BIBLOS - Teaching the Bible

Teaching the Bible

MOSES:
THE BIRTH OF MOSES

Key Questions

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

The Nature of the Biblical Material

Pupils should be introduced to the nature of the very ancient material found in Exodus. The teacher needs to convey how very special it is, not just because of its age but because of the important insights it gives about the life and faith of the early Israelites and about the whole business of living in community and with a code of conduct.
The teacher has the opportunity, as well as a responsibility, here to develop a positive attitude in pupils towards sacred writings, especially because pupils voice very negative attitudes by secondary school about the Bible, based usually on ignorance and possibly as a result of six years of Religious Education!
So the distinctive types of 'transfigured history' and 'legend' can be discussed. While these are difficult concepts, it is important to guide young pupils away from a simplistic view of the Bible as all 'true' or all 'false'. They can then begin to see the truths conveyed in this type of literature, which go beyond the literal and limited view which people tend to hold of historical religious writing.

Questions

In what ways can 'legendary' material be seen as valuable?
Is history always recorded with a particular slant of interpretaion? Discuss some examples of historical events and the different ways in which they have been interpreted by various people or groups.
Why do biographers often elaborate on the births of famous people,sometimes in the absence of historical fact? What truth might be enshrined in such birth narratives? What negative effects, if any, might there be?
Is there any way in which stories about your own birth have begun to develop a legendary quality? In what way? Have any pupils' births acquired legendary elements in the retelling of the event?
What might it mean nowadays for religious people to incorporate a God element in their personal history?

Promises

Promises have the power to bind people together, while broken promises break people asunder. Promise in the Bible is at the core of God's relationship with Israel. The Bible's story is that of God's relationship with Israel, which thrives when the covenant promise is kept and withers when Israel breaks her side of the covenant promise.
Pupils have lots of experience of promises. They will have plenty to contribute and the teacher should ensure they are given time to express themselves and exchange their experiences. This concept allows for worthwhile 'learning from' religion and also 'learning about'.

Questions

In what ways do promises still hold power and value for people today?
'Promises made by individuals are stamped with their integrity'. What can the keeping or breaking of promises reveal about the person?
How closely is 'promise' linked with 'faith'? For those who believe in God, what evidence is there that God is keeping his promises to them?
Is the idea of 'promise' fundamentally a religious concept or is there a secular version?

Purpose and Providence

This is a suitable and important concept to discuss with pupils however young or old.
While life can be interpreted as purpose-less, life can also be seen to have purpose. Purpose involves taking responsibility for discovering and fulfilling that purpose in personal lives.
On the one hand, if chance is believed to rule life, then any purpose will be limited to a finite scale and will be at the mercy of chance's providence. On the other hand, people who take God seriously interpret purpose with the added dimension of God's involvement in their infinite purpose. God is believed to participate in their purpose in a providential way, by guiding them and providing for their needs and caring for them.

Questions

What sense of purpose can be detected in the lives of people?
What influences contribute to a person discovering a purpose?
What sort of purpose might someone have?
Are all purposes equally valid and valuable?
What sense of purpose can be detected in the natural world?
What difference does it make to a person to live purposefully by chance or under God's providence?
What evidence might the believer in God produce to demonstrate God's providence?

Oppression and Deliverance

Oppression is still rife in the modern world. Just like the Pharaoh, modern oppressors want to exploit people for their own gain and diminish the human spirit by depriving it of free expression. So, there are political dictators who exploit their citizens, commercial executives who condemn children to sweatshops so that shareholders can have the profits, media tycoons who use the power of the media to enslave people through advertising or through polluting their minds. Individuals too can oppress others within their working situation, in personal relationships or in their families. Pupils can explore the breadth of the concept of oppression and the school bully fits in here too.
Where oppression occurs, there is the need for deliverance. In the Moses narrative there is the record of a literal deliverance from the oppression of the Pharaoh to the freedom of the wilderness.
However there is a deeper, theological meaning linked to oppression and deliverance. It refers to people needing to be delivered from whatever sin or guilt oppresses them within and prevents them from being what they were intended to be.
Pupils will already have some understanding of needing to be 'delivered' from certain personal traits, personal drives, situations and people. They will know what guilt feels like and the power of temptation. Pupils should understand that in theological terms deliverance is believed to be from the power of evil and guilt and that God is believed to be responsible for that deliverance.

