To ready yourself for Tuesday’s class, please write a blog post on the following: What does Scripture mean by “fulfillment”? (Use the citation from Hosea as an example in your answer.) Second, identify anything you can see in these opening chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that addresses the elements of the Old Testament narrative that we discussed last class.

Fulfillment tends to mean when something meets its end to where nothing else can fill that role. Within the Bible, fulfillment is defined in numerous different ways. For example, Christ came to fulfill the prophecy of the Old Testament. Another form of fulfillment, which Hosea highlights, is the unspecific forms of fulfillment where the word of God is spoken. Within Matthew 2:15, Hosea says, “that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled.” People may take this as the forthcoming of Jesus, but it can also be related to the story of exodus when the Israelites were called out of Egypt. In class we talked on how exodus exemplified what will occur for generations in the past and future. This gives a replicating theme. For in Matthew 1, Jesus’s birth was destined to be what the lord said through the Prophets. In Isaiah 40:3, it is clear that what is said was to make way for the Lord. In Ezekiel 37.24, it is said that, “they shall all have one shepherd” referring to the coming of the Messiah and that this Messiah will be the leader of the new exodus.

The key to the wilderness generations downfall within the Book of Numbers is solely their ungratefulness. They were ungrateful of God freeing them of slavery from Egypt and setting them on a path to a land which was “flowing with milk and honey.” Blessed as God’s Chosen People, their inability to acquire meat and have complete control over their land lead them to their “grumbling,” which God heard every word of. Their punishment for impatience and ungratefulness was that God’s Chosen People would never experience the full potential and fulfillment upon the land that God promised. Even after God blessed the Israelites with freedom, some began to worship another god that was a product of the Moabite religion. This is a complete disregarding act of the first of the Ten Commandments, and the most important. A representation of the conditions to be one of the elects is displayed by Moses’s situation. Moses suffered for his people. His only issue was trying to justify their ungrateful complaints. He stated that God was angry with him and he would not enter Jordan. This was a big action, for even mankind’s most loyal servant of God would even stray from his path.

The closing of the Pentateuch with the death of Moses is a very symbolic action. For a long time Moses lead the Israelites, with God choosing him as an elect, and Moses’s death was the end of that journey. His death was the rebirth of a new generation, but the new generation was not going to be a part of God’s Chosen People.

The closing passage of Deuteronomy 34 was the implication that the time of elects, whom had a direct relationship with God, was over (besides Jesus Christ). For example, Joshua felt the presence of God through Moses, not directly. The generation was punished by wandering for 40 years, but the generations before that have all dealt with God and have had the 10 commandments displayed for them allows the generations of the future to have the basis of their culture/religion established. God left the future generations of the Israelites to establish whatever was left for themselves, which lead to violence and conflict, but they always had a special connection to their religion unlike any other culture.

Purity/Impurity, as Douglas describes, are things that create unity in experience. Purity creates order, and impurity highlights the disorder. That order is following the life that God wants mankind to follow, therefore purity is the way of God, and impurity is sinning. The problem with following the way of purity is the challenge of doing so. Sinning is a part of being a human being, which means impurity is inevitable. God understands this though, through his history of being a part of every interaction ever. As Kaufmaa says “impurity is not bound up with demoniac activity.” Straying from the way of God and purity does not lead directly to damnation. To right the impurities you have demonstrated, the only way back to purity is to do as God has given within the scriptures. Purity/Impurity not only represent spiritual characteristics, but also physical. For example, as represented by Leviticus, in the culture of the Israelites, there are strict procedures to follow to stay cleanly. They cannot ingest blood, for blood is the main transmitter of disease. Also, animals that were described as “unclean” were said to be toxic. God, within Leviticus 1-11, creates rules as in the offerings of grain. In Leviticus 19, God describes rules of which humans should carry themselves and act. Here you see God creating order. Without this order of following the pure way, humans will live in chaos which can be exposed during the times humans stray from purity.

Who is God? This question has lingered over mankind for as long as existence. Within the Old Testament, God is referred to by the name of Yahweh. For the all-powerful (omnipotent) being to be described given the few instances across mankind’s timespan that God has shown himself to his creations has not made this question any more clear that possible. Ratzinger displays a very educated attempt to answer this by saying, “God is where man is and where man lets himself be found by him.” Interpreting this, I find myself taking this quote as a way of saying that God is here all around us, but man must put himself in the situation and have the belief to be able to find him. Ratzinger also states that God is not bound to one spot. If God is not bound to one spot, then he has the ability to be present everywhere at the same time, all the time. Within Exodus, Moses asks God who he is talking to. God replies with “I am who I am.” This quote is God’s way of saying he is whoever an individual needs him to be. Him being all-powerful allows him to do such a feat. Foster’s description of God says that even with all of the different religions and ideologies that reside on Earth, all agree upon an inexplicable unity on Earth. Is that unity God among us, everywhere at once, boundless? Ratzinger calls this phenomenon “sign of acquaintance.” Although it is universally agreed upon, it is impossible to prove. Proof is not required though. What is required to feel God all around and within is faith. Faith is the key to understand God. Faith will guide you to the answers you seek, and most importantly, will guide you to the truth of the question, “Who is God?”

