Theological History

• In the Bible pupils meet a particular type of history. They might already understand something of the nature of history - rather than the detail of it - from their history lessons. It might be helpful to work with history teachers to discover how they approach the study of historical records and how much pupils can be expected to know and understand about this. It would a positive step too for the history staff to know the type of historical issues that are raised in RE.
  
  
• As has been pointed out in previous units on Moses, history as it is written up in the Bible is a type of history which acknowledges that a 'God dimension' exists to life and therefore interprets what happens to the Israelites in the light of that. This does not mean that it is any less valid as history. It is just highlighting the difference belief in God makes to all aspects of life. It shows how different world views give alternative meaning to life.
  
  
• This provides an excellent opportunity for pupils to:
  • appreciate why people hold different views about events.
  • understand why there is so much controversy in the world.
  • empathise with others, while not necessarily agreeing with them.
  • realise that it is not a simple question to ask whether the Bible is true or not.
  To explore these ideas would be a major contribution to personal, social and religious development, to say nothing of the value for citizenship.

Questions

1. How might there be a wrong or invalid interpretation of a historical event? How can you know which interpretation is the right one?
2. Why is it important to understand the nature of historical records?
3. Why should different interpretations of history be respected? What difference might that respect make to human relationships?
4. What gives an interpretation value? Is any interpretation that people give to events valid?
5. What factors lead people to accept or reject a God-dimension to life?
6. In what ways is human understanding bound to be limited?

Deliverance, Escape, Salvation

• The Exodus was a nation-changing event of deliverance for Israel. It gave her the chance to be herself, to make her own decisions and to fulfil her destiny. She now had to take responsibility for herself. She couldn't blame the limitations of slavery. She could move to adulthood as a nation. But that was going to take a long time, especially since she transferred the blame to Moses.
  
  
• Deliverance is a positive concept with which everyone is familiar. It pervades human life and relates to liberation from the aspects of life that bind human beings. There are the external causes like cruelty, persecution and imprisonment, and the internal causes like selfishness, anger, greed, jealousy and disease.
  
  
• It can be beneficial to pupils of all ages to ponder this concept. It will have different significance for them at different ages. Younger pupils might be more aware of deliverance in terms of helping siblings in their families, or rescuing the kitten from the dog or being delivered from some fear like darkness by a loving parent or from another pupil who is picking on them by a caring teacher. Older pupils might have experienced the need for deliverance from acne, bullying peers, a tendency to lie, a negative attitude to school work! Pupils can identify for themselves what deliverance means to them, why it is needed, how it can happen and what effects deliverance can have.
  
  
• The teacher needs to stress that deliverance in the Bible refers to:
  • God's power to intervene and save Israel from the external enemies confronting her. But God wanted Israel to trust him and she had difficulty in doing that.
  • God's power to deliver people from the negative aspects of the inner self, which hold people back from being the people God intends them to be. This dealt with the nasty sides of people's characters, that spoil the image of God in them; it deals with their sin and guilt. Christians believe Jesus' death dealt a final blow to the sinful influences which spoilt people's lives. But again people are seen as having to have faith in God's power to remove sin and guilt.
  • Jesus' mission released those imprisoned by the chains of disease.
  
  
  
• It is interesting that we talk about birth in terms of 'delivering' a baby to begin their new life. That is what 'deliverance' does - it offers a new beginning.

Questions

1. Do people need 'deliverance' less or more in this modern age? What types of deliverance might people hope for nowadays?
2. What agents can bring about such deliverance?
3. What difference can deliverance make to people's lives?
4. Are there some situations where deliverance is not an option?
5. In what ways might 'sin' manifest itself in everyday life?
6. How do people cope with the 'burden of sin'?
7. Do atheists have a concept of 'sin'? How do they deal with any feelings of guilt?

The God-dimension

This episode highlights the different world-views which people hold. These can be divided into two for simplification:

1. Religious - This is the view that God is a reality and the creator and provider of the universe. For those who believe this proposition, all life has to be seen and interpreted in relation to God's existence and has infinite meaning and purpose. The God dimension is beyond, yet interlinked with the dimensions of earthly existence.
2. Secular - This belief proposes that this existence is all there is. It is controlled by chance factors and is ultimately meaningless and purposeless.

