Fluent Essays

You have to read and understand the discussion Topic below, then, write you’re a response to the questions giving under the discussion topic.Instructions & Requirements:Please note that this work contains 2 parts:For part one,Be sure to response to the topic questions in less than 12 hours in atleast 2 paragraphs (4-6 sentences each paragraph)Then for Part two, Then, after 1-2 days, I will share with you the question of the instructor If he responds to the posting, and you will need to respond to the instructor question in less than 12 hours from sharing his question with you. Full credit will be given for those who provide a thorough response to the question I pose (if any).Plagiarism is not acceptable in any form and a score of zero will be given on the paper, as the paper will be checked by Turnitin Website for plagiarism.Do not just repeat words and text from the reading materials provided or the online lectureUse your own words and add value/information beyond the reading materials. Copying from sites like Wikipedia or other internet sites will result in a score of zero as you only allow to use the reading materials provided . Also, note that the work will be checked by Turnitin website for plagiarism.------------------- Week #01 Discussion TopicEach student is required to respond to the question(s) posted for the week BEFORE the deadline To receive full credit for this part of the assignment, your posting must be at least two paragraphs in length (4-6 sentences per paragraph), cited with references from the Online Lecture and Reading Material only.If I respond to your postings, you will have until the end of the week to respond to what I have asked you to do. Full credit will be given for those who provide a thorough response to the question I pose (if any).Postings MUST be based exclusively on the reading materials provided in this course and NOT from other outside sources. Please refer to the Syllabus concerning rules against Plagiarism. Reading Materials:1. Sunday Scripture Readings at Mass. You can buy a missallette at the bookstore or you can look up each week’s readings at the website of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB. Their website is http://www.usccb.org/nab2. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible.3. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (English Translation. Washington, D.C.: The United States Catholic Conference, Inc., 1994. 4. Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (Third Edition). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2012. 5. Plus the online Lecture (see the attached file named online Lecture) Here is this Weeks Discussion Topic:Bible reading is for Catholics. The Church encourages Catholics to make reading the Bible part of their daily prayer lives. Reading these inspired words, people grow deeper in their relationship with God and come to understand their place in the community God has called them to in himself. - Mary Elizabeth SperryBased on Sperrys Understanding the Bible (found in the Online Lecture), tell us about your experiences in reading the bible. In your answers, please include the following:What is your faith tradition?How often do you read the bible (if at all)?Name one or two things about this weeks readings (both from Shea and the Online Lecture) that challenged your approach of reading the bible.Please share in your answer one bible story which relates to you the most.Please Note: Your responses should be based primarily on the content offered in the Online Lectures and the Reading Material. VIP:KINDLY NOTE THAT I am Muslim and I just taking this course because it’s required to complete my degree plan at my school.------------------------------------------For your reference and to get a clear picture about what you should to write. Below are some students’ responsesCamilla,When asked to describe my faith tradition, I would describe it as one where I do not practice as much as I should be. I was raised Catholic from an early age and received the sacraments of baptism, communion, and confirmation. However, I proclaim to be nonpracticing as the past few years of my life I have failed to attend church, take in the body of Christ, go to confession, etc. I also do not read the bible. Last semester I did a handful of readings from the bible but other than that I probably havent read the bible on my own since childhood. One point from the lecture which challenged my approach of reading the bible was when the statement claimed that reading the bible is not enough. Reading the words and not putting an action on the message which is being conveyed is simply not enough. I feel as if I display this mentality when it comes to the bible. I simply take scripture and read it, I never do more with it. One bible story which relates to me the most happens to be the temptation story. The serpent had twisted Gods words which in turn tempted Adam and Eve to eat the apple. I relate to this bible story a lot because I find myself being tempted easily into things I know are not good for me. Despite knowing it is not a good idea, I still carry out the action similarly to what Adam and Eve did. --------------Leon,I dont have a faith tradition. I was baptized, however, my mother and my family we left the church early in my life. We were lutherans. However, we never really believed in god in a constitutional way that requires a faith group. The intention of my mother to have us in younger age in the church was to give us the option if we choose so. We also visited mosques and temples to gain the knowledge of other believes. I did not follow any constitutional religion. Therefore, i havent read the bible in many years.An important part of the online lecture for me was when it was said that the importance of a story is its message and sometimes it can be exaggerated to bring the message