...Gen 1:1-2:4a World Behind the text Historical and Cultural Context Genesis illustrates the way Biblical writers J (Yahwist), E (Elohist) and P (Priestly) drew upon the cultural and religious legacy of the Ancient Near East (ANE) along with its stories and imagery and transformed it to conform to a new vision of a non-mythological God and a monotheistic, superior religion. “The Pentateuch developed against the background of the Ancient Near Eastern culture first cultivated in and spread by Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires”. This exemplifies how Israelite religion, was “shaped by responses to and reactions against this culture due both to contacts with neighboring Canaanites and to conflicts with Assyrian and Babylonian empires”. Genesis 1:1-2:4a can therefore be said to reflect the “Babylonian account of creation, which we call Enuma Elish…known from at least 1700 BCE,” “predating the earliest text of Genesis by at least a millennium.” In both Genesis and the ancient Babylonian myth, water is divided into upper and lower waters. The Enuma Elish is recorded on seven tablets and the Genesis account is completed in seven days. The Babylonians created humans to serve as slaves yet in Genesis God creates humans in the likeness of the divine. The Priestly source penned the creation story with the intent of being a “monumental historiographic composition…with the purpose of portraying both the beginnings of mankind and Israel in the spirit of a monotheistic concept...
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...Part I: Quote Explication 1. “And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart,‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.’” (Genesis 8:21 – 22) Answer: In chapter 8 of Genesis, it describes what happened after 40 days and nights of rain. God allowed Noah to save himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain. God remembered Noah and what he have done to save all kinds of creatures on earth. Then god decided not to punish earth because of humankind any more and the day and nights and everything else will never be punished again even if the human beings are born with evils in their heart. The reason...
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...Pan-Africanism: African and the Genesis of Humankind (Critique) Prepared by Ariane Sip In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Pan Africanism(AFAM 3370) at Xavier University of Louisiana Professor Dr. Ronald Dorris Fall 2012 A Critique of Africa and the Genesis of Humankind African Studies: A Survey of Africa and the African Diaspora is edited by Mario Azeveda. This book was published in 2005 by Carolina Academic Press. This 565-page book includes acknowledgments, introduction, contributors, and index. The text comprises twenty seven chapter. This critique focuses on the chapter, “African and the Genesis of Humankind.” this part of the book is thirteen pages that are divided into six subsections evenly. The focus of this critique will center on how tone, voice, language, and structure is used to argue that Africa has been considered the cradle for humankind. This chapter focused on a few major points. The first point was that physical environments play an important role in determining the course of human development. In Africa, humans have been able to change the physical environment an the way the environment impacts society. The next point shown was that Africa is a huge continent of human and geographic diversity. This diversity contributes to a greater diversity in society and cultures. The third point was that Africa was the cradle of humankind not only for early ancestors but also for modern day. Evidence have been found by scientists...
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...In this book, I had assumed that this would be- because of what school I attend- a book that has to do with sorting all science into two categories: under God or mythical and falling into a pseudo-science. The author, Francis Collins proves me wrong by creating a professional view on the "religion vs. science" debate and putting it all into words. In this book, Collins follows of a Kantian-like tradition from not Michael Gardner but rather authors such as German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), attempting while not specifically naming the logician to combine the practical and the supernatural theories and views, the cold logical reason and the more emotional reason. In a three-part book, Collins successfully combines religion and science all into one central idea. In the first part of this book, Collins reveals his atheism-driven past and his later outlook towards a theistic-like worldview. He begins the book by rhetorically asking the readers a central question: “In this modern era of cosmology, evolution, and the human genome, is there still the possibility of a richly satisfying harmony...
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...Book Of Galations The role of women in the Christian faith has always been matter of debate. Whether women are equal to men in the eyes of the church still presents itself as a major question as we move into the 21st century. Women are still not allowed to serve as priests or hold major positions in the church s hierarchy. This inferiority is something that is seen as tradition and rarely do people question it. However, in Paul s letters he alluded to a different role that women should take on. He presents the idea that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Lord as long as they have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Although he was not the first to ever express these beliefs, the idea that Paul presented was quite radical for his time and may not have been taken with the same authority as some of his other teachings. However, the basic formula that Paul used in some of his letters was also presented by subsequent writers years after he was finished with his ministry. The most straightforward presentation of Paul s view on the role of women is in Galatians 3:28, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. This statement brought up the idea of baptism and the key role it plays in the life of a Christian. Paul states that when you are baptized in the name of Jesus all worldly distinctions are no longer important. A person is not to be viewed based on past religion, life before baptism, or gender, he or she will now be viewed simply as a...
