Throughout the reading, I noticed many occasions when God showed favoritism towards the Isrraelites during troubled times. For example, in 1 Samuel while the Israelites were at war against the Philistines, “Yahweh thundered violently over the Philistines, threw them into panic and Israel defeated them.” This favoritism goes against the idea that God loves everybody on earth equally, something that Christians are taught from the time they are in Sunday School. To me, it doesn’t seem fair to favor the lives of one group of people over another. Although I find this favoritism problematic, maybe it could be justified by saying that it was necessary to ensure the survival of the Israelites and their history. Additionally, this intervention in the war could have served as a harsh punishment on the Philistines for stealing the ark. 

Another occasion that demonstrated Israel’s relationship with God that throughout the reading, there were many moments when the Israelites seemed to forget Yahweh and all the things he had done for them. Even though Yahweh brought them out of Egypt, many of them worshiped other Gods. I think that this shows the inherent fickleness of human loyalties. We tend to change our minds quickly and don’t always follow a leader who is best for us. Sometimes we follow whoever is more convenient, or whoever we heard speak last. Because of this, the Israelites need constant reminding of Yahweh and his power.

One thing that I noticed when reading Exodus 19-25 is that many of the laws given to the Israelites seem to be concerned with justice or in some cases, getting revenge. This is exemplified in the famous line, “you will award life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke”. Many of the punishments suggested for crimes are equal to the amount of damage caused. This rule ensures that crimes get punished, but that the punishment is not too excessive or lenient. In cases where no damage is done, even when there was malicious intent, there is often no punishment required. For example, if two people get in a fight, if one person is injured but later recovers, there is no punishment for the person who injured the other. 

I thought it was interesting that there isn’t any punishment for fighting itself, only for the consequences for fighting. This could be because at this point in history, fighting was a fact of life and it would have been impractical or dangerous to stop fighting all together. However, I found it interesting that there seemed to be few laws that took intent into account. For most of the laws, the end result was all that mattered for the punishment, no matter what the intent or goal was.

In general, I think that these laws had consistent moral ideas. In general, the laws seem to encourage people to respect the life and livelihood of other people. This can be seen through the harsh punishments for murder and stealing or hurting someone’s livestock. Although some of the laws seem harsh by modern standards, the general principle of respect for others is still important and relevant.

From the beginning of Exodus, Moses is presented as separate from other Isrealites. Unlike most of the other Israelite baby boys, who were hidden or killed, Moses was raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Because of this, Moses likely had many privileges and opportunities growing up that the other Isrealites did not. In some ways, this separation from the other Isrealites foreshadows Moses’s role as a leader to the Israelites who helped them to escape from slavery in Egypt.

Especially at the beginning of the reading, Moses is presented as being very flawed. After witnessing an Egyptian strike an Israelite, he kills the Egyptian and has to flee because of it. I think this makes his story even more compelling because it communicates to the reader that they too, no matter how flawed they are, can do something good for God and for their community. Additionally, when God reveals himself to Moses, Moses did not automatically agree to go to Egypt. He had questions and concerns for Yahweh. He was worried that the Isrealites wouldn’t believe that God sent him, and he had concerns about communicating with others because he couldn’t speak well.

I think that the story of Moses would have been much less compelling if Moses had been a morally perfect character and had no doubts or second thoughts about rescuing the Israelites from Egypt. This would have made the character less believable and interesting to the reader. Although he needed some convincing at first, Moses is presented as a faithful servant of Yahweh who put himself in uncomfortable positions in order to help the Israelites and do Yahweh’s will.

• Titles, divisions, contents

The first 5 books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are known as the Torah or the Pentateuch. Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers deal with history, both of humanity and of the Israelites. Leviticus and Deuteronomy are mostly legislation and religious laws.

• How the Pentateuch came to be written

Early Christians credited Moses with the composition of the Pentateuch, but modern scholars believe it was written by four different authors due to its varied writing styles. Because it has multiple authors, the Pentateuch contains many different versions of some stories. The authors are known as the Yahwistic, Elohistic, Deuteronomic, and Priestly traditions. The Yahwistic tradition is vivid, narrative, and often speaks of God in human terms. The Elohistic tradition is sober, flat, concerned with morals, and is careful to make clear distinctions between God and humans. The Deutonoronomic tradition is rhetorical and formulaic. Lastly, the Priestly code is concerned with organization, sacrifices, and formulaic.

