Suicide

Again, just an informal essay for my Intro to the New Testament Class. I have to say, the class is certainly introducing me to many different viewpoints and views of the New Testament.

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Suicide

Suicide is a tough subject, no matter what your view on the subject, there is no way to soften the topic. Some people believe that anyone who commits suicide is bound for hell. Other people take a gentler approach, and say that suicide does not prevent a person from getting into heaven. Some people even say that the apostle Paul contemplated suicide and since Paul was is such an important Christian figure, and he contemplated it, then it must not be bad.

First, why do people believe that Paul contemplated suicide? Bart Ehrman gives an example from a book written by Arthur Droge and James Tabor to support the idea that Paul was suicidal (Ehrman 245). The idea put forth is quite interesting. Most people equate suicide with depression, hopelessness, anxiety, etc. Hardly anyone thinks that a “happy” person will commit suicide. It appears that there was a Jewish tradition of “self-inflicted death as a gain over present inflictions that should be accepted joyfully” (Ehrman 245). Several examples are then provided. So let’s move on to Paul himself. Paul states in Phil. 1:21 that “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is the basis for the “suicidal Paul” argument. Yet another passage that seems to support this idea is Phil. 1:22-24 “ If it is to be life in the flesh, this would be a good work for me, and I do not know which to choose, but I am constrained by the two things, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is much better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.” So was Paul contemplating suicide? Paul did not commit suicide, but it appears he may have been contemplating it. So, if Paul was contemplating suicide, does that mean suicide is not wrong? 

The other group does not believe Paul was suicidal. This group believes that suicide is wrong. Suicide is murder, the Sixth Commandment says “thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13). Paul himself says several things that completely contradict the notion of committing suicide. Phil 4:11 “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” This verse conveys an idea that one should be content in their situation, being content in the situation can hardly be described as suicide. 

Yet another reason that it is doubtful that Paul was suicidal is that Christians believe that the primary purpose of man (the reason humans were created) is to glorify God. One of the very best ways to glorify God is to bring others to him, that they may glorify God as well. In cutting off your life, you are cutting off opportunities to glorify God and to bring others to the knowledge of him. This is, essentially, cutting off the relationship with God. Suicide is selfish, it hurts others, suicide is not just something that affects only the individual who does it, and it has widespread ramifications. How can someone think that it is ok for them to decide when they will die? God knows the proper time for a person to die, Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” A person who commits suicide is going against God’s will for their life. If they hadn’t decided their time to die, then they would have lived longer. 

Finally, it actually is likely that Paul craved heaven. It is only natural for a Christian to want to get past these tough, stressful, hard days of earthly life to get to that wonderful final reward, eternity with God. If heaven weren’t something to be desired, then there would be no need for it. Christians live as if they are citizens from a foreign land, their true home is elsewhere, heaven (1 Pet. 2:11-12). Christians look forward to eternity, but they don’t cut off their earthly life for it, in fact, a lot of Christians believe suicide will condemn a soul to hell. Living out life here, in the best way possible, doing their best to glorify God, makes the “prize” of heaven worth it. In 2 Timothy, life is compared to a race, with heaven as the prize. In order to get the reward, the work must be done for it. The verses Paul wrote about looking forward to heaven are an introduction to how wonderful heaven will be.

In conclusion, I don’t believe that Paul was suicidal. What I do believe is that he craved heaven and the intimacy with God that comes with it. He may have longed for heaven (I believe he did, as all Christians should), but did not actually consider suicide. Suicide is a selfish action, one that takes away from our purpose here on earth, and that makes it a sin.

* Like with all these essays, any reference to the textbook is from Bart Ehrman's "A Brief Introduction to the New Testament" 3rd Edition 

Tradition of Faith

     I wrote this paper last week for my religion class, there is an informal essay due each week. The chapters we read last week in the textbook talked about how it is unlikely that anyone really knows exactly what happened during Jesus' life, and how unpredictable oral tradition is. Which may be true. And then, in school, last Thursday, I was talking with someone who said he believes in God, but isn't sure if the Bible can be trusted.  As usual after the conversation, I thought of lots of things that would have made much more sense had I said them at the time. I spent a while mulling the conversation over and creating better responses, obviously too late for use. So, those two things were the impetus for this essay.

