Week 18

Final Exam

 

Week 17

Augustine of Hippo 

It also known as Saint Augustine, Saint Austin, or Blessed Augustine, was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions.

Confessions (Augustine)

It is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St. Augustine of Hippo, written in Latin between AD 397 and 400. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of St. Augustine in order to distinguish the book from other books with similar titles. Its original title was Confessions in Thirteen Books, and it was composed to be read out loud with each book being a complete unit. It is generally considered one of Augustine's most important texts.

Samson Agonistes

(Greek for "Samson the agonist") is a tragic closet drama by John Milton.

Plays: Samson has been captured by the Philistines, had his hair, the container of his strength, cut off and his eyes cut out. Samson is "Blind among enemies, O worse than chains".

Near the beginning of the play, Samson humbles himself before God by admitting that his power is not his own: "God, when he gave me strength, to show withal. How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair". The Chorus discusses Samson's background and describes his various militaristic accomplishments. Although he is great, the Chorus points out that, through his blindness (actual and metaphorically), he is a prisoner. Samson reveals how he lost his power because of his desire for Dalila, and, through this act, betrayed God. However, his state is more than just his own, and it represents a metaphor for the suffering of God's chosen people.

After Samson rejects Dalila’s pleas, she asks for Samson to "let me approach at least, and touch thy hand", and Samson responds, "Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wake. My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint". He shows Dalila how not to upset him: “At distance I forgive thee, go with that". The Chorus, shortly after, complains about the nature of women and how deceptive they are. Harapha describe Samson's past accomplishments when he says "thou art famed. To have wrought such wonders with an ass’s jaw". The Chorus discusses how God grants individuals with the power to free his people from their bonds, especially through violent means.

The last describe the violent act that actually occurs while the play was unfolding: Samson is granted the power to destroy the temple and kill all of the Philistines along with himself. However, this event does not take place on stage but is told through others. When the temple's destruction is reported, there is an emphasis on death and not peace. Manoah describes the event as "Sad, but thou know’st to Israelites not saddest. The desolation of a hostile city".

The final describe a catharsis that seems to take over at the end of the play.

Book Discussion

pg.1595 Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy is an epic poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

Inferno is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth. Allegorically, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin.

Purgatorio is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, except for the last four cantos at which point Beatrice takes over as Dante's guide. In the poem, Purgatory is depicted as a mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, consisting of a bottom section, seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth, and finally the Earthly Paradise at the top. Allegorically, the poem represents the Christian life, and in describing the climb Dante discusses the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, as well as moral issues in politics and in the Church. The poem outlines a theory that all sin arises from love – either perverted love directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered or excessive love of good things.

Paradiso is an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology. In the poem, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. It was written in the early 14th century. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.

On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse".

pg.150 Exodus

The Exodus tells of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt following the death of Joseph, their departure under the leadership of Moses, the revelations at Sinai, and their wanderings in the wilderness up to the borders of Canaan.

Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites, an enslaved minority, were increasing in numbers and the Egyptian Pharaoh was worried that they might ally with Egypt's enemies. Moses' Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaoh's daughter, the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he encountered the God of Israel speaking to him from within a "burning bush which was not consumed by the fire" on Mount Horeb.

The burning bush is an object as being located at which Moses was appointed by Yahweh (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.

The Plagues of Egypt, also called the ten biblical plagues, were ten calamities that, the God of Israel inflicted upon Egypt to persuade the Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth plague, triggering the Exodus of the Hebrew people. The plagues served to contrast the power of the God of Israel with the Egyptian gods, invalidating them. Some commentators have associated several of the plagues with judgment on specific gods associated with the Nile, fertility and natural phenomena. All the gods of Egypt would be judged through the tenth and final plague: "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD."

Manna, sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is an edible substance that, is the miracle food that saved God's people. God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert. The old testament speaks specifically of it coming from heaven. "The Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day."

God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak with assurance or eloquence, so God allowed Aaron, his brother, to become his spokesperson. After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land.

Week 16

The New Testament 

the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The Greek New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity. Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world. It reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies. The New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom, and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music.

The New Testament is an anthology, a collection of Christian works written in the common Greek language of the first century, at different times by various writers, who were early Jewish disciples of Jesus. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books. 

Book Discussion

pg.178
The Hebrew Bible (Psalm 23)

Ex-President George W. Bush's Post 9/11 Speech

He uses Psalm 23 on his speech

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) is an informal, sometimes disparaging term for a group of high-status and influential White Americans of English Protestant ancestry. The term applies to a group believed to control disproportionate social, political, and financial power in the United States. It describes a group whose family wealth, education, status, and elite connections allow them a degree of opportunity held by few others.

Scholars agree that the group's influence has waned since the end of World War II, with the growing influence of other ethnic groups in the United States. The term is also used in Canada and Australia for similar elites. The term is occasionally used by sociologists to include all Americans of North European ancestry regardless of their class or power. People rarely call themselves WASPs, except humorously. The acronym is typically used by non-WASPs.

