Jonathan Pinedo Sacred Texts: Old Testament 12/12/11 Final Paper

Q. How does my upbringing in an SDA family convey what I learned in this class? And how does the Tanakh still apply to me today?

The religion this quarter introduced me to a new way to view/read the bible. I was born and raised Seventh Day Adventist. When I was young, my parents would force me to read the bible and memorize bible verses for Sabbath school every week. They would tell me that I needed to do that in order to please God. So I gladly listened to them, because they are my parents, and I willingly did what they asked of me. I did this for many years, because I never questioned that my parents could be wrong. Even through high school, I followed the instructions my bible teacher gave me because I had no reason to question her, or my grade for that matter. It was not until I came to college that I started to actually question my lifetime upbringing. Was SDA the correct religion? I have pondered this in my head many times since then. But that is when I started to actually participate in my religion. Instead of being spoon fed the information, I started to dig deep into the bible and try and understand it for myself. College has made me realize that being a Christian is not about going to church, or not breaking any of the Sabbath rules, such as going out to eat on the Sabbath, but being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with God. My parents are very conservative SDAs, but I was never baptized when young. I took bible studies my freshman year with my girlfriend to get baptized, and that only further

enhanced my view of God. Having a personal, one-on-one relationship with God is first and foremost the most important thing I can think of. Everything else then follows, such as observing the Sabbath and abiding the laws. Because I love God, that is what makes me want to read the bible and learn more about him. It was not about how many bible verses I could learn in one week to see if I could beat my friends when I was young, it was about preparation for this point in my life right now when I am learning about what being a Christian truly means. Since I love God, I will do what he asks of me. He gave us the bible so that we can be prepared for when he returns. But some questions still present themselves, like who wrote the bible? Or, if man wrote the bible with his own hands, is it not liable for errors? Do I take everything that it says word for word? This is what I believe The bible was inspired by God, but written by man. Yes, men are sinful and therefore will make errors. But the fact remains that it was God inspired, so then I take the bible to be read not as a narrative, but as instructions on how to live my life. I learned all of this in this class. The scripture that we focused on this quarter was the Tanakh. Literally translated, it is the Jewish name for the canon of the Hebrew bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings")hence Ta-Na-Kh. The Torah consists of five books, commonly referred to as the "Five Books of Moses". In Hebrew, the five books of the Torah are identified by the first prominent word in each book. The English names are derived from the Greek names given to the books in the Septuagint, which are based on the thematic content of each of the books. Nevi'im consists of eight books. This division includes the books that, as a whole, cover the chronological era

from the entrance of the Israelites into the Land until the Babylonian captivity of Judah (the "period of prophecy"). However, they exclude Chronicles, which covers the same period, as well as Ruth. The Nevi'im are often divided into the Earlier Prophets, which are generally historical in nature, and the Later Prophets, which contain more prophecies. The last part is the Ketuvim. Ketuvim consists of eleven books. These encompass all the remaining books. They are sometimes divided into such categories as books of truth, such as Psalms, Proverbs and Job, the "wisdom books" of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, the "poetry books" of Psalms, Lamentations and Song of Songs, and the "historical books" of EzraNehemiah and Chronicles. Since we only had one quarter to discuss all of the Tanakh and its entirety, we focused a lot more on the first part of the Tanakh, the Torah. One key thing that I learned was that Moses may not have written the first five books of the bible. Actually, he may not have written anything. We learned this by critically analyzing the texts that the Tanakh had to offer. I believe this is a positive and not a negative. Some people say that when scholars try to critically analyze the bible, some are not prepared for the outcome, and may lose their faith. But for me, this religion class only bolstered my beliefs in the Word of God. So, how does a book written two thousand years ago affect me? What impact does it have on my 21st century living body? Well, it has plenty. First, it is still the Word of God. Just because it was made in the past does not mean I cannot apply it now. I said earlier that to take the bible as it were written literally would be a mistake. Christians believe that since the bible is the word of God, and God is perfect, then the bible is perfect. I honestly had never thought about it that way before, but this idea is flawed. Since humans wrote it, to be human is to err, so naturally there will be some errors in the bible. On the other hand, if the

bible was only taken as a historical document, what meaning would that then have on me? The bible is the word of God, but one should read it, study it, and most importantly, understand the concepts, parables, stories, etc. it tells instead of literally taken it word for word. The Torah is where most of the rules that were given to the Israelites are presented. One of the positive ways that the Tanakh is important to me is the mandating of the Ten Commandments. The ten laws were given to Moses on Mount Sinai to be given to the Israelites. Not only that, but laws like these can still apply to me today. As a Christian, the Ten Commandments are the founding rules and guidelines that we follow. Even though they were written thousands of years ago, they still have values in them. Honor your father and mother and keep the Sabbath day holy are rules that are vital to my existence because they mean something to me. Some people argue that some of these rules have lost authority because they were not designed for people living in our day. Leviticus lists many, many laws that were given to the people living in the desert. Some of them were extremely harsh. No jewelry adornment, stoning to death for people that broke laws, no cutting or trimming your hair, and if a man cheats on his wife or vice versa, they must both die, just to name a few. The people that argue that rules like these are outdated have a point. It is not a sin for me to any of these things today (mostly), but it was back then. It was a different time period. Also, you have to take into account the type of lifestyles that they had, the kinds of rules that were around them, and the situations that they were presented with. Everything is contingent. But the rules that do apply to me from the Torah are such like the Ten Commandments, where they were given back then, and can still be applied to todays time.

Another important part of the Tanakh that can be applicable to me is the writings. Psalms, Proverbs, and books of wisdom and truth are still applicable to todays time. Proverbs is full of wisdom that one can read and apply to their daily life. It has guidelines for how to manage money, how to have good work ethics, and how to succeed in life. And then we have Psalms, a book that David wrote to God in his times of struggle and pain, to worship God. In there, I can find songs to praise God, poetry, and works as such to give God credit. Even the Prophets have use for me in todays time. Yes, the prophets back then were primarily not prophesizing about the future or Gods return, but instead were focused on the well being of the people around them. But I can still apply the criticism they gave to the Israelites, criticism such as wise up or behave yourselves better or else type of phrases to apply in my own life. Personally, I see no difference between the Tanakh and the Old Testament. It just depends on who is interpreting them. They are both sacred texts, one in the same basically, and they have the same guidelines and content to follow. I believe the bible is Holy, whether it is called the Tanakh or the Old Testament. This is how the Tanakh is influential to me today. Honestly, I enjoyed this class a lot. I may not have spoken up in class as much as you would have liked me too, but I definitely enjoyed the topics we covered in class. I am a senior and graduating this year, but I had never thought of analyzing the bible the way we did this quarter. On top of that, because I am not a religious major, I was lost in some conversations that took place. I did not have a background for the ideas that were introduced in the class, but I enjoyed it regardless. I learned to think outside the box when it comes to looking at the bible. I also learned not to take everything everyone tells me as the truth, but rather research myself. But in the end, it does not matter to me

whether Moses, Abraham, or Obama wrote the Torah. It depends on what you think is right, and how you apply the principles presented to your life. Thank your for giving me the opportunity to take your class, and I will see you next quarter because I signed up for your Old Testament: Prophets class. See you then!