My opinions on the figure of Moses are that it was God’s will for Moses to be saved, therefore, Moses was chosen from the beginning. Moses was fearful to proclaim God’s will and kept making excuses for why he was not the right man for the job, but I do respect that he followed through with Aaron. He did not give up, he sought help the help of others. Moses was very persistent in following God’s will to request that the Pharaoh of Egypt let the Israelites go. Moses kept in strong communication with God, which is why he was finally able to achieve freedom for his people. Although Exodus demonstrates Moses’s persistence, it also demonstrates Moses’s frequent failures. Moses was initially unable to be a true prophet for God; he needed his brother Aaron to act as the prophet and speak God’s will for him. Also, Moses and Aaron spoke to the Pharaoh several times with no success in gaining freedom for their people. I think the author chose to include all of Moses’s failed conversations with the Pharaoh to show Moses’ evolution of confidence each time he and Aaron spoke with the Pharaoh. After many visits, Moses was finally able to stand up for the Israelites and lead them out of bondage and out of Egypt. By hardening the Pharaoh’s heart, God gave Moses many opportunities to strengthen his confidence, and his trust and faith in God. I think the author portrayed Moses as flawed, in the way he was initially unable fulfill God’s will, to emphasize how humanity is flawed. The author’s portrayal of Moses demonstrates that humans are not always capable of fulfilling God’s will to its full extent, yet God understands this and gifts humanity with opportunities to make amends for our innate flaws. All humans are flawed, and this is seen in the character of Moses in Exodus. I think the author portrayed Moses as flawed to highlight human dependence on God. For example, Moses would never have been able to escape the Egyptians without the help of God. The Moses was given the power to part the Red Sea, saving the Israelites from the Egyptians, only after he invoked the help of God. Humans must rely on the gratitude of God to fulfill His will.

Section 1 Titles, Divisions, Contents- The Pentateuch or the “Torah” (“The Law” to the Jewish) is the first five books of the Bible made up of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Genesis details the history of the ancestors of humanity; Exodus contains the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt and the Sinaitic covenant; Leviticus is concerned with legislation, interrupting the flow of the current narrative; in Numbers the narrative is continued, it follows the journey of the Israelites in the desert; and finally, Deuteronomy states a code of civil and religious laws through conversation with Moses.

Section 2 How the Pentateuch came to be written- The author of the Pentateuch is unknown to this day, and the writing process was long and uncertain. Initially, Moses was credited with writing the Pentateuch, but this was disproven by the the variance of writing styles within the Pentateuch. The “document theory” is an alternate idea, stating that the Pentateuch is made up of a mixture of four documents including Yahwistic, Elohistic, Deutoronomic, and Priestly Code narrative sources. 

Section 3 Relation of the narratives to history- The first eleven chapters of Genesis describe the origin of the human race in an anecdotal way which cannot be historically proven, but the rest of the Pentateuch is a historical narrative of Isreal. The person of Moses and his journey out of Egypt makes up the history of Isreal, yet is it still unknown whether Moses was a real person or a figurehead with which to frame the origins of Isreal.

Section 4 The Laws- The Pentateuch embodies the laws concerning the moral, social, and religious aspects of the Israelites. The multitude of codes of laws within the Pentateuch; including the Decalogue, Code of the Covenant, Deuteronomic Code, and the Law of Holiness; reflect the necessity for laws to evolve with the times.

Section 5 Religious Significance- The Pentateuch follows God’s divine revelation to His Chosen people and the promises and covenants God made with these patriarchs. Although, the Pentateuch is not complete in and of itself because it does not detail the fulfillment of the promises made in the Pentateuch. The stages of detachment, trial, and purification through which the Chosen People had to pass through in the book of the Pentateuch are the similar to the stages our souls must pass through to live out God’s will and reach Paradise.

