Week 5

Jesus as the son of God was central idea that was widely understood to the vast majority of Christians what was less understood however, and has become a larger part of Christian faith, is his identity. Jesus the pre – resurrection Jesus he was both fully man and fully God as is now recited in the Nicene Creed by Catholics. Borg takes this concept even further by personifying what must have influenced Jesus the human, and how he must have developed his own faith through devout Judaism. Borg argues that Jesus’s Judaism is what most shaped his own beliefs outside of his own understanding that he was the son of God. As he says “Jesus was mystic” because Jesus was a man that experienced God vividly. The term Mystic was often applied to the various prophets.

Borg’s understanding of Jesus casts him in a different light that groups him with the prophets. However Borg makes clear that this thought applied mainly to the pre-Easter Jesus, meaning that Borg is attempting to understand a historical Jesus.

(Jesus was not a biker)

Further in the chapter, Borg decribes Gods trancendance as referenced in the Bible. The Bible alludes to a kind of supernatural theism that we understand today. However borg notes that the references describe a permeating presence, that exists throughout the universe.

I personally find the idea of a supernatural God that is above the Laws of the universe comforting, yet personally the notion of a natural permeation of being that ties every aspect of the universe together seems more possible. Yet faith in God is not based on reality rather hope and trust. 

Week 4 The Job of the Historian

(before I could find a topic)

The Historical Task

 As Borg mentions the job of historian in vovles several steps and peeling back layers of interpretations. He explains that absolute veritable fact "is beyond the scope" of what any historian can achieve. I disagree with a point he makes concerning science however, he uses science as example of a field that is commonly associated with exactness. In reality history and science are very similiar. Members in both disciplines gather evidence and propose theories to explain that evidence. Scientistific and historical  theories alike are not written in stone, both are reevaluated in light of a new archealogical find or the discovery of a new galaxy or element; in order to accomodate the new evidence. This point however is not the focus of his chapter. Borg truly wants to draw attention to the process by which historians articulate and breathe life into bits and peices of writings and scrolls.

Borg likens the work of a historian to that of a detective. Borge explains three distinct stages the "street stage" the "forensic stage" and the "formulation of a hypothesis". Historians have to begin thier work on the ground digging up clues and hints to recreate the world they are attempting to understand. In the case of the Bible, it is especially important to understand the biblical world and the struggles of political and economic forces of the time. Many people know that Rome ruled Israel during Jesus's lifetime. But fewer knew exactly how they governed the country. Fewer know about the role pontious pilot had in ruling the nation or the previous tranfer of power from herod the great to the rule under Rome.

Without more research to uncover a better understanding of the time in which Jesus lived biblical sholars can't hope to recreat the historical Jesus. The best that any historians can hope to come up with is a accurate picture of the jesus the man that lived and died under roman rule.

week 3 picture-(late)

Week 3 - Misinterpretations and early Christian Heresies

Upon a second reading through Borg's first chapters I could not escape the urge to reflect on the current misinterpretations by many who claim to be christian.  Borg addresses those who follow "rapture" theology, calling attention to the zero-credibility of the idea. These rapturists, in my opinion break a cardinal rule of reading and understanding the teachings of the bible, by taking it literally. Specifically, the most symbolyic and metaphorical book in the bible--the book of "Revelation".

From what i have learned through out my high school curriculum on the old and new testaments and research of my own. I come to understand that most of what was written in the bible is heavily laden with opinions and hidden agendas of the writers. I know that these writers worked to compile several oral traditions, into a text form that was tailored to fit a specific christian communites needs. They are full of symbols and language that are meant to help the target audience understand the message.

More than 1600 years after the final Canon of the Bible was introduced how can anyone hope to understand a single message or teaching from the bible without first understanding all the factors that surrounded its writing.

If any rapturist even bothered to begin a critical read to understand the messages and metaphorical meaning behind the text of any book of the Bible, ESPECIALLY Revelation. I am certain that the person would understand how a only a literal understanding of the Bible severely restricts the value of any meaning that can be gleaned from its pages.

Furthermore, writing this blog has prompted me to comment on how stunned I am that these rapturist have recieved such large attention from the media recently. I have discussed how nonsensical I beleive the whole idea is I won't beat a dead horse. what bothers me the most is that only a few groups of christians have bothers to make the statement of distancing themselves from the "out there" groups. I feel that Christian Scholars should make it a priority to help the media sift out these nonsense based belief systems so that the greater worlds may have a clearer view of the values and teachings of the old and new testament are.

I feel that it's a philosophy that should be applied to many religions, particularly Islam. Muslims fight against quite a bit a discrimination because many americans don't bother to sift out the facts that many of these so called terrorists are not followers of true Islam, infact many are like these rapturists they are a small splinter group that because of the shock value of their actions recieve media attention. Niether are a true representations of either religion.

As Borg, brings up however just because early christians where "closer" to the foundations of the religion, this does not mean that every interpretation they had was accurate either. In fact Borg draws attention to the many heresies surrounding the early churches attempts to identify whether Jesus was fully human, fully divine, or some combination of the the two. Official Church teaching tells us that he was indeed both. Borg identifies one of the larger heresies, known as "docetism" that pervaded many early christian commnunities. Docetism, identifies Jesus as God merely appearing to be human, not actually Human. this belief removed the sense of oneness with us that made Jesus's sacrifice so important to the foundations of Christianity.

Ultimately I think that education about the proper method to attemtpt an interpreetion of the Bible or any historical or religious text would greatly benifit socielty as a whole to avoid many misinterpretations.

Week 2

This week I have decided to focus on the particular topic of "flow". I found the concept of flow, effortlessly moving inbetween levels one and two of conciousness, very unoriginal. I do understand that the idea was transcribed to relate to the modern hypothesis in  psycology, However I don't agree that Csikszentmihilyi, came up with something that was new. As I mentioned in class the concept of flow reminded me a lot of the buddhist beleifs about satori, a mental state in which the individual is no longer self aware, only the task at hand fills their being, whether is is composing music, painting or working out a complex math solution. I have experienced brief moments of satori, while painting or playing guitar. I lose the self awareness of everything happening around me and become completly absorbed in my work, a very peaceful state of mind. Mainly i think agree with what he explains concerning flow, and the benefits of thinking at that level. I just feel like the idea of that state of mind has existed for centuries.

pictures week 1

Who is Jesus - Week 1

Jesus, the man was born in Bethlehem, little information is known about his childhood, or his early life until his late twenties, when he began preaching. While he was alive he promoted a message of peace and love to everyone he encountered. his message was so profound that many people began to follow him and promoted his way of life. His followers believed him to be the Only Son of God. He was beleived to have performed miracle throughout his mission to spread peace. however some of the pharisees viewed him and his message as a threat to the stability of the Roman government at the time and sought to have him executed by The roman authorities.

I am a human being who beleives whole heartedly in the message and divinity of Jesus, I am a young exuberant college student, entering a new stage in life. I love the arts with a passion, however an equally strong passion drives me to persue my artistic endevours into more mechanical things leading me to an apreciation of physics. This appreciation has led me to the study of engineering.