across. So do the bible as the message of the stories are important and therefore they dont have to be believed word for word or lived by, as some story are exaggerated for the message. That the Old Testament looks towards the New and the New testament fulfills the Old Testament is something i havent learned yet or that i thought of in the past when i did read the bible many years agoI wish i could tell a bible story that would relate to me however i cant. I barely remember any stories in the bible and if i would know one i couldnt even tell where in the bible. Citation: Fr. Jankowski, P. (2019, August 01). Theo 210 Week #1 (Introduction). Retrieved from https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/75ff8506-0cfd-4aa1-a79c-d1ce2133fcd1 (Links to an external site.)pages: 17 & 105----------------- Dana,I was brought up in a Catholic tradition. I was baptized, made my first Holy Communion in 3rd grade, and then was confirmed in 8th grade. As I grew older, I stopped practicing my faith. My family stopped going to church evey Sunday, but I have not stopped believing. I still believe what I was taught and live by it. I do not read the Bible much at all. I only open it when I need to for example theology classes or in church. One thing from this weeks online lecture that challenge my approach of reading the Bible would be that it is described as a story and not history because is uses a different set of tools. While the Bible is told as a story, it is about what happened, and what shaped religion. It is part of history. Another big thing in general that is challenging for me is that, although I am Catholic, I still am not very familiar with the Bible and do not believe everything in the Catholic faith. It is had for me to make a spiritual connection like mentioned in the online lecture because I am not that active in my faith anymore. With that being said, I am being honest, I do not have a Bible story that relates to my life or have a connection to. I hardly read the bible, and when I had a project for Intro to Theology, I struggled to make connections with the stories. ------------------ Jessica,As far as my faith tradition goes, I am a non-practicing Catholic. I do not read the bible at all and I only attend church, if at all, on Christmas and Easter day. I was baptized, made my communion, and made my confirmation which is why I say I am a non-practicing Catholic. It is no excuse, but as I have grown older other events and responsibilities have occupied my time. This is the reason for the lack of practicing my faith. I do, however, feel I do not need to attend church regularly in order to be a member of my religion.Since I do not read the bible I have decided to satisfy the requirement, “Name one or two things about this weeks readings (both from Shea and the Online Lecture) that challenged your approach of reading the bible” by approaching it the way of why I have not taken the initiative to read the bible in years. I choose what I want to believe and what I do not. I feel I do not need to read the bible to constantly justify my beliefs. I feel that Luke 10:25-37, The Parable of the Good Samaritan, relates to my life because I live by helping others in need and being a genuine person to all.-------------------- Alexander, My faith tradition is Roman Catholic, born and raised as such, regularly attending Daily Mass and doing other Catholic devotionals on a regular basis (it is important to note that I didnt actually become religious until my first semester of college). I say grace before meals, and pray on a regular basis. I read the Daily Readings from the Bible (sometimes as a lector at Mass), and I try to read longer sections, as well. I dont have any regular schedule of when I read from the Bible, I just try to do it when the opportunity arises, or when I feel particularly compelled to create the opportunity. As Slide 41 discusses Christianity coming into the surrounding world, so too I try to make my faith expand into the rest of my life. One thing I found challenging to my approach to the Bible in the online lecture was the following line from Slide 129: While we read the Old Testament in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, it has its own value as well. I always struggle a little with the Old Testament, sometimes reading it in the light of the coming of Christ, but I rarely read the Old in light of His death and resurrection. This interests me; the prophets often speak of a Savior, and sometimes a Suffering Savior, but reading stories like Samuel or Judges that arent so focused on the Messiah as the current situation would be interesting to read as a prophecy unto itself. Im really not sure what Bible story relates to me the most; in some ways, the story of Jesus first calling the Apostles relates to my recent years, with a call of Follow me while I didnt really know where I was going (somewhat similar to the story of Tobiah and Raphael). This journey has led to a lot of sacrifices, a lot of triumph, and a life path completely foreign to anything I was planning, when I first came to college as an engineering student, unsure of whether Id even keep going to church. Two and a half years later, Im a Theology major, deeply invested in my faith, aware that greater rewards are still ahead (despite the hardships that are always prevalent), and I just have to trust God and follow wherever He may lead me.NOTE: Please response to the discussion questions in less than 12 hours and make sure to deliver an original and high-quality work, as this writing is going to be checked for plagiarism through TurnItIn website. online_lecture.docx Unformatted Attachment Preview Week #01 Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 From St. Jerome… Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Welcome to the Course! Welcome to the online version of the Old Testament 200 course Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Welcome to the Course! Welcome to the Course! Week #01 Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 \ An Introduction to Story To begin our journey together, Peter Kreeft provides the following illustration concerning why we even talk about our relationship with God in the first place and the subject of Christianity in the modern world: Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story In J. R. R. Tolkiens great epic The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam are crawling through the slag heaps of Mordor desperately attempting to fulfill their perilous quest when Sam stops to ask, I wonder what kind of story were in, Mr. Frodo? Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story It is a great question, a concrete way of asking the abstract question, What is the meaning of life? That the question is asked at all shows that we are in a story, not a jumble, and a story points to a storyteller. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 VIDEO CLIP – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The good Catholic that he was, Tolkien based his epic tale on the belief that the virtuous life (namely, to be like God) can overcome even the worst of evil. In the process, he tells the story of this journey of the faith between Frodo and Sam and their dependence on each other to achieve this quest. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story In the Catholic tradition, this very much defines the purpose of Church – two or more people gathered in Christs name to do good and avoid evil. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The purpose of this course is to tell the story of Gods relationship with us through story, not history. History has a different set of tools than story and history is not without its own problems. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story If you write a historical article for a newspaper for a newspaper, magazine, book or electronic media, you are already biased in the manner in which you choose one story and not another. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story German theologians call this a Sitz im Leben, or a situation of life that varies from one culture or group of people from another. When reporting the story, each human being is limited by their own experience, not having the benefit of knowing the larger picture of life nor of the perspective of God. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Rather, the bible prefers to use the method of story to tell of this relationship between God and us because story uses a different set of tools than history. Stories can be entertaining. Stories are not as concerned with specifics of an event but with a core message. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story This does not mean that stories are not true or are devoid of facts but that the message of the story is more important than the details so sometimes the details of specific are exaggerated or not thought through as well as they could be. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Sometimes the details can differ, depending on who tells the story. For instance, if we tell the story of the White Sox World Series in 2005, depending on who tells the story, then a different perspective will be highlighted in citing the details. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story If I were a White Sox fan in Chicago and told the story of the 2005 World Series, I might describe it by saying, God came down to the world in 2005, touched the White Sox with great love and the world became right in 2005 when the White Sox won the World Series. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story If I were a Cub fan, I might describe the same event by saying God condemned the world, and Satan was throwing snowballs in hell when the White Sox won the World Series. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Storytelling is the manner in which God uses a tool that is important to learn in this course – the word is condescension. God wishes to speak to us not in language foreign to us but in a way that we understand. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Key Terms in This Discussion CONDESCENSION: The manner in which God speaks to us in a way that we can understand. (See CCC #101) Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story You will notice that God chooses to speak through the human writer, with their own biased approaches to scripture, revealing the core message through the human writers text. That message comes to us in the form of story and metaphor, simple communication tools which we can grasp. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story And when we build a relationship with God, we do so through story, metaphor but most of all prayer and love, which is the prerequisite to understand what we are doing. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story As with any relationship, we want to know the details about a persons life but if we are in love with someone, we want to learn about their heart and soul even more. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story To give you an understanding of the Old Testament and the bible in general from a relational point of view, perhaps I can use an analogy to express where we are going with this… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The goal in this course is to first understand the tenets of the faith and then discuss how our understanding of these doctrines evolve with each age. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story To build this relationship with God, according to the Catechism of the Church, we really need to utilize a tool that is often foreign to academic studies at a university. That tool is called Prayer. According to the Catechism of the Church, Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story #2562 … Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story #2563 The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place to which I withdraw. The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story #2564 Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Thus, the study of reading the bible is a process, not just a theological discipline. Like any faith journey or personal relationship, a healthy relationship does not end as long as we make an investment in it. If we choose to learn about God on this journey, then our perspective changes concerning what we believe. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Faith is relational. Our attempt is to build a relationship with Christ, which normally starts with some type of spiritual experience (see diagram on the next slide). In our attempt to describe this experience, our expressions and stories develop into metaphors, concepts and doctrines. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story We then compare these doctrines to our experience in order to understand whether those dogmas truly reflect what we have encountered. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story In this course, we will cover the tools necessary to learn about the Old Testament but if we wish to understand the core of Gods message, then we need to learn to channel those teachings through our heart and soul, building a relationship with God in the process. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Like any other enterprise in life, we can learn the terms and the details of a specific discipline without understanding the larger picture of the discipline but then our understanding of the discipline seems lacking of its ultimate purpose. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story In this course, we learn that the Old Testament is the starting point to learning about our Lords covenant with us and how it is fulfilled with Jesus Christ. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Old Testament Story In this story, we realize that God began this relationship through the creation of the human being (Adam & Eve) and allowed this humanity to choose the path which they wished to follow. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Old Testament Story God made a covenant with these people, time and time again, in the Old Testament (or Old Covenant): I will be your God and you will be my people (Genesis 17)… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Key Topics/Themes Early Christianity born within Palestinian Judaism Expanded into surrounding GrecoRoman world Interpreted by Gentile converts in light of Hellenistic thought and culture Eventually resulted in Christianitys separation from parent religion of Judaism Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Old Testament Story …Time and time again in the Old Testament, the chosen people disregarded this covenant, only to be punished by this God for their disobedience. It was up to the prophets of the Old Testament age to foresee a new, last and everlasting covenant between God and His people through a Messiah, also called the Christ. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Old Testament Story Fr. Lawrence Boadt (the author of the textbook from our Old Testament Course) provides a fitting summary of the Old Testament story, which provides a foundation for what we are about to discuss this semester: Infidelity to Gods covenant given through Moses will lead to disaster and destruction. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The New Testament Story It is in this New Testament (or New Covenant) that we are introduced to this Messiah, who reestablishes this covenant between God and us. By assuming our human nature, being baptized, by serving the poor and needy and by suffering for us, the Messiah (or Christ) models for us the type of life we must lead… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament Scripture scholars believe that the books of the New Testament probably were written from 51 AD (with St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians) until 110 AD (it is believed that St. John’s Gospel and the letters attributed to St. John the Apostle were written between 90-110 AD). Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament Once the last apostle (St. John) died (St. John was the only one of the twelve apostles that did not die a martyr’s death), the canon of the New Testament closed. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament Many scholars theorize that the books of the New Testament were formed by the events of three major periods of the First Century AD… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament 5 BC – 30 AD: The Life and Teaching of Jesus. Scholars believe that Jesus was born around the time the census from Luke’s gospel took place, most likely between 4-6 BC. The same scholars would also attest that Jesus probably died between 27-30 AD. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament Because there are so few concrete points in our historical timeline, many dates are based on estimations rather than historical accuracy. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament 30 – 70 AD: The Apostolic Age. The Oral Tradition. ‘For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed’ (DV 19). Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament During the Apostolic Age, Jesus commissioned the apostles to continue his pastoral work in Mt 28: 18-20. The sequel to The Gospel of Luke (The Acts of the Apostles) describe this ministry called The Way, which most likely took place through the 70s. Most of the Pauline Letters were written during the 50s. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament 67 AD – 110 AD: Remainder of New Testament Written (including gospels). Because the faithful believed that the second coming of Christ would be immediate (which was the theme of 1 Thessalonians), the faithful saw no need to write down an account of Jesus’ life for future generations. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament HOWEVER, during the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem for the second time in 70 AD (the first time being around 586 BC), the faithful realized that Jesus’ return would not be immediate and saw the need to record the events of his life for future generations. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 About the New Testament Most scholars will argue that Mark was the first gospel written (67-70 AD) followed by Matthew & Luke (70-90 AD). John’s gospel, written somewhat differently than the other three gospels, most likely was written between 90-110 AD. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The Catechism teaches us so – it teaches us that both the Old Testament and New Testament are inseparable from each other, since the former provides the covenant relationship which the New Testament fulfills. This is summarized clearly in Paragraph 140 of the Catechism, where the bishops of the Church state, Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of Gods plan and His Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 An Introduction to Story Note: If you are not invested in the life of story, if you are not a believer in the Jewish or Christian scriptures, DO NOT PANIC! In a good relationship, hopefully we learn from each other even if we do not agree or share the same faith story. The purpose here is not to convert you to the faith but to teach it to you in a Catholic context. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Week #01 Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course This course will require you to do a little more than other courses but you should be able to navigate through this course with little problem if you just follow a few simple rules: Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course First, READ YOUR SYLLABUS AND CLASS SCHEDULE!!! You are responsible for following them, regardless of whether we discuss the information in these lectures. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course Make sure you read the online lectures and your reading material from the course. All your answers needed for your handouts are found in both sources. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course You are required to make THREE postings a week on the discussion boards. To receive full credit for the discussions, please respond once at the beginning of the week, once in the middle and once on the weekends. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course This is important – DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!!! It is easy in an online course to cite material from other internet sites or sources outside of what you have been given. I have written in the syllabus the consequences of plagiarism at the university, which we take seriously. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Some Friendly Advice If you read the material in the course and keep up with your work, you will have no problems getting a good grade at the end of our time together. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Some Friendly Advice Please keep the discussion posts positive! I have no problems if you struggle with issues - that is normal Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Some Friendly Advice Your final assessments need to be accompanied with references as to where you acquired the information. Unless I state otherwise, all references must come from the reading material and online lectures. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Ground Rules for the Course If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers as we spend the next few months together walking through this survey of the New Testament. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Week #01 Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 VIDEO CLIP – The Bible & Inspirations From What Every Catholic Needs to Know about the Bible Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Key Terms in This Discussion In order to offer this weeks presentation, I would like to introduce a few terms that I would like you to learn very well this week (Adapted from the GLOSSARY of The Catechism of the Church). Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Key Terms in This Discussion THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH: The will of God given to us, which consists of our ability to interpret sacred scripture. The DOF never changes but our understanding of it develops with each age… Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 Key Terms in This Discussion THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH: Thus, according to the CCC #133:The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Deposit of Faith Inspired by the Holy Spirit, The Magisterial Teachings consist of… Sacred Scripture We define sacred scripture as the canon or authentic writings of Gods salvific plan for humanity + tradition (small t) We understand tradition (small t) as the interpretation of the Sacred Scripture from the theologians of each age Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 VIDEO CLIP – Tradition From What Every Catholic Needs to Know about the Bible Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Deposit of Faith The Magisterium serves as the teaching body of the Church that relates to the faithful the message brought forth by tradition and Sacred Scripture (CCC #85-87). Theo 210A – The New Testament, Week #01 The Deposit of Faith In this approach, the Deposit of Faith, in its entirety, was revealed fully to His ... Purchase answer to see full attachment