In Genesis 1, God created humans in His own image and likeness. The same way God is master of the world, he called for humans to be masters of all plants, creatures, and wild animals. God was the Creator of humankind, and he blessed humankind by allowing us to be creators of the rest of humankind and multiply. God also blessed humans by giving us seed-bearing plants and food and sustenance. God’s relationship with humans in Genesis 1 was one of generosity. God was powerful and he shared His power with man. In Genesis 2, God created man from the soil of the ground and blew the breathe of life into him. Instead of naming man the master of His creation, he named man caregiver of His creation, which made up the Garden of Eden. The creation of woman from the rub of man as a companion is also described in Genesis 2. In Genesis 3, God’s temperament changes from hopeful pride of His generosity to deep disappointment after human betrayal. After Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God is angry and expels man and woman from his Kingdom. God’s relationship with man and woman becomes tense after their betrayal. God inflicts painful reality on humankind, and humankind falls from its position of power close to that of God. Humans are no longer gifted with the power to live in the Garden of Eden among God and His creation. In Genesis 4, humans fall again from grace. After the Fall, Cain and Abel (sons of Adam and Eve) attempt to please God and regain his favor through offerings of fruit and sheep. After Cain killed his brother Abel, God’s again had to take on the role of punisher to teach Cain that his act of murder of Abel was sinful. He cursed Cain as an endless wanderer. Genesis 1 includes more detail about the creation of the natural world, while Genesis 2 goes into more depth on the creation of man and man’s interactions with God and His creation. God’s relationship to man is not revealed in Genesis 1, while in Genesis 2-4 it evolved through the Fall of Adam and Eve and the murder of Cain by Abel. God starts as a hopeful giver then must take on the role of a disappointed teacher after these events.

This is not my first time reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church because I studied at a private, Catholic school for most of my life.  Although, I did gain a new understanding of many words while reading the passages assigned for homework. 

One of these phrases is “proofs of God’s existence.” These proofs are arguments for His revealed truth or His relationship with human beings. I appreciated the way the CCC spoke about the existence of God in saying, “the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things.” (37).  This quote speaks to the necessity of faith in God to fully understand the relations between God and man because these relations cannot be seen or proved.  With this phrase, the CCC concisely captured the complexity of the relations between God and man.  Creation and human beings help convey the existence of God and His ways of working within our lives.  I was also unaware that the “Apostolic Tradition” was another name for the New Testament.  “New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.” (83).  

The line, “The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfils the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God” (140) is persuasive to me.  This phrase speaks to the Testaments’ dependence on one another, and how the story of our faith cannot be understood without both Testaments.  I thought the way the CCC spoke about how God cannot be described with the human language was persuasive.  It was very clear to me from the readings that we cannot capture what God is, but we can compare Him to the world around us.  The readings effectively communicated to me that God is a mystery, and “our limited language cannot exhaust the mystery.”(48).  The definition of divine revelation was also persuasive to me.  Divine revelation is God’s way of revealing His will for human beings that reaches its peak in His decision to send His only son, Jesus, to live among us.  Jesus is the beginning and end of Divine Revelation.  

The fullness of divine revelation is a bit unclear to me.  “It is not their (private revelations) role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history.” To help the divine revelation live more fully, to me, sounds like an improvement. 

One moment that describes God’s relationship with Isreal is when he gifted Hannah a son after she humbly prayed to Yahweh, begging him for one. I believe this describes God’s relationship with Isreal because Yahweh is gifting Hannah with what she is asking for because she is behaving in a way that is respectful and thankful towards Yahweh. Hannah prays, “Yahweh Sabbath! Should you condescend to notice the humiliation of your servant and keep her in mind…I will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head.” She is praising Yahweh and she and her people are making sacrifices for Him, so as a reward, Yahweh grants her a child, in which she names Samuel. This interaction between Yahweh and Hannah demonstrates that if the Israelites are obedient and respectful towards God, He will provide for them. This situation highlights Yahweh as an anthropomorphic God because he desires the respect of the Israelites, and feels hurt when they do not show Him the respect he deserves. The flattery and happiness God feels, which moves Him to gift Hannah with a baby, emphasizes Yahweh’s human like feelings. As humans, when people treat us with respect we feel happy and want to do nice things for those people. In this exchange, Hannah and the Israelites show respect to God and flatter him through sacrifices, so he is moved to gift Hannah with a baby. This interaction also shows human dependence on Yahweh. Hannah’s life, like ours, could not be complete without the gifts of God and His grace. On the other hand, the story of Yahweh’s anger Eli’s sons and with Judah by provocation by Manasseh describes the other side of God’s relationship with the Israelites. “Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels, they cared nothing for Yahweh.” This disrespectful treatment by Eli’s sons angered Yahweh and Yahweh responded with anger. “Be sure, the days are coming when I shall cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s family, so that no one in your family will live to old age.” Also, when Judah and the Israelites do not follow His will or do not respect his creation, God feels very angry and abandones them in their time of need. In frustration, Yahweh says “I shall thrust Judah away from me too, as I have already thrust Isreal; I shall cast off Jerusalem…” These situations also speak to God as anthropomorphic because God, like all humans feel sad and angry. In this situation, Eli’s sons, and Judah and the Israelites have disobeyed God, so He is hurt. His feelings of sadness and frustration make Him want to inflict pain on those who hurt Him, which is why Yahweh says that he will cut off the family of Eli and deserting Judah and Isreal. Both of these stories also show the flawed nature of humanity, manifesting itself in the actions of Eli’s sons and Judah and Isreal. It is flawed that they would betray God after all He has done for them.

