Religon Midterm
Describe the particular ways in which Jesus' life experiences parallel those of the ancient Egyptian god Osiris.
Betrayed by someone close to him he dies and then ressurects
If these white southern cultural messages ("pattern of meanings" and "ideological myths") were internalized by whites, what effect would they have had on the way they thought and felt about themselves as white people?
Damn we rock why would we want to change anything
What is the significance of Moses' name and of the education he received while growing up?
Moses or Mss means birth in egyptian and he was adopted by the pharoh's (daughter or wife) and given the best egyptian education so his fusion of cultures was inevitable
Briefly summarize what "ideological myths" are as developed by Paulo Freire in his classic liberationist work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
lies made up to justify oppression of groups and to internalize that opression to brainwash the oprressed
For the ancient Egyptians, the entire landscape of Africa's Nile valley was a divine text which revealed to them the spiritual truth that there is a life-giving power present in death (loss) that makes resurrection (recovery) possible. Briefly describe how this truth is reflected in the daily cycle of the sun
the sun rises= new life the sun sets = its journey through the underworld
Describe the particular ways in which Jesus' early childhood experiences parallel those of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
A child of destiny brought up with an education and power that was greater than others
Briefly summarize the story in Matthew's gospel which states that Jesus spent his formative years in Africa
An angel came to Joseph and said yo boi the king is gonna kill him so take mary and run to egypt until I give u the ok to come back
Egyptologist J. Gwyn Griffiths argues that since major elements of the ancient Egyptian story of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire also appear in later rabbinical writings of the Jewish faith community, it is likely that the Egyptian story circulated widely in first century Palestine within the Jewish community and was probably well known by Jesus himself (or by Luke) who assimilated it into his gospel message. According to Griffiths, how did this Egyptian story of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire, like other popular wisdom sayings which originated in Egypt (e.g., "wisdom about tomorrow"), come to be known so well by the Jewish community living in Palestine?
Because people would often migrate between the two places and they were in constant contact with one another
Whenever Rosa Parks and other blacks boarded the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama in the 1940's and 50's, they encountered a legalized segregation system that humiliated them daily. Briefly describe the segregation laws that were enforced on Montgomery's city buses, particularly by a bus driver named James Blake, and the white southern cultural message which Blake's especially cruel enforcement of these laws communicated daily to Rosa and the black citizens of Montgomery about themselves.
Blacks in the back can be seen as a metaphor for thier worth in society. So when they are subjigated to give up their seat for whites it says that I do not matter enough to sit amongst you
Briefly describe the parallel that exists between the ancient Egyptian story of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire and the New Testament's gospel stories about Jesus' infancy concerning the early cognitive development of both Si-Osire and Jesus.
Both children were exceptional when it came to development. When children were 3 they had invoked the development of a young adult
. Those who endorse the idea that it is never too late to have a happy childhood enact the principle of autogenesis in their own lives. Briefly, describe how human beings can tap the same divine power originally exercised by the sun-god Re and thereby enact the principle of autogenesis in their everyday lives.
Everyday you go through a partial death when u experience hardship so when you overcome that you are brining life back into yourself
While James Cone recognizes that white people have as much a right as everyone else to give expression to their religious experience in ways unique to their own culture (e.g., art forms, literary forms, modes of worship, beliefs, interpretations, code of ethics, etc.), he nonetheless attacks white religion because of its racism. According to Cone, how does racism primarily show up in white religion?
False representation of Jesus. He was Black
In the gospel story of the visit of the magi, what is the deeper assimilative meaning of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh offered to baby Jesus by the wise men who visit Bethlehem shortly after Jesus' birth?
Gifts of other world religions
Briefly describe the historical and psychological realities that confronted Martin the night of his "kitchen experience."
Got death threats and so he prayed to god for help and god answered him saying i will be with you
In the story, "The People Could Fly," as the field slaves internalize the words of Toby, it is said that "their bent backs straighten up." Metaphorically speaking, what does it mean to say that Toby's words inspired or empowered the slaves to straighten up their bent backs?
Grow a backbone and stand up for themselves and their culture
Briefly summarize what happens in the film clip we watched in class from the movie, The Passenger, which features a documentarian named Mr. Locke (played by Jack Nicholson) interviewing an African rebel priest/ leader under a tent in an African village, and explain how the African priest enacted the principle of individuation during the interview.