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Tradition of Faith

                Tradition is a syncretic word. The word means so many things to so many different people. Traditionally, families have Thanksgiving dinner. This is a tradition that is an actual happening, it is a physical tradition. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation. This could be a tradition of making potato soup on Saturday nights, because that is how Grandma did it, or it could be a tradition of character. A tradition of character is somewhat different than a physical tradition. A trait of generosity, trained by parents, passed on by their children, “give the shirt off our backs,” is an example of a character tradition. Traditions can be stories, told by grandparent to child, friend to neighbor, stranger to stranger. An example of this is George Washington and the cherry tree, the story is not even true, yet it is a tradition in the United States of America. The tradition of faith is one of the most common traditions passed on. People often do not realize that faith is a tradition, but it most certainly is. Usually, religion is passed down. If a parent is Lutheran, then the family is Lutheran. If the parents are Jewish, the family is Jewish. Faith is a tradition, and a very important one.

                One of the ways the Bible, the basis of my tradition of faith, was recorded was by oral tradition. Oral tradition? Surely, that is not a reliable basis for faith. Stories passed from person to person, often not even by eyewitnesses surely cannot be reliable. Christianity grew through people speaking to one another. For the first few decades after Jesus’ death, there was no text to pass around; the only way to share the Good News of Jesus was to tell each other about him, by his commandment. Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (ESV).” His disciples did just that. Believers shared stories with others; those who were told then shared the stories with still more people. You can be positive that the stories of Jesus did not have the exact details, but the important part was there: that this man, this Son of God, was truly who he claimed to be. That Jesus was someone worthy to be worshipped, that Jesus was worthy to be called the Son of God.

                So, if these traditions that were written down in the Bible were changed: the details aren’t always 100% accurate; people took liberty and changed the text occasionally, how can we be sure that what is in the Bible is worth believing? Faith. Faith is the answer to that question. If I believe there is a God, and I do, and that God is all powerful, which I do, it is then a simple answer. I believe that God has the power to, despite human failings and oral traditions with errors, allow his followers the gift of a text that has not lost its potency. Indeed, what is important has not been lost. The message of God, of salvation, of grace, of love, those things, the most important things, will never be lost. The all-powerful God I believe in will not leave his children without a guide. He works through human failings, in spite of mistakes in oral tradition, all for the redemption of his creation whom he loves very much.

A Brief Intro to the New Testament

     That is the title of one of my classes. I took the class knowing that there would be doctrinal differences. I was kind of looking forward to picking them out, and taking time to examine exactly what I believe. Tonight I read the first 2 chapters. I will definitely be challenged in this class. The textbook is very reader friendly, it isn't a pain to read, which is really nice! According to the syllabus, the class may be tough for Christians because it looks at the New Testament historically rather than in depth. It is a study of historical context, about the authors, and the changes the New Testament has gone through. 

     First, the author of the book, Bart Ehrman, is an agnostic (a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God). He was a Christian but in desiring to learn more about the Bible began studying the original languages and eventually textual criticism, noting many discrepancies. Today, he is an agnostic (Wikipedia, I know, not super reliable). Reading the first chapter led me to believe that the author was not a Christian. Though he says he is writing from a historian's viewpoint, not a believer's, just reading the text was an indicator. Reading through this textbook will indeed give me many opportunities to test what I believe. I know now to tread carefully, everything the textbook says will need to be carefully examined against my worldview. I am a little disappointed that the book does not have a more Christian bent. I also will find myself doubting what he has to say, since he doesn't believe it himself. Even though he has years of study in the subject under his belt, he has lost some credibility in my mind.

     The second chapter had a comparison of the religious perspective of Jesus' time and the religious perspective of today. Back then, the only faith with one God and written texts was Judaism, which made complete sense to me, any other religion believed in many different gods. Today, most religions are exclusive: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. Also, today most people believe in one god, it simply makes more sense. Another interesting thing is that back then gods were involved more in day to day life, but not really in the afterlife. While today, the promise of heaven and threat of hell are significant parts of most religions, and of course God is involved in daily life today as well. Religion in those days entailed ritualistic acts of worship, not morals and ethics, we get our ethical base from Christianity, pagans of the day did not get ethical base from their religion. Jesus, however, came along and changed all that. Jesus birth, death and resurrection opened the world up to knowledge of him, which I am very thankful for!

