Week Eight Discussion Board Response Post Instructions

Once you have reviewed the selected readings from Courageous Faith select two threads you wish to reply to and address your classmates’ thoughts and ideas. The goal of these two posts is to build on the material provided by your classmates. Thus, responses that simply affirm the thread material are not sufficient. The content of each reply must reflect an excellent knowledge of the textbook reading and interact with both the thread and relevant chapter material. You must support your thoughts and ideas by implementing at least one significant quote from Courageous Faith. Each response post should be at least 200 words in length.

Evelyn McMahan 1st discussion

Posted Date:

March 8, 2021 3:38 PM

Status:

Published

3 key ideas from the chapter on this character

Daniel was one of four Hebrews who were captured that stood up for his faith in God.

Daniel was a hero. People remembered him over the others because he never backed down. “Westminster Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, gives a ‘Daniel Award’ every year to a senior who exemplifies standing up for his or her faith.” Page 182. “Daniel resolved not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8).”

Daniel stood for his faith in God even though he might not be saved from the burning furnaces – he stood for his convictions regardless of the circumstances.

2 things you learned about this character

Daniel had a strong faith in God and no matter how difficult his life situations got he never gave in or “bowed down.”

David was a leader and an “out of the box” thinker – he was able to outsmart the Babylonian King to stay alive but was still true to God. After he did that for ten days the king noticed he and the other three men looked better than his people who had been eating the royal food, so it worked out in Daniel’s favor and he was about to complete the next three years as a vegetarian.

1 way you can use what you have learned from your reading on this character

After reading this chapter I realized that you will make more of a lasting impression on others by staying true to yourself and standing up for what you believe in no matter the cost. Sometimes people will allow peer pressure to overtake their true self and the outcomes could be more negative than if they would have stuck with their original thinking. Before reading about Daniel in this chapter, I did not realize there were others who were in the same situation. I found out that it was because Daniel was such a strong willed, and faithful to God man. His actions made a lasting impression.

Jonathan Polly 2nd discussion

Chapter 12 of Courageous Faith tells the story of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and their time spent in the capture of the Babylonians. During their captivity, Daniel and his friends prove themselves as great examples of faith and what it means to stand up for what you believe in. A key idea of their story is the importance of boldness of our faith. Risking their lives, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah refuse to dirty themselves by eating the king’s food. Knowing and understanding the potential repercussions of their choices, they chose to remain faithful to the ways of their God. Following along with the importance of standing up for your faith, we also see a key idea in Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s actions when faced with the golden statue. These men chose to submit themselves and trust the Lord would protect them in the furnace, but most importantly, they were comfortable with God’s will enough to be at peace with the possibility God would choose not to save them. Being faithful to the point of risking their lives. Through the actions of these men, we also see the importance of refusing to compromise. Though imprisoned with many of their Jewish brothers, our stories heroes stick to their guns. While the men around them compromised their beliefs to protect their lives, we see the actions of a select few who remain strong. In our daily walks, we are constantly faced with potential for compromise. Though not all bad, compromise can often become a large stumbling block in our faith, it can very easily become the first step down a slippery slope we never intent to go down. While studying this story, a few new details stuck out to me. Most notably, a detail in the name changes. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah had names that connected them to the God of Israel, and in an attempt to break them, their names were changed to reflect the identity of the pagan gods. While I have been taught from this passage countless times, the motivation for changing these names had never been pointed out to me. I also had never noticed the motivation behind the Babylonians reporting Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to the king for their disobedience. While tensions were still high between the Jewish people and the Babylonians there was jealousy from the Babylonians over Jewish men being placed in positions of leadership. Many stories in the bible depict faithful people sticking up for their faith. Through Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah we still a great example of fighting for your faith no matter what the cost. As believers, we should have faith as such. We must be bold and not concerned with the consequences of stepping out in faith. As Hindson states in Courageous Faith, “People of character are a different breed. They stand up for waht they believe.” (pg 181)