What do you think of the when someone says the name Jesus? Ok, that is a trick question.
What do you think of a person's political party when someone ask you about Jesus? With no other information, I have a strong feeling that everyone that reads this blog with say the Republican Party (or Conservative). I do not think that is a wild stretch of the imagination to think that. With images of Christians, the Bible Belt, and possibly Conservativepedia.
Now how about this question: which political party would Jesus would be affiliated with? I am not sure about you, but I can imagine Jesus being criticized on CNN or Fox News being yelling at the topics that Jesus talks about. The article that this blog post is on talks about tries to give a fairly good guess on which party that Jesus would be a part of, "Conservative" or "Liberal."
According to Conservativepedia, Conservatives believe or support:
• Classroom prayer
• Prohibition of abortion
• Abstinence education
• Traditional marriage, not same-sex marriage
• Respect for differences between men and women, boys and girls
• Laws against pornography
• The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms
• Economic allocative efficiency (as opposed to popular equity)
• The death penalty
• Parental control of education
• Private medical care and retirement plans
• Canceling failed social support programs
• No world government
• Enforcement of current laws regarding immigration
• Respect for our military ... past and present
• Rejection of junk science such as evolutionism and global warming
• Low taxes, especially for families
• Federalism (less power for the federal government and more for local and state governments)
• A strong national defense
I am not going to list what Liberals believe or support. Partly Conservativepedia has a terrible list for it and I there is no such thing as Liberalpedia.com. Although, for argument sake let's say it the exact opposite.
Here is a little game for you: Make a mark for you think Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad and other religions figureheads would support. I got about 50-50 split for each figure that I could think of.
Something that I found interesting is that many of these are an issue that is preventive or keeping something around. (i.e., The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms). Instead of dealing the issues at hand. Not dealing with the issues that happen as they occur (i.e. Illegal Immigrants). Personally, I would like to think that all religious figureheads would try to deal with problems at the root of the cause and not purely reliant on preventive measures. Both political parties are guilty on purely reliant on preventive measures.
Enter back CNN and Fox News, this is what the two television stations argue on, the regulation of preventive measures. This is why they treat the other political spectrum terribly. In the last points of the article, Hendricks talks about how each party is defined by opposing the other party. This is not how Jesus would define himself as a conservative or a liberal. Jesus (and other religious figureheads) are trailblazers, they would be outcasts in a modern setting.
So is Jesus a conservative or liberal? I hope he was centrist.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Holy Week Readings.
The final week of Jesus' life is the momentous and consequential part of being Catholic. For without it, our faith would be completely different. As the writing style changes in Mark to a day to day account of Jesus, we must remind ourselves that our traditions are based in this week. I find to on coincidence that Jesus' final week was on and near Passover. Although we do not celebrate Passover as our Jewish brothers and sisters do, I still have vivid memories at St. Catherine of Siena School (Where I was for middle school) and Archbishop Murphy High School where during Holy Week (Holy Thursday) having a traditional Sader meal. So we have still have our roots in Jewish Faith, however, we do celebrate it completely differently.
Since we know the story, and we know what is going to happen on Friday of the week. I would like to go into some of the stories that I have either forgot or that we normally see when we go though the stories in the bible.
The first is on Holy Tuesday, where the "Little Apocalypse " where it parallels what happen in the Book of Revelations. However, Borg makes an interesting note on the accounts of this story: ".. . it is important to know that passages in the Bible can be wrong (98)." Roman Catholics do not practice Sola scriptura, we should have no problem with this. We must remember the History and Tradition that we have and take the lessons that can be learned from scripture.
What can we learn from this? That God works with humans. We know how humans are when compared to God, however, God has not wiped us out... yet. We are notorious for making mistakes, we should not dwell on our mistakes, we need to learn. The relationship that exist between God and humans is less significant that humans and humans. Since not having compassion and having humanity is what caused the flood. We need to give us credit, we have not gotten on God's bad side for 2009 years. So we should be doing something right.
