Biblical Foundations of Literature

2006-12-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Okay. Here is my final paper!

The Trickster
In the Bible, there are many references to the devil or Satan. Satan has many qualities, most of which are negative. Satan's qualities are comparable to those of the Trickster figure in Native American spirituality. After exploring the qualities of each figure, I have concluded that although Satan and the Trickster figure have many similarities they do not represent the same entities. The role of God throughout the Bible is more comparable to the Trickster figure in Native American spirituality. In the Bible, Satan usually represents the epitome of sin and evil. Satan began as the angel Lucifer, who was the most promising angel in God's court. After rebelling against God, Luciger was condemmed from heaven. Satan makes his first appearance in the Book of Genesis. Here God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, who lived together in the Garden of Eden. God commands Adam to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan takes the shape of the serpent and convinces Eve to eat from the tree, saying "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God" (Genesis). Eve then gives the fruit to Adam to eat. Satan's presence is evident throughout the books of the Bible. This includes, but is not limited to, the Accuser of Job in the Book of Job and the dragon beast in th Book of Revelation. Throughout these stories, Satan proves to be decietful, employs devious tricks and has the power to cause bad things. Although Satan is presented as the oppposite of God, he posesses the same great supernatural power God controls. Satan spins lies, spreads evil and is viewed as tempter of sin. Although the devil and the Trickster figure share many qualities, they in fact do not represent the same entity. The Trickster, who is also present in Norse, Greek and Slavic folktales, breaks rules of God and nature. The Trickster is cunning and sometimes foolish, serving as a form of entertainment and teacher. Sometimes malevolent, the Trickster usually breaks rules in the form of tricks or stealing. The Trickster usually exhibits personality traits that are looked down upon in Native American culture, such as selfishness and foolishness, as an example. Although sometimes the Trickster can be malicious, usually his intentions are positive in the end. This is where the similarities end. The Trickster usually takes on cultural tasks, and is sometims known as a creator of mountains, streams and many other physical features. In many stories, the Trickster is portrayed as a messenger, a cultural hero and a humorous entertainer. Ultimatley, the Trickster is viewed as a doer or good. He acts immorally, telling lies and deceiving people, in order to teach. The Trickster can change his shape and appear differently, but his most popular form is tthe coyote. A number of Navajo Creation myths involve the coyote. In the traditional story, the first people emerged through three underworlds to land upon earth. First Man and First Woman were two of the first beings to emerge. The first people met and started to arrange the new world, naming mountains and boundaries. Next, the people put the moon and the sun into the sky and began specifically arranging stars in the sky. The coyote, who plays the Trickster figure here, grew impatient and carelessly flung the rest of the stars in the sky. Like Satan, the coyote appears in creation myths and inevitably becomes involved where he should not. Although the coyote disturbs the creation, he still plays an important role in the myth (Lapahie). The Trickster in Native American spiritual beliefs also shares qualities with God throughout the Bible. For example, God plays the role of a trickster in the Book of Job. God takes away Job's family, land, livestock and money for no specified reason. Job is described as a rightous and loyal man who is loyal to God. Job is then visited by three friends, and begins to question God's purpose. Job wonders why God has chosen him, when Job has always been moral and done the right thing. In the end, God explains to Job the extent of his power and how he created the universe. Job then repents and acknowledges the justice of God. God responds by not only returning Job's physical and material wealth but also doubling it. God very much assumes the role of the trickster figure in the story of Job, by teaching Job a positive lesson about faith. God, like a trickster figure, has the power to trick Job, but in the end teaches him a valuable lesson. In conclusion, I think that both Satan and God represent the role of a trickster throughout the books of the Bible. Like the Trickster, Satan is more decieving and evil in his trickery, and uses his power to achieve his negative goals. God on the other hand uses his deception to teach people lessons of faith, resulting in a positive outcome. In the Native American religion, the Trickster decieves people, tell lies and causes damage, but on a smaller scale than Satan. God and the Trickster both share the role as the teacher throught trickery. I believe that when comparing the Native American Trickster with a figure in the Bible, God shares more qualities than Satan.

2006-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

Group 3

Tara presented on the Bible's depiction of women.
Erica spoke of the story of David.
Tyler also spoke of females in the Bible.
Dana presented on how the Bible can be misread in order to manipulate it.

