Mark Dennis's Lecture

During the Lecture, given by Professor Dennis, I found it quite interesting to connect how Jews, in concentration camps, were not allowed to send letters to family and friends, and how that equated to the perception that the Jews in concentration camps were happy or content. Sort of a 'out-of-sight, out-of mind' experience, which was always filled with optimism. It was shocking to see how malnourished, and frail looking the prisoners of the concentration camp were; knowing the hard labor they had to perform. I was touched by the emotion of Professor Dennis's Lecture, and it helped me remember to be more mind-full of what drives me, and how insignificant some problems I have faced really are.

Picture from:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2001-08.html
Accessed through: http://delicious.com/search?p=the+thinker+statue&chk=&fr=del_icio_us&lc=1&atags=&rtags=&context=all%7C%7C

Lecture

I found the lecture to be very interesting. Seeing an artists interpretation of the book of Job was very inspiring. Something new I learned from attending the lecture was the idea that Job was arguing with his super-ego, instead of a deity. This is mind-opening to me because I had a somewhat religious upbringing and had some strong inclinations as to the meaning of this story. The way the Lecturer was able to spot things within the picture and present many different arguments as to the artists meaning was very entertaining. I learned so much about "thinking outside the box," and really understood where the artist was taking his engravings.

Viewing Other Peoples Blogs

I would have to agree with both Tia Lanbert '13 and Mary Gellerman '13 viewpoints, they shared on their blogs. God does seem to be like "a parent scolding their child, and then rewarding the child with a cookie," and "God could have been a little less demeanding," However, at the time that this book was written, the God of the Old Testament was very angry and not very patient as the God of the New Testament, therefore, the God of the Old Testament, is percieved as harsh, cruel, and very un-loving at many points.

A Mighty, Angry, God

The psychology of God... In the story of Job God is depicted as an angry, sarcastic diety. However, the indigination that God is feeling can be put plainly into one word: Humbleness. Humbleness for Job, not humbleness for the All Mighty. The perfect metaphor to describe the anger that God is feeling can be easily seen from the point of view of a parent who has told his or her child no to a piece of candy, and that child responds with why not, haven't I been good, your punishing me for no reason. It is not that the parent is necesserily punishing their child, it's just that the parent has made a descision about the candy and the parent shouldn't have to explain themselves, especially to a child. Imagine the anger a parent feels when a child is argumentative. There may be a good correlation between the anger God feels and the anger a parent feels. The psychology of God is that he has always been a father, Job was just a child questioning his father on a descision that was only God's to make.