The rest of the week (Friday to Sunday, a very short 3 days) is steeped with Tradition. I was born near Easter and my 21st birthday happened on Holy Saturday. The discussion of how I was going to celebrate my birthday (Party after Easter Vigil Mass). Enjoying ourselves needs to be required during Holy Week, we need one other thing.
I forgot where I heard this, but Roman Catholics and Jews share something: we both self loathe. What I feel what this means is be humble and constantly reminding ourselves that we are not that great. Since we can be a tight knit community (especially Gonzaga University), we are all hear for each other. Tonight I was at a Gonzaga Alumni banquet and each on said how Gonzaga is a family and it has never changed in ten, twenty, even thirty years ago something has not changed: we are all family.
So what am I saying? Being with each other and sharing our experience is the most important thing that we can celebrate God.
-Giles
Since we know the story, and we know what is going to happen on Friday of the week. I would like to go into some of the stories that I have either forgot or that we normally see when we go though the stories in the bible.
The first is on Holy Tuesday, where the "Little Apocalypse " where it parallels what happen in the Book of Revelations. However, Borg makes an interesting note on the accounts of this story: ".. . it is important to know that passages in the Bible can be wrong (98)." Roman Catholics do not practice Sola scriptura, we should have no problem with this. We must remember the History and Tradition that we have and take the lessons that can be learned from scripture.
What can we learn from this? That God works with humans. We know how humans are when compared to God, however, God has not wiped us out... yet. We are notorious for making mistakes, we should not dwell on our mistakes, we need to learn. The relationship that exist between God and humans is less significant that humans and humans. Since not having compassion and having humanity is what caused the flood. We need to give us credit, we have not gotten on God's bad side for 2009 years. So we should be doing something right.
The rest of the week (Friday to Sunday, a very short 3 days) is steeped with Tradition. I was born near Easter and my 21st birthday happened on Holy Saturday. The discussion of how I was going to celebrate my birthday (Party after Easter Vigil Mass). Enjoying ourselves needs to be required during Holy Week, we need one other thing.
I forgot where I heard this, but Roman Catholics and Jews share something: we both self loathe. What I feel what this means is be humble and constantly reminding ourselves that we are not that great. Since we can be a tight knit community (especially Gonzaga University), we are all hear for each other. Tonight I was at a Gonzaga Alumni banquet and each on said how Gonzaga is a family and it has never changed in ten, twenty, even thirty years ago something has not changed: we are all family.
So what am I saying? Being with each other and sharing our experience is the most important thing that we can celebrate God.
-Giles
Friday, October 9, 2009
Service Blog -Part 1
So I am doing GU's Earthbound at WCCC ( I am not sure what the acronym stands for, but I will get back to you on that). Day one of it went well, we took the children for a scavenger hunt and then made name tags.
Coming into the program I had no clue what I was getting in to. And I still do not have a feel for exactly what I have gotten myself into, however, I can not wait to find out what is going to happen.
-Giles
Coming into the program I had no clue what I was getting in to. And I still do not have a feel for exactly what I have gotten myself into, however, I can not wait to find out what is going to happen.
-Giles
Thursday, September 17, 2009
What happened to the other Gospel? - A blog about Chapter Three.
The thesis in this chapter is; "The importance of Q lies not in any new material but rather in the distinctive manner in which it frames and presents it sayings and story." In this chapter Kloppenborg talks about how Karl Schwarzschild discovering the black hole and how that parallels the Q theory (Aside One). In how it was a major breakthrough to the scientific community that black hole's exist and helps clarify the mysteries of the universe. Is Q the biblical equivalent of Schwarzschild's understanding of the black hole. I am going to say "maybe," for me it is still a theory, I am going to have to wait until the end of the semester to give a definite answer.
