12/12/19 Kelly Chan PD 7 Blog #2

12/12/19 Kelly Chan PD 7

Aim: How does the story of Noah’s Ark symbolically serve humanity?

Before we discussed Noah’s Ark, we took our vocabulary quiz for unit 4.

Then we started off with this Do Now: What is the most heinous sin? What crimes are

so heinous that God would require an Earth-wide purification?

The discussion initially started off with the most basic of crimes such as stealing and

murder. But then our discussion evolved into how the most heinous sin is something

more: the choice to give into evil. Within my group, we connected back to how even

from the beginning of humanity with Adam and Eve, God gave humans choice. Although

Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and consequently perfect, He gave them the

choice to eat or not eat the forbidden fruit. Eating the forbidden fruit ultimately gave Adam

and Eve the knowledge of pain and suffering, which created the original sin. From then on,

every human had of sin, and it became a choice of whether or not to give into this sin. Many

of the people chose to give into sin and lose faith in God in the story, which is what

warranted the release of a flood. The reason Noah was chosen by God to build the ark

and to survive the flood was that although he has sin within him, Noah chose not to give

in and to continue being faithful to God. Another sin mentioned that was similar was from

Steven, who said heresy. He called this the major sin because it shows the lack of faith in

God, which would be another reason to warrant a flood. 

After establishing this, Ms.Peterson tells us to Google “ancient flood,” and Googles spits

back many sources on flood myths. She emphasizes that there are many different flood

myths across many different cultures, and connects it back to Greek mythology. Billy adds

on and talks about how Zeus unleashes a flood on the humans because they were too

brutish and violent, and how Zeus saved Deucalion and his wife, similar to how God chose

to save Noah. 

Steven then adds that the flood has both a physical and metaphorical meaning. For so

many different cultures to mention a flood suggests that the flood may have been an

actual event. Additionally, the flood represents cleansing and rebirth. I connect this back

to the discussion we had with Mr. Misciagna about the Book of Revelations, which was

the end of the beginning. In the same way, the flood was the end of a dark time, and like

in the Book of Revelations, the beginning of a new and better world. 

After we watched a video about the building of an ark replica. The news reporter in the video

asked if the replica would be used to convert others to Christianity, and the pastor replies

that that was not the main goal of the replica, but rather just to display how fantastic and

grand the ark was in the story. 

Ms. Peterson then asks the class how the video demonstrated how people viewed

the story of Noah’s Ark. The class talked about how the story is centered around the

superiority of man despite our flaws, which lead to our last question.

Is humanity doomed for failure? Why make us imperfect if we’re destined to disappoint?

The answer comes full circle to the idea of choice. Humans will always be imperfect;

mistakes are inevitable. But to choose to learn from these mistakes is what can save us

from doom or failure.

Reflection:

Before this lesson, I never really understood the real meaning of Noah’s Ark and only

knew the story on a very superficial level. From this lesson, I left with a new understanding

of the story. First, the idea of choice. It is prevalent not only in a religious or moral context

but also in normal life. It’s not necessarily the things that happen in our life that define

us, but rather how we choose to react. Rather than get swept up in our misfortunes, we

should take a step back to understand what we have done wrong, and make an effort to

prevent the same mistake from happening again. Second, patience. Noah waited 40 days

and 40 nights for the flood to end, and in return, he was rewarded with life and a better world,

devoid of the wickedness he once lived with. To have faith in God or to generally have hope

for a better future reduces suffering and gives us patience. And I think that's the perspective

we should have as we continue to live our lives.