Morality and the Bible
Both the legal and salvation philosophies of the Old and New Testaments reflect those of the cultures around them, due to much copying and borrowing of laws and ideas. Furthermore, all societies around the world have similar moral and legal codes -- which is certainly not an accident.
Interestingly enough, the moral codes of the world's religions bear a striking resemblance to each other, with only minor variations. Religions as different as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism all have proscriptions against killing, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. This is not an accident, for reasons we shall explore below.
Christians may then object that that there is something unique about the Bible that makes it a superior moral code. Unfortunately for Christians, there is actually very little law in the Bible -- either Old Testament or New -- that is original. Consider the Torah of the ancient Jews. The laws of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Hammurapi, Eshnunna, Hittites, Mishnah, and Israelites all bear a striking resemblance to each other, due to widespread copying of laws. Shared social norms produced identical laws against sorcery, kidnapping, sale of an abducted person, false witness, business dishonesty, bribing judges, property right violations, shutting off irrigation canals used by others, etc. The complete list of identical laws and customs is quite extensive.
Nor is the New Testament's approach to the law unique. Most Christians can probably think of nothing more unique than the Apostle Paul's approach to the law, but any student of ancient Greece knows otherwise. Many of the themes that fill Paul's writings were lifted from his Greco-Roman background. During New Testament times, the Greco-Roman world was filled with Mystery Cults, sporting such names as Eluesinian Mysteries, the Orphic Mysteries, the Attis-Adonis Mysteries, the Isis-Osiris Mysteries, Mithraism, and many others. A common feature of these secret cults was a belief in a heroic redeemer, a heavenly being who would visit earth in human form, battle evil, die a sacrificial death, rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, offering salvation from death to all who follow him.
Another influence on the New Testament was Greek philosophy. In particular, Greek dualism taught that the world was sharply divided into opposites: good and evil, body and soul, man and woman, hot and cold, life and death, etc. Now, the Greeks from Plato on had taught that the body is evil, but the soul is pure.
From my reading of Galatians, I would say that we should not follow the Jewish Law. If the Jewish law were the only way a person can be saved, then there would be no need for Jesus’s death. The apostle Paul also noticed this error because he tells the readers that because of his new understanding of the Law, he has come to reject the Law (Galatians 2:19). The Law is not the “end-all-be-all”, it is simply a filler until Jesus. Before the time of Jesus, people needed a moral code to live by, but they have a new Law to follow: the teachings of Jesus Christ!
Paul the Apostle, was a famous preacher of first century Christianity and was God’s tool used to spread the light of the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul is credited fir having written many books in the New Testament of the Bible. He was born an Israelite to a clan of the tribe of Benjamin, speaking the Aramaic and Hebrew tongues from infancy. He was an enthusiastic student and a stringent devotee of the Torah. He was the man that later had a peculiar meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ while on the road to Damascus. His life and duty were considerably altered and in turn eventually changed the course of the development of Western Civilization and culture.
The double-blind procedure, a procedure that eliminates biasness hence generating more precise results is widely used by psychologists in experimental research to determine the cause-effect relationship. This essay will describe the nature, the purpose and advantages of using the double-blind procedure in scientific research.
Pip starts to view the world differently when he meets a wealthy woman named Miss Havisham and her adopted child Estella. Miss Havisham is a wealthy old woman who lives in a manor called Satis House near Pip’s village. Pip’s views change when Estella starts pointing out and criticizing Pip’s low social class and his unrefined manners. Estella calls Pip a “boy”, implying Estella views herself as above Pip. For example, when Miss Havisham requests for her to play w...
When an average person is asked ‘what is morally correct?’ most respond with an answer that requires each person to follow the laws of the country in which they are living. This is at least the case in modern American society, where your “moral standing” depends ultimately on whether or not you conform to the laws outlined by the government. Regardless of what one’s individual beliefs are, religious or not, morality is judged on how well you blend into your specific societies definition of what is good, evil and indifferent, while law is just a bunch of rules and regulations to divide up power amongst the people in order to predict the future and keep civil peace.
