REL 2011 FIU Interpretation of the Scriptures to Current Affairs Summaries Summary Part 1: Religion is becoming more personalized and internalized. People

REL 2011 FIU Interpretation of the Scriptures to Current Affairs Summaries Summary Part 1:

Religion is becoming more personalized and internalized. People are customizing what they believe and practice to make it fit into their lives, rather than fitting their lives into religion. Based on this ideology, give a description of what the notion of religion signifies to you? Then think about where you have encountered the effects of religion (wedding, baptism, funeral, any other sacred ritual), be it personal or not, and consider the reactions of individuals to the particular instance you are referencing. In order to better ground this assignment, you may bring into conversation the Elements of Religion document, incoporating any of the elements to your discussion for this part of the assignement.

Summary Part 2:

Hermeneutics takes its name from the ancient Greek god Hermes, who ran messages between the gods, and between the gods and mortals. The ancient Greek verb hermeneuein means to interpret, explain, narrate, clarify, and translate.

Hermeneutics is the discipline concerned with understanding and explicating what is not immediately intelligible. It operates in the first instance within a given tradition, when the accidents of time and change have rendered access to the meaning of texts problematic and in need of explication. It can also be applied across languages and cultures. Viewing translation in relation to hermeneutics highlights the contiguity of intra- and interlingual translating as the negotiation of difference and otherness. As an interpretive practice translation is framed by hermeneutic concerns.”

Frederick Schleiermacher, credited for the development of the modern concept of hermeneutics, believed understanding consists in: re-experiencing the mental process of the author of a text; grasping the meaning of the parts of a text through divining the whole, and grasping the whole through its parts; and perceiving the individuality of the author as a human user of a shared language. Schleiermacher also believed understanding is not limited to what a text explicitly says, believed human consciousness is the source of revelation.

According to twentieth- century hermeneutics, humans do not take their existence for granted but are continuously engaged in making sense of it; tell-ing and retelling their experiences and identities as well those of oth-ers, they give shape to them, or question such shape and try out dif-ferent interpretations. Humans, as Charles Taylor (1985) puts it, are “self- interpreting animals”; interpreting themselves and the world they inhabit is inherent to their cultural way of being.

For this summary, let us bring into the context the following biblical verses:

“For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken. No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.” (Leviticus 21:18-21)

“I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent.” Timothy 2:11

“…thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.” (Leviticus 18:19)

“[Men] shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22)

“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Leviticus 20:13)

“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.” (Exodus 21: 20-21)

“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)

“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.'” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

Write your summary Part 2 interpreting one of the above biblical verses in your own words. What social issue does the verse address? How do you interpret its underlying meaning? How would you use the narrative of the hermeneutic to either advocate for or against the modern social issue your chosen verse speaks to?

Layout and Design:

Writing 200 words for each Summary Part 1 & 2, and complying fully with the following criteria makes for a successful assignment:

Typed in Times New Roman in a 12pt font
double-spaced
numbered pages
appropriate heading (name, class, date, professor’s name, topic)
creative title (use your imagiantion and create a cool title)
use of literature and citations if applicable
your grade will reflect grammatical inaccuracies in your work.