Questions

What is understood by the power of evil? What different forms might it take nowadays?
How is bullying in school an example of oppression?
What sort of evil experiences might people need to be 'delivered from' nowadays? In what ways might people be 'blind' to the power of evil in the modern world?
Many people would describe themselves as 'good people' because they do not steal or murder. Is this a very limited interpretation of 'good'?
In what ways is everyone caught up in evil?
What are the effects of deliverance for the individual?

Hope through a Remnant

There are times in Israel's history which are really bad. Everything is against her and there seems to be no way out. And then, through a small remnant of people who have kept their promise and remained faithful to God, things take a turn for the better.
In this narrative the remnant is reduced to the baby Moses and the baby's life is made available to God by five supportive and far-sighted women! Nothing is too small or insignificant to be used by God to save his people and keep his covenant promise.
Everyone appears to have seeds of hope sown in their inner beings.
Young people know what hope is all about and perhaps they also know what it is like to be part of a very small, unpopular group whom others have rejected. A wide-range of ages will identify with these concepts and gain from airing them in discussion.

Questions

Is it inevitable that human beings at times find themselves in really difficult situations?
Might goodness actually disappear from human life?
When might people find themselves in a remnant situation?
What might make it very difficult to belong to that remnant?
What place does hope play in people's lives? Is it more than wishful thinking?
What type of situations need a new start?
What is required to be offered a new start in life? Who can do the offering?
What experience might young people have had of hope and new starts?
Do young people find it easier than adults to 'look on the bright side'?
Is it personality, belief or something else that makes some people optimists and others pessimists?

The Vulnerable

This narrative highlights the part that the vulnerable play in God's plans. Just as teachers might pick the timid or marginalized members of the class for special tasks to boost their self-esteem and develop their confidence, so it seems God left his plans for his creation, to a couple of midwives, a slave family with a new-born baby and a chance encounter with a princess at the mercy of her father's violence.
The vulnerable get pretty bad treatment in the human plan of things, but here God hands over to them, giving them respect and responsibility.
In a competitive and materialistic society, this narrative has much to say about priorities and people's worth.

Questions

From where do young people get their priorities?
Are young people indoctrinated by consumerism these days?
What causes people to be marginalized?
What puts people in vulnerable positions? Which pupils are most vulnerable in school? Why? What is done to protect them?
What power might the vulnerable possess?
Why was God prepared to trust the vulnerable in the Moses birth narrative?

The Human Predicament

Life is full of struggles. The Bible reflects this. It paints a true-to-life picture of what it means to be human. Evil thwarts the good and this results in suffering and hardship. But the human spirit, with the help of God, can rise above the difficulties, according to the Bible. The baby can be saved, the nation can be delivered and a new start take place. Whatever the problems, God can be trusted to turn the tide, according to this narrative.
This narrative allows for a discussion on the way life is and the way it can be handled. It deals with realities rather than cover-ups.

Questions

Why is life so challenging? Why might God have created life like this, according to religious believers?
Are people afraid to face the 'realities' of life?
What leads people to a false impression about the reality of life? What strategies do people use to avoid facing reality?
In what ways might religious belief help people to cope with life?
Why is it important for young people to reflect on the human predicament?
What are spin-doctors? Do we need them? If so, why?
Why are people often reluctant to accept the religious belief of trusting in God, preferring to trust in people?
Why are new starts often so revitalising?

Personal Identity

The Biblical narrative makes it clear that Moses would grow up knowing exactly who he really was even though he found himself in the Pharaoh's court. It is knowledge of his true identity which leads to a murderous action that changes the course of his whole life and that of his people.
Pupils are familiar with the concept of identity. Knowing who they are and where they come from helps them to understand why they are here, where they fit in and that they matter.
Modern society has challenged negative stereotypes about identity e.g. illegitimacy, race. The effects of adoption are taken seriously. However, with changes in the family unit and an increased instability in modern life, personal identity remains an important issue in ensuring wholeness of being. The speed of modern life and the need to adapt to constant change can contribute to people feeling a loss of identity.
The religious perspective on personal identity should be made clear. For the religious believer, personal identity does not only relate to human parentage but to the parenthood of God. Religious believers sees themselves and everyone else as children of God and therefore of unique value and infinite importance.
Personal identity is an important topic to open up with young pupils to increase their self-awareness and empathy with those whose personal identities present difficulties e.g. refugees and minorities. However, this is a sensitive topic and will need to be handled carefully by the teacher.