A Rural, Judean Gospel
In this section, Kloppenborg talks about how Q is most likely a gospel, and that in Q's Gospel is that it does not have a continuous account of the empty tomb, like Mark has. In fact Kloppenborg states that Q's Gospel is closer to The Gospel According to Thomas, than Marks. I am not really familiar with the Gospel According to Thomas, since it is not in the Bible's Cannon.
Also, this created question for me: What is the percentage of Christians that has read any Gospel that is not in the Bible's Cannon? My guess is less than five percent. Since we are not really studying John's Gospel, maybe instead is to look in to non-cannon Gospels, like Thomas's to see a in depth view of Q. I also find it interesting that Kloppenborg discussion of Q is from cannon Gospels.
Yet the point of the section is that Q's Gospel shows more of the rural Jewish traditions. Though the use of symbolic cities and use of private spaces in Q's stories.
Miracles and the Kingdom of God.
In this section Kloppenborg, thinks that Q and Mark try to answer the question of "Who is Jesus" by using the use of miracles in their gospels. Q uses a miracle that Jesus' opponents witness an exorcism. This miracle shows the true was to the kingdom of God.
Kloppenborg really wants to show that in Q's Gospel that Jesus fate is integral to his identity (79). Also that, Jesus death follows more on a Deuteronomistic vision of the prophet's death. Than an full glory based story that is in the Gospels. Since Thomas' Gospel shows a Deuteronomistic vision, it is highly probable that in Q is as the same structure of the death of Jesus.
Since we were asked to reduce the amount of word that we use in our blog post by 250 words, I will stop here. Although this weekend, there is a very high chance that I will do a Part 2 of the two chapters that we were ask to read. Due to the fact I am unable to talk about one of Kloppenborg major points in this chapter, the death of Jesus.
Aside One: To learn more about black holes click this link: http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/043.htm
A Rural, Judean Gospel
In this section, Kloppenborg talks about how Q is most likely a gospel, and that in Q's Gospel is that it does not have a continuous account of the empty tomb, like Mark has. In fact Kloppenborg states that Q's Gospel is closer to The Gospel According to Thomas, than Marks. I am not really familiar with the Gospel According to Thomas, since it is not in the Bible's Cannon.
Also, this created question for me: What is the percentage of Christians that has read any Gospel that is not in the Bible's Cannon? My guess is less than five percent. Since we are not really studying John's Gospel, maybe instead is to look in to non-cannon Gospels, like Thomas's to see a in depth view of Q. I also find it interesting that Kloppenborg discussion of Q is from cannon Gospels.
Yet the point of the section is that Q's Gospel shows more of the rural Jewish traditions. Though the use of symbolic cities and use of private spaces in Q's stories.
Miracles and the Kingdom of God.
In this section Kloppenborg, thinks that Q and Mark try to answer the question of "Who is Jesus" by using the use of miracles in their gospels. Q uses a miracle that Jesus' opponents witness an exorcism. This miracle shows the true was to the kingdom of God.
Kloppenborg really wants to show that in Q's Gospel that Jesus fate is integral to his identity (79). Also that, Jesus death follows more on a Deuteronomistic vision of the prophet's death. Than an full glory based story that is in the Gospels. Since Thomas' Gospel shows a Deuteronomistic vision, it is highly probable that in Q is as the same structure of the death of Jesus.
Since we were asked to reduce the amount of word that we use in our blog post by 250 words, I will stop here. Although this weekend, there is a very high chance that I will do a Part 2 of the two chapters that we were ask to read. Due to the fact I am unable to talk about one of Kloppenborg major points in this chapter, the death of Jesus.
Aside One: To learn more about black holes click this link: http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/043.htm
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A reflctive comic: Turning Points in my life.
[Better Scan Coming when I figure out my scanner]
Each one of these poems, shows a unique turning point in my life. The Haiku is something that I have been doing ever since I started my major in Civil Engineering. There is always a solution, and there is a million paths to get to reach that solution.
