...shepherd by profession was looked down upon. Shepherds spent their days around animals, spent their nights outdoors guarding the same animals, and were found only in the company of fellow shepherds. There was nothing special about one who tended and kept sheep. But God saw something special in these lowly men. Looking into the lives of many great men and women in the Bible used significantly by God, you shall find that at least at one time they were shepherds—Rachel, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David. The first man whose sacrifice is recorded to have pleased God was a shepherd: Abel. Unlike Cain, Abel gave God a sacrifice of his first. As we have already seen, the sacrifice of the first of one’s fruits signified total dedication of all the fruits to God, from whom all good things come. Abel honored God. In response to God’s question after he had killed his brother, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain mocked his brother’s profession by answering, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, as if to say, “Am I my brother’s shepherd?” Shepherds were looked down upon. This could also have been another reason Cain’s jealousy burned against his brother. A mere herdsman, a shepherd, was looked on with favor by God, instead of him. 147 Brenda Siara Jesse, David’s father, when asked by Samuel the prophet to present to him the sons in his household, brought all except for David. When Samuel found not, amongst those presented, the king whom God had chosen, he asked Jesse if he had presented ...
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...Daniel Barton October 27, 2014 Religious Literature Transient and Permanent Qualities in East of Eden: The Relationship Between Good and Evil Torben Grodal talked of art film as possessing two basic elements, transient and permanent, but they are also seen in the novel East of Eden. Steinbeck creates scenes that at first have a transient quality, and then purposefully connects to a permanent nature. These permanent qualities, grappled with by the Trask’s and Lee, examine the never ending battle between good and evil. In the novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck constructs scenes that have an initial transient quality, but then persistently associates these with a permanent nature that examines the conflict between good and evil. Steinbeck portrays Cathy as a very evil character, someone who is just inexplicably evil and makes several allusions to her being a monster and devil. When first introducing the reader to Cathy, Steinbeck writes about the creation of monsters, an obvious parallel. He goes on to say that, “monsters are variations from the accepted normal to a greater or a less degree. As a child may be born without an arm, so one may be born without kindness or the potential of conscience” (72). He wastes no time in comparing a monster to Cathy. He believes that Cathy is not an ordinary evil either, but that she is a very abstract form of evil, the exact idea of evil and that she has no good in her body. Steinbeck does not only believe that Cathy is a monster, but...
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...of Eve questioning G-d’s superiority. As Adam and Eve question G-d’s dominance and eat the forbidden fruit, due to the serpent’s cunningness, they all get punished in distinct ways. “Because you have done this you are cursed…” (Pg. 19) G-d says this to the serpent for deceiving Eve and therefore Adam, as well. This story illustrates the importance of respect and value to one’s elders and superiors. This specific moral is applied in everyday life with the importance of respecting one’s parents/ guardians and others superiors such as one’s educators, bosses, coaches, etc. In another example of important morals as shown within the Bible, is the story of Cain and Abel, “The First Murder”, in the Genesis. This story comes across two brothers leading to competitive aspects of everyday life. Due to jealousy and envy over Abel, Cain decides to murder his brother. As learned through this story, jealousy is a destructive trait that can lead to one’s undoing. In today’s society, there...
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...James Baldwin begins the novel of Sonny’s blues with the narrator’s mother, charging him with watching over Sonny, asking him to serve as his brother’s keeper. The dynamic between the two brothers is a parallelism to the relationship between the brothers Cain and Abel in the Bible. In that narrative, Cain, after murdering Abel, asks whether he is supposed to be his brother’s keeper. The narrator, following his mother’s death, is presented with a similar dilemma. Since their mother’s death, Sonny’s life has been marred by prison and drug abuse. The tension between the two brothers is so great that after one particular fight, Sonny tells his brother to consider him dead from that point on, a statement that, again, deliberately echoes the biblical narrative of Cain and Abel. Baldwin’s sentences also contain a biblical tone and rhythm. Like Cain, the narrator turns his back on his brother and fails, at first, to respond to Sonny when he is prison. He has failed to live up to his mother’s commandment that he watches over his brother—but the failure is only temporary. By the end of the story, the narrator has taken Sonny back into his home. He finally takes on the role of his brother’s keeper, constantly watching and worrying over Sonny as he emerges from the darkness of prison and drug abuse. The idea of brotherly love extends beyond the relationship between the narrator and Sonny into the community as a whole. Harlem is plagued by drugs, poverty, and frustration, but members of...