He asked why would he return to this village and not spread christanity as if the religion here was lesser. The preist turns the camera to the white dude to say these questions u ask me reveal more about you than they do me
In his 1972 classic work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire individuated the educational methods and materials at his disposal to inspire within the oppressed rural peasants of Brazil a strong motivation to read. Briefly describe the reading material he and his fellow educators developed for the peasants to use in their lessons.
He gave them story books from America but tweaked them to be relatable to the everyday peasant
Mythologically speaking, identify and describe the dangerous force in the netherworld which the sun-god Re has to overcome each night in order to rise to new life in the morning.
He goes into the underworld to overcome the chaos and then rises in the morning born once again.
Explain how Joseph was able to rise to such a powerful position in the Egyptian government from his original lowly status as a slave and prisoner.
He was able to interprate the dreams of the pharoh
In his account of his "kitchen experience," Martin describes God as "that Power that can make a way out of no way." Briefly explain how God made a way out of no way for Martin that night
He was losing courage and his back was against the wall and when it seemed like nothing would work
What eternal truth would the child Jesus have personally experienced from his "lantern-like" observation of Africa's natural landscape (e.g., the daily rising and setting of the sun, the annual rising and receding of the Nile, the annual death and resurrection of the farm land, the seasonal death and rebirth of the seed grain) that he would later express in his own spiritual teachings as an adult?
He witnessed egyptian cultute and absorbed the wisdom the land had to offer and thus he witnessesd the power of ressurection
Briefly describe how Wordsworth and Hopkins' hypothesis about childhood is supported and confirmed by the recent research findings published by Alison Gopnik, author of The Philosophical Baby and Scientist in the Crib.
How children think in a lantern perspective on how they dont focus on one thing but absorb literally everything around them
Briefly explain the meaning of Martin Luther King's statement,"A man can't ride your back unless it is bent."
If you are submissive it makes them easier to opress you so stand up fo yoself
As revealed in the story, "The People Could Fly," the enslaved Africans who internalized the "magical words of ancient Africa" spoken to them by the African seer Toby conveyed to them an African "pattern of meanings" that freed and empowered them to fly. What did Toby's African words and the African meanings his words embodied reveal to the enslaved Africans about themselves?
It helped them remebr thier culture and uniqueness. that they have a value and a life that matter reguardless of what slave master culture convinces them to believe. "Flying" is that awakening
According to Cecil Cone ("The Black Religious Experience")and Gayraud Wilmore ("Black Theology" and "What Is African American Religion?"), when enslaved African Americans encountered the divine amidst the dirt and grime of their personal and social existence as slaves, it transformed them at the core of their being. Briefly describe how that transformative effect was expressed by enslaved Africans in their song, "Oh Freedom!" and by James Cone in his theological conception of "freedom in bondage."
It shows that my god will come down and save my soul if needed and he has my back so i know that once i pass on i can make it. it is also a cry for respect and dignity to rather die than become a slave so u can make me a slave but i will die first and be one with my lord again. If god is with me I will always be free
. Certain libelous claims about Jesus' early life circulated in the Jewish rabbinical literature and the writings of the Platonic philosopher Celsus which sought to undermine Jesus' credibility and authority as a spiritual leader. What did those stories claim?
Jesus was a magician and his mamma was a hoe
If the author of Psalm 104 (written in Israel c. 850 B.C.) was influenced by the much older Akhenaton's Hymn to the Sun (written in Egypt five hundred year earlier, c. 1350 B.C.) when formulating his psalm, how would he have come to know this ancient Egyptian hymn without ever having traveled to Egypt?
Perhaps the word to mouth histroy tended to have bacj then or he could have heard the story within the community who was always in contact with egyt at the time
. As reflected in the Heliopolitan cosmogony, identify the creator god and briefly describe the ways this creator god enacted the creative principles of autogenesis, individuation, complementarity, reflective speech, and renewal to bring everything into well-ordered existence.
Ra. when he came from the mound from the chaos and he spoke life into the world thier became order that was birthed from chaos
How does this religious outlook described in the answer above compare to the attitude toward traditional African religion displayed by missionaries of a "culturally monocentric Western Christianity?"
Same way. They see any other religion that is no their own as wrong and savage compared to their delicate "white Jesus"
Several versions of the Heliopolitan cosmogony allude to the procreative powers of the creator god, suggesting that he did not create but procreated everything into well-ordered existence. Spell out the positive meanings which these versions of the creation story imply about sexuality.