• Relation of the narratives to history

In the Pentateuch, especially Genesis, facts are often presented in a mythological form. The Pentateuch also discusses the story of the patriarchs and the history of Israel as a nation. The history is written from a religious standpoint and each turning-point of the story is marked by divine intervention.

• The laws

Much of the Pentateuch is made up of laws, many of which were influenced by the cultures of neighboring groups at the time. For example, the Code of the Covenant was the legal code of a community and has many similarities to the Mesopotamian Codes. The Deutoronomic Code adapted laws to fit changes in the culture and economic life. The book of Leviticus contains some ancient laws such as the dietary laws and the regulations governing ritual purity.

• Religious significance

The religion of the Old Testament is based in history, which is part of why the Pentateuch is so important. In general, it is based on divine revelation to humans, interventions by God, and promises from God to humanity.

The most important ideas I took from Genesis 1 are that God created all things with order and intention, and that humanity was created as the pinnacle of his creation. Additionally, God’s love and compassion can be seen through him creating a world full of things that are “good”. Before creation, the earth is described as a “formless void”. God turned this nothingness into a beautiful, ordered place where everything has its own purpose, which shows a sense of caring and compassion towards all life on earth, including humans.

In Genesis 2-4, God is depicted as a firm but caring father figure towards humanity. His punishment for Adam and Eve deciding to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil were harsh. They did not only impact and Adam and Eve, the ones that made that decision, but all of humanity. Not only did he expel Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, but he also made childbirth painful and subjected man to a lifetime of hard labor. By doing this, God made it much more difficult and painful to live as a human. Although arguably this punishment was done in the best interest of Adam and Eve, it still seems harsh, and conflicts with the caring image of God as seen in Genesis 1.

Overall, I found A Walk Through the Bible  to be very interesting. I knew most, but not all, of the stories referenced, but I hadn’t interpreted all of them like Newbigin did. One thing that Newbigin emphasizes throughout the book is that the Bible is the story of humanity, not as a collection of unrelated helpful thoughts. Therefore, it must be looked at as a whole instead. A lot of people turn away from religion because they read the Bible and realize that it contains murder, war, and slavery. However, Newbigin argues that you have to look at the Bible as the very long training of the world to understand the nature of God, and that the Bible took place at an early stage in this training.

I think that Newbigin sees creation, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the vision of the world depicted in the book of Revelation, as the key elements of the Biblical story. These three moments all show something important about God’s nature. 

The creation story is an important moment in the Biblical story because it establishes God’s love to the reader. God created the world because he wanted to “create a world to reflect his glory and a human family to enjoy his world and give back his love”, and the writers of Genesis, who “knew God as the redeemer God” wanted to convey this idea.

Newbigin argues that having Jesus “go down into the very depths of dereliction” during his crucifixion makes it so that no matter how sad or angry we are, Jesus would be there beside us. Additionally, his resurrection marks a new creation and the beginning of a new era for the world, one in which death and sin have been conquered.

Lastly, the image of the world depicted in the book of Revelation is important to Newbigin because it gives us a purpose and hope because we can look forward to the day when Jesus will return and humanity will strive towards beauty, civilization, and order.

I am not Catholic so this was my first time reading the Catechism. Some new words that I learned are exegete, meaning someone who interprets text, especially scripture, and magisterium, meaning the Catholic Church’s authority to interpret the Word of God. Additionally, I was confused by the way the word “economy” was used in this reading. When I looked it up I saw that there are many ways it can be used in reference to religion, and I wasn’t sure which meaning was intended in this reading. 

One idea that I found persuasive is that humans can be considered “religious beings” and that “the desire for God is written in the human heart” (27). I think that most people, whether they are religious or not, have a natural longing for some type of higher power or for a spiritual explanation of the world. Additionally, the idea of humans as religious beings can also be seen by how many religions there are throughout the world and how much longevity many religious institutions have had. Even though science has now explained many things that were previously unknown and could only be seen through religion, people still have a desire to be religious.

Something mentioned that I found confusing and poorly supported was that all people can know God “with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason” , but that there are many obstacles that can stop people from doing so (36). I didn’t find this convincing because authors had no way of knowing that in a world without “the impact of the senses and the imagination” and “disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin” that reason alone would be enough to believe in God (37). Therefore, I don’t believe that there is any way of knowing that this is true.