This is just a paper i wrote that i think deals with some of the stuff we have talked about in class. Especially after yesterday discussing Jesus and such....
Throughout history God has been viewed by human beings as benevolent, omnipotent, and immanent. However, the perceptions of God in the Old Testament, and the perceptions of God in the New Testament are viewed as two separate entities. The God of the Old Testament is a God who possesses qualities similar to man; he is wrathful, vindictive, and even vulnerable. The God of the New Testament is mainly seen through Jesus, an incessant symbol of love and forgiveness. As man begins to grasp and comprehend God he develops into a God less comparable to the human condition. Man attributes human qualities to entities beyond their comprehension in order to bridge the gap between what they can verify, and concepts beyond their range of experience.
The God of the Old Testament was a God of judgment and vindictiveness, both on Israel , as well as all the nations. However, he was a God formed in the human condition. The book of Job is evidence of God’s humanity. Job is the first of five books commonly referred to as "The Books of Poetry" in the Old Testament. In chapter one, Job is described as a man of great probity, virtue, and piety. He has seven sons and three daughters, possesses much livestock and many servants and is respected by society. Job is right in the eyes of God and is a servant of the Lord. God permits Satan to put the virtue of Job to the test. Satan and God place a bet on Job’s faith in God. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job, 1. 7) God essentially puts his creation in Satan’s hand. If God was to lose the wager between them Satan would fundamentally prove that the essence of Gods existence, faith, does not exist. This is the only scripture in the bible where God’s vulnerability, a quality associated only with man, is evident. Satan begins by taking away all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and his children. “Let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death.” (Job, 10. 20) Satan strips Job of all of his possessions and loved ones; all that Job has worked for in life is taken from him in a matter of days. However, Job refuses to revoke his faith in God, as well as in his righteousness, and repent for forgiveness. Though Job has been robbed of the physical possessions which set him above other members of society, he still exists in his own flesh and health. Satan recognizes that in order to debilitate Job’s faith he must strip him of his own flesh and physical self. However, even when he was exiled to a dung heap to live out the rest of his days and decay in the flesh he refuses to repent and profess his faith for sins which he did not commit. “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” (Job, 19. 25) After Job’s refusal to renounce his faith and curse God, God wins the wager.
The scripture of Job tells certain self evident truths about the human condition in relation to God. Similarly to the scripture of Job, Archibald McLeish's J.B., a modern verse retelling book of Job, pits God and the Devil against one another for the ultimate prize, the faith of a good man. The play opens with Nickles and Mr Zuss, actors who are reduced by time to selling concessions. However, they play the roles of God and Satan- ironically the most recognized and defining dichotomy of all time. As in the book of Job, Satan challenges God to take his most faithful man, strip him of everything he holds dear, including his own flesh, and watch him curse god. J.B., a wealthy banker assumes the role of Job. He describes his prosperity as a reward for his faithfulness and belief of God.
Although antithetical with the message in the book of Job, the tower of Babel is analogous with the scripture of Job in the sense that they both demonstrate man’s attempt to attribute human qualities with God. The scripture of the tower of Babel occurs in the Old Testament. The society of Babel forms a rebellion against God and eventually depicts the overreach of human aspirations. As a united group, the people of Babel initiated an enormous project to build a turret that would reach heaven. They said to each other, "Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." So they had bricks for building blocks and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Let us build a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves so we will not be scattered around the earth." (11:1-4) this scripture claims that humanity itself was once a single community, they shared the same language, customs, and society. However, the people of Babel were intent on creating their own city and culture. “God came down to see the city and the tower which the men had built. God said, "If as one people with one language this is the beginning of what they can do, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Let us go down and confuse their language there so no one can understand the other's language." (11:5-7) God confounded their ability to communicate with one another, essentially making it impossible to build a tower that reached the heavens. God was not threatened by the building of the tower itself, however he was threatened by their attempt to disobey his commands and show a lack of faith in him.
Throughout history God has been viewed by human beings as benevolent, omnipotent, and immanent. However, the perceptions of God in the Old Testament, and the perceptions of God in the New Testament are viewed as two separate entities. The God of the Old Testament is a God who possesses qualities similar to man; he is wrathful, vindictive, and even vulnerable. The God of the New Testament is mainly seen through Jesus, an incessant symbol of love and forgiveness. As man begins to grasp and comprehend God he develops into a God less comparable to the human condition. Man attributes human qualities to entities beyond their comprehension in order to bridge the gap between what they can verify, and concepts beyond their range of experience.
The God of the Old Testament was a God of judgment and vindictiveness, both on Israel , as well as all the nations. However, he was a God formed in the human condition. The book of Job is evidence of God’s humanity. Job is the first of five books commonly referred to as "The Books of Poetry" in the Old Testament. In chapter one, Job is described as a man of great probity, virtue, and piety. He has seven sons and three daughters, possesses much livestock and many servants and is respected by society. Job is right in the eyes of God and is a servant of the Lord. God permits Satan to put the virtue of Job to the test. Satan and God place a bet on Job’s faith in God. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job, 1. 7) God essentially puts his creation in Satan’s hand. If God was to lose the wager between them Satan would fundamentally prove that the essence of Gods existence, faith, does not exist. This is the only scripture in the bible where God’s vulnerability, a quality associated only with man, is evident. Satan begins by taking away all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and his children. “Let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death.” (Job, 10. 20) Satan strips Job of all of his possessions and loved ones; all that Job has worked for in life is taken from him in a matter of days. However, Job refuses to revoke his faith in God, as well as in his righteousness, and repent for forgiveness. Though Job has been robbed of the physical possessions which set him above other members of society, he still exists in his own flesh and health. Satan recognizes that in order to debilitate Job’s faith he must strip him of his own flesh and physical self. However, even when he was exiled to a dung heap to live out the rest of his days and decay in the flesh he refuses to repent and profess his faith for sins which he did not commit. “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” (Job, 19. 25) After Job’s refusal to renounce his faith and curse God, God wins the wager.
The scripture of Job tells certain self evident truths about the human condition in relation to God. Similarly to the scripture of Job, Archibald McLeish's J.B., a modern verse retelling book of Job, pits God and the Devil against one another for the ultimate prize, the faith of a good man. The play opens with Nickles and Mr Zuss, actors who are reduced by time to selling concessions. However, they play the roles of God and Satan- ironically the most recognized and defining dichotomy of all time. As in the book of Job, Satan challenges God to take his most faithful man, strip him of everything he holds dear, including his own flesh, and watch him curse god. J.B., a wealthy banker assumes the role of Job. He describes his prosperity as a reward for his faithfulness and belief of God.
Although antithetical with the message in the book of Job, the tower of Babel is analogous with the scripture of Job in the sense that they both demonstrate man’s attempt to attribute human qualities with God. The scripture of the tower of Babel occurs in the Old Testament. The society of Babel forms a rebellion against God and eventually depicts the overreach of human aspirations. As a united group, the people of Babel initiated an enormous project to build a turret that would reach heaven. They said to each other, "Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." So they had bricks for building blocks and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Let us build a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves so we will not be scattered around the earth." (11:1-4) this scripture claims that humanity itself was once a single community, they shared the same language, customs, and society. However, the people of Babel were intent on creating their own city and culture. “God came down to see the city and the tower which the men had built. God said, "If as one people with one language this is the beginning of what they can do, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Let us go down and confuse their language there so no one can understand the other's language." (11:5-7) God confounded their ability to communicate with one another, essentially making it impossible to build a tower that reached the heavens. God was not threatened by the building of the tower itself, however he was threatened by their attempt to disobey his commands and show a lack of faith in him.
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