WEEK FOUR - Monday, July 6

In class today, we began by reading a prayer on p.147. I learned what Deuteronomic Dualism was; that belief that we will be rewarded here and now. For me, this shed some light on why the Jews at the time of Jesus did not wish to interact with the poor and sick, for fear they would become "impure". Since there wasn't really any belief in an afterlife with God, they wished to remain [ritually] clean/pure during their worldly life. They thought that the sick and poor of society were the sinners, those unfavored by God. Jesus seemed to preach the opposite of this belief when he came.
We got our chapter 4 tests back and corrected them. Remember to PAY ATTENTION in class before tests for material that could be tested on!! Took Ch 5 Test, turned in Witness to Faith hard copies. I will present my Pedro Arrupe report in class tomorrow.
The class watched a movie called How Jesus Died: The Final 18 Hours. It made me cringe at times as experts explained medically the extreme anguish and pain Jesus suffered in the final hours of his life. Visually watching the driving of the nails during the Crucifixion shocked me the most. The class briefly described funeral settings; then settings in general - where we are when we best encounter God. (Compared Mark 1 with Isaiah 43, which differ only in punctuation..) I best encounter God in nature while I'm out running by myself. It's an awesome experience.
Homework: Get started on the "Final NT Assignment" (yellow handout). Begin Chapter 6 in text (John), Test Wednesday!