Group 6

Theresa spoke on the influence of Mystery Religions and depicted it with a cool nativity scene.
Matt. M. presented on the context of the Bible in history, and Chapter 17 in Frye. He spoke of the Bible as a work of literature, and the two seperate kinds of knowledge, which are wisdom and knowledge.
Matt L. spoke about Baptism in the Bible.
Maria presented on Jacob and Wanda in the Slave, their contemplation of fatih and how the characters are enslaved by the Torah.
Justin presented his retelling of the first 11 chapters in the Bible, recreating the context but offering the same points.
Shelley spoke of water as another symbol shown throughout the bible.
Andrew spoke about Shelley's Frankenstein, Marlowe's Dr. Faustus and Hardy's works in relation to the concept of knowledge as evil.
Adam spoke on the movie Dogma and how the movie touches on the unexplained things in th Bible. The movie just proves that the Bible should not be taken too seriously.
Robin presented on Chapter 7 in Frye and the symbolism which is present throughtout society.
Eric presented on understanding the context in the Bible and what it attempts to explain.

2006-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

Individual Presentations

Group 1

Amy focused on Ezekial and compared it to John's visions in Revalations as a form of apalyptic literatiure.
Amanda presented on the idea of optics. She explained that Newton studied light because it was gods first creation.
Rosa had an interesting presentation on Revalation as a conduit. And we got "gifts" in the form of pieces of paper with thoughts written on them.
Kerry presented on the Kairos and the idea of time, when time is obliterated. She explained how the New Testament interprets time.
John spoke about the Western Myth in an insightful poem which seemed to encompass the whole semester's ideas.
Kelly spoke on The Slave and what relevence the title has. She talked about whether Wanda or Jacob is the slave and how each character seems to act out their roles.
Rosana wrote a prose piece also, titled Blood Wanda. She spoke about the role of women, Freud's concept of penis envy and how it is WRONG!

Group 2

Kari's presentation consisted of the form of God, asking questions of the bible and the writer's J and P.
Laura spoke of Chapter 24 in Frye. She explained that Frye states the Bible should be read as a poem.
Kim's presentation involved magnetic pictures which spelled theodicy, the anwer to the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
Gabby spoke of her soft spot for Cain in the Bible
Dane presented next, speaking the Bible and social conformity, the responsbility in the Bible and the individuals relationship to the government.
Ryan spoke about Frye's interpretation of Ecclesiastices and how it was written by the rich to supress the poor
Lindsay wrote about Issac Singer's The Slave, relating it to the song "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley.
Brian spoke of reading the BIble literally, when Frye says to read it poetically.

2006-12-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Group Presentations
Second 3 Groups

Group 4: This group included Marlow, Emily, Jennifer, Judson, Josh, Brendan and Michael. This group presented an interesting new take of the Book of Ruth, with their panel of experts and Kosher view...
Group 5: This was my group which consisted of Eric, Matt M., Kris, Matt L., Andrew, myself and Teresa. We each presented relevant information related to the Book of Acts.
Group 6: Ths group included Justin, Rosie, Shelley and Maria. This group focused on the Book of Jonah, with a fun presentation Jonah in the belly of a whale. We then watched a fun cartoon video depicting the story.

2006-12-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

The Slave by Issac Singer

I went into reading this book after asking my roommate (who had read it for a previous class) if it was hard to read. She said yes, and only after finishing it did I realize why. At first, I was, in fact, appalled by the description of Jacob's living situation, the people he interacted with, how Wanda's family lived and the way both Wanda and Jacob were treated. It took me a while to be able to get past these livid descriptions, and I figured this is what my roommate had ment. In all actuallity, I realized that it is hard to read because it is a harrowing tale of the power of love. Jacob and Wanda's love had run so deep, that with all of the power of god, love still prospered under the most severe conditions. Both Jacob and Wanda had to undergo large transformations, and in a way, forget their previous selfs. WIth these changes, such as both Wanda and Jacob assuming different identities, Wanda pretending to be mute and having to hide themselves, both characters helped show the power of true love. Although both characters thought their love was a sin, I think that this is the point Singer is trying to make about god. The individual must follow their heart and love, incorporating God into love.

2006-12-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Frye Chap. 22
Revalation: Removing the Veil

Frye says that creation is a controlled order
Exodus= the antitype of creation
"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eyes seeth thee."
The gospel has oral teachings and the apocalypse is SEEING Christ
The Book of Revalation is not technically supposed to be visualized
Frye realates the conception of time in Christianity to Russian astronauts arriving in space and the fact that the "didn't find God up there".
Kairos- The crucial moment of time which does not exist
Gospel is the fulfillment of prophecy. Frye says that if you had been there, you may have not known that it was happening.
Frye says that the end of the Bible is the beginning of the readers life
Apocalypse is a type. The antitype is new creation
Frye explains that the end of the Bible "Is something it feels it's not his business to expound" Frye is saying that the reader must fill in the gaps between creation and new creation to come full circle.