Sexuality is a postive thing and a natural part of life by how he created other gods by masturbating and eating his sperm creating them in his own womb
Egyptologists have long pointed out that the worship of Isis and Osiris preceded the missionaries of Jesus in the northern Mediterranean world in which Christianity eventually took deep root. How do these Egyptologists characterize the attitude of the devotees of Isis and Osiris to the new Christian religion as it was growing in popularity even among the worshipers of Isis and Osiris.
Since Egypt was a land of multiple truths they had accepted the religion into the kingdom and some had even assimilated christianity into their own Egyptian culture.
Who are Ephraim and Manasseh and how do they exemplify the important role Egypt played in shaping the formative development of Judaism (Jesus' ancestral religion) and its spiritual traditions?
Sons of Joeseph and who made 2 of the 12 Isreal tribes. Mother was Egyptian and father was jewish and so the fusion of culutre from both sides went with them into isreal when they left egypt with moses
What magical technique did Jesus employ in his healing of the deaf and the blind (as recorded in the gospels) which was commonly practiced by healers in ancient Egypt, and what ancient Egyptian mythological story illustrates this technique?
Spit. WHen thoth spits on Osiris's eye to allow him to see after a fight with Seth
If we accept the underlying meaning of the enigmatic statements made by poets William Wordsworth and Gerard Manly Hopkins that "the child is father to the man," what does Matthew's gospel account of Jesus formative years in Africa imply about his later development as an adult?
That the experiences Jesus had in Egypt eventually shaped him to be the man he eventually became
In his book The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Joshua Hammer tells the story of Abdel Kader Haidara, an archivist and historian who helped recreate Timbuktu's historic manuscript libraries in the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s, and then risked everything to rescue them from destruction in 2012. Similarly, in his film Timbuktu, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako dramatizes the willful destruction of African heritage masks, sculptures, and statues in the town of Timbuktu. Describe the religious outlook of those who are bent on destroying such treasured works of African literature, religion, and art.
That their religion is wrong and they are heathans who need exposure to our god the "true" god
As recorded in the book of Exodus, when the Israelites were led by Moses out of Egypt, they did not leave Egypt empty-handed but were commanded by God to bring with them objects of silver and gold which their Egyptian neighbors generously provided them. Metaphorically speaking, what do the Egyptian objects of silver and gold refer to?
The culture and the wisdom that Egypt had provided when they we not being oppressed
"The narrative of racial difference" (and the "ideological myths" it perpetuated) did not go unchallenged. During the era of slavery both white and black abolitionists used newly discovered evidence from the ancient world to counter the "ideological myths" and change that narrative. Briefly summarize the evidence they used.
The power and wealth of ancient Egypt
In an interview with Bill Moyers, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe states that when Christian missionaries entered Africa "they came with the idea of one way, one truth, one life: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.'" This approach, he says, seemed so extreme and fanatical to many Africans that they recoiled from it. Briefly describe the African approach to religion which contrasts with this proselytizing approach of Christian missionaries.
The thought of only one truth was the complete opposite way of thinking to the Africans that initially some had rejected that idea. They would say you practice your religion and I will practice mine
How did the ancient Egyptian priests from Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis, Thebes, and Esna use the creative principle of complementarity to reconcile the different and conflicting creation stories which each of them told?
They respected others opinions and say there us truth in all and that no truth is absolute (multiple truths)
European Christians who were deeply devoted to Jesus' mother Mary frequently depicted her and baby Jesus (Madonna and child) as being black in the statues and paintings which they used to decorate their European churches and cathedrals. Explain the possible Egyptian connection to this phenomenon.
They saw mary and jesus as Isis and Horus
Briefly describe the art forms of a "culturally monocentric Western Christianity" and explain how the painting of a black Christ is received by those who endorse and advance a "culturally monocentric Western Christianity."
They tend to make Jesus White. By representing Jesus for what he truly was you advance past the white mono religion racism
The djed pillar pictured here is a powerful symbol in ancient Egyptian culture. Explain the meaning which the devotees of the god Osiris had long assigned to this symbol which inspired them to follow Osiris' lead in their own lives and straighten up their own bent backs.
To have a backbone is to standup for one's self just as osiris did many eons ago
Describe the particular ways in which Mary's experiences as mother of Jesus parallels those of Isis as mother of Horus.
Virgin mother gives birth to miracle child who is the son of god
Spell out the "ideological myths" about Africans and Europeans developed by Europe and America's Enlightenment thinkers (e.g., Kant, Hume, Jefferson, etc.) that helped shape what Bryan Stevenson calls "the narrative of racial difference" which continued to evolve long after slavery ended.