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...purpose of the universe” (“religion”). Everyone puts their faith and trust into something. Most people would not put the idea of religion and the genre of science fiction in the same category, but these two ideas are intertwined. In Charles Darwin’s book The Origin of Species, he stated that creation was “originally breathed [to life] by the Creator” (Connor 368). Even a well-known scientist such as Darwin included ideas of religion in his theories. Science fiction has elements within that can...
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...The books explains race as a group of people who share a set of characteristics- typically, but not always, physical ones- and are said to share a common bloodline. "When the term race comes up in America today, we usually think in two colors: black and white. But, at the turn of the twentieth century, Americans categorized themselves into anywhere from 36 to 75 different races that they organized into hierarchies". In the early modern world, European colonizers, confronted with people living in newly discovered lands, interpreted human physical differences first with biblical and later with scientific explanations. They used a story in the book of Genesis 9, the curse of ham, to determine primitive and degraded races of Africa. In the tale,...
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...The Role of Women in the Church The role of women in the Christian faith has always been matter of debate. Whether women are equal to men in the eyes of the church still presents itself as a major question as we move into the 21st century. Women are still not allowed to serve as priests or hold major positions in the churches hierarchy. This inferiority is something that is seen as tradition and rarely do people question it. However, in Paul s letters he alluded to a different role that women should take on. He presents the idea that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Lord as long as they have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Although he was not the first to ever express these beliefs, the idea that Paul presented was quite radical for his time and may not have been taken with the same authority as some of his other teachings. However, the basic formula that Paul used in some of his letters was also presented by subsequent writer’s years after he was finished with his ministry. The most straightforward presentation of Paul s view on the role of women is in Galatians 3:28, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. This statement brought up the idea of baptism and the key role it plays in the life of a Christian. Paul states that when you are baptized in the name of Jesus all worldly distinctions are no longer important. A person is not to be viewed based on past religion, life before baptism, or gender, he or she will now be viewed...
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...There were several key insights from this week’s reading being an effective ethical leader and values of work: The first key insight was about being an effective ethical leader. Being an effective leader is using skills learned and acquired to motive and engage employees. Leadership is a combination of personal characteristics, attributes, and traits that sets the tone on how business is conducted and having others follow suit. Listening to others, being open to feedback, and being open to new ideas, and developing leadership skills is a start to becoming an effective leader. However, being a good an effective leader doesn’t always mean that the leader is an ethical leader. Ethical leaders demonstrate traits of integrity, honesty and trustworthiness, but they also demonstrate these traits when making decisions for a corporation. Leaders of the organization are to set the example, and use ethical principles as guidelines to the decision making process. As DesJardins mentions in his book, An Introduction to Business Ethics, “One key difference lies with the means used to motivate others and achieve one’s goals.” (DesJardins, 2011) Motivating employees by empowering them to be creative and successful is an ethical mean of becoming an ethical and effective leader. An effective ethical leader is one who possesses the qualities of both transformational and transitional leadership styles. One who involves exchanges that are necessary for achieving routine performance and...
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...(Evidence that the writer has considered the words meaning in terms of context and knowledge of what periods of time are referred as) Some people have called states like Saddam Hussein’s Iraq ‘fascist’, but I believe that there is a big difference between authoritarian dictatorship and genuine fascism. (Additional evidence of acquired knowledge, saying that it is the writer’s belief that there is a difference between the two terms ‘authoritarian dictatorship’ and ‘genuine fascism’.) So how did fascism originally develop? (There is a conversational tone, to the topic sentence of each paragraph, asking relevant key questions that the writer has considered. Note, how this afforded question is compatible with the main essay question. The conversational tone, is effective in portraying the fact that the writer has attempted to acquire and integrate knowledge. The first sentence of the second paragraph, has a conversational tone, extrapolation of the introduction.) It grew out of a ‘European intellectual movement’ (A learning objective of a History course, is to refer to such concepts, past consciousness?) which criticised the alienating effect that ‘industrial society’ (the major, revolutionary event) had on modern man, as well as late 19th century ‘critiques of Liberalism and Positivism’...
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...In the beginning, Nanny’s insistence for Janie to get married and fulfill her life under a man’s power supported the new ideas of romanticism. Also, Janie’s desires to find love and live that fairytale life of “happily ever after,” which was what many people looked for to fulfill their life when they did not achieve their goals. The period of romanticism was all about rebellion against societal rules, heightened emotions, and interest in nature. That is why the “pear tree” represented Janie’s unfulfilled life desires. However, the book transitions from romanticism to realism. After the death of Jody, Janie realizes that she does not want marriage and would rather be free. She wanted to go back to a society in which the individual’s mind was valued over emotions. Janie realizes that she does not need love, even though Tea Cake comes along, and that she can develop her own character without the help of a man. For example, running the store by herself, wearing her hair down, and choosing to leave with Tea Cake. She goes on to pursue her dreams, things she never experienced under the oppression of her previous...
