Hey i'm charley long. I'm a junior at Wren High School.
Genesis 1-3:
I loved reading in Genesis because I love how much there are so many important things about Gensis that don't necessarily jump out to you while you're reading it. Even though the bible does not give a step by step explanation of how He made the heavens and the earth, I believe that God was extremely percise in His work. I believe that He took His time and that our definiton of 7 days is extremely different from how long it actually took to make the heaven and the earth. A day to Him could be 1000 years to us...who knows? After God created the heavens and the earth, He made the first man and woman. God made the man and woman in His image to be supreme over all things on earth. It says that after God made man, He put the man into he gardn of Eden to WORK it and KEEP it. This shows in the very beginning that he man is meant to WORK and have a job to support himself and his future wife. God also says that "it is not good that the man should be alone; i wil mak him a HELPER fit for him." This shows that the woman was made to HELP her husband. She is COMMANDED to help her husband. I believe that God made woman from the man's rib to show that the woman is the mans equal and should be by his SIDE and be his PARTNER and HELPER through out life. Now of course in Genesis 3 it is so easy to blame Eve and say that it is her fault that her and Adam sinned. Aferall, Eve is the one that encouraged Adam to eat from the tree of good and evil, right? Eve and Adam tried to hide from God and cover up their sin after their eyes were opened. Instead of blaming Eve as Adam did, God goes to Adam and asks him first what had happened even though God knows that Eve was the one responsible. This shows that the man is responsible for leadng his family and he will answer for the sins that his family committs. It says that Godmade for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them whick is a symbol for the sacrifices that would be made (The lamb, Jesus) for thier sins. Although the did not die physically because they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve died spiritually by disobeying God.
Actually, God made man as a care taker for the garden. Work is the punishment for disobedience. And though God originally made man to be above animals, he cursed them below them for their disobedience. Eve was also originally an equal to Adam. She only became below him after their sin. Basically, Adam and Eve were buddies and God cursed them with love and relationships. The tree also, was a tree of knowledge. Who wouldn't want knowledge? And if it specifially says days, and the Bible was written by men through "the voice of God", wouldn't it then mean days? I mean day and night hasn't changed over all these years. And who said they would die from eating from the tree? They were just told "don't do it". Kind of vauge. Usually if you tell someone not to do something without a reason, they're gonna be curious what will happen from doing it. And if God is so perfect how did Satan fall in the first place? Angels don't sin like humans, remember? And as you said, God knew Eve would sin, so why did he make her? Lonliness isn't a holy feeling. God is supposed to be enough. So really, Adam just needed God to keep him company. In a way, that implies that God conspired to curse humanity with pain, heartache, strife, etc.
-Hannah McVey
writing response #2
At first I was extremely confused about this writing and had no idea why he was talking about dancing puppets. As I kept reading it I realized that when he was talking about how a person can control a puppet and how they are controlled by their core that the writing was really talking about how other people can control you and manipulate how you act if they know exactly how to do it. In a way, if we let people control or actions and thoughts, we are at the mercy of them and how they pull thier "strings" to make them dance the dance they want them to, to the tune that they choose. I could be completely wrong, who knows? I guess i'll find out in class tomorrow.
That's an interesting theory but then that implies we're perfect in grace. I didn't really get it either so...
-Hannah McVey
writing response #3--The Cave
This story was by far my favorite. It reminds me of The Cave by Mumford & Sons. "Come out of the cave walking on your hands and see the world hanging upside down"...its almost like the cave was a symbol of their sheltered thoughts. They were TOLD (in a way) what the reality was. Or they SAW only what they were allowed to see to form their "reality". They were not allowed to form their own thoughts. When they walking out of the cave, as the song says, it seemed like the world was upside down. They didn't know what was real and what was a shadow. I can't even imagine how confusing that must be. I feel like when we are not allowed to form our own opinions about the world, we don't truly know what reality is. Reality is all about our own perception of life. And if it is all about our own perception then that means that everyones reality is different. So the real question is what is reality?
Well if you think about it, they were allowed to form their own thoughts. They knew what they believed things to be. Of course, they later discovered that they were only seeing things from one perspective. Then the admission of new perspectives allowed them to expand what they believed to be real. I think this writing shows that learning is a constant circle. You start knowing one amount, are shown another view point, and edit yours to account for taking in that view point. Though most people don't do this, it is the best way to achieve knowledge. In a way, not to accept this cycle is to accept ignorance.
-Hannah McVey
Writing response #4--paradise lost II
I thought this story was really interesting and it made me question a lot of things. For example, how did God choose which angels he would let fall along with Satan? Why did the fall of Satan have to happen in the first place? I think it's funny how Satan decided to become the "hero" and volunteer to go down to earth. When really, that was his manipulative plan to gain power and have revenge on God. The demons seem so scared and have so much fear when it comes to raging war again God, as they should be. But they weren't too scared to rebel again Him before so why are they scared now? Are they just now realizing the consequences of their actions? Or did Satan CREATE the fear that they now have. Did he create fear so that he could make himself a hero? I believe that's they only way he could gain power and control over the demons. That is the only way Satan could make them be thankful for him. It was all part of his master plan.
I don't think they were fully aware of what punishment was in store for them. No one had ever rebelled and all things were perfect so they didn't have an example as the consequences of their own actions. Perhaps Satan created the fear or perhaps he only fed a fear that was already very much alive. They weren't afraid when rebelling because they still believed they could take over. Now they have seen that they can't take over and they will suffer for even trying to. Yes, Satan exemplifies their fear, but you can't build insecurity if doubt isn't already planted in that person.
