Fasting

I also thought the reading in JCM was interesting, particularly the section on fasting. I'm surprised that the ritual still continues to this day and is "inseperable" for most Christians with prayer. I personally don't believe that through fasting demons will be expelled or our sins will be forgiven. If a murderer fasts, is he/she forgiven for his/her sins then? Another idea that struck me was the statement, "fasting was believed to heighten the soul's power to concentrate on prayer, since it helped to distance it from the demands of the body." When I read this, the first religion that came to mind was Buddhism. In Professor Timm's "Engaged Buddhism" class we learned that Theravadin Buddhists, in partucular fast as a method of purification and as a means of freeing the mind.

Christianity and Buddhism

I do not believe that Jesus was a Buddhist. Although there are many spiritual similarities between the two religions, there is a lack of historical evidence to prove that this is true. First of all, the central teachings of the Buddha and Jesus are not in agreement. Buddhism teaches that nothing exists in and of itself, every being is dependent on something or someone else. There is also the belief that nirvana can only be achieved by the truly enlightened. Tied to this is the concept of “anatman” or no-self. Jesus on the other hand saw himself as an agent of the coming of the Kingdom of God. As Alice said, “I think Jesus came here only to die and suffer for our sins (Matthew 1:21) as the only son of God.” You can not compare the “Kingdom of Heaven” to nirvana. In order to enter heaven, one has to have a good relationship with God, yet to enter nirvana you have to be detached and impersonal. I do not think this is what Jesus would have wanted his followers to do. Although the two religions differ in many ways, they do agree on the concept of compassion. For Buddhists, compassion for all beings is an important concept. Jesus displays this compassion by doing what he came here to do, during his life and death. In regards to the “miracles” Jesus performed, these are only mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels. In John for example, he never uses the term “miracle.” He refers to Jesus’ work as “signs.” By using the word sign the author of John is stressing the way Jesus’ deeds show who he is, not just what he can do. Compared to the Synoptics, where Jesus refuses to do miracles in order to prove his identity, in John Jesus says “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe (4.48). Therefore, I think Jesus’ “miracles” have to be taken into perspective depending on which gospel you are referring to.

Christian Scripture

In response to JBK, I believe that Christian Scripture is mainly about "the dynamic personality of Jesus Christ himself" and the way the different writers of the New Testament Gospels interpret his life. For example, Mark does not begin Jesus' life story until he is baptised by John, while Matthew and Luke begin with Jesus' birth, and finally John begins with the creation of the universe. For Mark, Jesus is secretive and does not want news of his miracles to be spread around. However, for John, Jesus is the exact opposite as the man described by Mark, constantly talking about himself, as seen in his "I am" statements. These are just a few examples of how these authors attempt to describe Jesus' "dynamic personality" that I think Christian scripture tends to revolve around.

Understanding the Qur'an

The experience of the Qur’an in traditional Islamic countries is different from Western attempts to read it as a story with a beginning, middle, and end. For all Muslims, the Qur’an is first experienced in Arabic. When they are learning the Suras, they are not memorizing them like Westerners would, Sells says they are interiorizing the inner rhythms, sound patterns, and textual dynamics-taking it to heart in the deepest manner.

In response to JBK's post, Sells says "the Qur'anic sound figures occur in connection with 3 moments: prophecy, creation, and the day of reckoning. Because the Qur’anic experience is not about reading the text from beginning to end, one does not need to be a Muslim to have this experience, but I believe that one has to act like a Muslim and be open to reciting the text, just as Muslims do. This is because when you read the Qur'an, these 3 moments appear seperate. However, they become intertwined when they are said in Qur'anic recitation. Sells also references gender as a major aspect of Qur'anic sound figures. Although books like the Bible and Torah are male dominated, the Qur'an is gender balanced. He also talks about how the word spirit in Arabic can be both masculine and feminine. If the Qur'an lost these sound figures, it would ultimately damage the way Islam is perceived to treat women in society.

Jewish Women and the Torah

In response to this week's question, I think that Jewish women try to have the same relationship to the Torah as Jewish men do, but are often prevented or looked down upon by men for doing so, as shown in Half the Kingdom. I do no believe that studying the Torah is the only way these women can relate to scripture. However, although JBK referenced making challah, cooking kosher meals, and teaching children Bible stories and domestic traditions as other ways of relating to Torah, I think after listening to all of the women’s stories and how emotional they got when they were able to read and touch the Torah for the first time, it is evident that these other ways of relating to Torah simply aren’t enough for these women. I thought this need to relate to the Torah was accurately conveyed in the movie by one woman’s comment about how we should not be holding on to 2,000 year old traditions that are discriminatory. I believe these women just want to be on equal footing with the men in their society, and although they are relating to the Torah with these other practices, the actual act of being given the right to study it seems to be a source of empowerment for them. In response to whether or not the devotion to Torah study is out of touch with reality, I believe for people who are not part of that religion it seems like it would be out of touch with reality, but for them it is normal. They may see a lot of things that we do as being out of touch with reality. For them, the Torah is their reality, meaning that as long as it continues to be studied, readers will always be left with a derogatory view of women. I agreed with one of the women from Half the Kingdom who offered a possible solution to this situation by saying that we can’t hang onto these male texts. We need to find womens texts to study from and write new texts. Until this happens, Jewish women will constantly be fighting for equal rights.

The Torah

Although the word “Torah” literally means “teaching,” I believe that Torah can also be authoritative at the same time through laws and rituals as shown in Leviticus. I think the teaching aspect of the Torah can be shown by God giving the rules to Moses, who in turn must teach them to the Israelites. Although this action is authoritative, at the time it was considered the best way to get across God’s will. Although the laws and teachings that the Israelites abide by have turned into rituals that still survive today, I thought it was interesting when Professor Kraus mentioned that you are no longer expected to carry out these rituals in the same manner, such as now being permitted to trim one’s beard. “You are not to cut off the hair from your temples or shave the edge of your beards.” Leviticus 19:27.
In regards to the connection between these laws and narratives, I think that it is possible to call both biblical narratives and the rules in Leviticus, Torah. Because the main element of the torah is “teaching,” I believe that both narratives and the rules in Leviticus are able to instill faith in their followers. I think the story of Genesis and the laws found in Leviticus are linked because in the beginning of Genesis, God created man and everything around him, which becomes the foundation of all the laws and instructions of Torah, which are specified in Leviticus. An important idea behind the ritual purity, as mentioned in Leviticus, comes from Genesis as well according to Greenstein in Back to the Sources. In the story of Genesis, when God created the world, he separated distinct areas and people from the dark chaos. Then in Exodus, Israel is distinguished from many nations, which governs the Torah’s ritual. The Torah divides the world into that which is Godlike and pure and that which is profane.