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.

Worship and Ritual in Christianity

The JCM reading on worship and ritual in Christianity was interesting. I liked the way it discussed different Christian perspectives, rituals and ideologies based on the history of the New Testament. I also thought the reading did a good job summarizing and examining Christian perspectives and relationships to Judaism and Islam. It seemed to me that most Christian rituals are the ones Jesus and the New Testament scholars considered.

The part I enjoyed most was the part about European missionaries and indigenous Africans. I was born in a region where European missionaries (Catholics and Protestants) competed over indigenous people for conversion. As the reading put it, there were some misunderstandings and differences between the missionaries and indigenous people. The persons the missionaries wanted to convert did like some Christian rituals because they were against their cultures. For example, pouring water over heads for baptism seemed strange to Africans because it was a symbol of action, not a sign of religious identity. “In Christianity, Ritual and prayer is ritual, and ritual is prayer. Ritual and prayer are most often called ‘worship’ by Christians” (JCM 236). I am not sure about the first religions and traditions we studied early, but is Christianity the only religion, which considers prayer and ritual to be the same? I do not see ritual and prayer as different words because they have distinctive meanings.

This Week's Sub Class

I thought that the substitute professor did a great job this week. It was interesting seeing the first pieces of scripture that has been preserved over the years. I know that there have been significant discoveries of scripture as well as other religious artifacts found in Israel, but I did not realize how much more was found in Egypt because of the better preserving conditions - I think he said about 90% of scripture was found in Egypt alone. It was also interesting seeing where Jesus, John, Luke, Paul...etc. lie on a timeline and seeing how they influenced each other-that was pretty neat. I have more knowledge of my Jewish roots than my Christian (Protestant) roots and it is always nice to learn new things from either.

Monday's Class

I really enjoyed the visiting professor that came on monday. I thought that he gave a lot of new information about that bible that I wasnt really informed about. I thought it was especially cool when he showed us the images of the remains of different manuscripts. It made me a lot more interested in the restoration of these different texts. When he mentioned that some of the texts were omitted from the bible during the time of constantine was also very interesting, I had no idea that the texts that were included were decided by a small group of men that constantine had chosen. I now wonder if christianity would be very different if the texts that were omitted has been included in the text.

How Shall They Hear?

It seems to me that Proctor not only describes how one should present a sermon, but writes his book as if it were a sermon, to serve as an example. Though different from an actual sermon that he would present to a congregation, his book embodies a style that shares many traits with a sermon:

-He uses personal anecdotes, such as his surgery
-He uses repetition, such as repeating the phrase "How Shall They Hear" to form a theme
-He quotes scripture, not only in the title but in other places, such as Psalm 121
-He uses other rhetorical techniques such as rhetorical questions

Perhaps Proctor uses this language because he is used to giving sermons, or perhaps he hopes to show on a second level how one should write a sermon.

Does God Speak to us?

Do you believe that God speaks to us? Or do you believe that God is too almighty or… busy to communicate with human beings? If you believe that God speaks to you from time to time, how does he do that?

As a Christian, I do believe that God speaks to us, and I also believe that He sends His messages in various ways.
He may talk to us through the bible… He may use other people/messengers to deliver His messages to us… He may allow certain circumstances in our life to lead us to discover His message… or He may simply talk to us directly just like the way He did to Moses and other prophets/kings from the Old Testament.

When Professor Kraus first asked Jackie to read Matthew Chapter 4 verse 2 through 11, I felt completely nothing as I knew what the passage was about. I read and heard the passage many times before, and I had never ever felt that God was trying to tell me something through the passage from Matthew 4:2-11.
Yet, today was different. I could feel myself becoming extremely emotional as Professor encouraged us to find “what God is trying to tell each one of us through this passage”; the more the passage was read by different people, the more I felt that God was sending me the same message over and over again. Overall, I felt that… I mean, I understand that it might sound very funny, but I believe that God spoke to me today through inspiring professor Kraus to make his students read Matthew 4:2-11 over and over again on 04/11/2008 for his REL 204 class.

I understand that lots of people, even many Christian friends of mine, might say “no, that is ridiculous” or “well, you are taking it too seriously.” However, I really did receive an answer to the problem that I had been dealing with for the past two weeks, and this is more amazing, because I prayed God to send me the message last night… (I don't know I might be just too religious)

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.