My name is Hannah, obviously. I love reading and writing. Color guard is my sport. (Like the band geek that I am.) I'm not anti-social but I spend most of my time on my work. I'm a big fantasy buff and I consider music a necessity. I suppose that's about all there is... Though that just makes me feel like there isn't much to me.
Reader Response for February 26th:
I think it odd that that God as an “all knowing” creature would create woman knowing she would be the one to create sin. If he knew this was to happen, why then did he punish them? I also think it’s strange that shame for nakedness, not the act of being naked, is what changed at the fall of humanity. Does that mean that all insecurity is then sinful? And why would the God of goodness create something to cause badness anyway? I mean I understand that Satan is a fallen angel but how did he have a chance to fall? Angels aren’t human. They don’t make the same mistakes. I also want to know why the cattle was cursed. 3:14 says that they were cursed above the cattle but what did the cattle do to get cursed? And if God created night and day, why do people hate night? I mean I believe that we were created, yes. I think we were made with the ability to fend for ourselves. We instinctually know wrong from right and how to take care of our bodies. But how is it a sin to gain knowledge of wrong and right? God says “Who told you that you’re naked?” so is it then holy to be ignorant? Ignorance is righteous, but then if you’re ignorant how can you know what not to do? I think this has too many loop holes. Too many questions are left unanswered. It states the facts but leaves out the why in my opinion.
Partner Response: Charley Long
God is "all knowing" and we cannot judge his plans because we are NOT all knowing. God has a pupose for all things that he does and it is not our job to fully understand His plans, but we are called to fully obey them. I do not think that shame was entirely what changed at the fall of humanty. I think that their nakedness was a metaphor for thier sin. When their eyes were opened, they realized there was in and tried to cover it up (clothing themselves after they realized they were naked). The cattle was cursed as a product of adam and eve's sin. All things on earth suffered for their sin. Not because God isn't great and merciful, but because we chose sin over God and His perfection. I'm not sure how people "hating night" is relevent because I dont really hate night so....yeah. You say we "intinctually know wrong from right".....don't we know this because eve and adam ate from the true of knowledge of good and evil? YES thats exactly why. It is not holy to be ignorant. It is holy to now what is wrong and right and choose was is right and perfect in God's eyes. Only Jesus was able to live a perfect life. We however cannot because we were born with sinful nature. In my opinion if it wasn't for the knowledge of good and evil, we would not have the chance to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ and be seen as holy and perfect in God's sight. It is not sin to know things are wrong. It is a sin to act in an evil way when you know it was wrong in the first place. If all the questions were answered, we would not need faith. The more questions you have, the more faith you are required to have.
Reader Response for March 8th:
I'm seriously confused. I'm usually pretty good at figuring the deeper meaning but I fail to see how a lack of feeling is defined as perfection. I mean I realize people loose logic when they become emotion heavy but logic isn't always morally right. Is all form of feeling then sinful? And re-eating from the tree doesn't reverse eating from it in the first place. It's physically impossible to undo what has been done. And a doll can't control itself. I'm just so confused... This allusion seems excessively illogical. I mean it's creative but I don't think it's accurate in the least bit.
Partner Response: Charley Long
I was honestly just as confused as you were! I do not agree that the lack of feeling is defined a perfection. But then again, when people realize they are perfect, they are not able to perform perfectly anymore. Even after we went over it in class I'm still a little confused. I don't think all form of feeling is sinful. However, I think that our emotions control us sometimes and they take us places we do not want to go. Your mind tells you the right think to do, but your emotions lead you to the place you were told not to go. So feeling itself isnt sinful, but the places that your feelings can take you if you allow them to can be sinful.
