Blog Assignment #12: The Eucharist

The Eucharist is one of the most sacred parts of the bible to many people.  The readings that were selected all feature a meal and share many characteristics.  The Last Supper accounts in Mark, Luke, and John are almost identical.  In all three accounts Jesus shares a meal with his disciples.   He breaks bread and drinks wine, proclaiming that they are his body and blood that he is shedding for them.  In each account Jesus also announces that the bread and wine that he eats and drinks will be his last until there is fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.  All three accounts feature many of these specific occurrences.  The meal in the Appearance on the Road to Emmaus also shares some of these actions.  With his identity still unknown to his two disciples, Jesus blesses the bread and breaks.  The first story has a slightly different theme but still contains some similarities to the other readings, specifically the breaking of the bread.  In this case, Jesus breaks the bread to feed the five-thousand.

These similarities that are present throughout the readings do serve a theological purpose. Obviously the breaking of the bread and the cup of wine that are found in the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper represent Jesus’ body and blood that are shed for humanity.  This action continues on as a running theme that is found in the other readings.  In the Appearance on the Road to Emmaus story, the breaking of the bread is used by Jesus to expose his true identity to his disciples.  The disciples automatically realized who the stranger was as soon as he blessed and broke the bread.  This action is also present in a more metaphorical way in the Feeding oft the Five-Thousand story.  In this story the breaking of the bread could possibly symbolize Jesus dying for the sake of humanity.  He is breaking his “body” and distributing it to feed the people.

 

 

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Blog Assignment #11/ Of Gods and Men

The films title “Of Gods and Men” outlines one of the major themes that is present throughout the movie, which is explained by the quote that the film takes its name from. “I said, ‘You are ‘Gods’; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler…”  What this means is that no matter how faithful you are, or how devoted you are to God, you are still human, therefore still mortal.  This also means that you will die a mortal and human death.  All of these points are found in the movie.  The monks in the monastery dedicate their lives to their faith and community.  Even when confronted with a likely death the monks choose to stay, making good on their lifetime dedication to God and their monastery.  They look to God when deciding what to do, as they have done all of their lives.  Their undying faith led them to choose to stay, even though many were eventually killed.  Because of this, the title “Of Gods and Men” is perfect for the movie in the context of the quote where it gets its name.

 

Blog Assignment 10: Pro Alexander and Athanasius

I believe that our side of the debate has many strong points to back up our position.

Jesus is fully human:  This can be defended by the fact that Jesus was born as a human from a woman.  Jesus also lived his life as a human, meaning he grew and developed normally.  He was not placed on the earth as a man.  Even though his conception is not fully human, the argument can still be made because Jesus was born human and lived as a human.  We can also argue that he had to be fully human in order to die for humanities sins.

Jesus is fully divine: Based on the previous answer this argument might be hard to make, but Alexander and Athanasius still believed it. We can argue that while Jesus was human, he was also God.  He was all-knowing and all-powerful.  We can argue that he was God on earth in human form.

Relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ: The most compelling argument that we have for this point is the Trinity, which states that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the same thing.  This means that God the Father and God the Son are made up of the same “substance”, which could be the Holy Spirit.  It is what connects the two.

Blog Assignment #9: Martyr

The account of the martyr Polycarp shares many similarities with Christ’s Passion.  Both Polycarp and Christ share many characteristics and do many similar things when confronted with similar scenarios. For instance, both Polycarp and Christ knew they were going to be betrayed, but accepted it. “For he waited to be betrayed, just as the Lord did…” (Paragraph 1) Polycarp did not attempt to flee, rather he waited for his captures to come and take him from his room.  Just as Jesus did before his Passion, Polycarp shared a meal with those coming to get him (Paragraph 7).  Polycarp then is willingly taken into the city, where he is pressured to denounce his faith but refuses.  He then tells his executioners that he wishes to be burned alive.  Just as Jesus did, Polycarp exclaimed that he would rather burn on earth than face the burning fires in hell.  

Another similarity between Polycarp and Jesus is the way they both view their impending deaths.  Both believed that they had to die for the greater good of humanity, and willingly did so.  The courage that each showed when confronted with death might have helped persuade some people to not be afraid.  In a way it might have proven to some people that God is great if his followers would rather die than denounce Him.

Blog Assignment #8: Didache

As stated in the readings, the Didache has a few different functions in early Church. Most frequently it is used as a guideline for different things, such as how one is to deal with prophets or how the deacons and bishops of the Church are to be recognized.

It is very obvious from the excerpts from the Didache that a big problem that the Church was facing was with false prophets, those who were pretending to be prophets for some kind of gain rather than true, divine reasons. The guidelines outlined in the Didache act as instructions for dealing with prophets, as well as false prophets. They also outline some “cues” that can be used to determine whether someone is a true prophet. It seems that these guidelines outlined in the Didache might have not worked for every situation, however. For example, “But he must not stay beyond one day….if he stays three days, he is a false prophet,” is a very specific and strict rule to follow, and may have been broken by a few true prophets on occasion. It is also possible that those attempting to deceive and impersonate false prophets might make an attempt to learn these guidelines and follow them the same way a true prophet would. In order to keep up with the ever-changing times the Church would have to continuously update the Didache to adapt to different customs.