The physical classroom environment can affect all aspects in a student’s school life. The educator must build an environment that fosters respectable behavior and has higher level of learning. The classrooms “physical environment can influence students’ sense of self and security, intellectual
“Classrooms that encourage emotional well-being create an atmosphere for both learning and emotional development.” (Bucholz & Sheffler, 2009) The atmosphere of a classroom is detrimental to the student’s behavior. This can simply start with the way they arrange the desks before the class meets for the first time. If possible, arranging the desks in a formation that encourages group discussion, as well as front of the classroom attention will utilize the space in the most effective way. As we learned in lecture, having the student’s desk face inwards towards the center allows them to feel like they are not being directly lectured
The physical design of a classroom needs to be visually stimulating, and have room for student creativity. There should be designated areas for different activities. Positive learning environments are also easily adaptive; giving both students and teachers a sense of ownership for their space.
During my TP in school LubnaBent HobabSchool I was focusing on the learning environment and observing different types of classrooms .I will discuss two different learning environments . I will compare between grade one and grade three and how the environment affects on them and on their learning levels.
A confounding variable (or an extraneous variable) is an outside influence, separate from the independent variable, that changes the outcome/effect of the dependent variable. Researchers (usually) cannot control confounding variables; consequently, it is possible that confounding variables may impact research in ways the researcher desires, or even in ways that are undesired. Confounding variables majorly impact experimental conditions and outcomes, yet it is almost impossible to prevent them.
The seating, temperature, lighting, and noise around us can affect our brains. Thus, it is imperative to ensure before every lesson that our teaching environment is comfortable. I support a welcoming i classroom. I enforce class rules to respect one and another. All my students should feel safe and secure in my class. I also arrange my seating in a semi-circle or circle to create an environment that promotes discussion. I want to ensure my students feel comfortable asking questions and participating. Furthermore, I keep the classroom light and bright by opening the blinds to let in the natural light from outside. After all, studies have shown “students in brightly lit classrooms perform better in school compared with students in dimly lit classrooms” (Jensen, 2005, Pg
There is a great significance in the laws in Exodus and Deuteronomy that contemporary readers would be able to relate to depending on what stage they are in life. There are great morals in some of the laws that I know I relate too, especially in regards to respecting parents and property. In the state of Washington
Creating and maintaining an environment for students to work in is a very important part to the success of classroom management. According to Guthrie, “maintaining a learning environment requires teachers to actively monitor their students” (Guthrie, 2003, pg. 301). This means that an elementary school teacher must keep a close eye on what students are learning and ethical behavior being presented by the students. Jeff South said, “The goal of my class is to awaken conscience- that inner voice that tells students right from wrong” (South, 2004). When creating a learning environment, teachers should be concerned with the room arrangement, how inviting the room appears to be to the student, the access to materials, and the distractions in the room. If a teacher takes care of all of these needs, it will be easier to anticipate what the students’ actions and responses are going to be in various situations. The most important thing to realize is that on aspect of classroom management involves maintaining an environment through logical decision making that focus on the students and classroom.
The implications are that schools should begin to analyze the physical environments of classrooms and make changes based on student perceptions. However, if these implications are ignored we will continue to have classrooms, which negatively impact student performance. The author’s initial point of view was that there would be no difference in the perceptions of the subgroups.
One of the first things a teacher does at the beginning of the school year is organize, arrange, and decorate the classroom. The physical environment of a classroom plays a part in the ownership students feel about their school and more specifically their class. The classroom environment should do as much too foster cooperation and acceptance as the instructional method the teacher uses. Children are sensitive to the atmosphere created in the classroom. Is the classroom warm and inviting? Are all areas of the classroom accessible to all children? Are the walls bleak and lacking in color or do the decorations help to make the