God being above all else but people have a right to believe in others. However that is the interpretation today I am not thinking about historical context. Back in ancient Israel there were many religions being practiced and  defining it back then was trickier. This gets into the idea of monotheism. Monotheism is the belief in one god, one religion. This topic of Monotheism eventually led us into the idea of the Trinity. The Holy Trinity is God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. People argue that this is not monotheism as it encompasses three things not one God as monotheism requires. However the trinity represents 3 things that make up God and his presence. So I would consider the Trinity to be apart of the monotheistic belief.

Today in class we talked about the story of King David. In class we talked about 1 Samuel 16. The story in which David is introduced.  It was said in class this story is estimated to be 1000 BCE. We later talked about the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. “51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.” In Sunday school I never learned that David chopped off Goliath’s head. In addition to this I had never realized David did a lot of things. David, waged war, he killed people and raped women. David however did turn into a King. His legacy would rule for generations and with it a supposed Empire. In class we talked about the legitimacy  of Davids Empire, However the only thing linked to him is the Les Dan. This was etched in stone and translated to “House of David”. Besides this the only other artifacts that have been found are structures but no direct correlation to David besides the estimated year of construction. David was a king who will go down in history as one of the most famous warriors and rulers due to his story in the Bible.

Today in class we talked about Slavery in the bible. We talked about it in context of the times. We brought up the he Egyptian Empire and the Greek Empire, whom at the time relied on slaves and servants. At the time this was a common thing. Today we do not view it the same way. We look at it from the idea that all people are equal. However the realization of slavery at the time was normalized.When looking at this through historical and cultural contexts this may have effected the authors of the Bible and their viewpoints. Additionally We talked about how slavery in the Bible differed from US. One of the major talking points bout slavery during the time of the bible was that it was more of an indentured servitude. This was very different from slavery we were taught. US slavery consisted of humans being bough, sold, and treated as objects and property. These people had no choice or say in what happened. However he people in the bible would become slaves because of finical problems among other things. These indentured servants would work to pay off their debts and eventually be let free. Over time it is concerning to see how viewpoints and actions on the same subject can change, especially when it comes to human life.