 

Blog Assignment #7: Resurection

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus, who had just risen from the dead, encountered two disciples walking along the road. The disciples could not recognize Jesus. They knew him only as a traveler, who they assume must be from far away as he “is the only visitor from Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days.”(Luke 24:18) They explain to him who Jesus was and what had happened to him, as well as their disbelief at the fact that his body disappeared from the tomb. It is at this point that Jesus scolds the disciples in a way, telling them “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!”(Luke 24:25) This quote relates to the idea that Jesus is the Messiah rejected by his own people. The prophets’ messages of Jesus were disregarded until it was proven to them by Jesus himself.
After this encounter, the disciples invite Jesus to say with them for the night, still without knowledge of who he is. This ended when, while sitting at the table for a meal, Jesus took the bread, said a blessing, and broke it for his disciples. It was at this moment that the disciples knew who he was. They set out to Jerusalem to the other disciples, saying “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
An aspect of the encounter that might have been incorporated into the disciples gatherings in his memory would be the traditional breaking of the bread. At first, the breaking of the bread might have been done in his memory before it became a symbolic and holy thing in the Christian faith.

Blog Assignment #6: Mark vs John

The event that I chose to compare and contrast between the Gospels of Mark and John was Jesus’ last meal with his disciples.  After reading each event in each Gospel it is apparent that they share a few similarities and some large, important differences.  For the most part the similarities between the two events only arise when looking at them from a very vague perspective.  In general, the only similarities between the two are that, in both accounts, Jesus accepts that he will be betrayed and tells his disciples that it is one of them that will betray him.  It is when each event is examined more closely that the differences become apparent.  Many of these differences come from the overall differences between the two Gospels

A good example of an important difference between the two portrayals is the overall setup of each story.  The event in Mark is told in a more traditional way, a way that the majority of people would relate too when they think about the event.  Jesus gathers his disciples (Mark 14:17), tells them that one of them will betray him(14: 18-21), and distributes the body and the blood(14: 22-24).  The way the event is told in John is very different in many ways.  First off, some things are explained in much more detail in John than in Mark, while there are other things that are left out completely.  For example, the portrayal in John mentions the cleansing of the Disciples feet, an act that is not mentioned at all in Mark(John 13: 1-11).  Another key difference between the two is the fact that in John, Jesus knows beforehand who is going to betray him(13: 2 and 26-30).  In Mark it is not explicitly stated that Jesus knew the specific person who would betray him, only that it was one of his disciples.

These differences can be attributed to the way that Jesus is portrayed in each Gospel.  In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as the Messiah who came to suffer and die.  This relates to the fact that in the event in Mark Jesus has accepted what is to happen to him.  In John, Jesus is portrayed in a more God-like way, which is why he knows who is going to betray him before it ever happens.

Blog Assignment #5: The Feast Parables

There are a few key differences between the parables of the wedding feast found in both Matthew and Luke. The most obvious difference between the two is the style in which the parables were written, which is explained in “And God Said What?” The Gospel of Matthew is written in a much more formal, authoritative way. This is apparent in the parable entitled “The Parable of the Wedding Feast” found in Matthew. The same parable found in Luke, “The Parable of the Great Feast,” is written in a more casual way. This is largely due to the fact that the Gospel of Luke was written with reference to mostly oral or written sources. The parable in Luke contains more quotes than the one in Matthew. It also seems to be more drawn out while containing less information. In fact, a good chunk of the parable in Luke is devoted to quotes from the guests invited to the party explaining their reasons why they wouldn’t be able to attend the feast.
In my opinion both parables have many characteristics that point to them being allegories. Both have different things that are symbols for other divine things. For example, in the parable found in Luke the reasons that the guests give for not being able to attend the feast may be symbolic of the distractions that many people succumb to that cause us to ignore God’s word. Both parables contain a few examples similar to this, which is why I would categorize each as being allegories.

Blog Assignment #4: Messiah

While one can argue that the biggest part of the Gospel of Mark is the passion, a sizable chunk of the Gospel is devoted to miracle stories.  These were accounts of Jesus performing miracles, usually by healing people in some way.  These stories are the main way in which Jesus is represented as the Messiah and the Son of God.  They are put in the Gospel to show his power that was given to him by the Lord, and are used to convince people to have faith in God.

As I mentioned before, many of the miracle stories involved sick or possessed people going to Jesus asking to be healed.  These are the most prominent examples that show that Jesus was the Messiah.  He would heal those people, and would say that they are healed by their faith.  There were people that were healed simply by touching Jesus or his garments (Mark 5:25-34). These acts played a large part in Jesus being thought of as the Messiah.  The people he healed would go and tell others of Jesus’ powers, and word spread quickly.

There were other things that Jesus did that are outlined in the Gospel of Mark that showed that he was the Messiah.  A good example of this would be when Jesus fed five-thousand people with only 12 loaves of bread.  This was another example of Jesus performing impossible feats, which further drove people into thinking he was the Son Of God.

There were many things that Jesus did that showed that he was the Messiah and the Son of God, and the Gospel of Mark is filled with stories of Jesus doing those things.

Blog Assignment #3: Prophet

In both What Manner of Man is the Prophet and the Book of Amos, the concept of a prophet is described and displayed in extensive detail.  In What Manner of Man is the Prophet specifically, a prophet is described not as a messenger of God, a middle-man between God and the people,  but rather as a vessel of God.  As stated in the text, a prophet “…is a person struck by the glory and presence of God, overpowered by the hand of God.” (Heschel, 21)  A prophet is described as someone who sees the world the way God sees the world.  A true prophet is cursed to see the injustices and cruelties of the world.  A prophet seeks to show the people the true way of God and attempts to tell them what may happen if they do not accept God and live by his word.

This characteristic is displayed multiple times in the Book of Amos by the prophet Amos.  He speaks of destruction and despair that will befall upon the people of the world for their actions against the Lord.  For example, he tells the Isrealites that because they did things like, among other things,  “Force the lowly out of the way,” (Amos, 2:7) that they will be punished by the Lord.  

In my opinion, it is possible that there are a few true prophets left in the world today.  There may be someone out there who is being spoken to directly by God.  For those reading this post I really would love to hear your opinions on this in particular in the comments.