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...The sin of Man and God’s Grace James R. Cornelius IV Liberty University Online Author Note Jcornelius3@liberty.edu Abstract From the beginning of creation to the present three things have kept occurring. Man has sinned against God, There has been immediate and eternal consequences. The wonderful God we serve has kept his covenants and shed his Grace on us and gave a way of redemption from the eternal consequences. Keywords: Sin, consequences and redemption The sin of Man and God’s Grace Through Genesis 1-11 we read about man sinning, his immediate and eternal consequences, and God making a way for redemption. Today man is still struggling with his sins against God reaping the immediate consequences and eternal consequences. Though around 2000 years ago Christ came and fulfilled Old Testament Prophesy and made the way to eternal redemption attainable. Adam and Eve Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:8) He had it made. God even gave him a companion. (Genesis 2:21-22) All they had to do is not eat of the tree that gave the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:17) As we do so many times today they did not obey God and listened to the devil in chapter 3 and ate the fruit. God gave them freedom to obey or not to obey. God gives us the freewill to obey or not. Why you may ask? “But if, of our Own Choice, and against the steady urge of our Nature, we obey God, there is Character in that.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, Dr. Henry Halley, 1965, p. 67)...
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...knowledge and inspiration to me as an individual. Of all the books I have read, Jeffrey Archer’s book “Kane and Abel” has had the greatest influence on my life. In Archer’s book, readers gain a glimpse of the unseen realities, coinhering with theirs, but usually invisible to them, that nonetheless influences them, depending on who they are and the very choice they make. Because the author uses a couple of intriguing series of events to teach the importance of forgiveness and understanding, this book have had the most influence on me. The book was initially published in the United Kingdom in the year 1979 and later on in the year 1980 in the USA. The story line commences with the birth of Kane and Abel. One of the characters was born in a wealthy family while the other was born in a world filled with struggle and hardships. Kane attended the best school and had all the fine things in life. Abel lost his mother at a tender age and never knew his real father. He experienced slavery and war. The characters follow their path. They confront one another in the journey of life and eventually become ultimate adversaries. Their war rages across three major generations unchecked and both experience the love of a dream, lure of a fortune and loss of an empire. Kane turns out to become the owner of the largest financial institution in the United States. On the other hand, Abel entered the United States as a migrant who had nothing after the First World War. Kane was intelligent to the extent...
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...Introduction The Old Testament is replete with stories of revenge that embody Lex Talonis, a concept loosely translated from Latin to mean “an eye for an eye”. It is not surprising, therefore, that throughout the entire book of Genesis we find only two accounts of reconciliation between feuding siblings: Jacob’s reunion with his brother Esau (Gen ); and Joseph’s act of mercy towards his brothers (Gen 45: 1-28). Apart from these two episodes, in the only other instance of sibling rivalry we find in Genesis ends with Cain’s tragic murder of his brother Abel (Gen). Even within the two reconciliatory narratives represented in Genesis, Joseph’s story is the sole one with a truly respectable outcome (Genesis 45: 1-28). Esau’s and Jacob’s relationship remained strained even after the brothers ended their feud, with each going their own separate way and subsequently establishing independent communities: the Israelites (Jacob); and the Edomites (Esau). It would seem justifiable had Joseph sought to settle scores with his brothers for having beaten him, left him in a pit to die and ultimately sold him to Egyptian slavers. However, notwithstanding the pain inflicted upon him by his brothers, Joseph chose the path of forgiveness and used his influence in Egypt to ensure his family would survive the famine. The reconciliation narrative in Genesis 45 is the first...
