Which Way to God Evaluation
-
Upload
burchear7381 -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
0
Transcript of Which Way to God Evaluation
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
1/7
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
2/7
STEP 2: A BRIEF HISTORY OF JUDAISMGod made a promise to Abraham that He would make a great naon of Abrahams descend-
ants. This naon, Israel, would be Gods chosen people. Abrahams grandson, Jacob, had twelve
sons. These sons later became the twelve tribes of Israel. One of the sons, Joseph, was sold into
capvity in Egypt by his brothers. While Joseph was capve in Egypt, God looked out for him and
caused him to prosper. Eventually Joseph became second-in-command of Egypt. His responsibil-
ity was to prepare the country for a coming famine.
To protect his family during the famine, Joseph provided for them in Egypt. Over the years,
the descendants of Joseph and his brothers remained in Egypt. But the atude of the Egypans
began to change toward the Israelites. In me, the Egypans made slaves of Gods chosen peo-
ple.
God called Moses to lead the Israel-
ites out of slavery in Egypt. When Phar-
aoh, the leader of Egypt, refused to let
the Israelites go, God sent ten plagueson the Egypan people. The tenth
plague the one that nally convinced
Pharaoh to let the Israelites go was the
death of the rstborn son of every fami-
ly in Egypt. The only people who es-
caped this plague were the Israelites
who painted their doorposts with lambs
blood. Their houses were passed overby this plague of death. Jewish people
today sll celebrate the Passover, com-
memorang this event.
From Egypt, God led the Israelites
through the wilderness to the promised
land, or Israel. There is a connuing
movement, unknown as Zionism, to es-
tablish in Israel a homeland for all Jewish
people.
The Old Testament of the Chrisan
Bible is the primary book of the Jewish
faith. Jewish people would not call it an Old Testament, for the Hebrew Scriptures are their to-
tal Bible. Jewish people consider the rst ve books of their Scriptures the Torah to be espe-
cially important. These are the books that contain Gods laws, including the Ten Command-
ments. Gods laws concerning the Sabbath provide guidelines for Jewish worship today.
The Which Way to God?curriculum begins
with a teaching unit on Judaism. Aer
unscrambling words which relate to Juda-
ism (including Abraham, Sabbath and
Nazi - see next page) the leader is encour-
aged to share with students this Brief His-
tory of Judaism. While the history does a
somewhat faithful job of explaining the He-
brew scripture narrave, its jump from OldTestament to Jewish worship today fails
to provide an adequate explanaon of what
Judaism looks like today. This could easily
lead students to think that the Judaism they
will encounter is the same as or very similar
to the religion of the Israelites who paint-
ed their door posts with lambs blood.
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
3/7
The Tangled Web of Words acvity features images of
bearded men in robes intended to represent Jewish menlooking perplexed at a heap of scrambled leers. The ac-
vity, which is intended to help students idenfy certain
terms, requires the unscrambling of these words in order
to understand which denions they correspond to.
While the curriculum is aimed at teaching middle school
Chrisans (who presumably have lile knowledge about
Judaism, and therefore need the course) by featuring puz-
zled looking Jewish men, the image seems to suggest that
it these Jews who dont understand the words and their
meanings. Implicit, then, in the image, is the oen-made
supersessionist claim that Jews dont understand their
own tradion(s) and/or scriptures.
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
4/7
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
5/7
Perhaps most problemac, the Brief History of Judaism is followed by a handout explaining
Conspiracy Theories about Jesus resurrecon. The handout is meant to be reproduced and
distributed to group members and outlines three possible objecons to the story of Jesus
resurrecon:
THEORY #1: JESUS DIDNT REALLY DIE.
On the cross, Jesus fainted from exhaustion and pain, but didnt die. In the coolness of the tomb, He re-
gained consciousness and made His escape.
Important issues to investigate:
- What kind of physical condition was Jesus in after the crucifixion?- What obstacles would He have had to overcome in escaping from the tomb?
THEORY #2: THE DISCIPLES STOLE JESUS BODY FROM THE TOMB.
Jesus disciples somehow overpowered the Roman guards posted by Jesus tomb. They then rolled awaythe stone from in front of the tomb, removed Jesus dead body, and hid. Afterward, none of them ever toldanyone what theyd done.
Important issues to investigate:
- What kind of attitude did the disciples have during Jesus crucifixion? Did any of them run away?Did any of them stick around?
- What obstacles would they have had to overcome to steal Jesus body?
THEORY #3: THE JEWISH OFFICIALS SECRETLY REMOVED JESUS BODY FROM THE TOMB.
To prevent the disciples from stealing Jesus body and claiming that Hed risen from the dead, the Jewishofficials (with the help of the Roman guards) secretly removed Jesus body and hid it.
Important issue to investigate:
- When rumors of Jesus resurrection started circulating, what could the Jewish officials have doneto disprove them?
By placing this handout in the secon intended to teach students about Judaism, it
makes Jews into conspirators against the Chrisan story, and also suggests that these are
arguments Jewish people make against Chrisanity/the story of Jesus resurrecon. Because
the curriculum emphasizes the importance of knowing about a persons religion in order to
know about the person, this could lead students to make dangerous assumpons about Jew-
ish views of Jesus, Chrisanity, the resurrecon, etc. At minimum, it suggests that all Jews are
in some way concerned about the resurrecon and have to look for ways (conspiracies) to
reject it. This is clearly not a primary (or even periphery) concern of most Jews or the tradi-
on today.
Theory #3 borders on the absurd. By allying the Jewish ocals with the roman
guards, it perpetuates the assumpon that Jews were responsible (or here shared responsi-
bility with the Romans) for Jesus death. Because it doesnt dene who, exactly, Jewish o-
cials are, it creates the impression that all Jewish people in Jesus context were against Jesus
teachings. Addionally, because it doesnt contextualize the situaon in rst century Jerusa-
lem, the audience is encouraged to think of the Jewish ocials of Jesus me as analogous
with the Jewish leaders of our me. Thus the Jews become the bad guys who reject Je-
sus, then and now.
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
6/7
Problematc ImagesThe images Chris-
ans use to depict
Jews (and Semic peo-
ple more generally) in
this curriculum bor-
derline on the oen-
sive. The meline
handout explaining
the development of
world religions uses
grotesque imagery to
depict Greek mytholo-gy and Hinduism, and depicts Judaism with a bearded man standing over a uy bleang
sheep. Not only is this image meant to extend the images of ritual sacrice of Mosaic Judaism
to the present (the image represents all of Judaism) but the altar/lamb imagery plays on the
common stereotype of Judaism as anquated, and brutal. Like the descripon of Passover, it
suggests to the audience that Jews sll sacrice lambs on altars.
Another problem with images is visible in the handout oering responses to People of Othe
Religions. Here, the Muslim, Buddhist, and Jew look own on the happy, smiling Chrisan youth
All three representaves
of the other religions
have disinterested or
closed postures, and the
Muslim and Jew are giv-
en exaggerated noses.
Lips stuck out and noses
turned upwards, instead
of engaging in dialogue,
the three are portrayed
as dismissive of the
young, open Chrisan.
-
8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation
7/7
The curriculum closes with an evaluaon for students where they are asked what they might
be willing to commit to. None of the opons appear to foster real dialogue with other tradi-
ons, but instead ask students to share their own tradion with the other. See for yourself
whether you think these are helpful ways of geng students to think about and engage with
people of other tradions.