Internet Issue

Marriage

Verses used: Genesis 2:18, 21-24

The Vatican

In a letter titled, Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan, the Catholic Bishops use these verses to suggest that Adam and Eve were literally made for each other. They say that man and woman have been made to come together in the union of marriage clinging together of husband and wife as one flesh. In the letter, its says that man and woman are both different, male and female, but the same as human persons who are uniquely suited to be partners or helpmates for each other. In addition, they say that marriage is a unique communion of persons. In their intimate union as male and female, the spouses are called to exist for each other. Just as Genesis describes Eve as a helper for Adam, we can see that in marriage, a husband and wife are meant to help each other through self-giving. “In the ‘unity of the two,‘ man and woman are called from the beginning not only to exist ‘side by side‘ or ‘together,‘ but they are also called to exist mutually one for the other.‟

Source: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/love-and-life/upload/pastoral-letter-marriage-love-and-life-in-the-divine-plan.pdf

Genesis 24:48-51, 58-67

Rev. Darren M. Henson, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas (Catholic)

Rev. Henson uses Genesis 24:48-51, 58-67 to illustrate that marriage is an act from God. In this section of the bible, Isaac’s mother dies and Abraham looks to give Isaac a wife. Henson says that this section at first appears to be a pre-arranged marriage but actually illustrates that marriage is made by God. In this verses, Abraham’s main intent is not to pick his son’s wife. Instead, he seeks the fulfillment of a promise made by God to give Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Laban prays to be guided to the right young woman, to Henson, this prayer helps to verify that this process is done with God. In addition, Rebekah’s consent also helps verifies that she is participating in God’s will, not some coercive act. We also know that Isaac did not just accept her but he took her into his tent. He loved her, and they married.

Source: http://www.foryourmarriage.org/old-testament-readings/

 Genesis 2:18, 20, 22-25

Andreas J. Kostenberger is the Director of Ph.D. Studies and Professor of New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

In her brochure, titled The Bible’s Teaching on Marriage and Family, Kostenberger says that marriage is a covenant, “a sacred bond between a man and a woman instituted by and publicly entered into before God and normally consummated by sexual intercourse.” She says that marriage covenant involves at least the following five vital principles: The permanence of marriage, the sacredness of marriage, the intimacy of marriage, the mutuality of marriage, and the exclusiveness of marriage.  These five principles are derived from the biblical verses. Which suggest that marriage is not only permanent, sacred, intimate, and mutual; it is also exclusive. This means that no other human relationship must interfere with the marriage commitment between husband and wife.

http://www.frc.org/brochure/the-bibles-teaching-on-marriage-and-family

Internet Issue: Abortion

Pro-Life
PristsforLife.org
http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/4376-the-bibles-teaching-against-abortion

In this online post, Father Frank Pavone explains how the Bible explains that abortion is wrong. Pavone is an American Roman-Catholic priest who serves as the national director of the organization “Priests for Life” and has made a name for himself by adamantly opposing abortion. Within his argument, he cites several different passages from the bible that he believes backs his stance on abortion. I will discuss a few of his major points below.

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25 “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” Pavone believes that since humans are created in God’s image he cherishes our lives more than other living things. Further, he believes that because humans are created in in God’s image human life is more sacred than we can even imagine and not something that should willingly be “disposed” of.

Psalm 127:3 “Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Pavone believes that since God allows us to reproduce that it is sinful to interrupt this process.

“You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God” (Psalm 22:10-11). Pavone believes that God recognizes fetuses still within their Mother’s wombs as humans.

Pro-choice
Beliefnet.com
http://www.beliefnet.com/News/2003/01/The-Biblical-Basis-Forbeing-Pro-Choice.aspx

In this online post, Marjorie Brahms Signer explains why abortion is not opposed in the bible. Singer is the communications and policy director of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and is widely published author of pro-choice literature. Unfortunately, I was not able to find out what religious denomination Signer is, but the aforementioned organization she is a part of consists of more than 40 different religious denominations. Signer does not use as many explicit quotes from the bible as Pavone, but still does reference some biblical passages in her argument defending pro-choice. In fact, one of Signer’s arguments was that the Bible does not even mention abortion.

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25 “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” In opposition to Pavone’s interpretation, Signer believes that because humans were created in God image, we are able to act in a morale manner. In addition, Pavone believes that since God has given humans free will we are able to treat our bodies in the way that will be most beneficial.

“God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Signer references this quote to further her point out how the bible does not explicitly mention how people are to properly reproduce and if there any stipulations regarding this process.

“When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may extract from him, the payment based on reckoning” (Exodus 21:22-23). Signer uses this biblical passage to discuss the inequality that exists between fetuses and people.