In the Crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites can be seen to be delivered either by God's providence or by good fortune, according to the world-view held.

Pupils should be clear about these different approaches to life. They should be encouraged to reflect on them so that they are able to understand that a religious interpretation of life is a valid way of interpreting human experience. It should be respected as such and not derided, as is often the case.

Questions

1. What confusion arises when people fail to recognise different world views?
2. How might pupils be helped by understanding different world views?
3. Do people need to have a personal world view? What factors lead to people arriving at their own world view?
4. What difference does it make to people who have never thought about such definitions?
5. Is there any point in thinking seriously about the nature of existence or holding a world view? Why or why not?
6. Is it true that people tend to scorn those who hold a different world view to their own? Is so, why?
7. In what ways do people attempt to persuade others of the validity of their own world view?

God's Power

The Bible is concerned to demonstrate God's power in the history of the Jews. Whatever happens that is good and right, as far as the biblical writers are concerned, reflects the power of God and they want God to be glorified for this. In other words, the merit is God's. God has ultimate power, according to the Bible.

The Bible reveals this powerful God as having a real interest in people who are powerless - the vulnerable, the sick, the sinful and the outcast. Jesus taught that his followers had to follow his example and use their power for the benefit of others.

Those who do not believe in God might place ultimate power in the forces of nature or chance. Power is a concept which pervades natural existence and human relationships. Human beings of whatever world-view have to acknowledge that ultimate power lies beyond humanity. But this does not prevent them pursuing power in its many forms and often for their own glory. People attempt to curb and control natural power e.g. space travel, climate knowledge, while acquiring whatever power might appeal to them e.g. political, military, career, wealth. The acquisition of power can be motivating and productive. But it can also be wielded in a fashion that renders it destructive.

Questions

1. What different sorts of power can people wield in the modern world? Who wields them?
2. How do humans try to control natural power?
3. Why is power so addictive to humans? Why is it so often sought for personal glory - or other individual ends?
4. When might power be used constructively? What conditions are required for this to happen?
5. When is power used destructively?
6. Why, in the Bible, is God shown as being so concerned about the powerless?
7. Who are the powerless in the world today?
8. In what ways might believers feel that God hands over his power to those who trust him?

The Miraculous Element

One of the most difficult aspects of the Bible for young people is understanding how to cope with the miraculous element. Even from a young age pupils can grasp why some people might see miracle in an event and others not, but they need the opportunity to discuss the issues miracles raise. See section on 'Theological Issues' for ideas about how to approach this.

Questions

1. Why do some people consider the whole of existence as 'miraculous'? Why do others think it is just 'matter of fact', including human life?
2. How might the effect of a 'miracle' differ for a religious believer and an atheist?
3. What is meant by 'glimpsing God' in relation to interpreting a miracle?
4. How far do you think miracles depend on the faith of the person involved?
5. Why has a modern secular society not been able to get rid of the concept of the 'miraculous'? What might that say about the human spirit?
6. What is meant by needing 'eyes to see' the miraculous? Where might miracles be happening nowadays?

Faith: Trusting God

• Trust is a quality which human beings possess in different degrees. Life demands that people exercise some degree of faith and choices have to be made about where to place that faith. It may be in a political party, a work colleague, a washing-up product, a fashion house, a football team or a partner. It is important to be able to discriminate between possible candidates to trust. What criteria need to be applied in order to select who or what is worthy of trust? These might include: reliability, honesty, living up to their promise, the capacity to realise their potential, a willingness to co-operate, to play their part etc.. The relationship of trust will not always endure. It may be relinquished and sometimes it will not be reciprocated.
  
  
• Trust plays a key role in religious belief. Religious believers root their lives in trusting God, whereas atheists root trust in themselves, other people or institutions because they do not believe that there is any 'higher' power beyond these in which to place trust.
  