Each one to the quotes reflects my thoughts on the turning points in my life. Each one shows how I think, act or communicate on a daily basis. Each quote I honestly could write an essay on each quote, however, when I look on the what I created reminds me on each major event that has happen in my life.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Q? Like in the 007 movies?
The gospel according to Q? Growing up, I only heard of the "standard" four gospels: Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Then when I entered my Junior year of high school (Archbishop Murphy High School), my theology class was on church history. This is where the other books besides the bible; such as" The Catholic Catechism, Other Gospels that are not in the cannon (like the Gospel according to Thomas), and the Dead Sea Scrolls, all of which have deep roots in the history of being Roman Catholic. However my teacher during my church history class, Mr. Clapp, never even talked about anything about Q (See Aside One).
Luckily I do have some background on how the cannon for the Bible was formed because of my When the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1945, it completely reinvented the Catholic faith as we know it. From my reading of Kloppenborg's work, Q is this source that Matthew and Luke was inspired from. Q stands for the German word "Quelle" which stands for source (15). What I find mind blowing is that Q's document does not exist. With most of the scared documents being physical scrolls (See Aside Two). Although it is beyond the scope of the book: Q could have influenced other Gospels.
What I find mind blowing is that Q's document does not exist. With most of the scared documents being physical scrolls (See Aside Two). As Kloppenborg states, Mark is the earliest gospel. Awesome. Yet, Mark did not write his Gospel. In fact it took a couple hundred years after the death of Jesus for it to be "complete." Even if Q is somewhere in the desert of Egypt, the chances of being it a condition for it to be read easily is zero. Therefore it is just going to scraps upon scraps of parchment.
Kloppenborg presents a multitude of different theories in his book. I have read the first chapter twice for it to sink in and so it can make sense to me. However, all the hypotheses that he presents have a compelling argument behind it. Since this only the first time ever sinking my teeth in Q, I am really not sure what to make of all the data and reasoning that Kloppenborg presents in his book. The two theories that he presents are: "The other synoptic source, Q" and "The two document theory." I do plan to reread this Chapter over the weekend. Hopefully more of this chapter has sunk into my brain and will actually be able to figure out what Q really is.
Alas, a theory driven idea is not new to me. I am a engineering major with a heavy math background. This is just Kloppenborg's proof of his thesis. So maybe I should not try to understand it in the first chapter, but wait until the end of the class.
-Andrew "Giles" Leonard (See Aside Three)
Aside One: Mr. John Clapp is the most beloved teacher at Archbishop Murphy (Murphy). Every Junior in the last ten years at Murphy will have on their schedule "History of the Roman Catholic Church. Teacher: John Clapp. Room: 306." I have many stories and antidotes about him and with him. Luckily, you do not have to get a Murphy education to hear some of the stuff he talks about in his class. Check out this website and search for "Clapp": http://tr.im/ynlS
Aside Two: Granted most of these documents are just scraps and fragments of parchment. However, Roman Catholics believe that the sacred texts are inspired by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit wrote any of the documents or guided the scribe's pen in any way. It just means that Humans wrote it. Q for all intended of purposes could be the Holy Spirit. Yet Kloppenborg explains that Q is physical document. My opinion: I really do not know. However, My first expression is that Q is both based in the oral and written tradition of the Holy works.
Aside Three: I could explain why I go by Giles here (See Aside Four), however over Lent 2009 a very good friend of mine and I did a blog reading the entire Catechism. Although my friend did a super majority of the blog posts. I do plan to do a daily blog of it Lent 2010. Check it out here: http://40daysofcatechesis.blogspot.com/
Aside Four: In a nutshell: Giles is my confirmation name. When I started community college I started to go by it, since I love the name.
