Here are some terms that you need to be familiar with. Many you have heard of:
apostle - Jesus chose 12 men to go out and teach the gospel to the world.
Ascension - the rising of Jesus' body up to heaven after his time here on earth (celebrated 41 days after Easter). RESURRECTION - Rising of Jesus from the dead 3 days after his death.
baptism - Sacrament (action) of sprinkling water symbolizing washing away sins and entering the Church community.
confession - Sacrament (action) where a believer confesses their sins and is forgiven by God.
Crucifixion - Roman execution method of hanging (with rope and nails) a person to a large cross - Jesus was killed this way.
disciple - follow of Jesus during his ministry (it includes the 12 apostles)
Easter - the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven
gospel - "Good News", the teachings in the bible of the life of Jesus.
Eucharist (Communion) - Sacrament (action) of spiritual communion with God - often in the form of unleavened bread and wine.
Holy Spirit - one of the three persons in God, believed to bestow spiritual gifts upon people.
Judgement Day (Last Judgement) - Day of God's final final judgement at the end of the world - the faithful will go to heaven.
Messiah - The Saviour, the person sent from God to save all people - Christians believe this to be Jesus.
Original Sin - believe of our tendency to sin (Baptism will wash this away).
Purgatory - temporary stage in which souls of the dead are purified from sin.
Papal infallibility - The belief that the Pope (the head of the Catholic Church) cannot be wrong in matters of faith and morals in his role as head of the church.
BASIC BELIEFS
Creation - God created everything in the universe (no particular date, he just did it).
God - derived from Judaism, one god made up of three entities - the Father, The Son, Holy Spirit.
Salvation and Eternal Life - believers will be forgiven for their sins and will enter heaven for eternity.
Morality is derived from the 10 Commandments.
Gender Roles - men are priests (Catholicism), women are nuns. But in most Christian denominations ministers can be either gender.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
DAY 70 (Dec 15) Meaning in Your Life
Today was a very interesting day of discussing the fundamental needs that people have that are address, for some, through religion.
Deontology - comes from the Greek word, "Deon", which means duty. One of the ways that most of us are comfortable working within a worldview that has rules of things that are acceptable to do and things that are not acceptable to do. For example, we all agreed that stealing your classmate's pencil is not acceptable and therefore stealing anyone's pencil is not acceptable. We made a link here to other, more serious issues like, murder. It's not ok to kill others.
Next we asked where your ideas about it not being acceptable to steal or kill came from. For some of you it's just what you've been taught by parents, friends, society, school, etc. (i.e. it's the way you have been socialized), and for others such ethical / moral codes from from a religious source, e.g. the Bible. This is deontological in origin, but it's more than simple that - it's a duty-based outlook that comes from a spiritual or religious source. This we call, "Divine Command". In other words, the moral/ethical code has it's root in a god and holy texts.
I made this point with the class because during yesterday's introduction to Christianity there were many questions about how Christians can believe certain things and I did not want the focus to be on the minutiae of that religion, rather I wanted us to focus on the human needs that we all have and how Christianity (and any other religion) addresses those needs. The need we focused on today was the need to have rules to govern our lives and the need to live a meaningful life.
We listened to Bruce Cockburn's "Shipwrecked at the Stable Door" and examined the meaning of the lyrics to that song. There are many references to capitalist, materialistic society and there are biblical references too. We then began to work through Rick Warren's TED Talks lecture on bringing meaning to one's life, something that we'll continue tomorrow (with the few people who are here because of the Grade 11 field trip to the ROM on Friday).
Deontology - comes from the Greek word, "Deon", which means duty. One of the ways that most of us are comfortable working within a worldview that has rules of things that are acceptable to do and things that are not acceptable to do. For example, we all agreed that stealing your classmate's pencil is not acceptable and therefore stealing anyone's pencil is not acceptable. We made a link here to other, more serious issues like, murder. It's not ok to kill others.
Next we asked where your ideas about it not being acceptable to steal or kill came from. For some of you it's just what you've been taught by parents, friends, society, school, etc. (i.e. it's the way you have been socialized), and for others such ethical / moral codes from from a religious source, e.g. the Bible. This is deontological in origin, but it's more than simple that - it's a duty-based outlook that comes from a spiritual or religious source. This we call, "Divine Command". In other words, the moral/ethical code has it's root in a god and holy texts.
