Kevin Rushing 3/7/06

Morality Journal:Week 3

1.)One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the major idea of the section:The Morality of Jesus.

The main idea of the section was the morality of Jesus that is seen through his parables and his teachings. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus covers his core teachings and includes the Beatitudes. These teachings include his views on anger, divorce, and retaliation. He simplifies all these teachings for us by using parables and stories. He also talks about his role and the role of the disciples. He puts a big emphasis on how our morality can get us into heaven and one particular example he talked about was how much we do for the least in society will decide whether we can enter into the gates of heaven. He also emphasized morality in the story of the Good Samaritan where we need to see past our prejudices and help those in need. The Golden Rule was also a main idea in his speech, because treating others the way that we want to be treated is at the core of our Christian morality. Morality is objective, and we naturally know what is good and Jesus taught us how to be good people and live good moral lives.

2.)List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this week.

One thing that I want to remember from this week is from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and it is Jesus' view on retaliation. Jesus tells us the if someone strikes us, then we should not strike them back, but we shoudl try and end the cycle of revenge by offering something to that person instead. I want to remember this teaching, because when I get amd at someone I know that is it very hard for me to not retaliate, especially when I feel that the person really deserves it. I should listen to Jesus on this, because when I think about it, me retaliating against the other person will not solve anything, but it will just cause pain and make matters worse than before.

Another thing that I want to remember from this section is Jesus' teaching about almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, because these three things all have the same core idea and teaching. Jesus tells us that if we are giving alms to the poor then keep it secret and do not let anyone else know. He says the same thing about prayer, because he does not want us to show off to everyone that we are praying and that we are holy, but to pray in the privacy and comfort of our homes. He also says the same thing about fasting and to not show the effects of our fasting to anybody, but only let God know. Jesus uses the metaphor "if your right hand does something, do not let yur left hand know about it". I want to remember this, because I know that I do not always abide by these teachings. I do the same thing with school or if I am around my friends, because if I do something good then I want other people to see it. I never seem to take in consideration that it only matters if God sees it.

Another thing that I want to remember is the C.S. Lewis aticle entitled Mere Christianity. I want to remember this because it gives a lot of thoughtful and difficult to argue insight on human life. C.S. Lewis tells us about the Law of Human Nature, and how all human beings may not obey that law, but it is still inside of them no matter what. The Law of Human Nature is our inclination to do good things and knowing the difference between right and wrong. The Law of Human Nature is a major point to the proof of the existence of God, because we all know deep down what is wrong and what is right. Law of Human Nature can be as easily followed as it is broken by many human beings.

3.)One or two good images that remind you of "the morality of Jesus"

4.)What is a Christian? Am I a Christian? What did my pre-sermon survey reveal? Did I show I knew what Jesus taught, believed, and tried to follow His teachings? If so, explain how being a Christian really affects your morality. If not, explain the base of your moral system.

I define a Christian as someone who believes in Jesus and lives by his teachings and a Christian knows and follows Jesus' teachings. I consider myself to be a Christian, because I live by Jesus'ideas and his morals. However, before reading the sermon I realized that I wasnt very aware of Jesus' key teachings like I thought I was. If I can look at the sermon and learn to live by it, then I think that I will become a truer Christian and I can confidently call myself a Christian. I think that before reading the sermon, however, I did in fact live by Jesus' teachings and morality just because I was always inclined to do the right thing and I think that in most of Jesus' moral teachings on the mount just incolve doing the right thing, like his teaching about retaliation, and anger.

5.)What can I do to try to make myself a better Christian?

To make myself a better Christian, first and foremost I need to be completely aware of all of Jesus' teachings and his morality, this includes the teachings on the sermon on the mount and the other parables that he used, such as The Good Samaritan. After I have become aware of these teachings, I need to live them out and let them center around my life.