Luckily I do have some background on how the cannon for the Bible was formed because of my When the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1945, it completely reinvented the Catholic faith as we know it. From my reading of Kloppenborg's work, Q is this source that Matthew and Luke was inspired from. Q stands for the German word "Quelle" which stands for source (15). What I find mind blowing is that Q's document does not exist. With most of the scared documents being physical scrolls (See Aside Two). Although it is beyond the scope of the book: Q could have influenced other Gospels.
What I find mind blowing is that Q's document does not exist. With most of the scared documents being physical scrolls (See Aside Two). As Kloppenborg states, Mark is the earliest gospel. Awesome. Yet, Mark did not write his Gospel. In fact it took a couple hundred years after the death of Jesus for it to be "complete." Even if Q is somewhere in the desert of Egypt, the chances of being it a condition for it to be read easily is zero. Therefore it is just going to scraps upon scraps of parchment.
Kloppenborg presents a multitude of different theories in his book. I have read the first chapter twice for it to sink in and so it can make sense to me. However, all the hypotheses that he presents have a compelling argument behind it. Since this only the first time ever sinking my teeth in Q, I am really not sure what to make of all the data and reasoning that Kloppenborg presents in his book. The two theories that he presents are: "The other synoptic source, Q" and "The two document theory." I do plan to reread this Chapter over the weekend. Hopefully more of this chapter has sunk into my brain and will actually be able to figure out what Q really is.
Alas, a theory driven idea is not new to me. I am a engineering major with a heavy math background. This is just Kloppenborg's proof of his thesis. So maybe I should not try to understand it in the first chapter, but wait until the end of the class.
-Andrew "Giles" Leonard (See Aside Three)
Aside One: Mr. John Clapp is the most beloved teacher at Archbishop Murphy (Murphy). Every Junior in the last ten years at Murphy will have on their schedule "History of the Roman Catholic Church. Teacher: John Clapp. Room: 306." I have many stories and antidotes about him and with him. Luckily, you do not have to get a Murphy education to hear some of the stuff he talks about in his class. Check out this website and search for "Clapp": http://tr.im/ynlS
Aside Two: Granted most of these documents are just scraps and fragments of parchment. However, Roman Catholics believe that the sacred texts are inspired by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit wrote any of the documents or guided the scribe's pen in any way. It just means that Humans wrote it. Q for all intended of purposes could be the Holy Spirit. Yet Kloppenborg explains that Q is physical document. My opinion: I really do not know. However, My first expression is that Q is both based in the oral and written tradition of the Holy works.
Aside Three: I could explain why I go by Giles here (See Aside Four), however over Lent 2009 a very good friend of mine and I did a blog reading the entire Catechism. Although my friend did a super majority of the blog posts. I do plan to do a daily blog of it Lent 2010. Check it out here: http://40daysofcatechesis.blogspot.com/
Aside Four: In a nutshell: Giles is my confirmation name. When I started community college I started to go by it, since I love the name.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Same Thing, However about me this time.
Paragraph:
When I left my last school, everyone that I met had the same conclusion on me. Although I am not sure that I agree with them, I am humbled that by their conclusion. That I was just like John Forbes Nash and it was a true misfortune that I was in a Community College setting. A beautiful mind that is blooming, yet not sure what flower that he wants to become. At Gonzaga I am not sure what I am going to become. All I know is that I attempting my major in civil engineering and have room for a double major in something.
Sentence:
I am not a magician; I am just some guy that makes jokes that sometimes I gets your personal information correct.
Word: Enigma
When I left my last school, everyone that I met had the same conclusion on me. Although I am not sure that I agree with them, I am humbled that by their conclusion. That I was just like John Forbes Nash and it was a true misfortune that I was in a Community College setting. A beautiful mind that is blooming, yet not sure what flower that he wants to become. At Gonzaga I am not sure what I am going to become. All I know is that I attempting my major in civil engineering and have room for a double major in something.
Sentence:
I am not a magician; I am just some guy that makes jokes that sometimes I gets your personal information correct.
Word: Enigma
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