The story of Joseph, within the Book of Genesis, is a story of forgiveness. Joseph, the favored son of Jacob (or Israel), always had things going for him. His brothers jealousy was strong. Once Joseph reported to have dreams of the divine and the stars bowing before him, his brother’s jealousy grew into anger until they sold him into slavery. Joseph’s travels lead him to Egypt, where he was sold to the Captain of the Pharaoh’s guard. Since Joseph always had things going for him, with the lord on his side, he received the favor from his new owner and the other important men in Egypt. After using his God-given abilities, Joseph interpreted the dreams of 2 prisoners, as well as the Pharaoh guard’s Captain, predicting 7 years of success in Egypt, followed by 7 years of famine. This allowed Joseph to be rewarded with a promotion. When the famine began, Jacob (Joseph’s father) sent his sons to Egypt to buy food. Upon arrival, Joseph conceals his identity and denies them grain, forcing them to return empty handed. Later on, where the famine is still holding strong, Jacob send the sons to Egypt once again. Upon arrival, the sons are invited to Joseph’s house (they still do not know who he is yet). During dinner, Joseph plants a silver cup in Benjamin’s (Joseph’s younger brother) bag. Joseph accuses him of theft and says that he must stay behind in the “guardhouse” (I interpret that means jail). Judah, another brother, says he will stay in place of Benjamin. This gives Joseph the realization of self-growth among his brothers. He then reveals his identity to his brothers, tells them they should not feel bad for the past because it was “God’s plan,” and sends the brothers back home to return to Egypt with the entire family to live with Joseph and ride out the rest of the famine. Joseph places the silver in Benjamin’s bag to test the brothers, for in the past, the brothers hearts were overwhelmed with jealousy. Now, he sees how time has changed all of them and forgives. This action relates to his status of the favorite son due to Joseph, who lived to please his father and god for most of his life, wanting to determine the strength of the family and growth of character of each of his brothers following his departure due to being sold into slavery.

The story of Jacob’s wrestling with an unidentified individual within Genesis 32 is not as direct as previous scriptures I’ve read. To start to understand Jacob, you must understand he lacks faith. Jacob has never prayed in his life. Jacob was fleeing from his brother, Esau, who was furious of Jacob taking his birthright. One night while fleeing, Jacob had a dream in which God said to him, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac your father; and I will be your God, too. The land where you are lying all alone, shall belong to you and to your children after you; and your children shall spread abroad over the lands, east and west, and north and south, like the dust of the earth; and in your family all the world shall receive a blessing. And I am with you in your journey, and I will keep you where you are going, and will bring you back to this land. I will never leave you, and I will surely keep my promise to you.” This gave Jacob the strength to carry on his long journey. Years after this, Jacob wanted to reconcile with Esau. Late at night while alone, Jacob comes upon a man on a riverbank. The unidentified man begins to wrestle Jacob until the sunrise. The man could not overpower Jacob, therefore he touched Jacob’s hip socket and made it very painful. The man asked Jacob to let him go, but Jacob would not until he blessed him. The man then asks for Jacob’s name, but when Jacob replies, the man says, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” So to answer the question, “who is his opponent?” I believe the opponent was a divine being. To have the ability to touch someones hip socket and cause pain is abnormal. Also, in the text it says “you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” The struggle with humans has already been identified, but the wrestling match is what I believe to be the struggle with God. For the question, “Who wins?” I believe that neither won, although the man asks him to stop wrestling. I think that Jacob’s determination was special, but he did submit. This is a symbol of the struggle/wrestling with faith may be hard, but if you submit to God, you will come out with peace. Prior to this wrestling match, Jacob was very distraught of his meeting with his brother he was bound to have. After, he was a new man with God’s blessing and the power of faith supporting him.

The definition of religion is a very subjective term. Religion can be a way of life to some. Some like the idea of religion but don’t dedicate themselves to what religion can be. And for others, religion is nonexistent. There are countless religions scattered around the globe, big or small, that state completely different things than one another, or in some cases, are branched off the ideologies of one another. William Cavanaugh, a world renown theologist, stated, “Religion is irrational, religion is absolutist, and religion is divisive.” To break this controversial quote down into parts, religion is irrational because with so many people believing in so many different things, it is unreasonable to not respect someone else’s ideologies, for which their faith has the same support from the past as someone else. This ties directly with the statement in which religion is said to be divisive. “Religion demands one overriding commitment, a potentially lethal subordination of the many to the one.” This statement from Cavanaugh exposes how some religions are large, and they always overshadow the beliefs of the individuals that are a part of the smaller religions. Commitment to one religion leads to negativity towards another and lack of respect to the right to choosing what you want to believe. ‘Religion is absolutist’ from Cavanaugh’s perspective because it is inherent that those who believe their belief is divine and chosen, they will act as it is so. I think that each one of these three points is in some ways (some more than others) true, but again, religion is a truly, absolutely subjective topic and some religions are more extreme than others. This carries over directly to its followers.

