Art Commission Statement 1

The Ten Commandments are basically ten rules or laws that the Lord our God gave us in order for us to follow for us to live fruitful life. These laws are a guideline that the Lord would

By identifying the special bond between Christians and Jews through the Hebrew Scriptures, the church is trying to bind the wounds of anti-Semitism that had existed in the church for centuries.

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only provides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven.

At the onset of the Christian faith, its followers faced a difficult period in which they had to deal with many internal and external forces of confusion about their new faith. With Christianity being a rather close subdivision of Judaism, the followers of Christianity are faced with the task of supporting their beliefs and practices deeming why they are justifiable. In this apologetic period, these Jewish Christians embark on the task of defending their church and the religion itself in order to establish its credibility and existence.

From time to time, anyone who works in the field of Polish studies is bound to be asked, “Why do Polish Catholics hate the Jews so much?” In light of the quotations offered above, how should we respond? As scholars and educators, we will try to restrain ourselves from saying that the question is vacuous, grounded in fallacious assumptions and horrendous overgeneralizations. Instead, we will search for a more tactful response, struggling for an answer that offers some nuance without sounding as if we were denying or downplaying anti-Semitism. Few issues generate so many emotional arguments as this one, and few have been more thoroughly explored by scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. Here is some hard truth about the Jews and Catholics.

“If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity. Judaism does not need Christianity to explain its existence; Christianity, however, cannot explain its existence without Judaism.” – John Hagee

For more than two thousand years anti-Semitism has plagued the Jews, however, the term has only been around for about thirty years (Strack 594). Due to the hateful accusations and of those who did not understand their religion, Jews, as a scorned people, gradually became more exclusive and intolerant of other religions. Because of Judaism’s strict adherence to their own beliefs and unwillingness to consider any alternatives, Muslims and Christians have scorned and persecuted Jews.

A complex relationship between Jews and Christians has existed from the beginning of Christianity. The displacement of the Jews throughout their history has not dampened the maintenance of their exceptional identity. They keep their individuality by adherence to the way of the Torah ("Lecture 2," 2014). Christianity and Judaism share a common ground in that they are both ancient religions, much of the Jewish and Christian laws have had to be revitalized to fit the changing times. Much like the Pope of the Catholic religion, in the Jewish faith the Pharisees have been the effective leaders in such decisions. There is a forever binding relationship of the two faiths in that Jesus cannot be fully understood without the benefit of knowledge of the Jewish premise (Koch, 2011). Therefore, an understanding of the two religions is of the utmost importance in these vastly different cultures.

The commandments were meant to show the Israelites their need for God and their inability to live perfect lives by themselves. God wanted them to be aware of their own sinful natures and their need to depend on Him for their salvation. These commandments were also framed in the negative because “God has come in order to test you and in order that they fear of Him may remain with you”.

Christian adherents focus deeply on the core ethical teachings as they are the laws they must abide by to reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Each of the ten commandments as well as the beatitudes, and the Commandment of Love serve as the core ethical teachings of Christianity. The Ten Commandments were received by Moses at Mount Sinai and were followed by the Israelites to ensure their safety. Within modern day society adherents see the Commandments as a set of rules to abide by and a guide to living an ethical life. The fourth commandment “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day” for Catholics is followed by attending church on Sunday. Keeping to this law or ‘rule’ allows for adherents to stay in the image of God. The Beatitudes are a summary of Jesus’

The Ten Commandments are the holy instruction by the god. God inscribed them on two tablets, which he gave to Moses. The Ten Commandants are the sole duty that Jews and Christians follow even in the present day. Christians follow the Commandments that Jews followed for centuries because of the same divine god, and the religions being derived and concurrently practiced at the same period of time.

Along the lines of challenging both the reader and the Jewish and Christian community Greenberg dialogued with, Greenberg assesses the person of Jesus. In his essay entitled “toward an organic model of the relationship”, he calls Jesus a “failed Messiah”. This in contrast to the ancient Jewish belief that he was a “false Messiah”. The term failed Messiah is certainly hard to read as a Christian and controversial to say the least but it opens up the meaning of Christ to the Jewish interpretation so they may better understand and respect Christianity’s following of their Messiah. He argues that a false messiah has the wrong values. On the other hand, a failed messiah is “one who has the right values and upholds the covenant, but does not attain the final goal”. He goes on to mention the many failed messiahs in Jewish history such as Abraham and Moses and says that even Christians had a somewhat similar belief. Despite Christianity’s claims that Christ was a success (in that he achieved absolute redemption in his crucifixion), they still talk of a Second Coming. The talk of a Second Coming refers to the fact that first time around was not the complete success. He goes on to talk about the early followers of Jesus being both Christian and Jew at the same time. He asks, “does a person have to stop being Jewish to be a follower of Jesus? The first “Christians” were thoroughly Jewish and yet recognized Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. They lived and died as Jewish people, going to the temple, observing Jewish feasts and rituals, praying Jewish prayers, reading Jewish

I have chosen “The Art Institute” because I believe that this school has the tools to help me increase my knowledge base in Web Design and Interactive Communications. My goal is to become a marketing professional, not only in traditional marketing, but in the space of digital marketing. Based on the course descriptions, I believe that each course has what it takes to help me get a head start to what is to come in the real world. My expectation is to graduate from this program with knowledge used in the world today. I think that this program will do just that. In this program I plan to give each project my full attention to make sure that my work reflects a professional image of me and my skill sets. In addition, I am an individual full of character,

The term "commandment" within the Bible (mainly Heb. Miswa; Gk. Entole) refers to orders or adjurations given by divine authority; in one case some of these laws were given to Moses. Some of these Laws are known as the Ten Commandments.

What I believe the Art Institute will help me achieve is the ability to create a wide variety of different works of art. When I was young, I wanted to create artworks that were different from other people. Most of my works show a story or meaning that I hoped reached the eyes of all generations. Although to reach the new generation my main goal is to become a animator and create stories that can really open their eyes to creativity, wonder, and dreams. This is what I want to attain in a career and I know the Art Institute will help me.