Taoist texts can help deepen our understanding of early Chinese history because it shows us what China was like a long time ago and what the people believed in during that time.  The people of China believed in theocracy and that the celestial master would develop "Great Peace" where everyone is treated equally.  Even though there are no physical traces of Taoism, we can use that to develop the idea that they visualized their worship in their mind.  Taoism also helps us to understand early Chinese history because it shows us what they believed in.  Taoism is a religion and a way of life, which is what they followed.  This shows us that they "went with the flow" and believed that things happen for a reason.

What is God like?

The story of Job is similar to the stories of Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum because in all of the stories these people are questioning why God is doing this to them of why God is not doing anything to help them.  In he story of Job, God is allowing Satan to take all of his belongings and in the story of Moshe Yosef Daum, she is questioning why through the hardest times, God is not there to help. Another similarity between the stories is that Fela Nussbaum had faith in God and so did Job.   God and Satan only made Job's life so miserable because he is so loyal.  A big similarity that occurs in both stories is that God is testing the people. God is unsure of how loyal and fatigue they really are so he tests them.  In the story of Job, God tests him by taking all of his belongings away and sees if he will do something.  In the story of Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum, they are tested by out in concentration camps. This was an extremely hard test and they were tortured until they almost died.  Lastly, all of the people that were punished in both stories were innocent.  None of them including Job, Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum had dme anything wrong to receive such harsh punishment.  The two stories are different because in the story of Job, he is tested by having all of his belongings taken.  Even though this is a harsh punishment, Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum both were punished to the extreme and nothing would compare to what they went through.

Characterization of God throughtout The Old Testiment

The Story of Job is different and similar to many of the stories that we have previously have read from the Old Testiment.  One way that the Book of Job is similar to other stories is because in the story of Abraham and Isaac, God wants to text the faith of Abraham by making him sacrifice something he loves.  Similarly, in the book of Job, God wants to test Job's faith by taking away almost everything that he has, to see if he will still be loyal to God.  Another way that the Book of Job is similar to the other books that we have read is by God acting almost the same in all of the books.  In every story, God wants to be in full control of the situation, and be the most powerful on Earth.  This is shown in the Book of Job when God allows all of Job's belongings to be taken and be left with nothing.  This also occurs in Noah's ark when he creates the flood to kill everybody.  In the Tower of Babel, God shows his power by spreading out all of the men because they were getting to strong.  A difference in the Book of Job and the other books that we have read is now, God is listening to Satan.  But in all the other stories, God did what he want, and no one could tell him different.  Another difference in the Book of Job than the other stories that we've read is that in this book Satan almost has the upper hand on God and acts as the stronger figure.  In all of the other stories, Satan doesn't exist.

High School

As the first month of my high school career comes to an end, I am starting to dislike school very much.  Even though I don't enjoy it, there are still some things about high school that I do enjoy.  So far, the best thing about high school is that the school is open to leave and come during your lunch or free period.  In the middle school, you have to stay in school for lunch, but in High School, you are allowed to leave.  Another thing that I like about High School is that you have more freedom and availability.  The only bad thing about that is when you have more freedom, you begin to have more responsibility. So far, the worst thing about High School is that the work load increased dramatically even in the first month.  Test are harder and you have to work harder to do well in each class.  Another thing that I don't like about High School is that the school is huge.  On my first few days in High School I got lost many times, but now I feel like I got the hang of it.  Even though I really do not enjoy school or any part of it, it is better than middle school.

Characterization of God

This is a mind map that I made that shows the characterization of God in the story of Geneisis.  God, in the story is mostly cruel and selfish while caring for the world. I think that God only sent the flood because he did something wrong in the first place. I also learned that God is authoritative because he wants everyone to do what's he says.  He tells Noah to make the ark, doesn't ask and expects Noah to do it exactly as he said.  God is a powerful character in the story who basically can do whatever he wants.  For example, he just decides to create a flood to kill almost every living thing in the world.  Even though God did decide to create a flood to kill almost every living thing, he did have some guilt after he did it. This shows that God has some sympathy for the creatures and people that he murdered  and really has emotions. I also learned from the story that God human-like. He feels the same feelings that humans feel such as guilt and sympathy.  God is a character who can be cruel but can also be sympathetic towards people.

Adam and Eve

After reading Genisis two and three, I believe that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden because of the serpent.  Even though many people will say that it is all Adam and Eve's fault because they had the final decision.  I don't think that because I think that the serpent is the one to blame because even though the Lord God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the apple, the serpent told them that it won't kill you if eat from it and eating from it will make you God-like.  It says in the text, "you will surely not die."  The serpent also tells Eve that she will benefit from eating from the tree. It shows this when the serpent states, "For God knows that when you eat of it your  eyes  will  be  opened,  and  you  will be like God, knowing good and evil."  This proves that the serpent led Eve to believe that the Lord God was lying to her and just wanted them to be normal, ordinary people.  I also think that it was the serpents fault that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden because I think that they would have never eaten from that tree if the serpent would have told them to eat from it. If it wasn't for the serpent Adam and Eve would have never been kicked out.

Flood Story

The Sumerian flood story is similar and different from the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh.  In the Sumerian version, the gods are deciding to erase everything that is known on Earth, but one god who disagreed with their plan, Enlil, warned a priest, Ziusudra, of the idea.  He was told to build a large ship to keep safe himself and the animals.  As instructed he built the ship and saved himself and all of the animals.  Then Enlil was so happy that he kept alive mankind that he granted him a life that was perfect.  This story is similar to the Gilgamesh flood story because in both story’s, one of the gods told a person to build a boat to save themselves and something along with them from a massive flood.  Also, in both stories the result of the building of the boat was successful and the people on the boat were saved.  On the other hand, one difference in the stories is that in the Gilgamesh version, Uta-napishiti was punished from saving himself and had to live faraway.  In the Sumerian version, after the flood was over, Ziusudra was granted eternal life for saving himself and the animals.  I think that these stories are very similar because their had to be one original story that all the other stories are based on.  So i think that all the flood stories, no matter where it is from, will be similar in some ways.

Source
 http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html