Questions

What factors undermine personal identity these days?
What factors contribute to personal identity nowadays?
Does the desire to wear designer labels indicate a dissatisfaction with personal identity, a loss of personal identity or something else?
How might education reinforce a pupil's individual identity and self-worth? In what ways might education diminish it?
Many pupils have mixed cultural backgrounds like Moses. Others have very firm monocultural backgrounds. How might each be experienced as an advantage or disadvantage?
How do stereotypes undermine the individual's sense of identity?
How might the concept of 'child of God' affect a person's self-understanding?
How might the belief in everyone as a 'child of God' change attitudes towards others?

'Fearing' God

The Bible often refers to people as 'God-fearing' and this can be misunderstood to mean they are frightened of God and therefore obliged to go along with whatever they feel God wants them to do. The word 'fear' is derived from an old Norse word for 'hostility', but in Hebrew the association is more of deep respect, reverence.
Nowadays it can be considered unfashionable to show undue respect to someone, as in an egalitarian society respect might imply you see the other person as above you in status.
However, people who take God seriously, readily acknowledge their limited status before him and their response has to be one of humility, respect, awe and reverence before their creator.

Questions

What is the difference between religion and superstition?
In what way might faith eliminate fear?
Is a secular society more fearful than a religious one?
How true is it that respect has diminished in society?
What might people be in awe of nowadays? Where might reverence be found nowadays?
Does education introduce pupils to respect, awe and reverence in life? Should it? Why? Why not?
What evidence is there that God is not 'feared' these days? What is 'feared'?
What might make people more 'God-fearing'?

The Characters of the Women

The qualities these women possessed are truly impressive:

The midwives dared to disobey the Pharaoh and then to stand up to him when he questioned them. They had a job to do to bring life and not death, so were not intimidated by a bully and murderer but did want to obey God.
Moses' mother planned his survival against all the odds and dangers.
Moses' sister confidently played her part in the drama to organise Moses' upbringing.
The princess responded in compassion and risked the wrath of her father in saving a Hebrew. She probably understood what was going on and purposely gave the baby to be weaned by his real mother so she would not lose her son.
There is integrity in the women. Each did what she believed to be right in the circumstances and in spite of any consequences. Each made a contribution to the saving of Moses and the executing of God's purpose. They were true to themselves. They were given choices and they knew where their responsibilities lay. Their behaviour sets an amazing example.
The efforts of these women indicate how the accumulated effect of single actions can be very far-reaching. None of them realised how their individual actions would contribute to an event, the Exodus, that would change world history. Interestingly, God is not mentioned in this narrative; responsibility for this delicate operation is handed over to the women!

Questions

Why can single events have far-reaching effects?
What does that say about the importance of decisions and actions?
What is meant by being 'true to yourself'? How important is it to be 'true to yourself'?
Why might the women have taken the risks they did? Would it have been easier for them if they had acted differently?
Is it right to be disobedient on occasions? Why? Why not?
What situations today might be parallel with the behaviour of the five women?
What makes some people act courageously and others take the easy path? Why are people sometimes diffident about standing up for right?
Can you think of other examples of people who have acted with integrity and changed the course of history?
Where was God during this episode? Why is he left out of the narrative?

Genocide

Pharaoh put in place laws to promote genocide, the policy of deliberately killing a nationality or ethnic group. Human beings are still capable of similar atrocities for example, the last century witnessed the Nazis seeking to exterminate the Jews and the acts of genocide in Rwanda.
The teaching point here is that however sophisticated societies may become, there is still the potential for such evil to be unleashed. Humanity does not seem to learn how to control its evil powers. Does it actually want to? With increased technology it has more ability to carry out inhuman acts on others.
Religions acknowledge the destructive force of evil and seek to identify it and transform it into good.
Education should be encouraging more reflection on human nature with its potential both for good and evil and that should begin with young children. A narrative such as this allows the teacher to pursue this issue at a level appropriate to the pupils to raise their awareness of what it means to be human and the power of evil that enslaves people. There are important links with global citizenship here.

Questions

At what age can young children start to reflect on human behaviour?
Why might it be important for them to do this?
How far can young pupils understand political problems in the world today? How important is it for them to be introduced to such problems in an accessible way?
How and where does hatred of another ethnic group begin?
What is education doing to support pupils growing up in a multi-cultural society? What more could be done?
What is education doing to help pupils cope with peer pressure?
How does hatred of anything reveal itself in a school community?
Can hatred be channelled into less destructive forms? How?
What do religions mean by trying to overcome evil with good?