Position Paper #2: Elie Wiesel’s Night
Order Description
TRS 100: Theological Inquiry
Spring, 2015
Guidelines: Position Paper #2: Elie Wiesel’s Night
REMINDER: NO OUTSIDE SOURCES are permitted for this assignment. The ONLY sources you may use are the Elie Wiesel’s book Night, the textbook and class discussions on the book.
Objective: To apply concepts about God and covenant to Elie Wiesel’s Night.
Directions: You are being asked to read Elie Wiesel’s book Night and to analyze its content, applying concepts about perceptions about God and covenant from the text and class discussions according to the following questions:
1) Faith in God/Doubting God: When the book opens, Elie has a deep fervent faith. In the Noble Peace Prize Acceptance speech that is in the last pages of the book, Wiesel includes a prayer at the beginning. Discuss how you see his faith changing as he experiences the horrors of the concentration camps.
a) When is Elie’s faith in God strong? How does he show it?
b) Which people influence Elie’s faith? How do they do so?
c) When does he feel God’s presence?
d) When does he have doubts about God? Why does he do so?
e) Which people influence Elie’s doubting of God?
f) Would Elie agree with a description of God as transcendent? When? Would he agree that God is immanent? When? As both? As neither? Explain your answer.
g) In your assessment, is Elie the same person of faith when he gives the Noble Peace Prize Acceptance Speech as he is in the beginning? Why/ Why not?
2) Covenant: The overarching theme of the course has been that of covenant, i.e., that we are called by God to love and take care of each other as God does.
a) Who ignores this call to covenant in Night? When do they do this? Why? Describe the circumstances.
b) Who keeps the covenant in Night? When do they do this? Why? What risks do they take when they do this?
c) Would Wiesel agree or disagree that we are called to take care of each other even in the midst of genocide? Why?
N.B. (Note Well): Show me the reading! Be sure to give specific examples from the reading to support the points and examples you give.
N.B. (Note Well): NO OUTSIDE SOURCES!!! I want to see YOUR analysis here!!
LENGTH: 3 pages, minimum (double-spaced, 12-point font, New Times Roman, 1-inch margins)