The Religious Life

One of the ways Christians live religiously is by being nuns, monks or friars. These are Christians who take Christianity very seriously and perform the work of Christ by following Christ in his poverty and having strong obediance to Him. There are other Christians who have devoted themselves to prayer whereas others devote themselves more towards the sick and the poor. There are many different ways to live religiously and some of the ways are pretty interesting such as the Trappists who live in large communities and stay in thier house all day and devote themselves towards prayer. Also, they live a life of austerity and silence. Another group of Christians who call themselves the Little Brothers of Jesus look ordinary but do the most menial work available.

The Church

1. The Church is also known as the body of Christ, where Christians continue Christ's teachings on earth. The Church literally is an interesting type of building, which usually consists of a steeple, cool glass art, an organ, lots of seats, etc. It is a gathering place for Christians where they hear Christ's teachings and follow his example by teaching others, helping others and many other things. It is metaphorically Christ's body on earth, where all of the teachings Christians do are in the name of Christ and to serve Him. Two sacrements, Baptism and Eucharist come from Christ, where Baptism is the act by which people are accepted into the Church and perform Christ's work, and Eucharist is where Christians recieve the bread and wine of the Last Supper which symbolizes Christ being with them always.

2. One of the sacraments is prayer, where each Church has a place for praying to God. When they pray, they ask Him for his help with their lives or other types of things. In the church I go to (2-3 times a year if my mom doesn't make me go) there are comfortable pads to rest your knees on, because I don't think God would want it to be painful to pray. However, I do my best not to fall asleep on these comfty knee pads.
Another sacrament is confirmation. Confirmation is where Christians reaffirm their beliefs and to follow the teachings of Christ. Usually a bishop puts his hand on the person as a sign of the gifts from the Holy Spirit.
Some of the Churches focus on Bishops, who have a great amount of authority in the church and oversee everything. Some of the reformed churches don't have Bishops. The Bishop in my church is a pretty good speaker and doesn't bore me to death like the regular sermon does.

Saints and Martyrs

1. Saints are Christians who show extroardinary faith, love and loyalty towards Jesus, the church and fellow Christians. Being a saint can refer to anyone that is a Christian or anyone in heaven. The Roman Catholic Church sets apart saints by a process called canonization, where they declare someone a saint based on their devotion to Jesus, loyalty etc. They are then added to the list among people who are saints already. Some of the saints of the past are questionable by the Roman Catholics such as St. Christopher and St. Lucy because they are not sure of their existance. They believe that the saints have a role to take care of or be patrons of certain things, they have a certain duty. Such as how St. Christopher looked out for travelers. The Roman Catholics view saints in this sort of way and ask them for thier prayers. The Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that a saint is anyone who is in heaven, which includes Adam and Eve, Moses and other prophets. The Anglicans believe that saints are people who have a certain level of holiness and are elevated by popular opinion based on it.

2. One of the reasons Francis of Assisi was quickly canonized because he followed Jesus and his teachings very closely and radically, which inspired many people and he was declared a saint. Another reason is because Francis did so many things under the teachings of Christ, such as helping out the poor to a great extent, praise God to a profound level by leaving his family and set off to be part of a spiritual army for Christ.

The Resurrection

1. The Resurrection was important because Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was crucified, which many people thought as what happens and awaits us after death, (people continue on to the afterlife and God is revealed). It is also important that people recognized that Jesus set out on his ascension and his teachings of God stayed with the people on earth. It showed God's power and love for the people by Jesus being resurrected and for the people to have faith in God because of the good things that happen in the afterlife. Many Christians believe that God entered the church in the form of the Holy Spirit 50 days after the resurrection and has remained in the Church.

The Crucifixion

1. This source explains how Jesus came into conflict with the Temple authorities because he claimed that he spoke with God's authority and a true relationship with God depends on faith and expressing that faith. The Temple authorities believed that God gave Moses the laws that must be kept before the Messiah which could bring God's kingdom on earth. The authorities and the priests disagreed with Jesus said about him being the messenger and bringing the word of God which led to his arrest. Also, he refused to submit to the High Priest, which is punishable by death and led to his crucifixion.

