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.