Reader Response for March 13th:
So what I've gotten out of this is that Satan was permitted to enter the world and take revenge on God by way of sin, but in the long run it came back to bite him. Guess even the devil can't out run karma, provided to him through the salvation of Jesus. Satan also shows a sense of power lust because he says it's better to rule over such a miserable place than have to be someone's servant. I do wonder why heaven is such a great place if you just spend the whole time worshiping. I mean where's the fun in that? Eternally locked in a perpetually state of being below someone. I also find it fascinating that Satan is so behind his own cause that nothing, not even where he's been banished to, can break his resolve. He knows what he thinks and is firm in his justification for that way of thinking. The irony in this to me is that non-Christians are called non-believers. Well Satan doesn't serve God but he very obviously believes something. Another term used is faithless, but again, Satan shows strong faith in himself and his cause. I have faith, that we were created. I have faith, that people are capable of knowing wrong from right, act on it or not. But I also have faith that religion is crap designed to make you feel lower than dirt. And btw Mr. Alexander, because I know you're reading these, I'm deist. So yes, I know what I believe. I also don't appreciate being discredited by my classmates for my opinons. The only difference in my beliefs and theirs is I ditched the rules and "spiritual relationship". Oh, and I explained Deism to Luke as well. Okay, I'm better now.
I was not aware anyone was discrediting you. I will try to pay more attention in class in the future. I don't care what religion you are nor anyone else. It's nice seeing everyone's perspective. I hope you don't think I am discrediting you because I love talking about different perspectives and I've tried to make our classroom environment into one that isn't afraid of differing opinions. I encourage you to continue to stand up for whatever it is that you believe and I also encourage everyone else to do the same. In that process I expect you and everyone else to be respectful to each others beliefs and interpretations of the literature. At the end of the day this is just about the literature and how different people can interpret it. It is my opinion that there are no right answers, but all of our answers working together get us closer than anything else possibly can.
I do agree that Satan's goal was to take revenge on God by way of sin and yeah of course it came back to bite him. Everything bad thing satan does gives God glory in the long run. He definitely does have a lust for power and that's why he was kicked out of heaven in the first place. I think that when you get to heaven you will WANT to worship God forever and ever. He granted us eternal life and deserves all the praise we can offer. Even though Satan shows strong faith in his OWN understanding, it is no match for God because He is all knowing. --Charley Long
Reader Response for March 20th:
Satan seems to feel that his power remains unchallenged only because it is such a difficult position. He realizes that he will suffer forever. He points out that his fall was the most dramatic of all the falls in the history of time. It is pointed out that even if they ask for forgiveness and are granted grace they will still desire for the leadership role of God because it is a blissful sort of control. The different people speaking seem to show a confliction of diplomacy.The most emotional pull cries out for all out war but the voice of strategy calls out for sneaky maneuvering to plant a seed in the realm of perfection. They seem to believe that though they can't corrupt heaven, corrupting Earth will pull them more out of their misery. It seemed like they felt dwelling on Earth would create a sort of middle ground between heaven and hell. Yet despite this sentiment they were all nervous about jumping into change. I think maybe they feared that worse punishment would come to them if they rebelled again. I also got the impression that Satan was a bit of a Peacock since he wanted the attention of being brave enough to take on the challenge and experiment of corruption of Earth.
partner response:
I completely agree with everything you just said. I think it is funny though how Satan knows he has no chance to wage war against heaven so he gets revenge on God in the only way that he knows will hurt Him. By corrupting earth. I think it also shows how much God loves us and how much Satan knows that because Satan knows that making us turn away from God is the only thing that will truly hurt God.
--Charley Long
Reader Response for March 28th:
So basically Adam felt obligated to follow Eve into the fall. Eve wasn't sorry for the loss. And God just stood back and watched. What I want to know is why Eve didn't seem remorseful. If she had just lost something so great why didn't she seem to care? She was like "Well I've done it cuz I wanted to and I'll be fine with out you so bye." It sounded a weirdly lot like "Miss. Independent" rather than someone who was just experiencing new knowledge. I also think it's weird that Adam was such a clingy drama queen toward Eve. He knew if he didn't go with her he would probably just get another woman made of him but he was so obsessed with her that he wouldn't let her be forced to leave alone. Even though she specifically said she would be just fine without him. It's all just weird...