2. "This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" -John 3:16

This quote is significant because it tells how Jesus died for our sins. The damage sin has caused in the past is so great that there needed to be a sacrifice that would pay for the amount of sinning in the past. Jesus sacrificed for the people for the sins they committed. Also, it shows the love of Jesus for the people and how death can't stop the love of God. This message was passed onto the people and showed them how they should respect the people around them and love their neighbors as themselves because it is what Jesus did for them.

3. The first image starts with Adam and Eve, and how they both brought sin into the world because they disobeyed God. Their mistake caused everyone to be sinful. However, Jesus' sacrifice became a substitute and took the punishment according to other Christians. After the Last Supper, Jesus prayed to be spared from his suffering, when an angel appeared and gave him strength and in my opinion, gave him the confidence to sacrifice for everyone's sins. He was then identified and brought before the High Priest, where he was ordered to be crucified. He was also brought before Pilate who agreed to his crucifixion. It is interesting though how Pilate did not find a case against Jesus but agreed to his crucifixion anyways. He was then crucified with two other thieves and put in a case where it was protected by guards.

Year of Living Biblically ch.10

1. When Jacobs decides to follow the traffic laws, he has a hard time doing it at first because he never even knew traffic laws existed in New York City, but he finds two upsides to his experience. The first upside is that obeying traffic laws forces him to pause, and by doing this he begins to notice a lot more of his surroundings. The second upside is he doesn't have to worry about breaking rules because before, he use to jaywalk often to save time. In my opinion, I think these consequences from obeying the traffic laws are partially coincidence, but they do make him stop for a moment and think of his surroundings, which has to do with the earlier chapters about him appreciating what God has created in the world.
2. One of the ways Jacobs recognizes the problems with absolute literalism in this chapter is when he goes to Tennessee and Jimmy is snake handling, which is an action taken literally from a the passage of Mark 16:18. One of the problems with this is that it is really dangerous and people die from playing with snakes. There are also other instances where Jacobs points out from the Bible that Jesus tells Peter to forgive his brother seventy times seven when he means an infinant number of times. Jacobs has some fun with this and decides to take it literally even though it is supposed to be taken metaphorically. There is also a part saying you should chop off certain body parts if they cause you to sin, such as taking out your eye if your eye causes you to sin. People actually try to take this literally even though they aren't necessarily supposed to.
3. Reconstructionism or the dominionism movement(dominionism is slightly less extreme) are thousands of radical fundamentalists who want a biblical government, which enforces the laws set out in both testaments, including executions of homosexuals, aldulters etc. As Jacobs describes them, "they are the American Taliban." They are very extreme and somewhat racist, depending on the person. It relates to Christianity by them taking everything said in the bible seriously.
4. The most important thing Jacobs learns from the snake handlers in my opinion is how the serpent handling isn't as bizarre as he expected it to be. Jacobs quotes from something he once read, "Religion makes the strange familiar and the familiar strange." In this case, serpent handling becomes more familiar to him for some reason. Also, Jacobs learns from the passion of the preachers in the Tennessee church and felt very hypnotized by their sermons and had to snap himself out of it and not surrender yet. The passion of the preachers showed Jacobs how much faith people really have in God.

The Last Supper

The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus ate before his death. He ate it with his desciples and one of the most important things he told them was that his teachings would be with them even after he died. The breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine symbolized his body and his blood, which meant eating the bread and drinking the wine would make sure for eternal life for all. It can be reinacted by Christians through the form of communion and other forms of interpretation.
One of the aspects of imagery is the thirteen places set. This symbolizes the thirteen place Jesus set for himself and his twelve disciples for the Last Supper. One of the other aspects of imagery is the Passover meal. Jesus and his disciples celebrate this Jewish holiday and Jesus breaks the bread for the rememberance of him. Some people question whether though if it was a passover meal and something different.
The changing role of the Eucharist- The role of the Eucharist changed from one of sacrifice to one of rememberance, which meant that people who celebrate the Eucharist must remember Jesus and view the bread and wine as something that represents Jesus himself. Also, faith is really important in order to view how Christ is among them. The Eucharist meal can be celebrated once a month which used to be every Sunday.