Catholicism in this sense refer to the practices of several Christian churches. This sense is to be distinguished from the use of these words to refer to the Roman Catholic Church, that which is in full communion with the Holy See, as well as the Orthodox Catholic Church, which also considers itself the universal and apostolic church.Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general; universal". It used as broad terms for describing specific traditions in the Christian churches in theology, doctrine, liturgy, ethics, and spirituality.

Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The word protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio meaning declaration which refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the decision of the Diet of Speyer in 1529, which reaffirmed the edict of the Diet of Worms against the Reformation. Since that time, the term has been used in many different senses, but not as the official title of any church until it was assumed in 1783 by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, a branch of the Anglican Communion.

pg.117~121

Genesis 1-4: Freewill Salvation The Fall

God places the man in a garden in Eden where he is permitted to till the land and tend the garden and animals. God also places a tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God prohibits the man from eating the fruit of this tree, warning him that he would die if he ate the fruit. But none of the animals are found to be a suitable companion for the man, so God causes the man to sleep and creates a woman from a part of his body. The woman is established as subordinate to the man, as the impetus for her creation is to serve the needs of the man by being his "helpmate" and to ensure that he not "be alone."

The man describes the woman in as "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh", and he calls his new partner "woman", "for this one was taken from a man".

The expulsion from Eden narrative begins with a dialogue between the woman and a serpent,as an animal that was more crafty than any other animal made by God, though, it should be noted, Genesis does not identify the serpent with Satan. The woman is willing to talk to the serpent and respond to the creature's cynicism by rehearsing God's prohibition against eating fruit from the tree of knowledge.The woman is lured into dialogue on the serpent's terms which directly disputes God's command. The serpent assures the woman that God will not let her die if she ate the fruit, and, furthermore, that if she ate the fruit, her "eyes would be opened" and she would "be like God, knowing good and evil". Indeed, the woman sees that the fruit of the tree of knowledge is a delight to the eye and that it would be desirable to acquire wisdom by eating the fruit. The woman eats the fruit and gives some to the man. With this the man and woman recognize their own nakedness, and they make cloths of fig leaves and loincloth.

In the next narrative dialogue, God questions the man and the woman and God initiates a dialogue by calling out to the man with a rhetorical question designed to consider his wrongdoing. The man explains that he hid in the garden out of fear because he realized his own nakedness. This is followed by two more rhetorical questions designed to show awareness of a defiance of God's command. The man then points to the woman as the real offender, and he implies that God is responsible for the tragedy because the woman was given to him by God. God challenges the woman to explain herself, whereby she shifts the blame to the serpent.

Divine pronouncement of three judgments are then laid against all the culprits. A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and, finally, the man. To the serpent, God places a divine curse. The woman receives penalties that impact here in two primary roles: she shall experience pangs during childbearing, pain during childbirth, and while she shall desire her husband, he will rule over her. The man's penalty results in God cursing the ground from which he came, and the man then receives a death oracle, though the man has not been described, in the text, as immortal. Abruptly, in the flow of text, the man names the woman "Eve", "because she was the mother of all living" and Adam receives his name "the man", changing from "eth-ha'adham", before the fall to "ha'Adham", to Adam after the fall. God makes skin garments for Adam and Eve.

Cain and Abel , two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is described as a crop farmer and his younger brother Abel as a shepherd. Cain was the first human born and Abel was the first human to die. Cain committed the first murder by killing Abel.Cain treacherously murdered his brother Abel, lied about the murder to God, and as a result was cursed and marked for life. With the earth left cursed to drink Abel's blood, Cain was no longer able to farm the land. Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the Cave of Treasures, before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers.

pg.122~125

Genesis-6-9 Noah and the Flood

God saw how great wickedness had become and decided to wipe mankind from the face of the earth. However, one righteous man among all the people of that time, Noah, found favor in God's eyes. With very specific instructions, God told Noah to build an ark for him and his family in preparation for a catastrophic flood that would destroy every living thing on earth. 

God also instructed Noah to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, both male and female, and seven pairs of all the clean animals, along with every kind of food to be stored for the animals and his family while on the ark. Noah obeyed everything God commanded him to do.

After they entered the ark, rain fell on the earth for a period of forty days and nights.

The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days, and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out. As the waters receded, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah and his family continued to wait for almost eight more months while the surface of the earth dried out.

Finally after an entire year, God invited Noah to come out of the ark. Immediately, he built an altar and worshiped the Lord with burnt offerings from some of the clean animals. God was pleased with the offerings and promised never again to destroy all the living creatures as he had just done. Later God established a covenant with Noah: "Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." As a sign of this everlasting covenant God set a rainbow in the clouds.

Raven-Omen        Dove-Peace

pg.126

Genesis 11: The Tower of Babel

The story of the tower of Babel takes place about 130 years after the flood. It is a brief story but one which raises some interesting questions.