My name is Hannah, obviously. I love reading and writing. Color guard is my sport. (Like the band geek that I am.) I'm not anti-social but I spend most of my time on my work. I'm a big fantasy buff and I consider music a necessity. I suppose that's about all there is... Though that just makes me feel like there isn't much to me.
Reader Response for February 26th:
I think it odd that that God as an “all knowing” creature would create woman knowing she would be the one to create sin. If he knew this was to happen, why then did he punish them? I also think it’s strange that shame for nakedness, not the act of being naked, is what changed at the fall of humanity. Does that mean that all insecurity is then sinful? And why would the God of goodness create something to cause badness anyway? I mean I understand that Satan is a fallen angel but how did he have a chance to fall? Angels aren’t human. They don’t make the same mistakes. I also want to know why the cattle was cursed. 3:14 says that they were cursed above the cattle but what did the cattle do to get cursed? And if God created night and day, why do people hate night? I mean I believe that we were created, yes. I think we were made with the ability to fend for ourselves. We instinctually know wrong from right and how to take care of our bodies. But how is it a sin to gain knowledge of wrong and right? God says “Who told you that you’re naked?” so is it then holy to be ignorant? Ignorance is righteous, but then if you’re ignorant how can you know what not to do? I think this has too many loop holes. Too many questions are left unanswered. It states the facts but leaves out the why in my opinion.
Partner Response: Charley Long
God is "all knowing" and we cannot judge his plans because we are NOT all knowing. God has a pupose for all things that he does and it is not our job to fully understand His plans, but we are called to fully obey them. I do not think that shame was entirely what changed at the fall of humanty. I think that their nakedness was a metaphor for thier sin. When their eyes were opened, they realized there was in and tried to cover it up (clothing themselves after they realized they were naked). The cattle was cursed as a product of adam and eve's sin. All things on earth suffered for their sin. Not because God isn't great and merciful, but because we chose sin over God and His perfection. I'm not sure how people "hating night" is relevent because I dont really hate night so....yeah. You say we "intinctually know wrong from right".....don't we know this because eve and adam ate from the true of knowledge of good and evil? YES thats exactly why. It is not holy to be ignorant. It is holy to now what is wrong and right and choose was is right and perfect in God's eyes. Only Jesus was able to live a perfect life. We however cannot because we were born with sinful nature. In my opinion if it wasn't for the knowledge of good and evil, we would not have the chance to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ and be seen as holy and perfect in God's sight. It is not sin to know things are wrong. It is a sin to act in an evil way when you know it was wrong in the first place. If all the questions were answered, we would not need faith. The more questions you have, the more faith you are required to have.
Reader Response for March 8th:
I'm seriously confused. I'm usually pretty good at figuring the deeper meaning but I fail to see how a lack of feeling is defined as perfection. I mean I realize people loose logic when they become emotion heavy but logic isn't always morally right. Is all form of feeling then sinful? And re-eating from the tree doesn't reverse eating from it in the first place. It's physically impossible to undo what has been done. And a doll can't control itself. I'm just so confused... This allusion seems excessively illogical. I mean it's creative but I don't think it's accurate in the least bit.
Partner Response: Charley Long
I was honestly just as confused as you were! I do not agree that the lack of feeling is defined a perfection. But then again, when people realize they are perfect, they are not able to perform perfectly anymore. Even after we went over it in class I'm still a little confused. I don't think all form of feeling is sinful. However, I think that our emotions control us sometimes and they take us places we do not want to go. Your mind tells you the right think to do, but your emotions lead you to the place you were told not to go. So feeling itself isnt sinful, but the places that your feelings can take you if you allow them to can be sinful.
