by Austin Wyman
Daily Questions
March 2, 2020
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says “Do you think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” What exactly does fulfill refer to? It refers to the prophecies of the past made true by the events of the present. After the Babylonian Exile and…
–February, 19, 2020–
Not only did the Israelites doubt that God was capable of satisfying their craving, they believed that, if it wasn’t for God, they would have been able to satisfy it on their own. They would’ve still been in Egypt, in luxury, if it wasn’t for their trust foolishly placed with God. Moses, too, has his…
–February 17, 2020–
The passages in Leviticus mention the phrase “without blemish” thirteen times. This concept of purity is not exclusive to Leviticus either. Its significance is reiterated throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. In Genesis, the conflict between Cain and Abel is partially characterized by the quality of the gifts they offered to God. The gifts…
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Austin's Theology Responses 
Your notes on self-interest remind me of when Kass says, “Death is the mother of the love of glory.” How do you think selfishness and the love of glory are connected?
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I believe that love of glory is a product of selfishness. If you read Richard Dawkins’ book “The Selfish Gene,” he argues that everything humans do is founded upon self-interest. I don’t 100% believe it, but it’s something to consider. We do great things in life because we know we will receive praise and glory. When we receive glory, we feel accomplished, fulfilled, and other positive emotions. All this means is humans have an incentive to pursue glory, based on the framework of self-interest.
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Your commentary on Noah was quite interesting. It is true that he had a better nature than his fellows humans. What makes this to be the case? He would have lived among a community of wicked people yet he continued to follow God’s word. What element in his life, if there is one, caused this to happen? If there is such as element, I wonder if this same thing will affect other people in the Bible. Do you think that humans are aware of this selfish trait? It seems as if this trait has become such as common trait in the community that it might not appear as a bad thing.
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Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give us much character development or backstory on its characters. The only thing I can think of for Noah was that it mentions that he is a direct descendant of Enoch, who “walked with God.” So from that point, his lineage was destined to be closer to God and more righteous than most of mankind.
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The point is raised that Genesis is a social commentary after Adam and Eve’s first sin, which I agree with, but there might be more of that commentary than meets the eye. Couldn’t one say that the very fall from grace has social connotations to it? That our communities may have been in harmony one point, or at least were functional, until someone put their own needs first and threw everything out of sync. While I might be looking too deep into it, I definitely think the argument can be made for social commentary before the fall of man in Genesis.
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I definitely think you’ve got an interesting point, that there is an argument for the value of community within this narrative as well. But if that is the case, then why is separation emphasized. the problem between the Nephilim and humans was not that there was strife between them. It was the opposite. They were two species that never should have interacted together, so they must be separated. Next, with the issue of tribes, if tribes here lead to disorder, then what about the twelve tribes of Israel? It seems that the idea of whether humans should be one together or many separate tends to evolve throughout the Old Testament.
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