Jinjutha Silpanisong: Observations and Questions

Short summary of chapter:
When Jesus was alive he challenged people, inspired people through his charisma, and angered others. After His crucifixion, it was shown that life beyond death offers hope, questions finality of death, and underscores divine love (pg. 188)
- Questions:
o What do you guys think about a life beyond death?
o If there was no life beyond this life, would you do things differently?
I think this chapter brings all the previous chapters together very nicely. In the beginning of the quarter we talked about how God gave us freewill and due to the fact that we sinned and He is a just God, there had to be a “punishment.” Because God is love, love is God, He couldn’t have done it any other way but to die for us. Because we sinned, God had to take the fall for humanity to show His love.
The cross was the way through which God’s goals were achieved in this ordered world even though death is caused by injustice/evil. However there is a two way relationship between cross and Jesus’ life beyond death. Death is not victorious. God’s suffering shows that His power in the world is love.
- Questions:
o Have you guys ever thought about the possibility that if Jesus was sent to this world a different time, how would He have been persecuted? If He was here today, how would people treat Him? Would he be sent to a hospital to be treated or sent to the chair?
The politics of hope talks about how something new remains possible—dramatic change, the transformation of this world’s structures. Also mentions corruption and oppressive authorities who works using fear of death on other people don’t and can’t win in the end.
- Question:
o Do you think it’s possible to have power and not be corrupt?
Jesus was betrayed and forsaken by his disciples, appeared after death to fellowship with and energize them for service, and accepted them even after failure instead of rejection and anger. Through His actions, he again underscores God’s love.
Love affirms Jesus’ life beyond death because people saw Jesus after His death, those people’s strong conviction that Jesus is alive was so firm that they were willing to risk and sacrifice their lives to testify. One thing I wanted to point out was how the Bible says that women were among the first to see Jesus alive. As mentioned last week, women weren’t recognized in those days. So if it wasn’t true, why mention women?
The book then goes on to list reasons why this wasn’t a hallucination. A few examples: many different people saw Jesus at different locations, encounters between the living Jesus and groups of people (Hallucinations can’t be shared) and Jesus’ grave was empty. No one produced or claimed to have produced his body and the disciples couldn’t have taken it because they were willing to give their lives for it. Why would anyone steal his body?
- “People are unlikely to sacrifice themselves for causes they know to be based on fraud.” Pg. 196

The more I think about how God, Creator of everything, sent Jesus to die for us because of our sins, the more amazed I am at His unconditional love. He is God and could have just “thought” us away for good and create something new, something much better, but instead chose to show how much He loves us as Kary said in our previous classes. And because He showed us that love, I believe we should show our love to others, even those we hate, because God loves them too.

God, Ethics, and Sin

1. Does it make sense to see moral requirements as rooted in divine commands? Why or why not? Where would you agree and disagree with the analysis offered in The Analogy of Love? Why?
2. Do you believe that talk about “sin” adds anything to talk about “moral wrong-doing”? If so, what? How would you defend your view?

Welcome to UHNR 414

I'm very pleased that you've opted to enroll in UHNR 414. I look forward to a lively conversation with you this quarter.

Some initial questions, per the first reading assignment:

1. What does it mean to treat love as a critical control on theological formulation? How would this work? What might be some disadvantages of this approach?

2. Do you believe religious belief is aptly described as a “mental microbe,” as some critics maintain? Why or why not?