Reader Response for March 13th:
So what I've gotten out of this is that Satan was permitted to enter the world and take revenge on God by way of sin, but in the long run it came back to bite him. Guess even the devil can't out run karma, provided to him through the salvation of Jesus. Satan also shows a sense of power lust because he says it's better to rule over such a miserable place than have to be someone's servant. I do wonder why heaven is such a great place if you just spend the whole time worshiping. I mean where's the fun in that? Eternally locked in a perpetually state of being below someone. I also find it fascinating that Satan is so behind his own cause that nothing, not even where he's been banished to, can break his resolve. He knows what he thinks and is firm in his justification for that way of thinking. The irony in this to me is that non-Christians are called non-believers. Well Satan doesn't serve God but he very obviously believes something. Another term used is faithless, but again, Satan shows strong faith in himself and his cause. I have faith, that we were created. I have faith, that people are capable of knowing wrong from right, act on it or not. But I also have faith that religion is crap designed to make you feel lower than dirt. And btw Mr. Alexander, because I know you're reading these, I'm deist. So yes, I know what I believe. I also don't appreciate being discredited by my classmates for my opinons. The only difference in my beliefs and theirs is I ditched the rules and "spiritual relationship". Oh, and I explained Deism to Luke as well. Okay, I'm better now.
I was not aware anyone was discrediting you. I will try to pay more attention in class in the future. I don't care what religion you are nor anyone else. It's nice seeing everyone's perspective. I hope you don't think I am discrediting you because I love talking about different perspectives and I've tried to make our classroom environment into one that isn't afraid of differing opinions. I encourage you to continue to stand up for whatever it is that you believe and I also encourage everyone else to do the same. In that process I expect you and everyone else to be respectful to each others beliefs and interpretations of the literature. At the end of the day this is just about the literature and how different people can interpret it. It is my opinion that there are no right answers, but all of our answers working together get us closer than anything else possibly can.
I do agree that Satan's goal was to take revenge on God by way of sin and yeah of course it came back to bite him. Everything bad thing satan does gives God glory in the long run. He definitely does have a lust for power and that's why he was kicked out of heaven in the first place. I think that when you get to heaven you will WANT to worship God forever and ever. He granted us eternal life and deserves all the praise we can offer. Even though Satan shows strong faith in his OWN understanding, it is no match for God because He is all knowing.
--Charley Long
Reader Response for March 20th:
Satan seems to feel that his power remains unchallenged only because it is such a difficult position. He realizes that he will suffer forever. He points out that his fall was the most dramatic of all the falls in the history of time. It is pointed out that even if they ask for forgiveness and are granted grace they will still desire for the leadership role of God because it is a blissful sort of control. The different people speaking seem to show a confliction of diplomacy.The most emotional pull cries out for all out war but the voice of strategy calls out for sneaky maneuvering to plant a seed in the realm of perfection. They seem to believe that though they can't corrupt heaven, corrupting Earth will pull them more out of their misery. It seemed like they felt dwelling on Earth would create a sort of middle ground between heaven and hell. Yet despite this sentiment they were all nervous about jumping into change. I think maybe they feared that worse punishment would come to them if they rebelled again. I also got the impression that Satan was a bit of a Peacock since he wanted the attention of being brave enough to take on the challenge and experiment of corruption of Earth.
partner response:
I completely agree with everything you just said. I think it is funny though how Satan knows he has no chance to wage war against heaven so he gets revenge on God in the only way that he knows will hurt Him. By corrupting earth. I think it also shows how much God loves us and how much Satan knows that because Satan knows that making us turn away from God is the only thing that will truly hurt God.
--Charley Long
Reader Response for March 28th:
So basically Adam felt obligated to follow Eve into the fall. Eve wasn't sorry for the loss. And God just stood back and watched. What I want to know is why Eve didn't seem remorseful. If she had just lost something so great why didn't she seem to care? She was like "Well I've done it cuz I wanted to and I'll be fine with out you so bye." It sounded a weirdly lot like "Miss. Independent" rather than someone who was just experiencing new knowledge. I also think it's weird that Adam was such a clingy drama queen toward Eve. He knew if he didn't go with her he would probably just get another woman made of him but he was so obsessed with her that he wouldn't let her be forced to leave alone. Even though she specifically said she would be just fine without him. It's all just weird...