...such great meaning. Billy Budd is a prime example of a Christ like figure, even without direct references to the bible, Melville portrays an honorable character; one reader’s may even envision as Christ like. Almost every story has an antagonist and a protagonist, this one is no different; the antagonist in the story is most clearly Claggart. Melville...
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...A REVIEW OF KNOWING JESUS THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT By Christopher J. H. Wright Rick Mangrum OBST591-D17 Old Testament Orientation I Dr. Doug Wilson November 28, 2010 INTRODUCTION Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament is one of many books written by the Rev. Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright. He is also the author of The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland the son of missionary parents, he was raised as an Irish Presbyterian. He studied at Cambridge earning his doctorate in Old Testament Economic Ethics. Ordained as a pastor in the Anglican Church of England, he has worked as writer, pastor, teacher and missionary. He currently lives and works in London.1 Wright’s purpose in this work is to give the reader a deeper understanding of Old Testament teachings and how they molded and impacted the life of Christ. “For these are the words he (Jesus) read”.2 A book completely without footnotes, it represents the thoughts of only the writer. This book has been in demand and in print since its original publication in 1992.3 The easy, though sometimes wordy style clearly teaches the book’s main idea that the Old Testament begins to tells the story that Jesus completes! Through a deeper understanding of the Old Testament story and promise, and how it molded Jesus’s identity and mission as well as his values, we are lead to a deeper understanding of who Jesus truly was, why he lived the way _____________________________ 1Langham...
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...In the short story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner an earnest and forthright tone is present due to several archetypes, numerology, and types of characters presented by the author. However, a few seem to be clearer when establishing the tone of the story. Emily is seen as a vampire archetype due to her corrupt values and dual nature. Numerology is found in order to institute the intense and direct tones. Also, Emily and her father as seen as parallel characters because of their similarities, in return are making the tone even more clear to the reader. Many examples of numerology can be found in this story to help establish the earnest and forthright tone. The number thirty appears several times throughout the story. “So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before the smell” (Faulkner 30). Thirty as a number can represent dedication to a task after physical or mental maturity. With Emily’s father gone and her having full responsibility for herself, she feels she can do almost anything. Even murder her lover, Homer, in order for him to stay in her life forever. She has an intense and sincere state of mind. The number thirty can also represent the sacrificial blood of Jesus, due to Judas betrayal of Judas for thirty coins. Emily remained single even until she was thirty years old, “So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated” (Faulkner 31). Yes, it appeared she was single...
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...King Arthur and Jesus Christ Ron Couts University of Phoenix Com/170 Dr. Phil Johnson November 2, 2011 | For centuries, tales of heroes and their quests have fascinated both the young and the old. Two of the most recognized heroic stories passed down are the legends of King Arthur and Jesus. The legends of both of these heroes closely resemble one another. Both legends include a magical conception a humble but glorious life, and a horrible death at the hands of evil. The striking similarities between the legendary figures of Jesus Christ and King Arthur have caused many people to speculate the shared mythology between the two is actually the same story. With each telling, details have often changed to accommodate the current needs or cultural differences of the people. The first major resemblance in the stories is their origins. Their conceptions share a parallel in the fact they are both highly unusual. Both characters are conceived in a mystical way. Jesus is conceived indirectly by the Holy Spirit, and Arthur by a king disguised by sorcery. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is miraculously impregnated while remaining a virgin. According to the story, Mary is visited by angels who told her she is chosen to be the mother of the Son Of God. When she accepted the request...
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...In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to find,” she tells the story of a family going on vacation, making a wrong turn, and consequently being brutally murdered by a Misfit and his crew. But the story also possesses a detailed vision of the grace and ultimate redemption offered to the Misfit. O’Connor shows the Grandmother’s final moment when she extended grace towards the Misfit, however, many people have made arguments to how they think it ends. For example, Stephan C. Bandy responds in “ ‘One Of My Babies’: The Misfit and the Grandmother,” and claims that even if the Misfit had been shown true grace, he would reject it. However, Matthew Fike, in “The Timothy Allusion in ‘A Good Man is Hard To Find’” believes the Misfit was startled because he felt the Holy Spirit, who he had been trying to deny his entire life, and emphasizes the cleaning of his glasses as spiritual...
