In this reading, the theme is that the King is always right. This article shows how even though a person may say one thing, the King has the final word as to what is correct. This shows that the King is always right.
The thing that stood out to me the most is how the King allowed all of Tyler's followers to return to their homes after Tyler's death, but then had his men find and kill. The King had Tyler's people hunted down hanged until he realized that there were too many of them and that too many people had already been killed. Only then did the King find "pity in his heart."
This presented the idea that things can turn around at any time. In the beginning of the article, Tyler was grated many requests from the King and by the end of the article the King had ordered Tyler decapitated and his followers hanged. This shows just how quickly things can change from good to bad.
A modern parallel to this article is law cases. In court cases, nothing can be counted on to last. New evidence can always arise, causing the case to suddenly turn the other direction in favor of the opposite party than before.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Ritual Cannabilism Charge Against Christians
The theme of this reading is the differences between a secular view of the ritual of the Christian communion and the Christian explanation. The secular view presents the idea that by partaking in communion, a Christian is doing a cannabillistic act. Since Christians refer to the bread and juice as the body and the blood of Christ, they take the reference as a literal translation. The actual Christian preactice, as explained by Hippolytus refers to The Last Supper when Christ broke bread and offered wine and called them his body and his blood.
The idea that, from a secular point of view, the eucharist could be seen as cannabilism is something that I had never considered before. Because of that, that whole idea stood out to me. Coming from a Christian perspective, the fact that anyone would think of the eucharist as cannabilism strikes me as slightly abusurd. But by trying to see it as someone who is not a part of the Christian faith and hears communion being called "the body and the blood," I guess I could partialy see where someone would get that idea.
This reading presents the idea of how an outsider could easily mistake a figurative comparison as a literal translation. This idea may be new to most Christians because they only see the eucharist through the lens of their faith. Becuase of this, many Christians might be shocked by the realization that a non-Christian might view communion as people taking part in eating the body of an individual and by drinking that individual's blood.
A modern parallel to this article could be non-Islamic people mistaking all people of the Islamic faith as being violent indivuals. Non-Islamic people make this assumption based on the few Islamic extremists that do use violence to express their view of their faith. In reality however, not all Islamists are violent just as Christians are not cannibals.
The idea that, from a secular point of view, the eucharist could be seen as cannabilism is something that I had never considered before. Because of that, that whole idea stood out to me. Coming from a Christian perspective, the fact that anyone would think of the eucharist as cannabilism strikes me as slightly abusurd. But by trying to see it as someone who is not a part of the Christian faith and hears communion being called "the body and the blood," I guess I could partialy see where someone would get that idea.
This reading presents the idea of how an outsider could easily mistake a figurative comparison as a literal translation. This idea may be new to most Christians because they only see the eucharist through the lens of their faith. Becuase of this, many Christians might be shocked by the realization that a non-Christian might view communion as people taking part in eating the body of an individual and by drinking that individual's blood.
A modern parallel to this article could be non-Islamic people mistaking all people of the Islamic faith as being violent indivuals. Non-Islamic people make this assumption based on the few Islamic extremists that do use violence to express their view of their faith. In reality however, not all Islamists are violent just as Christians are not cannibals.
Thucydides: On The Early History of the Hellenes (c. 395 BCE)
The theme of this reading is to break down the lifestyle of the Hellenes. In the article, Thucydides explains about the different regions within the country of Hella and how the regions became one country and Hella's different rulers. He says that when the country was first formed as multiple areas, the people more nomadic than settled. Thucydides goes on to tell of the evolution of the people of Hella and how they adapted to the circumstances in their lives.
In the beginning of the article, Thucydides describes the Hellenes as "always ready to migrate." He describes the Hellenes as a partially nomadic people that could quickly leave their homes whenever needed. The idea of living a completely migratory lifestyle stood out to me because it is so different from the culture that most people are used to in today's time. The fact that the Hellenes were able to pick up everything and just leave is something so foreign to the way I was raised that I made that section to catch my attention more than the others.
One idea that the article has created was how easily the Hellenes were able to adapt to their circumstances and surroundings. Being a nomadic people, they were always able to move from location to location, and subsequently, situation to situation. Also, the reading tells about how the people chose to wear armor in everyday life as an adjustment to a period of unrest and fighting. This makes me think that people should learn to able to adjust more readily to the situation and to not get to attached the way things are in their current situation.
A parrallel to the modern world that I saw in this reading is the changes in the ways of the people of Hella and the current situation in the Middle East with so many of the countries in that region shifting rulers and political ideas. I think these parrallel to each other because the Hellenes went through many changes and the Middle Eastern people are doing much of the same thing now. The specific kind of change is different, but both the Hellenes learned to adapt to change and many of the people in the Middle Eastern region are learning to do the same thing.
In the beginning of the article, Thucydides describes the Hellenes as "always ready to migrate." He describes the Hellenes as a partially nomadic people that could quickly leave their homes whenever needed. The idea of living a completely migratory lifestyle stood out to me because it is so different from the culture that most people are used to in today's time. The fact that the Hellenes were able to pick up everything and just leave is something so foreign to the way I was raised that I made that section to catch my attention more than the others.
One idea that the article has created was how easily the Hellenes were able to adapt to their circumstances and surroundings. Being a nomadic people, they were always able to move from location to location, and subsequently, situation to situation. Also, the reading tells about how the people chose to wear armor in everyday life as an adjustment to a period of unrest and fighting. This makes me think that people should learn to able to adjust more readily to the situation and to not get to attached the way things are in their current situation.
A parrallel to the modern world that I saw in this reading is the changes in the ways of the people of Hella and the current situation in the Middle East with so many of the countries in that region shifting rulers and political ideas. I think these parrallel to each other because the Hellenes went through many changes and the Middle Eastern people are doing much of the same thing now. The specific kind of change is different, but both the Hellenes learned to adapt to change and many of the people in the Middle Eastern region are learning to do the same thing.
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