I made this point with the class because during yesterday's introduction to Christianity there were many questions about how Christians can believe certain things and I did not want the focus to be on the minutiae of that religion, rather I wanted us to focus on the human needs that we all have and how Christianity (and any other religion) addresses those needs. The need we focused on today was the need to have rules to govern our lives and the need to live a meaningful life.
We listened to Bruce Cockburn's "Shipwrecked at the Stable Door" and examined the meaning of the lyrics to that song. There are many references to capitalist, materialistic society and there are biblical references too. We then began to work through Rick Warren's TED Talks lecture on bringing meaning to one's life, something that we'll continue tomorrow (with the few people who are here because of the Grade 11 field trip to the ROM on Friday).
DAY 69 (Dec 14) Higgs Boson and Christianity
We started today having a look at this information on the potential discovery of the Higgs Boson - a particle that existed in abundance at the creation of the universe and, so the theory goes, the particle that gives mass to energy, in other words creating "something from nothing", a rather novel thing indeed! And an appropriate point to interject into conversations about our origins in a religious context. There were so many astounding and insightful comments from our class on this topic.
We had a brief introduction to Christianity today and some points to note include the origins of Christianity in Judaism, the birth of Jesus Christ in around 4-3 BCE and his subsequent crucifixion about 30 years later. We made strong parallels between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
We had a brief introduction to Christianity today and some points to note include the origins of Christianity in Judaism, the birth of Jesus Christ in around 4-3 BCE and his subsequent crucifixion about 30 years later. We made strong parallels between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
DAY 65, 66, 67, 68 (Dec 8, 9, 12, 13) The Pianist Project Work Periods
You all worked diligently on this project in the Library - you all ask great questions and the thinking that you put into this type of work is amazing.View Blog
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
DAY 64 (Dec 7) Passover and The Pianist project
I neglected to include the link to yesterday's interesting idea regarding the Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D, so there it is. We had a discussion about it regarding whether seeing images from so far away can help us or hinder us in our own understanding and/or belief in a god. For some it might make it easier to see God as an even more powerful entity than before. And for others it might fuel the fires of rationality and make it more difficult to accept that there is a god of any sort considering how big this place we call the universe is. Great discussion, folks, have another lookie at that short video and by all means show your parents, maybe it will be the catalyst for a great conversation!
Today Ashley and Dani did a fine presentation on Passover including a good historical perspective and a humorous but informative depiction of modern Passover celebrations. And their perogies (representing one or two of the traditional dishes served at Passover) were outstanding, thanks to Frau Schaus., and they served up two of the four wines usually served at Passover, in our case a couple of fine vintages of peach. We made the point after their presentation that much of Jewish religious celebration centres around recognizing the past history of suffering and persecution that Jews have endured over the millennia - something unique in Judaism when compared to most other religions. In fact it is sometimes the basis for modern thinking about Judaism because it still exists in modern times, for example the Holocaust.
This leads us to our next project which is called, The Pianist & Holocaust Survivors. We spent a bit of time in the Library and everyone found a suitable print resource as the basis for your research into the life of one survivor. We'll head back to the Library to get to work in earnest on this project, it shouldn't take more than two days to complete. We'll do our Hinduism / Buddhism test next week, but not on Wednesday!
Today Ashley and Dani did a fine presentation on Passover including a good historical perspective and a humorous but informative depiction of modern Passover celebrations. And their perogies (representing one or two of the traditional dishes served at Passover) were outstanding, thanks to Frau Schaus., and they served up two of the four wines usually served at Passover, in our case a couple of fine vintages of peach. We made the point after their presentation that much of Jewish religious celebration centres around recognizing the past history of suffering and persecution that Jews have endured over the millennia - something unique in Judaism when compared to most other religions. In fact it is sometimes the basis for modern thinking about Judaism because it still exists in modern times, for example the Holocaust.
