Religion Unit: Teaching about World Religions in an Inclusive Way

Question 1 

Jonah story engages readers in theological reflection on the compassionate nature of God. The story demonstrates God's compassionate nature not just for the Israelites and Jonah but also for the Ninevites and the pagan sailors. The story also offers a self-reflection on the degree to which their character reflects this compassion; to the end, they become vessels of compassion in the world that God has created and cares about deeply. From the story, God is the one who stays most true to His vocation. God was displeased with the Ninevites' sins and inequities and used Jonah as a vessel of his compassion to deliver a message to them. Jonah told the Ninevites to repent, or God would destroy them in forty days. They heeded Jonah's call to repent, and as a consequent, they were spared. God used Jonah as a vessel to get the Ninevites to repent and change their ways to avoid destruction. 

Question 2 

From Jonah's story, it is evident that our vocation finds us. God chooses Jonah as a prophet to deliver a warning to the people of Nineveh and inform them of the impending destruction in forty days if they do not turn from their evil ways. God does not call the qualified but qualified the called. He chose Jonah because He believed in him. God did not find another person to deliver his message when Jonah disobeyed Him and boarded a ship bound for Tarshish. God used the storm to remind Jonah that he cannot run away from his vocation. After the large fish spat out Jonah, he recognized he could not run away from his vocation, and when God commanded him to go to Nineveh, he obeyed. Jonah, through his vocation, acted as a vessel for God's compassion, and because of his obedience, the people of Nineveh repented and was saved from destruction.