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...desire to rebel against the word of the Lord. The opening parable of this chapter tells of two men from the same city, one rich and one poor. Rather than pick from his numerous flock and cattle, the rich man decided to take the only lamb of the poor man and feed it to his guest. King David, after hearing this story, was enraged and called for the man's death. It was Nathan, however, who explained to David that "he was this man." The repetition found in the parable revolves around a theme that is repeated throughout the Bible, and in a sense, foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God. There is also heavy emphasis on the rich man and poor man, which seems to indicate a parallel between the power of the King, which Samuel had warned would be destructive, and the victimization of the poor man (1 Samuel 8:10), and the abuse of that power against the common man. There is also a comparison between the rich man's taking of the poor man's ewe lamb and David's taking of Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. The parable given by Nathan is considered a "juridical parable," and "This, says Uriel Simon, is the way a "juridical parable" is supposed to function--it is 'a realistic story about a violation of law, related to someone who had committed a similar offence with the purpose of leading the...
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...This added content looks differently in each book. In Matthew, the story focuses on the personal macro relationships that Jesus had; specifically, John The Baptist. In Matthew’s telling of the story, Jesus has personal conversation with John, who was against baptizing Jesus. This conversation is in the single tradition, and its record of the conversation is nowhere to be found in Mark, or any other of the gospels. This asks the question, what other information was the writer of Matthew privileged to, and why did he chose to include it? At present, the only theory regarding a second source is the Q source. But wherever the new information came from, the author included it to provide a way of showing Jesus’s personal conversations and His knowledge...
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...(a) Examine the theology and teaching found in the Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard. Jesus told the parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard to show that as the Jews have rebelled against God, the kingdom of God will now be open to others as a consequence. The allegorical meaning of the parable is clear; God is represented by the landowner, Israel is represented by the vineyard (likening Israel to a vineyard was common) and the Jewish authorities are represented by the tenants. The servants, sent by the owner, represent the prophets that God had sent to his people, who were then rejected and killed, even by the people who were claiming to be of God and obedient to him. The parable then explains that the landowner sent his ‘beloved son’ (Mark), which is of course Jesus, but ‘they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard’ (Mark 12:8.) The end of the parable states that the owner will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others; Jesus is telling his audience that because of their disobedience, the opportunity to reach the kingdom of God will be given to the Gentiles. Jesus is teaching the Jews about the Kingdom of God and the parable represents God as a calm and patient judge, however the Pharisees saw the parable as something against them and wanted to arrest Jesus. The actual story is not very believable as the owner would certainly not have risked his own son, but instead he would have sent armed men to throw the tenants out. B...
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...race, to a messiah whom came to save the world through peace? It is not difficult, as one might assume upon being asked this question. Knowledge of the intentions, circumstances, and the background of a certain figure would help determine the differences and similarities between two people who would appear to be complete opposites. Ender Wiggins from the book Ender’s Game written by Orson Scott Card, displays a parallel to following Christ-like way through his journey, which can be confirmed through The Monomyth, Joseph Campbell’s 17 stages of “The Hero’s Journey”. Not only is Ender proved to be a Christ-like figure through a heroic journey in the novel; however, Ender’s demonstrates sacrifice; by...
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... frank Dalton, I love you. Mrs. Jodi meeker archer, I love you too. As a matter of fact class, I love everyone in here. Now some of you might be appalled by me saying this. Many of you may be flattered by it; and a number of you might even wonder. Is this guy crazy? Who does he think he is? How could he have the audacity to tell me he loves me? To you I say this, I’m just a normal guy with a big heart; a guy practicing the correct ideology to remedy this evil world. And right now, I’m trying to influence you to abide by the same system. A system that is so natural and so pure, but is often revered as a weakness or an enigma that should be avoided at all cost. As a matter of fact, I believe the only parallel to this idea, is one that can only be taught to a person. That parallel, is to hate another human. This philosophy I’m telling you about, is called loving your fellow man. there are many forms love ladies and gentlemen, some people think love is only an act to be made between two individuals in the bedroom; some think love can only be shown by being showered with all types of lavish gifts or taken on trips around the world gallivanting on the beaches of beautiful islands. However, I’m not talking about those types of love people. Webster’s dictionary says that love is having adoration or a very strong liking towards someone or something, now that’s getting a little closer to the type of love I’m referring to class. Al green said in one of his hit love songs from the early...
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...In Mark 4: 1-9, the parable of the sower, Jesus teaches about a farmer tossing seeds about the ground; while many of the seeds failed to grow into bountiful plants, those that fall on good soil grow and produce a bountiful harvest. This excerpt is a parable because it is a story that illustrates religious principles. The aforementioned story has two parallels appearing in Luke and Matthew. Between the three parallels not much is changed in the format, analogies, word choice, or length. Some phrases are changed depending on various things like dialects or translations, but the overall meaning of the parable remains the same. The Parable of the Sower is addressed to “Whoever has ears to hear”(Mark 4:9). The choice of ears and hearing leads...
