which way to god evaluation

8/2/2019 Which Way to God Evaluation

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STEP 2: A BRIEF HISTORY OF JUDAISMGod made a promise to Abraham that He would make a great naon of Abrahams descend-

ants. This naon, Israel, would be Gods chosen people. Abrahams grandson, Jacob, had twelve

sons. These sons later became the twelve tribes of Israel. One of the sons, Joseph, was sold into

capvity in Egypt by his brothers. While Joseph was capve in Egypt, God looked out for him and

caused him to prosper. Eventually Joseph became second-in-command of Egypt. His responsibil-

ity was to prepare the country for a coming famine.

To protect his family during the famine, Joseph provided for them in Egypt. Over the years,

the descendants of Joseph and his brothers remained in Egypt. But the atude of the Egypans

began to change toward the Israelites. In me, the Egypans made slaves of Gods chosen peo-

ple.

God called Moses to lead the Israel-

ites out of slavery in Egypt. When Phar-

aoh, the leader of Egypt, refused to let

the Israelites go, God sent ten plagueson the Egypan people. The tenth

plague the one that nally convinced

Pharaoh to let the Israelites go was the

death of the rstborn son of every fami-

ly in Egypt. The only people who es-

caped this plague were the Israelites

who painted their doorposts with lambs

blood. Their houses were passed overby this plague of death. Jewish people

today sll celebrate the Passover, com-

memorang this event.

From Egypt, God led the Israelites

through the wilderness to the promised

land, or Israel. There is a connuing

movement, unknown as Zionism, to es-

tablish in Israel a homeland for all Jewish

people.

The Old Testament of the Chrisan

Bible is the primary book of the Jewish

faith. Jewish people would not call it an Old Testament, for the Hebrew Scriptures are their to-

tal Bible. Jewish people consider the rst ve books of their Scriptures the Torah to be espe-

cially important. These are the books that contain Gods laws, including the Ten Command-

ments. Gods laws concerning the Sabbath provide guidelines for Jewish worship today.

The Which Way to God?curriculum begins

with a teaching unit on Judaism. Aer

unscrambling words which relate to Juda-

ism (including Abraham, Sabbath and

Nazi - see next page) the leader is encour-

aged to share with students this Brief His-

tory of Judaism. While the history does a

somewhat faithful job of explaining the He-

brew scripture narrave, its jump from OldTestament to Jewish worship today fails

to provide an adequate explanaon of what

Judaism looks like today. This could easily

lead students to think that the Judaism they

will encounter is the same as or very similar

to the religion of the Israelites who paint-

ed their door posts with lambs blood.


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The Tangled Web of Words acvity features images of

bearded men in robes intended to represent Jewish menlooking perplexed at a heap of scrambled leers. The ac-

vity, which is intended to help students idenfy certain

terms, requires the unscrambling of these words in order

to understand which denions they correspond to.

While the curriculum is aimed at teaching middle school

Chrisans (who presumably have lile knowledge about

Judaism, and therefore need the course) by featuring puz-

zled looking Jewish men, the image seems to suggest that

it these Jews who dont understand the words and their

meanings. Implicit, then, in the image, is the oen-made

supersessionist claim that Jews dont understand their

own tradion(s) and/or scriptures.


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Perhaps most problemac, the Brief History of Judaism is followed by a handout explaining

Conspiracy Theories about Jesus resurrecon. The handout is meant to be reproduced and

distributed to group members and outlines three possible objecons to the story of Jesus

resurrecon:

THEORY #1: JESUS DIDNT REALLY DIE.

On the cross, Jesus fainted from exhaustion and pain, but didnt die. In the coolness of the tomb, He re-

gained consciousness and made His escape.

Important issues to investigate:

- What kind of physical condition was Jesus in after the crucifixion?- What obstacles would He have had to overcome in escaping from the tomb?

THEORY #2: THE DISCIPLES STOLE JESUS BODY FROM THE TOMB.

Jesus disciples somehow overpowered the Roman guards posted by Jesus tomb. They then rolled awaythe stone from in front of the tomb, removed Jesus dead body, and hid. Afterward, none of them ever toldanyone what theyd done.

Important issues to investigate:

- What kind of attitude did the disciples have during Jesus crucifixion? Did any of them run away?Did any of them stick around?

- What obstacles would they have had to overcome to steal Jesus body?

THEORY #3: THE JEWISH OFFICIALS SECRETLY REMOVED JESUS BODY FROM THE TOMB.

To prevent the disciples from stealing Jesus body and claiming that Hed risen from the dead, the Jewishofficials (with the help of the Roman guards) secretly removed Jesus body and hid it.

Important issue to investigate:

- When rumors of Jesus resurrection started circulating, what could the Jewish officials have doneto disprove them?

By placing this handout in the secon intended to teach students about Judaism, it

makes Jews into conspirators against the Chrisan story, and also suggests that these are

arguments Jewish people make against Chrisanity/the story of Jesus resurrecon. Because

the curriculum emphasizes the importance of knowing about a persons religion in order to

know about the person, this could lead students to make dangerous assumpons about Jew-

ish views of Jesus, Chrisanity, the resurrecon, etc. At minimum, it suggests that all Jews are

in some way concerned about the resurrecon and have to look for ways (conspiracies) to

reject it. This is clearly not a primary (or even periphery) concern of most Jews or the tradi-

on today.

Theory #3 borders on the absurd. By allying the Jewish ocals with the roman

guards, it perpetuates the assumpon that Jews were responsible (or here shared responsi-

bility with the Romans) for Jesus death. Because it doesnt dene who, exactly, Jewish o-

cials are, it creates the impression that all Jewish people in Jesus context were against Jesus

teachings. Addionally, because it doesnt contextualize the situaon in rst century Jerusa-

lem, the audience is encouraged to think of the Jewish ocials of Jesus me as analogous

with the Jewish leaders of our me. Thus the Jews become the bad guys who reject Je-

sus, then and now.


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Problematc ImagesThe images Chris-

ans use to depict

Jews (and Semic peo-

ple more generally) in

this curriculum bor-

derline on the oen-

sive. The meline

handout explaining

the development of

world religions uses

grotesque imagery to

depict Greek mytholo-gy and Hinduism, and depicts Judaism with a bearded man standing over a uy bleang

sheep. Not only is this image meant to extend the images of ritual sacrice of Mosaic Judaism

to the present (the image represents all of Judaism) but the altar/lamb imagery plays on the

common stereotype of Judaism as anquated, and brutal. Like the descripon of Passover, it

suggests to the audience that Jews sll sacrice lambs on altars.

Another problem with images is visible in the handout oering responses to People of Othe

Religions. Here, the Muslim, Buddhist, and Jew look own on the happy, smiling Chrisan youth

All three representaves

of the other religions

have disinterested or

closed postures, and the

Muslim and Jew are giv-

en exaggerated noses.

Lips stuck out and noses

turned upwards, instead

of engaging in dialogue,

the three are portrayed

as dismissive of the

young, open Chrisan.


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The curriculum closes with an evaluaon for students where they are asked what they might

be willing to commit to. None of the opons appear to foster real dialogue with other tradi-

ons, but instead ask students to share their own tradion with the other. See for yourself

whether you think these are helpful ways of geng students to think about and engage with

people of other tradions.

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