You are to choose four of the passages for this assignment and do an analysis of that should try to explore the doctrinal, historical, or ritual significance of these passages for the religious traditions with which these passages are associated.
The analysis for each passage should be several paragraphs in length and should be double-spaced. There is no word limit for your responses, but generally speaking try and keep each analysis to no more than one page in length.
Your analysis should try to include the following
The identification of where the passage is from and the religious tradition to which it belongs. Remember that all the passages come from Sacred Texts of the World, so you do not need to do any outside research to identify the passage you have chosen.
A short summary of the contents of the passage.
Try—if it is possible to do so—to identify who the author is and to what period of the sacred history of the religion does the passage belong. Does the passage reflect some sort of important historical moment/event in the development of the religion under consideration? If so, why is this particular moment reflected in the passage so important?
Does the passage reflect specific theological or philosophical teachings or concerns? In other words, does it emphasize, for example, certain beliefs about the nature of God or key beliefs like sin or the nature of salvation?
Are there particular ethical teachings related in the passage? In other words, is the passage more concerned with moral behavior or the type of obligations that one has to carry out as a religious person?
Is the passage of ritual importance? In other words, does the passage reflect the practice of a particular religious ritual or is the passage constitute an important part of a ritual practice or are the contents of the passage commemorated by a later ritual practice?
Some points to remember
You are asked to reflect on what possible theological, ethical, historical, or ritual significance these passages may have, but do remember that some or all of these dimensions may or may not apply to the passage you have chosen.
Everything you need to answer this question can be found in your two textbooks, so there should be no need for you to do any outside research. You are, however, welcome to use outside sources as long as they are scholarly, academic sources. Sources like Wikipedia do not count as legitimate sources for research. If you have any doubts or questions about the validity of a source, please contact your tutor.
If you are quoting from your textbooks or other outside sources, be sure to cite your sources and include a bibliography at the end of your assignment.
If you need guidance on how to cite your sources, you can consult with your tutor or you can look at the following link from the Athabasca University’s Write Site about documentation and what constitutes plagiarism: http://write-site.athabascau.ca/documentation-plagiarism.php
Your assignment will not be graded if it is found that you have copied any portion of it from another source or is not properly cited. This is academic misconduct and is a serious offence that will be dealt with in accordance with university policy. The university’s misconduct policy can be found at: http://ous.athabascau.ca/policy/registry/academicmisconductpolicy.htm
Passages for analysis
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say I am?’ They answered, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others one of the prophets.’ ‘And you,’ he asked, ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter replied: ‘You are the Messiah.’ Then he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him; and he began to teach them that the Son of Man had to undergo great sufferings, and to be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and doctors of the law; to be put to death, and to rise again three days afterwards.
And when We settled for Abraham the place of the House: “Thou shalt not associate with Me anything. And do thou purify My House for those that shall go about it and those that stand, for those that bow and prostrate themselves; and proclaim among men the Pilgrimage, and they shall come unto thee on foot and upon every lean beast, they shall come from every deep ravine that they may witness things profitable to them and mention God’s name on days well-known over such beasts of the flocks as He has provided them: “So eat thereof and feed the wretched poor.’’ Let them finish with their self neglect and let them fulfil their vows, and go about the Ancient House.’
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.’
Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”
‘Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always; trust also in me. There are many dwelling-places in my Father’s house; if it were not so I should have told you; for I am going there on purpose to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also; and my way there is known to you.’ Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus replied, ‘I am the way; I am the truth and I am life; no one comes to the Father except by me.’
He has sent down upon thee the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime, as guidance to the people, and He sent down the Salvation.
As for those who disbelieve in God’s signs, for them awaits a terrible chastisement; God is All-mighty, Vengeful.
It is He who sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are verses clear that are the Essence of the Book wherein are verses clear that are the Essence of the Book .
Sample Solution