People have longed for truth for as long as humanity has existed. Not just in everyday life, but most importantly for the truth of life on Earth’s origin. Wilkens states, “A desire to know the truth of things has been implanted in our souls and is natural to human beings.” It truly is unavoidable for the human mind to not venture into the questions that surround the “unknown.” Augustine, a scholar who Wilken often used to draw his thought, wrote about the Manichaeans, who were to be an independent group of thinkers who were opposed faith and any form of higher being that was responsible of life on Earth. Augustine, who was once intrigued by this way of thinking, realized their ignorance when it came to questions that challenged them. Augustine stated “They mischievously and rashly approach those who accept the authority of the Catholic faith before they can perceive the truth (which only the pure heart can behold), and by believing are fortified and prepared to be enlightened by God.” Finding truth takes time and effort, but believing only what is presented to your eyes is the easy route. This is exactly what the Manichaeans based the entirety of their ideologies around. Belief and faith go hand-in-hand. History is a one-time thing. We, as a society, learn of past endeavors from witnesses of the event, to the people they share, to the people they share, and so on from generation to generation. We do not question some information due to the masses of individuals who believe it and due to the consequences of the event. People, such as the Manichaeans, find the truth not certain due to the long history from the witnesses, or martyrs, to themselves regarding information. The consequences of the events are hidden over thousands of years of life and time. The individuals with undoubted faith are those who accept the information passed down from the martyrs because it is passed down in the same way as any other piece of history from the past. Wilkens says “Historical knowledge requires witnesses, and witness invites faith, or confidence in the word of the one who bears witness.” Those who bear witness to the events that nonbelievers question do not have the ability to change your opinion with further information. This is why faith isn’t easy, but those with faith who believe in the word of those associated with their belief will always be satisfied with their truth.

At the beginning of Chapter 12 of Genesis, god told Abraham, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” This, as we spoke about in class, is another instance where mankind is trying to make a name for themselves. This instance varies from prior actions in the Genesis scriptures because Abraham is attempting to do so by following God’s commands (it is given rather than taken). The things that Abraham received through his actions of following command was land, bounty, and a son (Abraham and his wife were beyond child bearing years at the time). Within Genesis 22:5 and 22:8, I believe Abraham is lying. This lie had no bad intentions, but Abraham was a follower of God without straying from his word. Also, I believe Abraham feared the situations and also feared god. God did not force Abraham to follow through with the action, but this was a test. This also was not the first test we have seen throughout Genesis. For instance, the first test was when Adam and Eve failed to follow God’s commands of not eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This time though, Abraham should be praised for his blindness following of God. It is a hard topic to decide if God is praiseworthy or not because it is God who decides who is praiseworthy or not. Does our opinion on others truly mean anything? The true judge of all on Earth is God and God only. I think that this is something that is often abused in today’s society.

Prior to the first sin of mankind, in which Eve was seduced by the Serpent into eating the product (different books suggest different fruits) of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and shared some with Adam when Gods only command was that its fruits were forbidden, not much is known of how those consequences God cursed upon mankind have shaped us. One thing was proven though in the early scriptures of Genesis, and that is that evil was inevitable. Following Adam and Eve’s casting off from the Garden of Eden, they produced their first two children, Cain and Able. Evil showed up for the second time early in the life of those two children, when Cain attacked and killed Able for God’s likeness of Able and his gifts of fat portions. God begins to worry about his creations of mankind, fearing that their long lifespans made them act as if they were immortal gods and their knowing of death following their time from his quote to Adam and Eve “For you were made from dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3) made mankind act out of pride. An example of this pride Kass wrote about evolving from non-immortality is the tendency formed for men to judge and pick women by appearance. He said appreciation of natural beauty is good, but desire for it is not. To end this age of darkness caused by mankind, God had a plan. The first man God saw fit to start the new age, Noah (the first man to not be related to Adam and the first man born prior to Adam’s death), was to build a boat and bring upon his family and the right amount of animals God commanded. This time, God’s commands were followed and the New Age of life on earth began. The narrative about Noah furthers the concerns present in the account of the first sin in Genesis 3 because the first sin of mankind in Genesis 3 is a product of emphasis of self over community. After this sin, the issues of self over community continues to worsen. For example, Eve first tries to become more God-like by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bed. Then, the first offspring (s) of Eve show signs of this problem worsening when Cain kills his brother Able. Noah being the first to not be a “Children of Adam,” god hopes this continuation of the same issues just stems from the bloodline of Adam and is a curse that will be continues to be passed down for as long as that bloodline is present. Therefore, Noah is saved due to God seeing good in him and not being of Adam’s blood, and the rest of the “Children of Adam” were wiped out. From each of the Genesis scriptures I have read, the sins of humanity are not individual instances, but are all products of the first sin in Genesis 3, and the products of the consequences god cursed upon his creations for the ability to have such abilities to do wrong.