     Well, those are some thoughts I had while reading it. I needed to get my thoughts in order to be able to complete the assignment. So, I guess the blog got the overflow of thought. :)

My Awesome Best Friend!

So, my dear best friend Lynette is an awesome person. If any of you have met her, then you know this. Her birthday was on July 2. No longer a teenager. We are getting old ;) Instead of being like normal people and just waiting for other people to bring her gifts, she went around and gave her friends gifts! 

 She brought me flowers at work! She is the best!

Happy late, late, late Birthday, Lynette! The flowers and card meant so much! I just know that 20 will be your best year yet!

Family Times

So, I've been busy... Well, not super busy. Since it is summer, and I'm mostly at home, like all the time, there hasn't been too much to share. I haven't really been thinking up any deep thoughts; again, it's summer. Who thinks deep thoughts in summer?!? Seriously, it's summer. Summer is when you forget about thinking and anything intelligent, right? Ok, ok, fine, I'm just lazy:) And also, after a while, if all I say is that I've been gardening and mowing grass, people are going to start getting really bored, as am I!

This past week, my sister Dorcas came up for a week. I did manage to get a couple pics of the kids:) Luckily, I didn't take any sister pics or anything.

I helped out with VBS this past week, and Nick and Ali came with me a couple nights. The one evening we stopped at the park to ride the seesaws on the way home. It was fun, and Nick found a frog, which he was quite proud of! He carefully took the frog from the road to the river, to make sure that he would be ok:)

We did, of course, go to see fireworks! 

Candy Bandits

These poor GA kids had never been to a real parade before. So, we took them to our firemen's parade. Dorcas asked me if grocery bags for candy was a little excessive, she understood once the parade got started. The kids made out like bandits with all the candy, as their grocery bags and faces clearly show. And, just to clarify, Dorcas gave about half a bag of candy away at the parade, so, even with Dorcas' generosity, the kids will still have candy to munch on for weeks to come!!

Road Trippin'

Brooks was relieved to not be in the car anymore!

We had a family gathering in PA, it was a larger one than usual. So there were lots of cousins to catch up with and the weekend was quite enjoyable. We played volleyball, softball and had lots of time for conversation as well. All my immediate family came out to the reunion this time, so it was nice to see everyone:)

My Uncle David lost his long battle against cancer this past week. His memorial service coincided with our family reunion in PA, so we traveled to PA bright and early Friday morning (getting up at 4 is never, ever fun). The memorial service was a wonderful tribute to my uncle's life of service. And at the reunion, there was a time of sharing about Uncle David's life. There were some tears, and much laughter! Of course, any prayers for the family are deeply appreciated!

While at the service, there was a clear theme. Uncle David was a Godly man, who spent his life giving to others. Everything he did pointed to God. His life was a testament. I couldn't help but ask if it had been me, in place of him, what would people say? Would people know that I am a Christian? Does my life really reflect God? Have I done anything of worth? How can I live my life so that when I die, people can look at my life as an example? As one of the speakers said, (I'm summarizing) my uncle not only showed us how to live, but he also showed us how to die. This is so true. He truly was an inspiration to any one who met him!

Question for You:

- Do you have relatives who inspire you? Why? What is it about them?

- Do you enjoy extended family reunions, meaning family outside your siblings?

Family

     This week was full of family time! From Martha coming to slave in the garden visit on Monday, to my spending the night at her and David's house twice, to a picnic at the park this evening. This week has been full of family:) 

Here is Camden enjoying some Grandma time!

Summer Days

     This week, two boys stayed with us for 3 days. It was great fun. Because of the rain, the creek was high. Which meant that we could go wading. That meant lots of splashing, building a dam and general fun, creekish stuff:) Here is a picture of our feet, as you can tell, sopping wet.

   
     Even though I'm used to peace and quiet around here, it was a nice change to have 2 live wires keeping all of us on our toes. 

     Today we made cookies. The boys were a big help, though they may have eaten more cookie dough than cookies;) Licking the beaters was the highlight for the younger one!

     You can guess that this week stayed pretty busy with the extra little people around. Since it rained a lot today, they had to be inside most of the day, we made cookies on our rainy day. But, it cleared up this afternoon/evening and we headed down to the creek again, per the request of 2 rambunctious young men.

     By the way, thanks to everyone who commented! I really enjoyed reading them:)

A Question For You:

What are some good rainy day activities? Any memories from when you were a kid? How about as an adult?