The laws given by Yahweh in these chapters are apart of the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, and include the following, “You shall have no other gods to rival me, honor your father and your mother, you shall not kill, and you shall not commit adultery.” Other laws given by Yahweh to the Israelites are “anyone who by violence causes a death must be put to death; and if a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married, he will pay her brideprice and make her his wife.” All of these laws are important moral ideas that emphasize human dignity, which is the opposite of what some argue the purpose of these laws are, subjugation of the Israelites. Many of the laws given in Exodus concern the relationship between humans, and promote respectful, healthy relationships. Honoring one’s parents, not committing adultery or not engaging in seduction before marriage all promote the respect and dignity innate to all humans. Yahweh gave these laws to maintain the purity and beauty of his creation. Yahweh wanted to keep humanity from destroying its god-like image. Laws such as “You shall not kill and anyone who by violence causes a death must be put to death” are laws that prevent the human race from destroying itself. These laws set a punishment to keep the Israelites from causing irreparable damage to God’s creation. Punishing homicide is God’s way of ensuring his creation will live on. Finally, “You shall have no other gods to rival me” is a law concerning humanity’s relationship with God. God was and continues to act incredibly generous toward the human race, and in return he demands respect. With this law, he is also countering materialistic tendencies. Yahweh declares, “You must not make gods of silver to rival me, nor must you make yourselves gods of gold.” With this passage, Yahweh emphasizes that humans must put God and one another above material possessions. These are not nearly all of the laws given by Yahweh to Moses on Mount Sinai, but there are some of the laws I found most important.

A Walk Through the Bible by Lesslie Newbigin literally ‘walks’ readers through his journey while experiencing the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. While walking alongside his readers, Lesslie emphasizes a few things. The first thing Lesslie makes note of in the first chapter of his book is the main characters of the Bible. Newbigin states that all stories have a hero, including the Bible. In the Bible, God is the hero or heroine. God saves the human race, that is characterized in the Bible as the Israelites. Newbigin, in the second chapter emphasizes the idea that God chose people to perform his will, as demonstrated in the title of the second chapter, “Chosen by God.” After betrayal by Adam and Eve, God wipes away the human race besides one chosen family, led by the patriarch, Noah. God gives humanity a second chance after the Fall and chooses Noah, Abraham, and Moses to perform His will, to do what Adam and Eve could not. This is a key moment in the Biblical story because God is giving the human race a second chance to gain back His trust after the betrayal of Adam and Eve. Newbigin also emphasizes humanity’s repeated inability to do God’s will. The third chapter follows Judges, Kings, and Prophets. Once the Israelites finally reached the Promised Land, each generation fell apart due to their idolatry and lack of faith. God made it clear that He is not like other gods, and He will only be satisfied “with a people in whom keep his justice and his mercy alive”(32). This line emphasizes God’s frustration with the human race’s inability to carry out His will, yet at the same time His patience because of the many chances He gifted the Israelites. Although the kingdoms of Isreal and Judah were destroyed, God gave the human race another chance by sending down two prophets. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were sources of religious strength in re-established a cohesive community in Isreal. Newbigin sees this as a key moment because Jeremiah and Ezekiel were another “second chance” gifted to the human race by God. Another key moment in the Biblical story is the appearance of the prophet John the Baptist. John was the first time the voice of the prophecy (God) has intervened in the lives of the Israelites for some time, and John’s ministry gave way to the ministry of God’s only son, Jesus. The life and death of Jesus is of course the most important moment in the Biblical story “Jesus himself is the presence of the Kingdom”(53). It is the most important event because Jesus’s death had a legacy, His resurrection. Because Jesus is the Son of God, His death is not another defeat of mankind. His spirit lives on in the form of the Holy Spirit, who had been promised by the prophets. The death and resurrection of Jesus brought about a new era for the world that involved “relating the new message of the Gospel to the old law” (75).

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.