-Hannah McVey
Hey i'm charley long. I'm a junior at Wren High School.
Genesis 1-3:
I loved reading in Genesis because I love how much there are so many important things about Gensis that don't necessarily jump out to you while you're reading it. Even though the bible does not give a step by step explanation of how He made the heavens and the earth, I believe that God was extremely percise in His work. I believe that He took His time and that our definiton of 7 days is extremely different from how long it actually took to make the heaven and the earth. A day to Him could be 1000 years to us...who knows? After God created the heavens and the earth, He made the first man and woman. God made the man and woman in His image to be supreme over all things on earth. It says that after God made man, He put the man into he gardn of Eden to WORK it and KEEP it. This shows in the very beginning that he man is meant to WORK and have a job to support himself and his future wife. God also says that "it is not good that the man should be alone; i wil mak him a HELPER fit for him." This shows that the woman was made to HELP her husband. She is COMMANDED to help her husband. I believe that God made woman from the man's rib to show that the woman is the mans equal and should be by his SIDE and be his PARTNER and HELPER through out life. Now of course in Genesis 3 it is so easy to blame Eve and say that it is her fault that her and Adam sinned. Aferall, Eve is the one that encouraged Adam to eat from the tree of good and evil, right? Eve and Adam tried to hide from God and cover up their sin after their eyes were opened. Instead of blaming Eve as Adam did, God goes to Adam and asks him first what had happened even though God knows that Eve was the one responsible. This shows that the man is responsible for leadng his family and he will answer for the sins that his family committs. It says that Godmade for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them whick is a symbol for the sacrifices that would be made (The lamb, Jesus) for thier sins. Although the did not die physically because they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve died spiritually by disobeying God.
Actually, God made man as a care taker for the garden. Work is the punishment for disobedience. And though God originally made man to be above animals, he cursed them below them for their disobedience. Eve was also originally an equal to Adam. She only became below him after their sin. Basically, Adam and Eve were buddies and God cursed them with love and relationships. The tree also, was a tree of knowledge. Who wouldn't want knowledge? And if it specifially says days, and the Bible was written by men through "the voice of God", wouldn't it then mean days? I mean day and night hasn't changed over all these years. And who said they would die from eating from the tree? They were just told "don't do it". Kind of vauge. Usually if you tell someone not to do something without a reason, they're gonna be curious what will happen from doing it. And if God is so perfect how did Satan fall in the first place? Angels don't sin like humans, remember? And as you said, God knew Eve would sin, so why did he make her? Lonliness isn't a holy feeling. God is supposed to be enough. So really, Adam just needed God to keep him company. In a way, that implies that God conspired to curse humanity with pain, heartache, strife, etc.
-Hannah McVey
writing response #2
At first I was extremely confused about this writing and had no idea why he was talking about dancing puppets. As I kept reading it I realized that when he was talking about how a person can control a puppet and how they are controlled by their core that the writing was really talking about how other people can control you and manipulate how you act if they know exactly how to do it. In a way, if we let people control or actions and thoughts, we are at the mercy of them and how they pull thier "strings" to make them dance the dance they want them to, to the tune that they choose. I could be completely wrong, who knows? I guess i'll find out in class tomorrow.
That's an interesting theory but then that implies we're perfect in grace. I didn't really get it either so...
-Hannah McVey
writing response #3--The Cave
This story was by far my favorite. It reminds me of The Cave by Mumford & Sons. "Come out of the cave walking on your hands and see the world hanging upside down"...its almost like the cave was a symbol of their sheltered thoughts. They were TOLD (in a way) what the reality was. Or they SAW only what they were allowed to see to form their "reality". They were not allowed to form their own thoughts. When they walking out of the cave, as the song says, it seemed like the world was upside down. They didn't know what was real and what was a shadow. I can't even imagine how confusing that must be. I feel like when we are not allowed to form our own opinions about the world, we don't truly know what reality is. Reality is all about our own perception of life. And if it is all about our own perception then that means that everyones reality is different. So the real question is what is reality?
Well if you think about it, they were allowed to form their own thoughts. They knew what they believed things to be. Of course, they later discovered that they were only seeing things from one perspective. Then the admission of new perspectives allowed them to expand what they believed to be real. I think this writing shows that learning is a constant circle. You start knowing one amount, are shown another view point, and edit yours to account for taking in that view point. Though most people don't do this, it is the best way to achieve knowledge. In a way, not to accept this cycle is to accept ignorance.
-Hannah McVey
Writing response #4--paradise lost II
I thought this story was really interesting and it made me question a lot of things. For example, how did God choose which angels he would let fall along with Satan? Why did the fall of Satan have to happen in the first place? I think it's funny how Satan decided to become the "hero" and volunteer to go down to earth. When really, that was his manipulative plan to gain power and have revenge on God. The demons seem so scared and have so much fear when it comes to raging war again God, as they should be. But they weren't too scared to rebel again Him before so why are they scared now? Are they just now realizing the consequences of their actions? Or did Satan CREATE the fear that they now have. Did he create fear so that he could make himself a hero? I believe that's they only way he could gain power and control over the demons. That is the only way Satan could make them be thankful for him. It was all part of his master plan.
I don't think they were fully aware of what punishment was in store for them. No one had ever rebelled and all things were perfect so they didn't have an example as the consequences of their own actions. Perhaps Satan created the fear or perhaps he only fed a fear that was already very much alive. They weren't afraid when rebelling because they still believed they could take over. Now they have seen that they can't take over and they will suffer for even trying to. Yes, Satan exemplifies their fear, but you can't build insecurity if doubt isn't already planted in that person.
-Hannah McVey