2006-12-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Frye Chap. 21
The Language of Proclamation: Style and Rythm in Bible; the Gospel: Rewriting Commandments

Simplicity of law in Bible
Frye's example is of an officer in the army
The army vs the individual soldier
The Bible's rhetoric style: scholars named it Kerygma or what one must do to be saved.
There are two aspects of this, according to Frye
the first is it's attempt to pursuede the audience, the second is the study of the figurative use of language
answers to the exestential wuestion of what you need to do to be saved
The voice of authority heard through the Bible is on different levels
The Ten Commandments are an example
Ex: Kill not- total prohibition of the act
Jesus quotes the law in the first 5 books
The Sermon on the Mount: positive elements in the Ten Commandments
a sin is an attempt to block the will of God
The kingdom of heaven is within YOU
2 words emphasized
Eternal: infinate time
Infanite: space that goes on and on...For ex. Heaven and Hell

2006-12-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Frye Chapter 20: Job and Restored Humanity

Frye discusses the tone of god at the end of the Book of Job, explaining that God takes a kind of bullying tone towards Job
the usual reaction to being guilty of something is the question...what have I done wrong?
Both God and Satan are carefully distinguished
Frye talks of the Gnostics (who are the philosophers around the time of Christ)
There are Jewish, Pagan and Christian Gnostics
Christian Gnostics are quoted in the New Testament several times
from the evil god Jesus had come to deliver us
Pagan Gnostic position: attack on the order of nature
Nature is something totally alien to man
creation of evil being and man
This Pagan view turns up in Shelley's poem Prometheus
In the poem, Prometheus defies Jupiter and realizes his position to Jupiter
Then Frye skips back to Job
continually defying god would keep Satan in business
Job realizes this and withdraws from himself and surrenders, but not completley
Frye discusses that our individual egos are rooted in society
Job then realizes that humanity is fully redeemable
Job goes through the depths of despair in order to view world on a sensual level and recognize the illusion

2006-11-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

Frye Chapter 19
Job and the Question of Tragedy

Frye repeats at the begining of the chapter that Job is not being punished but tested, and God knows the outcome already.
Job's questions are never outright answered, but assumptions can be made.
God says to Job, you were not around at the time of creation, and shows Job the extent of his power
The messege God is trying to tell Job is don't look back and question why this has happened, look ahead at the future
Leviathan- images of power and wisdom in the Book of Job, but not love
Fry then says that the Book of Job is actually a comedy (in the Greek sense:) because Job is restored of everything in the end

2006-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Frye Chapter 18
Job: A Test

Frye says in the second half of the O.T. there are 3 themes: poetry, prophecy and wisdom
The Book of Job presents the question: How did man come to this alienating situation?
Wisdom-law of the individual- permeates society
A prophet is isolated because of an unpopular messege, and frequently persecuted
Frye makes these points, then goes into the Book of Job
The story begins with Satan in the court of God, and Frye notes that Satan is treated as a creature of God, and uses the metaphor of trial and judge
Job first endures a disaster which destroys his family, his land, livestock and then suffers from boils
Job's three friends then come to see him and offer advice
Frye says that people are expected to obey the deuteronomy and they will remain happy
Disobeying will lead to miserable (like Job)
Frye explains that Job must have broken the law, but what?
Frye then concludes that Job was not being punished but tested
Elihu then gives a long winded summary and God enters
He proceeds to tell Job that he knows nothing

2006-11-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Frye Chapters 17

Ch. 17 Law: Ordering a Society
New Testament- reformulation of law from the O.T.
O.T. legal material includes- judicial, ceremonial, moral
Law becomes internalized, the individual is actually "free" from the law
Conception of a sin unintellegable- except in a religious context
Conception of law=moral= natural law
Moral sphere has a commanding personality-God
Polytheistic= Class of devine wills
Biblical sphere- one god controls moral and natural orders
man thought in Biblical sense as living on 2 levels
The first level being Man, second being a Creature of God
Man lives in 2 levels of nature
The first being appropriate to man (natural ex-to wear clothes). The second level involves beings without conciousness.
natural to man= decided human nature
Frye says man is born in the middle of 2 worlds=physical and nature
Man can either choose to move up to god, or move down a level to sin
I think that it is interesting how Frye explains the two levels man is born into in the bible, and he can either make the choice to degress or rise above, based on his actions.

2006-11-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Being familiar with the bible from an early age, i have heard many interpretations and questioned many ideas. One interpretation though, continues to amaze me, Northrop Frye's Biblical and Classical Mythology. I have tried to keep notes from each Frye chapter I have read and enjoyed, and am finally getting around to posting them!!! I will try to keep the chapters in order, but my notes are scattered in different notebooks, so try to bear with me!!!!

2006-09-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

hello! i'm sort of a beginner at this blogging business!