Click here for a link to a tablet that tells the story of Atra-hasis, which is at the British Museum today:

Cuneiform tablet with the Atra-hasis Epic

Upon casually looking for a book while wearing an Obama mask, I came across two texts that I thought would be relevant to the material we are learning in class. I used the Lafayette College Catalog to find my books. One was called Radical Religion in America by Jeffery Kaplan. The book generally spoke about different religious practices that would seem barbaric to us now, but were accepted in the past. While looking for a book, I saw one of my friends that is currently taking a Religion 101 course. She is reading Religions of India in Practice. The book provides a different way to look at how everything was created compared to what we are learning in class. I find it extremely interesting that people came up with these complex explanations of how the world was created and that they were accepted without question.

Smith, W. (1993). What is scripture? : a comparative approach / Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Minneapolis : Fortress Press, c1993.

When I search for books, I type a very broad search term. It has always been easier for me to do that because I get a range of books. that might interest me. Something I may not have been looking for might pop up in my search. If I know exactly what I’m looking for, I am more specific. However, in this case, I just wanted to know the different books that were there that had the potential to contribute to our discussion. So I typed in “religion” in the Lafayette Library online catalog just so I knew where all the related books were located. As I searched through, the book, What is Scripture, (maybe because I’ve always wondered myself) jumped out at me.

From reading the preface and a little bit of the introduction, it seems like this book uses a comparative approach to explain what scripture is and what it means to different religions. It also seems that the book may intend to examine the use of scripture in human life for these major religions. In the preface, the author explains that even though academia has studied these texts, rarely have they considered human involvement or why religious communities have scriptures. There is a chapter that discusses scripture and the Jewish/Christian religion.

While I was looking, I saw another book, Women, gender, religion : A Reader. Being a women’s and gender studies major and having a major interest in religion, I was particularly excited to see what this book was about. It seemed as though it examined and analyzed  the intersectionality of gender and religion.

Castelli, E. A., & Rodman, R. C. (2001). Women, gender, religion : a reader / edited by Elizabeth A. Castelli with the assistance of Rosamond C. Rodman. New York : Palgrave, 2001.

Evans, Craig A, Joel N Lohr, and David L Peterson, eds. The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception and Interpretation. Boston: Leiden, 2012. Print.

I found this book by using the Lafayette Library Catalog in the Skillman library. I used the keyword “genesis” to find a whole listing of books related to Genesis. I then wrote down the call number and located the book in the upper part of the Skillman library.

The book I chose is called The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception and Interpretation. I chose this book because I liked how the cover was plain and simple (just like me). The book contained 29 essays on a range of topics with four main section: 1.) General Topics, 2.) Issues in Interpretation, 3.) Textual Transmission and Reception History and 4.) Genesis and Theology. I thought this book related a lot to what we have been discussing in class with the story of Genesis and the Interpreters idea of what the different stories in Genesis mean. There were parts of the book that were in Hebrew and in front of the book there were pages with Hebrew Abbreviations of words. It caught my eye and looked interesting.

Pieters, Albertus. Notes on Genesis: For Minister and Serious Bible Students. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1947.

The author of Notes On Genesis, Albertus Pieters, states the position from which he writes the book right off the bat; immediately the reader has the knowledge that Pieters believes that the Bible is the true word of God, and also that he holds this belief from a Christian point of view. As a result we can use this book to study Christian interpretations of Genesis. As the title indicates that serious Bible students should read the book, it is likely that the text contains more than simply Pieters’ own opinions, but rather what he considers to be the most widely accepted interpretations of the book of Genesis. The title also states that the book is for ministers, indicating that it is useful for faith-based study as well as academic study.

I was able to find this book in the 200s (Religion) section of the basement floor of Skillman Library, as I have made use of several other books of similar nature from this location. These books tend to be older (the book I selected was published in 1947), which I find appealing as the majority of them stick to pure analysis and interpretation, whereas many of the newer books focus on cultural ramifications and the politics involved in interpreting the Bible in different ways. This section of the library includes books containing analysis of all aspects of the Hebrew Bible, from the perspective of Jews, Christians, University professors, and ministers.

Soulen, Richard N., and R. Kendall Soulen. Handbook of Biblical Criticism. 4th ed. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 1976. Print.

Richard N. Soulen and R. Kendall Soulen
I used the Lafayette College Library Catalog to search for my book. I typed in “analytical bible” and clicked search. The first result sounded promising so I went to the shelves to look for it. However during my search for the book another book caught my eye. I found Richard N. Soulen and R. Kendall Soulen’s “Handbook of Biblical Criticism”. After briefly flipping through the pages and realizing that I was in the reference section I figured out the book was more of a helpful guide to a reader reading the bible or works that analyze the bible. The handbook does no analyzing of its own from what I can tell, however, I provides quick definitions to common biblical ideas, words, phrases, and analytical terms. For example the Documentary hypothesis is explained in the handbook. The individual letters, their origin, creator, and meanings, of the Doc. Hypothesis are discussed. The books around this one also provide full list of all male and female biblical characters and other helpful resources for a bible critique. The handbook might not further the class yet rather help fortify the class along the way.