Matt Bruns
9/28/05

1) The Human Condition
     The Human Condition is described as "the situation, or condition, in which every human being finds himself or herself by virtue of being human."(RB, p.10)) There are many ways to interpret and expand on this definition. Philisopher Blaise Pascal described it in that all men seek hapiness and that they suffer from "inconstancy, boredom and anxiety."(RB, p.10) The Buddha said that "all life is suffering"(RB, p.12) and Eric Fromm thought that "the deepest need of man...is the need to overcome his seperateness."(RB, p.13) Part of the Human Condition is that we suffer from things like ignorance, neediness, loneliness, pain, and death. althought there are many ways to describe the Human Condition, they can all help us understand our lives to a better extent.

2)
   A) A Cause of our Condition
     The first thing I want to remember is one of the causes of our Human Condition, Original Sin. In Christianity, we beleive that God created humans perfectly, with no flaw and nothing seperating us from him. This idea of perfect relationship and state of being at the beginning of man is called Original Justice. But also as Christians we believe that at somepoint in time, someone created the first sin, seperating us from God. This committance of the first sin is referred to as the Fall of Man. A result of this Fall, is Original Sin. Original Sin is "the fallen state of being, or damaged human condition."(RB, p.15)

   B) Christian Eschatology
     The second thing that I want to remember from this week is Eschatology. Eschatology is the term in Christian study that describes the Four Last Things, as taught by Christianity: death, judgement, heaven, and hell.

   C) When Bad Things Happen To Good People
     The last thing I want to remember is what Rabbi Kushner taught about God in his speech. He said "Human beings are God's language." This means that God doesnt act through the bad things that happen to people, but that he acts through the people that come to help out the victims. I want to remember this because it is very crucial to understanding tragedies that happen in our lives.

4)Am I trying my best to be honest and moral? Am I doing as Thomas Jefferson suggested and putting myself under the watch of others when I am tempted to do honest or immoral things?