YOLB: Month 3

4) What is Jacob's revelation (no pun intended) when he decides to "convince myself the that the earth was formed a handful of generations ago." (When he is trying to figure out why the Answers in Genesis people believe so strongly in the creation story)

He discovers the comforting nature of believing in such a young world. If the world truly is only several thousand years old and humans were there in the very beginning, then it suggests that humans are indeed important to the world. If the average human lifespan is around 70 years, and the world has existed for hundreds of millions, then truly, the individual is of no consequence, we are just along for our very short ride and then we die.
The creation story implies that humans are the central most integral part of the universe. God gave us rule over all the earth and made us in his image during his seven days of creation. This, too, is comforting, implying that humans are needed, wanted, and have a purpose in the universe. If one doesn't believe in the creation story, then we are simply the product of random evolution, here until we change into something new or die out completely, having existed for only a small portion of the worlds existence. A greatly less nurturing idea compared to Creation. Creation places more importance on humans.

6) When Jacobs reads Ecclesiastes and comes to the conclusion, "be good for goodness sake", how does that allow him to answer the question: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Be good for goodness sake derives from the idea that we shouldn't expect rewards based on our good deeds, especially not here on earth or in this lifetime. God is mysterious and has his own plans, therefore, bad things happen to good people and vise versa, but this is only in the here and now. The true rewards come in the afterlife with heaven or hell. After reading Ecclesiastes, Jacobs (focusing on the Vapors of Vapors quote) comes to the conclusion that because everything is just vapors, then nothing can be predicted and therefore nothing can be expected. Good things can still happen to bad people, and bad things can still happen to good people, therefore we should be good for goodness' sake because being good is simply the right thing to do.

7) What is meant by the term Chasid Shote or Righteous Idiot? What does this address about religious belief?

I found this to be the most interesting part of the chapter. The idea of a chasid shote is the bible's way of discouraging fundamentalism, outlining the fact that the bible's purpose is simply to make the world better. One should not let another die for fear that saving them would violate a law. In other words, don't let bad things happen if you can stop it, even if you need to break a few rules. This addresses the fact that, in most cases, the bible is really not meant to be taken absolutely literally. There are always exceptions because the overall gist of the book is to help people behave in a morally appropriate manner, not to simply follow the processes set out by God.