This leads us to our next project which is called, The Pianist & Holocaust Survivors. We spent a bit of time in the Library and everyone found a suitable print resource as the basis for your research into the life of one survivor. We'll head back to the Library to get to work in earnest on this project, it shouldn't take more than two days to complete. We'll do our Hinduism / Buddhism test next week, but not on Wednesday!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
DAY 63 (Dec 6) The Pianist
After discussing some big questions in the universe we finished watching the film. Szpilman lives through his ordeal and continues his musical career - he died at age 88 in Warsaw in 2000. Some of his children now live in Canada.
Diaspora - a term with several meanings. Around 600 BC the Kingdom of Judea was destroyed along with the first temple. Thus the Jews were dispersed and had no real homeland. Jews were enslaved and after a long period of dispersal Jews began to settle in different areas. Again, around 2000 years ago they were dispersed again, and again they had no homeland.
Diaspora - modern - the term used for any Jews not living in Israel, post 1948. This means that Jews not living in Israel have accepted that there is a chosen land but for various reasons they choose not to live there.
Diaspora - a term with several meanings. Around 600 BC the Kingdom of Judea was destroyed along with the first temple. Thus the Jews were dispersed and had no real homeland. Jews were enslaved and after a long period of dispersal Jews began to settle in different areas. Again, around 2000 years ago they were dispersed again, and again they had no homeland.
Diaspora - modern - the term used for any Jews not living in Israel, post 1948. This means that Jews not living in Israel have accepted that there is a chosen land but for various reasons they choose not to live there.
DAY 62 (Dec 5) Food and Culture Day
As Food and Culture Day ran today in period 3 you all spent the class visiting with the groups and sampling their foods. It's amazing that we seem to be a homogeneous group in many ways but when we dig deeper it's plain to see that we are from a rainbow of backgrounds - it's wonderful ! !
Friday, December 2, 2011
DAY 61 (Dec 2) The Pianist
Today's viewing is fairly self-explanatory and further depicts "in"humanity, that is, humanity at it's worst. Many of you discussed wanting to do something about social injustice and today we saw the results of the uprising against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw - the ghetto was levelled and any resistors who were caught were quickly executed.
When Szpilman is finally confronted by an articulate and finely cultured German officer in the abandoned building in which Szpilman is hiding, the tone of the story changes dramatically (sorry for the pun). We know that the young officer is cultured as we hear his music coming from the main floor - Beethoven's Sonata opus 27 #2, 1st Movement (popularly known as the "Moonlight Sonata"). For the first time we see exactly what it is about a human being that could account for him (in this case Szpilman) being fully human and not sub-human as was decreed by the Nazis at that time . . . through the eyes of a Nazi. The officer asks Szpilman to play the piano and, despite years of not touching a keyboard, he sits at the piano and plays, quite beautifully I might add, Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G Minor (Op. 23, No. 1) - (in the actual event the real life Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne No. 1 in C# Minor which is a much gentler tune, it's a nocturne, afterall, but it would have not been nearly as dramatic as the piece played in the film. Notably, Nocturne No. 1 in C# Minor is the melancholy theme music throughout the music. This is seminal moment in the film as it depicts Szpilman as a human being, an entity worthy of protection, comfort and the rights of any other citizen. The German officer begins to question his own views and the actions of the Germans in the war.
A quick reminder, as discussed in class please convene in the Bearpit at the beginning of period 3 on Monday as you'll spend the period perusing the displays and sampling the foods of my grade 12 students in Food and Culture Day - my expectation, as discussed in class, is that you spend the entire period talking to the people at the displays.
When Szpilman is finally confronted by an articulate and finely cultured German officer in the abandoned building in which Szpilman is hiding, the tone of the story changes dramatically (sorry for the pun). We know that the young officer is cultured as we hear his music coming from the main floor - Beethoven's Sonata opus 27 #2, 1st Movement (popularly known as the "Moonlight Sonata"). For the first time we see exactly what it is about a human being that could account for him (in this case Szpilman) being fully human and not sub-human as was decreed by the Nazis at that time . . . through the eyes of a Nazi. The officer asks Szpilman to play the piano and, despite years of not touching a keyboard, he sits at the piano and plays, quite beautifully I might add, Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G Minor (Op. 23, No. 1) - (in the actual event the real life Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne No. 1 in C# Minor which is a much gentler tune, it's a nocturne, afterall, but it would have not been nearly as dramatic as the piece played in the film. Notably, Nocturne No. 1 in C# Minor is the melancholy theme music throughout the music. This is seminal moment in the film as it depicts Szpilman as a human being, an entity worthy of protection, comfort and the rights of any other citizen. The German officer begins to question his own views and the actions of the Germans in the war.