  
• Faith in God is often seen as a permanent quality that some people have acquired. But religious believers would not necessarily see it like that. They might say that there is nothing static or automatic about faith. Faith is an attitude which constantly needs to be built up because it can easily be replaced by doubt, fear and cowardice. Unless it is kept tuned up by a close relationship with God, it can waver and wane. It needs to be nourished and that would be one of the reasons for example, why Christians attend church, because in the fellowship of other Christians their faith can be nurtured and sustained.
  
  
• Religious faith does not trust in a God who protects from harm and hardship. It believes in a God who is present in the rubble and ruins of life. It believes in a God who expects people to help clear up the world's messes. Above all it believes in a God who can bring good out of evil and can change the world.
  
  
• The Israelites faced the same dilemma as people today concerning where they should place their trust. Their ancestors, the patriarchs, had introduced them to belief in a special covenant relationship with God. Their history is a record of the waxing and waning of their faith in this God and his relationship with them. In this narrative, they find themselves struggling to find faith in a God who puts them through such hardship. But Moses' command in v.13 'Don't be afraid! Stand your ground!' sees them through that testing moment.
  
  
• Pupils of all ages know a lot about trust as well as betrayal, so they can relate to this concept by applying it to their everyday experience. However, the teacher must not leave the concept at the human level but delve into the 'faith in God' experience too in order to help pupils understand what trust means to those who take God seriously.

Questions

1. What is positive about the quality of trust? Is there anything negative about 'having trust'?
2. Why might it be much more difficult for some people to trust?
3. What are the consequences of distrusting?
4. How important is trust in the life of a school or community? Do you feel it is taken seriously enough in your school or community?
5. Why might it be appealing to trust in God - or difficult to do so?
6. Where do people place their trust in very tough times, if they do not trust in God?
7. Given that there appears to be general insecurity in modern society, is this in part related to difficulty in deciding where to place trust? Why or why not?

Human Nature

It is important to explain to pupils that the Bible is still of use today, even though it was written in the distant past, because it focuses on human beings, in relationship to God. Human nature, even in the 21st century, remains much the same as it has through history! Consequently, what the Bible has to say about people is of interest today and can be helpful in reflecting on human life, whether people believe in God or not. It is a unique record of what it is like to be human.

This narrative presents several facets of human nature which are familiar to pupils' experience - the Pharaoh's stubbornness and regrets: the Israelites' fear, moaning, sarcasm and blame: Moses' strategies for coping with his responsibilities.

The point about reflecting on human nature is the importance of developing self-awareness in pupils. It is difficult being a human being and it is important to have opportunities for such reflection. Not only does this activity encourage self-understanding but it identifies how much we share with others and where we might differ because of the unique nature of individuals.

Questions

1. In what other areas of the curriculum do pupils reflect on human nature?
2. Why is it important that pupils are encouraged to do this?
3. In what way can each person be said to be 'unique'? What are the implications of this uniqueness?
4. How far does culture and social background influence personal identity? What does family nurture contribute to the individual person?
5. What difference does religious belief make to personal identity?
6. How important is history and story in helping people to learn about themselves?
7. How far does self-awareness help a person to' fulfil their destiny'?

War

War has always played a part in human experience, but the nature of war has changed. This powerful element in human make-up needs to be analysed and calls for reflection, not least because the world has reached the point where it is capable of destroying itself several times over. So the responsibility is immense and education must play its part in informing the choices humans have to make about war. This narrative offers an opportunity for the subject to be broached at all levels. Pupils know a lot about aggression and will be engaged in mock battles on their computer screens, if not in the playground.

Questions

1. What are the sort of key issues that lead to wars? Why do people think these are worth fighting and killing for?
2. If people are willing to kill to achieve their goals, what sort of value does this suggest they place on human life?
3. Can good come out of something so destructive as war? Could human aggressive tendencies be channelled into positive avenues?
4. How can Jews and Christians accept a 'just war' when it involves taking life and Jesus tells his followers to 'love their enemies'?
5. Why do many nations, even today, assume that 'God is on our side'? Why might God not be on any side?
6. Will human beings ever be able to put an end to war?