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...Strange fruit at first was a poem written by the teacher Abel Meeropol. He was a Jewish teacher from the Bronx. Strange fruit was an anti-lynching poem, published in the Marxist publication n1936, which was then setinto music. The song had been covered by many artists. It inspired many novels that were written. Even though many other artist performed the song but Strange fruit was most famously perform by Billie Holiday. The song was a hit in and out New York when it was published. It was include in the Songs of the Century. At the time that Abel wrote the poem, American racism and lynching African American was present in the South, and all the other regions in the USA. Abel was really touched by all the violence, especially after seeing a photograph of the 1930 lynching ofThomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. Usually he wouldask others to put his poems into songs. But after seeing the photograph he set the poem into a song himself this time. Hiswife, the black vocalist Laura Duncan first, and him perform it at Madison Square Garden.Then the song was introduced to Billie Holiday who first performed it at Café Society in 1939. Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. When Barney Josephson, founder of the Café Society in Greenwich Village, heard of the song he went and introduced it to Billie. At that time she was recording for Columbia. She said that when she’s singing the song, it made her fearful of retaliation, but because its imagery reminded...
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...melody starts with trumpet and then piano follows. The rhyme of trumpet and piano are both negative and singer’s sound is sadness, and sometimes the voice is lowering. The music includes many depressed melodies and blues that make the music listener feeling the singer is singing about a tragedy. At this time I learned that why the music is a universal language for communication without boundary. The second time I listen to the music, I can understand what the lyrics saying. This song is singing about the lynching movement at the southern America. By reading and studying, I start to know this song is a typical representation of Anti-lynching movement. The original title of this song was "Bitter Fruit," and the song started as a poem wrote by Abel Meeropl. The singer of this song is Billie Holiday. [1] In the David Margolick’s book, has said: "Strange Fruit" marked a watershed, praised by some, lamented by others, in Holiday's evolution from exuberant jazz singer to chanteuse of lovelorn pain and loneliness. Once she began to sing it, some of the [*93] song’s sadness seemed to cling to her. In its own small...
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...The brave and strong Geats were ready to battle through all that faced them. Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon that ended Beowulf’s life were all descendants of Cain. In the Anglo-Saxons period, all the evil acts were believed to be existed because of Cain. Cain committed the first murder by killing his brother Abel. As stated in the poem, “…monsters born/ Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Lines 19-20). Beowulf won many battles and destroyed the Evil with only fourteen men because he was the bravest, strongest, and the most powerful warrior among the Geats. Beowulf was the bravest among the Geats. He “chose the mightiest men he could find, the bravest and the best of the Geats” (Lines 120-121). Grendel, a progeny of Cain, had the appearance of Evil. Grendel was banished by God living “in a hell/ Not hell but earth” (Lines 18-19). Grendel was made up of both, half human, half beast, brutal, and wicked. The brave Beowulf must fight this creature with bare hands. He defeats Grendel with his bravery. Although Grendel was dead, the evil was still there, Grendel’s Mother. Grendel’s Mother attacks Herot and takes Hruthgar’s closest friend in revenge of his son. She runs missing with one victim “to save her life” ( Line 410). Beowulf, the strongest among all, “leaped in to the lake” (Line 450), described by Hruthgar to battle Grendel’s Mother. She welcomed Beowulf to the bottom of the sea. Grendel’s Mother tried to harm him but Beowulf’s tight ring-woven mail...
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...Throughout the majority of Charles Dickens literary works, Dickens evocates landscapes, such as the marsh in Great Expectations, that exceed well beyond the capacity of any stage physical stage. Additionally, a physical stage fully portrays the numerous times that Dickens changes scenes. However, Dickens did not write his novels to be reenacted on a stage, but rather Dickens sought to appeal to the stage of the reader’s imagination. As a result, the majority of his works play upon dramatic techniques that align themselves with cinema more than theatre; but cinema is basically a medium that operates through the characters, dialogue, and the setting while sparingly using literary techniques. Despite this rather interesting style, Charles Dickens uses both dramatic, and literary, techniques to convey complex themes to his readers. When thinking of Dickens novel, readers, oftentimes, remember the pictures, scenes, and dramatic events as the most memorable parts of the novel. Readers might remember the pictures, for instance, of Peggoty’s Boathouse in David Copperfield, or the frozen wedding feast in Great Expectations. Additionally, readers remember the dramatic events such as Micawber unmasking Uriah Heep, or Pip being threatened by the Magwitch in the churchyard. The fact that events such as these come to the forefront of his reader’s minds comes as a direct result of his style. Dickens ‘pictures’ make up the very essence of his narratives as they convey details that contain essential...
