STAB 2016

Today's artwork is by Zach Tabitha : What do you think is the most important part of the Bible? Ally : Did Jesus ever use his gifts from the Three Kings in a special way? Helen (#1) : Do historians have any pictures of Jesus, or any idea of what he really looked like? Helen (#2) : Did Jesus ever have any doubts about being the messiah? Tyler : Within Christianity, which denomination is followed by the most people? Hannah : What do you think Heaven is like? Do you think you get to see the people you have lost?

By Emma We've had fascinating discussions about Christianity, and the students asked some great questions today... Hailey  and  Gracie : Does God or Jesus feel angry or disrespected if someone believes in Christianity but does not go to church? By Sofia Ellie : Do Christians believe that Jesus knew he was God's son from the moment of his birth? Priya : Was Jesus really religious when he was a child? Morgan : Do you think women should be allowed to be priests? By Alex Randolph : How does a Christmas tree represent Jesus's birth? Nolan (#1) : When Jesus was resurrected, why did he come back to earth instead of going straight to heaven? Nolan (#2) : What happened to Judas after he turned Jesus in to the Romans?

Ladies and Gentlemen: The orchestra and choir concerts this week were absolutely fantastic! Thank you for your wonderful performances.

Today we began to study  Christianity  by learning about the story of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem in order to register for the census. Homework ( due on Wednesday for Cores 1 and 3; due on Thursday for Cores 2 and 4 ): As part of your homework for this evening, please read the following passages from the Gospel of Matthew , and then think about your answers to the questions that follow (you do not need to write your answers down). We will discuss the readings during class on Wednesday/Thursday: Matthew – Chapter 8, Verse 14: Jesus went to Peter’s home, and there he saw Peter’s mother-in-law, who was sick in bed with a fever. Jesus touched her hand. The fever left her, and she got up. Then, when evening came, people brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. Matthew – Chapter 8, Verse 23: Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him. Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, an...

By Celia Belle Today we continued our discussions of Buddhist rituals and beliefs, and the questions kept coming... Jacob : Why do Buddhists focus so much on suffering? Josh : If old age is considered suffering and Buddha lived to be 80 years old, did he suffer? Charlie H.  and  Helen : Why do many Buddhists call Siddhartha Gautama " the Buddha" instead of just "Buddha"? Tabitha : If Buddhists' goal is to reach nirvana, why would bodhisattvas choose not to reach it, when they have the chance? Hannah : What emotions do Buddhists feel, when they fully let go of things? By Gabriel

Today we talked about the Buddhist idea of a mantra : a word or sound repeated many times, to aid in meditation. I told the students that some people use mantras in a non-religious context (such as athletics), and  Phineas  said that he uses a kind of mantra to help himself focus on the lacrosse field. At the bottom of this post, I've included a video of monks chanting the Buddhist mantra " Om Mani Padme Hum ." We also continued to puzzle through the idea of nirvana . The Core 1 and Core 3 students were at the top of their questioning game, with all sorts of great queries: By Kat Alex : If nirvana is undefinable, how do people define it? Sofia : Where is nirvana? Is it an idea, and if so how do you get there? Mia : If you were a Buddhist, how would you know that you had reached nirvana?  Riley  had a similar question: How did Siddhartha Gautama know that he had reached nirvana? By Sarah Charlie M. : Why did Siddhartha choose to meditate under a banyan tree? As...

We interrupt this History Class for today's fantastic Science Fair...

Today we talked more about Buddhist ideas about god or a Higher Power. I said that some Americans misunderstand Buddhism and mistakenly think the Buddha is the equivalent (for Buddhists) of God (for Christians, Jews and Muslims). In truth, Buddha did not claim to be a god, and Buddhists do not worship him as a god. The class decided that Buddhism is neither  monotheistic , nor   polytheistic , nor   atheistic . Hunter made the interesting point that some Buddhists might describe themselves as agnostic. And  Sarah  made the fantastic comment that Buddhism can be called a religion, because religions are systems of beliefs, ideas, rituals, and rules, and there shouldn't be a requirement that followers of a religion have an opinion about the existence of a god or gods. Here were some of the questions that arose during today's class: Noelle  and  Artie : If some Buddhists are vegetarians because they believe that each animal has a soul, how do they feel a...