White's rule Blacks drool Rich rule Poor Drool
Briefly summarize the powerful words spoken to six year old Martin by his mother when he revealed his painful experience to her and describe the transformative effect which her magical words had upon the way he thought and felt about himself and about the two boys who hurt him.
You matter and you will always matter no matter what others say
. Briefly describe the faith-filled way in which Martin responded to those realities.
admitted he was afraid and asked for courage from god and god said i gotchu if u stand for justice and martin said aiight bet
In the biblical story of Aaron's rod, what is the deeper assimilative meaning of Moses' serpent swallowing up the serpents of the ancient Egyptian magicians?
assimilating egyptian culture and relgion
What recommendations did Joseph originally make and eventually help implement as Egypt's prime minister that saved Egypt from the crises that eventually gripped it?
create a food stockpile from a portion given to the government by each citizen so when famine comes we can distribute the food fairly
. When Martin Luther King was six years old he was deeply hurt by the actions of two white boys who had been his inseparable playmates for years. Briefly describe that painful experience and the initial effect it had upon the way young Martin thought and felt about himself.
he had played with these young boys until they had realized the racial divide between them and abandoned him. It made him feel lesser and it hurt him deeply
Briefly describe Osiris' final judgment of a person's moral character and the decisive role which a person's heart plays in that final judgment?
heart goes on a scale and if the heart tips the scale to show it is too heavy then he will be devoured by darkness but if it is lighter he will go into a glorious after life
A people's religious experience is mediated by their faith response to the realities of their life situation. What faith response was made to Toby's spoken message by the slaves who straightened their backs and flew beyond the "pattern of meanings" of the slave master's culture?
it made them remeber how rich the culture was and theat they as an individual can rise above
If these cultural messages ("pattern of meanings" and "ideological myths" of the southern White culture of Jim Crow) were internalized by Rosa and other blacks, what effect would they have had on the way they thought and felt about themselves as black people?
it would lead them to believe that things are better this way and to not resisit
What parallels exist between the moral criteria used in the final judgment scene in the ancient Egyptian religion (as illustrated in Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead) and that used in the final judgment scene in Christianity (as recorded in Matthew 25:31-46)?
poor people got a better shot than the rich. also ya better have not sinned to much or ya screwed
What alternative (i.e., less faith-filled) response could Martin have made that night to those troublesome realities?
ran
. Wole Soyinka critically observes that "variety" in world religions "is not so much the spice of life as the trigger of strife." How are his remarks illustrated in Nigeria today by the Boko Haram and in Mali (e.g., Timbuktu) by the Ansar al-Dine?
relgion is responsible for so much un needed bloodshed that he wishes it would leave but fears the alternaytive
One of the parallels that exist between the gospel story of Lazarus and Dives (Luke 16:19-31) and the older Egyptian story of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire regards the eternal fate of a rich man and poor man who die on the same day. Briefly describe this parallel.
rich men have a hard time going into a good afterlife cuz they don't help anyone when they alive
A strange Egyptian story tells the tale of a woman who is tragically reduced to the condition of a brood mare by the men in her life until the holy and wise Egyptian monk Abba Macarius speaks to her transformative words that free and empower her to think and feel about herself much differently. Explain the meaning of this story as it relates to the woman's struggle to straighten up her bent back in relation to the men in her life.
she internalized the thoughts about her until she became a horse but once the person talks to her she relaizes her worth as an individual and turns back into a human
Briefly describe how the principle of individuation was originally enacted in the mythical First Time by the god Shu (air) in relation to his children Geb (earth) and Nut (sky).
shu separated the two beings so they will never touch and forever be individual
Using Martin's words, briefly describe the divine message he received that night from God and the impact that this message had upon him.
stand up for justice and righteousness and i will always be with you and so he did
Briefly describe what this complementary approach to diversity adopted and practiced by the priests of ancient Egypt shares in common with African spirituality's "habits of accommodation and ecumenical embrace" as described by Wole Soyinka in his recent publication Of Africa (2012).
they embraced one another and had peace among each other. if everyone is entitled to thier own truth then no disputes based on religon arose
When understood metaphorically, the enslaved Africans who fly are transcending the European "pattern of meanings" of the slave master's culture that are communicated to the enslaved Africans daily through the slave system. What did this European pattern of meanings reveal to the slaves about themselves as Africans?
ya'll aint shit compared to us