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...have salvation and eternal life and how does one show that in a work of literature? In the process of all of the chronological references and religious symbolism, Flannery O’Connor in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” addresses this and draws a parallel to the modern moral dilemma of what it takes to be saved. Written in 1953 and based upon her Roman Catholicism roots, O’Connor conveys how each family member gracefully accepts the previous generation’s quirkiness and cynicism to maintain family unit. Although the younger generations do not respect older ones as much as their parents, her stories have characters that convey her message of religious distrust through each character’s deceptive actions and secular thoughts. Similarly, most of O’Connor’s stories make reference to the good and bad by such subtleness as creatively naming the kids after an outlaw and a founder of a major religion. By such obscurity, she wants to draw a parallel between the true believer and the hypocrites that appear to be religious in actions (May). Like a mirror’s reflection, O’Connor’s story contains several undertones of grace in how the characters are developed in the story. From the grandmother to the Misfit, there is a “forewarning of mortal death in the story as the family travels on their last trip before meeting the Misfit that carries out the heinous crime of killing the family” (Pence). Each object and person represents each side of the moral equation. Since each event draws the family and...
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...Table of Contents 1. Abstract 1 2. Introduction 2 3. Literature Review 3 3. Hypotheses and assumptions on the movie: 5 4. Christianity in the medieval age 6 5.1. Aslan, the Lion parallel to Jesus Christ 6 5.2. The Table of Stone. 7 6. The seven deadly sins 8 6.1. Gluttony – sin by Edmund 9 7. Knighthood 10 7.1. The battle and the coronation 11 8. Conclusion 12 9. List of References 13 Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the medieval influences and aspects in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The movie emphasizes important elements of the Middle age. It is about the four Pevensie children, Peter, Suzy, Edmund and Lucy who entered the magic land of Narnia and with the help of Aslan, the Lion, fought the Wicked White Witch Judas. Thus they gave freedom to the other animals and restored peace and harmony in Cair Paravel and Narnia. The film captures brilliantly these moments and transmits them to the public. One of the main focuses of the film was the religious belief ‘Christianity’. The movie responds to the quasi- spiritual Christian beliefs and truths of good versus bad, highlighting the defeat of the Witch and her death. Secondly, it shows how the younger brother Edmund fell in the trap of the White Witch due to his “gluttony” of the Turkish delights and betrayed his brother and sisters. Last but not the least; the movie stresses another...
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...struggle between the Spirit and the flesh when one tries to walk with the Lord. Baldwin uses his characters names and events in their lives to parallel the Bible and help create a sense of the strong desire to be Godly while trying to fight the desire of the flesh. He uses a poetic literary style that shows the importance of the Bible and Christianity in African American life and literature during the early to mid 20th century. The novel is considered semi-autobiographical as the life of his main character, John Grimes, mirrors the author’s childhood life in many ways. James Baldwin, like John, grew up in Harlem with a strict stepfather who was a preacher. In the story, he tries to recreate the black fundamentalist, Pentecostal congregational worship in which he felt his family forced him in to(Olson, 1997). Like John Grimes, James was saved at the age fourteen. Despite the tense relationship with his stepfather, Baldwin became a Pentecostal youth minister for a couple of years. However, later in life he proclaimed himself to be an Atheist. Many critics believe that Baldwin also used this character to introduce the conflict of homosexuality that he later developed in other writings as a testament to struggles in his own life (Powers, 2005). Many of the characters names can be found in the Bible. John (the main character) is one of Jesus’ disciples and is credited for writing the Gospel of John in the New Testament (John, New Living Translation). There is also John the...
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...Journey of the Magi Essay Liberty University English 102/Mrs. Brittany Meng T.S. Eliot uses symbolism and a theme of alienation and faith for an uncommon perspective of the journey to see the infant Jesus. 1. T.S. Eliot converted to Christianity 2. Perspective of the Magi 3. The theme is about alienation and faith 4. Journey is not pleasant 5. Statement Birth and Death 6. Eliot makes the comparison about any Christian who deals with trials 7. Symbolic elements – three trees against the lowly sky – crucifixtion and heaven is lowered. 8. Long, hard journey metaphor for his coming to faith 9. Three trees – three crosses on Calvarly 10. Six hands grabbing for silver metaphor for casting of lots for Jesus’s clothes and Judas’s betrayal In the “Journey of the Magi” T.S. Eliot brings a different perspective of how we have normally viewed the story of the Magi recorded in Mathew. As readers of the story in Mathew we can only assume as Christians that the journey had to be one of happiness and joy considering what we know now. Knowing that they were on a journey to see the infant Christ we can see ourselves taking on this quest with excitement and anticipation. T.S. Eliot takes into the mind of one of the Magi as he narrates their journey. Immediately we are told that they are traveling in the dead of winter and that the journey is long. It is the worst time of year and the weather is not cooperating. We forget that these travelers...
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