A quick reminder, as discussed in class please convene in the Bearpit at the beginning of period 3 on Monday as you'll spend the period perusing the displays and sampling the foods of my grade 12 students in Food and Culture Day - my expectation, as discussed in class, is that you spend the entire period talking to the people at the displays.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
DAY 60 (Dec 1) The Pianist
We continued watching the Pianist today. Some of the points we discussed include:
Judaism vs. Being Jewish - we made the point that generally religious affiliation is a choice, albeit a choice often made by parents for their children early in life based on family tradition or regional/cultural/social norms. In the case of the Holocaust, Jews were targeted by the Nazis not so much for a religious affiliation, although this was obviously part of the story, but for what the Nazi's called racial inclusion, that is, Jews were Jews by birth and nothing could change that. Therefore they were of an inferior race, according to Hitler, and thus should be eliminated because of the harm that the Nazis said Jews were responsible for in Germany and the rest of Europe. I pointed out the statistic that in 1939 Europe's population was approximately 0.5 percent "Jewish" - it does not stand to reason that such a small proportion of the population could be responsible for the harms for which they were accused by the Nazis.
Instilling Fear - one of the strategies used in any conflict is to instil fear into the local populations. In this case the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were witness to daily killings at the hands of the Nazis which frightened everyone and decreased their sense of control over their own lives.
What Can Be Done About Injustice? - we discussed the fact that under the Nazis it was extremely dangerous to resist or comment or mount any kind of resistance, therefore most of those witness to injustices were helpless to change the situation. Hopefully by witnesses some of these atrocities in a film like this you are more willing to stand up for injustices anywhere in the world - in Canada we have freedom of speech and association and it is, generally, very safe to stand up for what is right in a free country like ours.
Family - near the end of today's viewing we witnessed the death of Szpilman's family - he was rescued at the train transfer station while the rest of his family was sent on to Treblinka, an extermination camp in occupied Poland. Every Jew today has family that was killed during WWII. Yesterday I recounted a time when I met Spilman's daughter after she commented on a piano player's playing of a particular song that her father played often when she was a child, that is, Szpilman himself. He was this woman's father.
Judaism vs. Being Jewish - we made the point that generally religious affiliation is a choice, albeit a choice often made by parents for their children early in life based on family tradition or regional/cultural/social norms. In the case of the Holocaust, Jews were targeted by the Nazis not so much for a religious affiliation, although this was obviously part of the story, but for what the Nazi's called racial inclusion, that is, Jews were Jews by birth and nothing could change that. Therefore they were of an inferior race, according to Hitler, and thus should be eliminated because of the harm that the Nazis said Jews were responsible for in Germany and the rest of Europe. I pointed out the statistic that in 1939 Europe's population was approximately 0.5 percent "Jewish" - it does not stand to reason that such a small proportion of the population could be responsible for the harms for which they were accused by the Nazis.
Instilling Fear - one of the strategies used in any conflict is to instil fear into the local populations. In this case the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were witness to daily killings at the hands of the Nazis which frightened everyone and decreased their sense of control over their own lives.
What Can Be Done About Injustice? - we discussed the fact that under the Nazis it was extremely dangerous to resist or comment or mount any kind of resistance, therefore most of those witness to injustices were helpless to change the situation. Hopefully by witnesses some of these atrocities in a film like this you are more willing to stand up for injustices anywhere in the world - in Canada we have freedom of speech and association and it is, generally, very safe to stand up for what is right in a free country like ours.
Family - near the end of today's viewing we witnessed the death of Szpilman's family - he was rescued at the train transfer station while the rest of his family was sent on to Treblinka, an extermination camp in occupied Poland. Every Jew today has family that was killed during WWII. Yesterday I recounted a time when I met Spilman's daughter after she commented on a piano player's playing of a particular song that her father played often when she was a child, that is, Szpilman himself. He was this woman's father.
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