According to the story, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar. There they agreed to build a city and tower; seeing this, God confounded their speech so that they could no longer understand each other and scattered them around the world.

Week 15

Bible 

a collection of texts sacred in Judaism and Christianity. It is an example of a collection of scriptures written at different times by different authors in different locations. Jews and Christians consider the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration or an authoritative record of the relationship between God and humans.

There is no single canonical "Bible": many Bibles have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint; the Hebrew Bible is known in Judaism as the Tanakh. The New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, consisting of narratives, letters and apocalyptic writings. Among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily in the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect.

Old Testament 

the first section of the Christian Bible, based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, a collection of religious writings by ancient Israelites. It is the counterpart to the New Testament, the second portion of the Christian Bible. The Old Testament canon varies between Christian Churches.

The Old Testament consists of many distinct books written, compiled, and edited by various authors over a period of centuries. It is not entirely clear at what point the parameters of the Hebrew Bible, the basis for the Christian Old Testament, were fixed.

The books of the Old Testament can be broadly divided into several sections: 

1) the first five books or Pentateuch (Torah) 

2) the history books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon

3) the poetic and "Wisdom" books dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world

4) and the books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God.

Discussion

Original sin, also called ancestral sin, is the Christian doctrine of humanity's state of sin resulting from the fall of man, namely the sin of consuming from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, stemming from Adam's rebellion in Eden. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred to as a "sin nature", to something as drastic as total depravity or automatic guilt of all humans through collective guilt.

the sin of Adam and Eve

The concept of original sin was first alluded to in the 2nd century by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in his controversy with certain dualist Gnostics. Other church fathers such as Augustine also developed the doctrine, seeing it as based on the New Testament teaching of Paul the Apostle(Romans 5:12–21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22) and the Old Testament verse ofPsalm 51:5. Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose and Ambrosiaster considered that humanity shares in Adam's sin, transmitted by human generation. Augustine's formulation of original sin was popular among Protestant reformers, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, who equated original sin with concupiscence, affirming that it persisted even after baptism and completely destroyed freedom. The Jansenist movement, which the Catholic Church declared to be heretical, also maintained that original sin destroyed freedom of will.

The Story of Abraham and Sarah: 

Once there was a man named Abram.  

One day the Lord came to talk to Abram, and Abram asked, "Who will have all my things when I die".  God promised Abram and his wife Sarai that one day they would be parents, even though they were old and had no children. God wasn't sure that Abram understood.  So that night He took him outside, and said, "Do you see all the stars that are in the sky"?  When Abram looked up, the whole night sky was full of stars,  so many in fact that he would never be able to count them.  Then God said, "That is how many children you will have". 

Quite a few years later when Abram was ninety-nine years old. the Lord decided to change Abram's name to Abraham, which means "father of many"  He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah. God told them again that they would be parents and that they would have a boy. This time Abraham laughed so hard he fell on his face! It was hard to believe that he and Sarah would have a child in their old age.

One day three visitors came to Abraham's house. He hurried to meet them. "May I get you something to eat and drink?"  Abraham asked.  "Please come in and join us, and have a rest on the couch." The visitors agreed, so Abraham brought them some fresh bread, milk, and hamburgers. While the visitors were eating, they asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?"  Abraham thought this was a little  strange, but he replied, "She's in the other room". Then one of the men spoke and said, "I will come back to see you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening behind the living room door.  She started to laugh, but covered her mouth and laughed to herself because she didn't want to be heard.  Then she said to herself, "How can I have a child, I'm almost one hundred years old?" Later when the visitors had left,  Abraham and Sarah realized that the man who had told them this was indeed God. 

A year later Sarah did have a son. She and Abraham named him Isaac, which means "he laughs." They were very excited, and remembered to thank God for Isaac.

Fresco 

a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

Christmas day sharing (story & song)

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas

First edition cover

commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol tells the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a gentler, kindlier man after visitations by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

The book was written at a time when the British were examining and exploring Christmas traditions from the past as well as new customs such as Christmas cards and Christmas trees. Carol singing took a new lease on life during this time. Dickens' sources for the tale appear to be many and varied, but are, principally, the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.

# A Christmas Carol remains popular—having never been out of print—and has been adapted many times to film, stage, opera, and other media.

movie version

David Copperfield, which full tittle is The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account) is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published as a serial in 1849–50, and as a book in 1850. Many elements of the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of his novels. In the preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens wrote, "like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

Song: Have yourself a merry little Christmas (Sam Smith)

From: "Meet me in St.Louise" (movie)

 a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904.

clink to the link

No Strings Attached

a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Natalie Portmanand Ashton Kutcher. Written by Elizabeth Meriwether, the film is about two friends who decide to make a pact to have "no strings attached" casual sex without falling in love with each other. The film was released in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.