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...in MLA format. Use as much detail as possible. Chapter 1 Questions: Select quotations from the text that support your answers. 1. Hurston begins the book with an extended metaphor. What are the dreams of men? How are they different from the dreams of women? Who doesn’t get disappointed? 2. Janie has come back to town after doing what and to whom? (Pay attention to and remember their description.) 3. What are the porch-sitters compared to? How are they characterized? What can you infer from that description? 4. The first two pages are loaded with figurative language, as though Hurston was writing poetry in book form. What is the effect of this? Is it hard to understand? What is the effect of having to work a little harder to understand all the layers of her opening pages? 5. Pay attention to porches. What is the function of the porch in this chapter? 6. The author makes a big deal about Janie’s black rope of hair. This metaphor is a central image in the book. What might Janie’s hair symbolize? Follow it through the book. 7. Hurston is careful to give us many of the particulars of Janie’s life since she left this town. What do we know about her? 8. In the last line of the first chapter, Hurston uses a metaphor. What is it and what is its effect on the mood of the story? 9. Briefly discuss the voice in this book. Hurston switches from dialect to narrative prose. It is difficult to read at first, but it also has some benefits. Discuss both, as well as techniques which...
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...Violence has existed for as long as there were men on Earth to take notice of it. Killings in nature do not fit into the category of violence since predatory animals kill to sustain themselves and remains the only option available to them. In the history of human civilization, man has never needed to kill another man in order to keep himself alive such as in the animal kingdom. A man’s basic needs can easily be met without the loss of another’s life. However, as a result of war, genocide, and just random killings, billions of lives have been taken. Although it can be argued that some of these killings have been random, or as the result of an accident, the majority occur over one basic reason: when two opposing parties don’t see eye-to-eye on an issue, one side can’t live with the fact that someone the other party disagrees, and instead of living with it, they would rather make sure the person was no longer alive. This phenomenon has occurred through out history with varying severity. From large scale offenses committed by the likes of Hitler and Caesar to more minimal but equally violent cases at the hands of those like John Wilkes Booth or OJ Simpson. All planned murders and killings are a result of some sort of disagreement. Christianity finds its foundation rooted in this phenomenon. The character of Jesus is perhaps one of the most popular and tragic victims in all of written history. His life on Earth was short and was filled with a tremendous amount of ridicule...
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...Brown began to “roar” running through the forest, as he was “himself the chief horror of the scene” (Hawthorne 334). Running on into the forest, Brown notices “a pulpit, surrounded by four blazing pines, their tops aflame;” Brown had encountered an evil assembly. The evil assembly is a parody of Christian practices that often take place in Church; The burning pines represent the candles that surround an alter. Intrigued, Brown approached the assembly. He listens as a man spoke “in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad with its despairing awfulness,” a voice one may compare to the devil himself (Hawthorne 337). Brown, already overcome by the evil of the woods, surrenders to the devil. Brown’s heart is frosted, even “a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew” and although surrounded by pain and suffering, Brown was no longer affected it (Hawthorne 337). The woods destroy any sense of feeling Brown once had, both emotionally and physically, due to the evils...
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...Genesis The basic genre of the book of Genesis is, for the most part, narrative. There are many key themes and events in Genesis, and quite a few of the most popular Bible stories come from this first book of the Old Testament: God’s creation of everything we have come to know as existence, sin (of Adam & Eve, Sodom & Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel, etc.), God’s promises (of love, acceptance, and forgiveness), Joseph’s coat of many colors, and plenty more. After God’s creation of existence, Adam and Eve were disobedient, and therefore were punished. Over time, the human race had become so sinful that God washed everyone except Noah and his family in a global flood Noah's descendant, Abraham, was chosen by God to create a chosen people. Abraham's twelve grandsons from Jacob (who was later renamed Israel) became the “founders” of the land of Israel's twelve tribes. One of Jacob/Israel's sons, Jacob, was sent to Egypt by his brothers (or so they thought- God had planned this for His own reasons, which were good). Joseph's father and family were saved by a newly powerful him. Exodus Exodus’ basic genre is a narrative as well. Key themes and events include: Oppression of the Jews from the Pharaoh, Moses' characterization as the Jews' rescuer, God's plagues sent upon the people, the first passover, Moses parting the red sea, and the fall of Egypt's army. After all of this, the Jews were searching in the wilderness for the promised land, and although God provided them...
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