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David Bosworth Faith And Resilience Summary

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In the article “Faith and Resilience: King David’s Reaction to the Death of Bathsheba’s Firstborn,” David Bosworth writes to prove that David’s behavior in 2 Samuel 12:13-25 is because he is a resilient individual. I believe that Bosworth makes a well-supported argument to explain how David’s lack of mourning is because his faith makes him resilient in times of adversity (692). Bosworth breaks his argument down into sections discussing how David’s actions tie in with supplication, the concept of resilience, and various pathways to resilience. Bosworth’s goal is to “clarify how the strange behavior of David in this episode presents him as a man whose faith makes him resilient in times of adversity.”
Bosworth first clarifies that David’s behavior …show more content…

David’s resilience is viewed both positively and negatively for various reasons. To come to a conclusion Bosworth first clarifies that resiliency is not a trait, but a process that occurs when individuals are interacting in their environments (Bosworth, 703). Also resiliency is not relevant without adversity, and the concept of it is tied to normative judgments. He then describes the difference between resiliency and recovery because many people tend to think the terms are interchangeable. Resiliency in adults, means that they are able to live functional lives despite having experienced a trauma, this does not mean they have emotionally recovered from said event. He addresses that people also confuse coping well in situations with being cold or emotionless. However research has found that resiliency in the face of bereavement is not uncommon (699). Bosworth uses a large amount of scientific evidence to show that although David was resilient to mourning, this does not constitute him as an emotionless …show more content…

The author points out that regardless of any of the other possible explanations, the text only points at David’s piety as the reason for his resilience. Although the servants are still confused by his actions they may not understand because David characterizes himself as someone who finds resilience through religion. Bosworth continues his argument by stating that the ability to find meaning in a loss is “a core part of grieving and generally surviving adversity” (Bosworth, 703). David knows that he deserves to die and his sin is the reason for his infant son’s illness. He begs God to change his mind, but when he does not, David accepts this and moves on. Bosworth then adds “personal guilt can bring a sense of control to an event that otherwise seems random, inexplicable, and beyond control”(704). The death of David’s infant son makes sense to him because he accepts that God has done this to punish him for his wrongdoing. The author also references some biblical texts to support the reasoning for David’s belief that his son died for a moral reason. Closing his argument, Bosworth compares David’s character in this particular passage to his character throughout the rest of the text. He finds that David continually acts with the same self-reliance and reliance on God throughout all of his trials

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