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...Thielicke. 1. Identify the symbolism of “the space in which Cain lifts his ax and Abel falls lifeless to the ground”. 3The space is the beginning of wanting what others have, the start to a cycle of power and wealth that has continued throughout history. Unknowingly Cain and Abel created a pattern for which we can see everything of ourselves and all around us. ***This age-old story of Cain and Abel is the pattern for everything that we can see in ourselves and all around us. (Keep this pattern in mind as you analyze the rest of the chapter.) 2. To what “shock” (p188) is Thielicke referring? A shock that occurs when you only read half the story of Cain and Abel, as you read the story it abruptly changes to “the Lord has regard for Abel”. Why did God approve of Abel’s offering but not Cain’s offering is the shock. Is it because Cain was a questionable character? 3. Why Cain did not “suit” God? (This is the key to understanding the Cain and Abel story). When Cain’s countenance falls short, he begins to brood and devise mischief due to his egotistical self-asseration. 4. Does Thielicke view God as “capricious”? Explain. No, Thielicke gives reason to why one might think God is unpredictable. Some people are extremely while others due as they might to walk straight find themselves with no luck. But as the reading continues he states that although the story of Cain and Abel is simply a skeleton with no elaborate narrative, the small details give way to a foundation...
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...They had only one thing in common… William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless Polish immigrant – two men both born on the same day on opposite sides of the world, their paths destined to cross in the ruthless struggle to build an empire. An unputdownable tale, spanning sixty years, of two powerful men kinked by an all consuming hatred, brought together by fate to save… and finally destroy… each other. Not only does this book have many pages (550) but there is so much storyline crammed onto every page that you feel you are reading several books, not just one. At no point does the storyline let up; it never drags or loses the pace for a moment. I would say a lot of the story is descriptive rather than dialogue, but this suits the style of the book as you are taken through various decades and different parts of the world. The book follows the two main characters from birth through their lives, dedicating alternative chapters to each character. Some chapters are quite long, so you forget what has been happening with the other character when you return to him, but other chapters are so compelling that you don’t want to leave that character’s story line for one chapter. What I liked about this book: I really enjoyed this book from start to end but I think my favourite part is Abel’s early life. He was born in a Poland controlled by Russia and then during the First World War he was held captive, suffering at the...
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...“scop”, which originated from the Old English language which means to shape. God is being referred to as the Great Shaper and all the beauty seen by the Anglo-Saxon were fruits of God’s creation. The term “scop” can also represent a poet. In this poem, the Anglo-Saxons considered the fact that the author made use of beautiful words and imagery to create a poem is comparable to God’s work when he created earth. This can be read in the lines “The clear song of a skilled poet, telling with mastery man’s beginnings, how the Almighty had made the earth” (Beowulf 86-98). Another proof that the author is a Christian is when there was mention of the story of the two brothers Cain and Abel. This can be substantiated in the lines “Cain's clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel, the Eternal Lord had exacted a price” (Beowulf 86-98). The presence of the word God is evident in several occasions in the poem such as “Afterwards a boy-child was sent to Shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by God to that nation “(Beowulf 12). Some...
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...The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop. By Lewis Allan, 1940 These words paint a picture and speak of an unpleasant time in American history, where blatant racism, lynchings and inequalities were committed against African Americans. Strange fruit can be considered a protest song of the pre-civil rights era. Its importance to the movement can be felt in the lyrics of the song paving the way for protest songs of the civil rights era and its impact on the world today. Strange Fruit was composed by Abel Meerpol, a school teacher from the Bronx, NY who wrote a poem under the pseudonym Lewis Allan (Independent Lens, 2003) about the horrors of racism after seeing graphic photos of a lynching of two teenagers, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. These teenagers, who were accused of killing a white man, were taken from an Indiana jail and lynched by a mob of angry whites (Koppes, 2010). Their bodies badly beaten and burned, left hanging from a tree their bodies blowing with the wind for the world to see. Although there were lynchings in the North, the majority of lynchings were in the South (Stone, 2004). The victims, most often African American were guilty of nothing more than being black. They were tortured, abused and murdered in...
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