#14 A lot to take in...

         So last blog. Here it goes. I think the most important thing I will take from this class is that not everything is to be taken at face value. What I mean is if we focus too much on the outside appearances or meanings of things, we might miss the deeper, truer meaning that someone or something is trying to convey. Dr. Borders has taught us how to look further into the culture that was around when Jesus was teaching. And with that new knowledge of their culture it gives new meaning to words that we have always used without even thinking twice about them. For example, the word Faith. In our language it is taken as an abstract idea, or noun. It has no other meaning except for a belief. If we merely "believe" in God we are saved. But the word takes on a whole new meaning when not just taken for face value. In Greek, the word for Faith is actually a verb. This presents an entirely different concept than the English version of the word (this class discussion was perhaps my favorite of all). It conveys that faith is supposed to be put into action and not just something to say. By saying and doing, as opposed to just saying, we can be better Christians and set an example for the rest of the world to follow, because quite frankly, talk is cheap when you can't back it up. New ideas that have been introduced to us by Dr. Borders have completely altered my way of thinking about my faith, how I faith, and religion in general.
            This class has been a lot to swallow, especially nearing the end. But ultimately I think it has stimulated more critical thinking from me than my other classes combined. I actually really enjoyed this class, no matter how low my test scores were.  :/

#13

Ok so I know this is entirely off topic, but it is something that I want to have clarified. Why the heck do football coaches (such as Nick Saban) have a higher salary than our firefighters and policemen? Furthermore, why do actors and actresses make more money than people who protect our country? It's ridiculous that a man with a coaching degree (and only God knows what else qualifies him) can make $4 MILLION for just coaching a football team. People may say that he's such a great coach and he deserves to make a lot of money. Yeah that could be true, but our police officers, fire fighters, and military risk their lives every day for the safety of our nation, and they don't make even a quarter of that salary. It's sad to see the priorities of our nation these days.
Sorry about the ranting...

#12

So...I know I've gotten behind on my blogs, and I'm playing catch up now, but I want to address something that has been bothering me for a while now. Why is God pushed out of so many things? They have pushed it out of our schools, trying to push it out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and many other places. So why do people start blaming God for everything as soon as a natural disaster comes or something catastrophic happens? They push Him so far that He finally does what they ask and then they question as to why He "wasn't there" when they needed Him the most. It doesn't make any sense, not to me at least. But yeah...just had to get that off my chest.

Dead Sea Scrolls

So we studied the Dead Sea Scrolls last Thursday in class. I don't know about the rest of the class but I actually really enjoyed learning about these mysteries. I found this website that has some interesting facts about them. Take a look and ponder for a little bit if you'd like.

http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html

One that interests me in particular is #7. They believe these texts to be the oldest form of the Old Testament and yet these were supposed to be written by the Essenes. The Essenes lived out their existence in solitude did they not? So how on earth were they able to get all of the information to put together this form of the Old Testament? They even have explanations as to why some stories happened the way they did. Ex: Why God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Yeah, this gives us insight into their culture but it just doesn't make any sense. There were no previous texts, no means of communication except maybe the occasional outsider who may have stumbled into their camps. So how did they obtain all of this information? That's just something that's been on my mind. Let me know what you think.

Why does everyone hate the Jews?

The other day in class we discussed people's hatred of the Jews I really don't see a valid reason as to why people have hated Jews for centuries. Hitler, for example, absolutely hated these people and actually tried to wipe out their whole existence. They didn't threaten him in any way. He just hated them. They have been expelled from over 80 countries over a period of 1,700 years. So why does everyone hate them? There is no logical explanation for it. Here's a website that might be of some interest.

http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Why_Do_People_Hate_The_Jews.htm

Afterlife???

One of the things we talked about in class the other day was what happens when you die. This subject (interestingly enough) was brought up again today in Physical Chemistry. Dr. Murphy brought up the fact that this is the hardest critical thinking question that we face today. We will never know because scientists that would die (quite literally) to get the answer can't come back and tell everyone their findings once they kick the bucket, and other scientists are too scared or just too fond of life to pursue the answer any further than just a hypothesis. One scientist made the statement that there is no life after death simply because any person that has experienced near-death and has testified to bright lights and tunnels has not died all of the way.

This reminded me of class on Thursday, and it got me to thinking. What DOES happen when we die? Being a Christian, of course I'm going to say that I await the Second Coming of Jesus and then I will be resurrected. But as we discussed in class resurrection is a reawakening of the BODY. So when we are resurrected what will happen to our bodies in terms of Heaven and Hell?? I've always thought of Heaven as a place where our soul goes...but now I just don't know.

This whole class has got me intrigued and at the same time very confused. Sayings like "Oh, they are in a better place now" just don't have an validity to them anymore, and I'm kind of dumbfounded that a saying I've heard since I was able to understand speech is now completely inaccurate. If I'm talking in circles or I just sound plain stupid let me know...otherwise someone shed some light on this whole death thing...

Genealogy of Jesus

Ok so I know I haven't been on here lately but I did some digging and found an article that might interest some people. It's about Jesus' geneaolgy and how Matthew differs from Luke. Let me know what you think.

http://campus.fortunecity.com/defiant/666/genluke.html