English Essay 7

English 2: Lesson 30
Lesson 30: Review of Biblical literature.
5/15/17
CB
(This was supposed to go up on Monday but it was prewritten and drafted beforehand so I count it as on time.)
Write 500 words on this: "What is the view of the biblical materials on the role of ethics in the development of history?"
word count: 1,181
(I didn't really watch the word count on this one so it's unnecessarily long and wordy and I got a little off track of the question obviously. But I will condense my English more next time to fit the wordcount (and I'll make sure it pertains to the subject at hand) because, I have other subjects I have to devote some time to. I just end up getting immersed in English in particular with the Hebrews.)

Ethics in the Bible are an important and core theme of Christianity and those views contribute to the development of history in varying ways. In the Bible wisdom, good, is public but evil is deceptive and private. (Proverbs 10) The contrast falls between feminine wisdom and the strange woman. Wisdom is righteousness and foolishness is rebellion. Wickedness is sometimes profitable in life but into death, you get negative sanctions you can't escape by deceiving. A back and forth good guy bad guy contrast is brought up a lot in the Psalms/Proverbs. Lazy people get poor and the hard working gets rich. The mouth of the wicked can conceal their violence they hide bad deeds. Notice how good people have nothing to hide generosity, hardworking, an ethical code the connection is that wisdom is open. Bad people will be discovered but the righteous doesn't have to worry about being exposed because nothing evil is there to expose. Good and true words are helpful and positive sanctions to those around you that utter true words. Love grants forgiveness and overlooks wrongdoing. Hatred stirs up strifes and division. "Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction:" (14). Listen to the law! Be careful with your words and treat them with value. The ultimate end of the wicked is destruction. A person who speaks lies/mistruths no one will listen to or believe. It will be like the boy who cried wolf! These positive and negative sanctions (which connects to ethics) are in our lives on a daily basis you can look around in different situations and find them, as well as tracing back in history they appear and help us. (Proverbs 30) Self-deprecating language is used in the beginning is not to be taken literally. This guy is just saying he's not educated in theology humbling himself before God. Don't boost yourself where you don't belong. He then is challenging the false prophets, a wolf in sheep's clothing, don't add to the word of God. Don't speak for Him! (11-14) He's using imagery to show how a certain generation is arrogant and self-conscious. (Not necessarily one back then, could be recent for all we know. We just have to connect this to what the description fits most through time. Or even in today's times.) To an extent, they understand their own evil and spread it. (Obviously its spread if it's a whole generation). They are aware of it. Yet they think they are all pure! While creating evil and hate. The "self-righteous" and pure generation have this false notion in their head that makes them narcissistic. When a generation acts this way they can expect negative sanctions predictably. If a social order is disrupted in a hierarchy turned upside down this is serious. Ants, for example, go about their work as creatures of nature (or of habit you could say). They do their work, are predictable, get their work done, and cooperate. A wise approach, do your job! Don't go in arrogant or pretentious. It's language using nature to explain social order. Know your place. (4-7) If someone is in poverty and they are so depressed they want to drink their troubles away, don't give them a drink. It may seem cruel but a person in poverty is not a dead man so don't treat them as such. They can rise out of it! (10-29) A strong woman is working long hours and running the show! A good woman.  Bringing that all tied back together is hard because it touches on multiple subjects. First off, God words are pure and not to be meddled with. There is an evil generation as described (not following ethics). And an honest living is respectable and righteous. Kings should avoid alcohol, and a virtuous woman (such as a queen) with strength and honor is a treasure. She never stops serving others. If you think about that one a mom can be like that, selflessly taking care of the kids and caring for them before her own needs at times, that's one good example of a "virtuous woman". Or one who is a caregiver for the disabled, another example of selflessness and virtue with no ask for thanks. It's all very nice and relates. Those are examples connecting these things back to the main idea, history, and ethics. All very true things that people can learn from and have followed through the years. Some themes moving on is a series of lessons from father to son (as people teach their children things today through stories and examples, such as children books, to explain important ethics to kids!). Solomon was giving wisdom to his son to make him a better leader and give general guidance for life (setting is ancient times). The value of wisdom and knowledge is the heart of the entire book. Wisdom is not in the possession of some pope (or priest) it's not held by any particular group in society. Everyone has access to wisdom, there is not an excuse for not pursuing it! Wisdom is public. Some men hate wisdom, which is self-explanatory I feel. This shows throughout time criminals systematically seek to steal from others (they can't steal wisdom..) there is an active hostility to wisdom. One that involves evil-doing. Do the right thing, put it in action just knowing the right thing to do isn't enough. In the proverbs, this is presented in a very terse and practical manner. Keep in practice the implication and application of the commandments. Evil men seek to destroy other men. Avoid such people and don't associate with them. Destruction is like a tornado. The strange woman is probably a harlot or adulteress. She's the one to be avoided. Wisdom in contrast adds real value to your life, something that can't be measured in green or currency. It's positive! And it's in plain sight (public). So whats the problem then? People don't perceive the value of what's in front of them. God's law is like a lamp of light. Darkness doesn't really exist. Darkness is a lack of light. There is not a "darkness light" (like a flashlight but it would shine darkness into light) that does not exist! Light is goodness where light brings sight which is open (like wisdom which is also open). Darkness brings the lack of sight and everything becomes hidden by it. Two different ethical paths! (I'm using metaphors here^). Life is a series of ethical decisions, that's why ethics stretches through history! Ethics ultimately are important in history it's one or the other and that affects the development of history. A lot of evil people make a difference, it starts chaos. Vice versus with good people. There is always the two sides battling and the ethics play in history just as with Solomon talking to his son. Or a king using wisdom to rule his empire. Or a president overseeing a democracy and partly conducting it. They mean a great deal in any situation in history, just with different circumstances, but ethics are still present.