PART ONE: THE FALL – THEN

Read the, “The Mystery of Original Sin” article, and Bible passages) and address the following questions with a total word count (including questions) of 500-750 words.

 Cite all of the resources used with in-text citations.These will be included in the list of references at the end of the assignment.

Write your paragraph response directly below each question:

1.     What is revealed about human nature (from Gen 1-2)?

2.     What are the consequences of the Fall for human nature (from Gen 3)?

3.     What is revealed about human purpose from the readings? What does it mean for humans to flourish, in other words to achieve spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being?

4.     How might the answer to these questions differ according to different worldviews?

PART TWO: THE FALL – NOW

Consider how the Fall and humanity’s exposure to good and evil are seen in the way some people treat themselves and others in dehumanizing ways today (for example, abuse, addiction, bullying, domestic violence, eating disorders, human trafficking, pornography, poverty, racism, vandalism, etc.).

Choose one act of dehumanization and write a short TV public service announcement in 350-500 words. Use at least two different scholarly sources, cited in the text and listed below in the list of references. Include the following:

·       Highlight how the act of dehumanization is evident in the world today.

·       Provide solid ideas for prevention.

·       Include statistics, causes, and impact on people (victim, perpetrator, others as appropriate).

·       Discuss how a God-centered worldview (as discussed in the “The Mystery of Original Sin” article) might provide a solution.

·       Within the script, include notes about the images and video that would be included when shooting the commercial.

List at least two references below for each part of the assignment above, for a minimum of four references.

PART THREE:  Please type your answers below each question.

1.     Summarize Isaiah 59:1-2.

2.     The textbook and lecture make mention of Judges 21:25, “in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (ESV). This is a common refrain in Scripture (Deut 12:8; Prov 12:25; 26:12). What does this refrain indicate about the spiritual state of the people?

3.     What is the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 known as and what does it mean?

4.     A main idea according to the textbook is that the history of humanity is characterized by a departure from what?

5.     Which book of the Bible begins with the story of Moses?

6.     What kind of prayer is found in Nehemiah 9 and how does it contrast God and the people?

7.     Although created in the image of God, after the Fall humanity became sinful by nature. How extensively does this “original sin” or “depravity” affect us according to Romans 3:10-23?

8.     How did the Fall (sin of Adam and Eve) affect the world according to Genesis 3:16-19?

9.     What metaphor does the textbook use to describe idolatry?

10.  According to the textbook, what was the primary message of the Old Testament prophets?

11.  List the names of Israel’s first three kings.

12.  After Israel divided into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, the southern kingdom of Judah endured much longer but eventually fell to what nation?

13.  According to the textbook the wisdom literature (Job through Ecclesiastes) has what central theme?

14.  According to this topic’s assigned reading “The Mystery of Original Sin: We Don’t Know Why God Permitted the Fall, But We Know All Too Well the Evil and Sin That Still Plague Us,” by Marguerite Shuster, what is the problem with the world?

15.  According to that same Shuster article, why might God want us “to believe, trust, and obey him even when there is not a reason to do so that we can wrap our minds around?”