Topic 3 DQ 1

 E S : Topic 3 DQ 1

1) The characterization of human nature used here in the fall is very accurate. Man's curiosity I feel has always gotten the best of him. And when tempted by an outside sorce, whether peers or otherwise, it seems to doubt that temptation. The sayings “curiosity killed the cat” and “peer pressure” are very much true within our human nature. The way it was told in Genesis is very accurate in characterizing human nature. If man would have just listened to God when he said no, the suffering would not be what we imagine today. With this being said, it is written that men have a sinful nature. In Ecclesiastes 7:20 it states, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” God also knows all. He knows the past, present and future. He knew what would happen before it even took place.

2)  K. C Re: Topic 3 DQ 1

In the Christian worldview, man's fall is described as the transition of innocent and obedient man/woman to being disobedient. It is believed in this worldview that all of today's suffering is due to Adam and Eve's disobedience, eating fruit from the forbidden tree. I think that there are a lot of similarities between the story told in Genisis 1-3. For most people, especially at a young age, it is easy to follow the crowd and do as others say to fit it, out of straight curiosity, and so on. For Eve, when the serpent told her that she would get powers if she ate the fruit, it was out of curiosity. When she brought it back to Adam to show that she had not died and told him to try it, he did out of curiosity as well as peer pressure. These are things that happen on a day to day basis. This is something that impressional children would give in to, so I agree that this is human nature. I'm afraid I have to disagree that all of the pain and suffering in our lives come from sinfulness. I believe that that is how it is, life, no rhyme, or reason to suffering.

3)  L. H :  Fundamentals: Sin, Part 1 – What’s all this talk about Sin?

The Bible teaches that human beings were created upright and good by the God who is good (Genesis 1:26-27; 1:31). In fact, humans were created in the image of God himself (Genesis 1:26) and God desires humanity to reflect his perfect character (Ephesians 4:24).

However, the Bible also teaches that, beginning with Adam and Eve, human beings have turned their backs on God and walked into self-promotion and disobedience (Gen 3:1-7), taking on guilt and an internal corruption that now affects our nature and attitudes (Romans 3:9-20; 5:12-21; James 1:13-15). This internal corruption in our hearts is displayed in selfishness and a desire for self-autonomy. This exaltation of self over and against the Creator of the universe that is intrinsic in every person is known as “original sin.”

My question is this: Since, according to the Bible, we now inherit in some sense a corrupted nature from Adam and Eve, who is to blame for our sin? Can we blame them? Why or why not?

4)  T.G  Re: Topic 3 DQ 1

The fall talks about how Adam and Eve were told to not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge or they will die. However, when a serpent appears and tells Eve she can eat the fruit without dying, she becomes curious and eats it anyway where she then tempts Adam into doing the same. This disobedience is what is to be believed as the reasoning for today’s suffering. I believe it is in our human nature to make mistakes and be curious. Thinking back to my younger and irresponsible years during high school, I know I let curiosity and peer pressure get the best of me at times. As everyone says, that’s just being a teenager. This happens though through our entire lives whether we like to think so or not, big or small.

1)  K. C Re: Topic 3 DQ 2

I believe that such great tragedies relate to the fall. For example, 9/11, this was a terrorist attack from a group of individuals who thought they were doing the right thing for the God they believed in. They believed this is what he told them to do, and all of their peers told them to do it. This is a form of peer pressure if everyone tells you that it is okay to kill a bunch of people for the greater good, or because God told you to, this is peer pressure. Much like in Genesis 1-3, Eve pressured Adam to disobey God's order and eat the fruit. According to this week's readings, I would explain a good, loving, and all-powerful God to allow all this suffering and evil due to man's sin. Each time God allowed humans to repopulate, there was more sin because it is impossible to have every human believe the same thing and not be curious about what will happen if they push the boundaries. When I was younger, I believed in a God that would not harm, but as I grew into an adult, I realized that if there was a good God out there with all the bad going on, he must have some reason for it all. I reassessed my worldview once I saw all of the bad going on in the world today. But all of the bad sometimes makes more people look to God.

2)  L. H          Fundamentals: Sin, Part 2 - Why do we sin?

Ok, we’ve touched on the biblical idea that Adam and Eve sinned, and somehow we’re affected, and that sin is something we need to define. But now I want to ask the question why do we sin?

A theologian from the 4th-5th centuries (AD) named Augustine said that that the essence of sin is disordered love. In other words we constantly run the risk of loving something –even something that may be good - disproportionately or more than something that is better!

Along these lines, perhaps we can think of sin most fundamentally in terms of idolatry – or putting something before God in your life. The first of the 10 commandments (see Exodus 20) is to have no other gods before God. Now, most of us in Western culture do not have a wall of idols, but in reality to put anything before God is to have an idol in your life. It has been said that an idol is anything that is more fundamental than God for your happiness, meaning in life, identity, self-worth or security. This means that we are in danger of creating idols out of our loved ones, our work, our hobbies, our savings accounts – really anything!

Have you ever thought of sin like this? What are its implications for how we might understand human purpose?

3}  L. H    A different account of “evil”

The question of evil is a very difficult one. As we are seeing this week, the author of Genesis 1-3 seems to be linking the in-breaking of suffering and evil in the world with the volitional failure of humanity to obey God’s clear standard. It is important to note that other worldviews propose a fairly starkly different perspective on the issue. For example, Richard Dawkins, the brilliant Oxford biologist and one of the leading voices for the New Atheism, wrote that:

“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. As that unhappy poet A.E. Housman put it: ‘For Nature, heartless, witless Nature Will neither care nor know.’ DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” (Dawkins, 1995, p. 133).

Dawkins offers a blunt assessment of the bottom line of the scientific materialistic (Atheistic) worldview: there is no design or purpose, there is no evil and no good. Now, many Atheists (and perhaps even most?) would not agree with the idea that there is no good and no evil (I think famously of the late Christopher Hitchens) - and this shows ongoing discussion within Atheism itself - but Dawkins raises the question of whether or not this is a straightforward result of the Atheistic, naturalistic worldview. What do you think?

4)   Taylor Green 1 postsRe: Topic 3 DQ 2

The fall is about the fall of man and how the first man and woman transition from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of disobedience which is why we live in a sinful world today. Depending on what you believe in, some may say tragedies like 9/11, Tsunami of 2004, and COVID-19 happened due to the fall and if Adam and Eve listened to God when he said to not eat for the tree of knowledge we would not be suffering and living in sin today. I do believe a tragedy like 9/11 is different from the tragedy of the Tsunami of 2004 because one was caused and controlled by humans and the other was caused by an earthquake which is something that cannot be controlled.

After reading some of the study materials, I see suffering as complicated, as mentioned in the reading. The biggest question for me has always been, “Why do bad things happen if God is good and all-powerful?” One thing I have learned however, is we as humans make our own choices whether it is good or bad. God may bring us an option, but I believe it is always our decision in the end of what we do with that option. Which can relate to a sinful act at times. This also falls into God testing us as well as humans. I know for me when evil events occur around me or to me specifically, I remind myself to have faith and be hopeful that things will get better in time.