Have you ever had an uneasy feeling about a situation and decided to ignore the feeling just to regret it later? What about that nagging feeling that you shouldn’t do something, but you did it anyway? Resulting for you to be sorry afterwards? Isn’t it amazing how, with perfect hindsight, one knows exactly what should have been done?
Sophocles, the ancient Greek playwright, was not keen on hindsight. He wrote in his play named ‘Oedipus Rex’, ‘I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes wrote that, ‘It is easy to be wise after the event.’
The American author, David Zindell, has an interesting perspective on hindsight. In his book titled, ‘The Broken God’ he wrote as follows,
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It also serves as advance notice of something. A warning provides information that is to the benefit of the person receiving the warning. Having been warned, one may take steps to avoid a perceived, undesirable outcome. Warnings cause one to take steps, make corrections, to keep a process on course so that ultimately it‘s goal may be achieved.
The prophet Isiah wrote about warning, ‘Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left.’ Chapter 30 verse 21.
Although humans sometimes choose to go their own, ungodly ways, God exercises astounding patience towards them. Such is the case of the ten tribes of Israel who separated themselves from the house of David. (1Kings 12) For two hundred and fifty-four years they disregarded God’s messages. Nehemia records in chapter 9 verse 30 that, ‘You were patient with them for many years. You warned them by your Spirit through your prophets.’
By His Holy Spirit, God warned them many times. There were ample warning and opportunity to come in line with God’s will and yet they choose
There is a stark parallel between the Vietnam War and the circumstances under which life is maintained on Potrero Hill. The soldiers in Gods Go Begging are poor, uneducated, and trapped fighting in a war they do not support; the boys on Potrero Hill are also poor, uneducated, and unable to escape the war into which they were born. They are victims of their circumstances and their government. Some of the boys that Jesse meets in Vietnam are there because they were drafted. Unable to get a deferment, either due to a lack of funds or because no higher education establishment would accept them, boys are forced to go off to war. Others, like Mendez, fled to the United States in order to escape the violence at home that resulted from the United States’
and children in the name of a god. They could not see how a group of people
Jonathan Edwards is able to use powerful scare tactics to convince his congregation to undergo an emotional conversion. Edwards is a Christian preacher and theologian who stimulated the “Great Awakening.” Edwards is known for using powerful language; he creates images of absolute horror and images of delight. Edwards uses specific wording that lingers in his listeners mind. In Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards’s use of negative imagery, negative diction, and positive imagery and diction is able to convince the congregation to undergo an emotional conversion.
"Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race,” as quoted by William E. Gladstone, supports my thought that selfishness is what causes most of our problems in the modern world. Currently, we are living in an era that is filled with much gluttony and selfishness. However, selfishness is a trait that all of us possess, but the amount of selfishness that we have can determine the type of person we are. For instance, parents should always put their children’s needs before their own. Selfish parents would rather buy materialistic items for themselves than anything useful for their children. In Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex,” the protagonist is literally blinded by his own arrogance. This attitude begins before he even travels to Thebes, and that is apparent due to the circumstances of his father’s death. Oedipus seals his own fate with his egotistical attitude and he cannot change his destiny after everything is set into motion. During his journey on the road to enlightenment, Oedipus’s selfishness causes him to transcend from being completely ignorant of his fate to holding on to the last shreds of denial to having an overwhelming sense of realization.
Analysis of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathon Edwards, a minister during the time of The Great Awakening, was best known for his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. In this sermon Edwards used a powerful sequence of repetition and imagery to persuade listeners to turn from their sins and into the hands of God. It was this sermon that proved to be one of the center points of a movement that not only led many to Christianity, but also changed the entire direction and thought process of the people in that age. By using many cases of pathos, logos, and ethos Edwards gives a clear vision of the punishment of sin to people in his congregation and around the world.
Although not all of his prophecies were ominous, it was to the furthering of his mission that many of them did tell of hard times ahead for the Chosen people. After all, people are less inclined, in general, to believe someone who foretells suffering than someone who speaks of joy and peace. The seemingly contrary nature of Isiah's role can be confusing, as it is unlike the roles of other prophets, which is often to spread the good news and bring people to God. It was essential to his mission that his prophecies were rejected and Israel brought down so that it could be raised again. Any mission of this weight and difficulty can only be born out by a dedicated and trusting believer, and Isiah played his role with total faith in God, that this was what He wanted and would, in the end, bring the fulfillment of His
word here is obey, we need to keep our side of the covenant and follow
The Bible takes a unique turn in the book of 1 Samuel, Israel requests the appointment of an earthly king. The prophet Samuel warned them against trading their Divine King for an earthy one. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus told us, “..For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction..,” cautioning believers not to long to be like everyone else.
“The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” (Sophocles 67) In Sophocles Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus and a majority of characters are responsible for their own grievances. A distorted version of the truth that destructively affects others arises from this. Oedipus reconstructs his reality in a way that leaves him ignorant to the truth, and ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through decisions to run from fate, hubris, and recognition of the truth.
How often can one look back on life and see the choices one makes, only to come to the realization that no matter what decisions one makes about any and all of life's choices, most of humanity is paralleled by the same metaphor Sophocles uses to guide Oedipus' life? The riddle of the Sphinx is fate for each and every man, woman, and child. Although in real life the ending isn't always quite as tragic, everyone brings about his or her own discovery of truth and that quest of discovery inevitably touches, and in some cases, dramatically changes the lives of significant and insignificant friends, family, and acquaintances.
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles suggests that the impact of seeing the truth is harmful rather than enlightening. Whenever Oedipus strives to discover more to strengthen Thebes’ perspective of him, it leads him closer to his fate as determined by prophesy. Tiresias stands as a model in the play for the individual who is able to see the meaning beyond plot of events although his is blind, and Oedipus represents the oblivious arrogant individual who is never content because they need to be the unsurpassed individual. In the play, Sophocles illustrates the downside of a personality like Oedipus who desires to see the truth by ending the play with the brutality of gouging out his own eyes. Ultimately, the play reinforces that seeing the truth is harmful and being content with what you have, without greedily striving for more, can help avoid fate and a related deposition.
...r past with little or no regrets and will be satisfied overall. If a person is unsuccessful in this phase they will feel that they wasted their life and they will only think of regrets. They will feel despair (Cherry, 2011).
We have to look ahead into the future, because there is no way back. Thinking about how we have behaved, acted, or what have we done or said in the past is a great stumbling stone. Thus, we create some space and possibilities for repeating the same mistakes and certainly, will not be able to achieve the success which on we think with sadness and longing. Thinking about our personal failures destroys the essence of life. We must break the magic circle of the elusive ideals.
Oedipus’ epiphany is truthful in his current state, but his decision in failing to recognize his sin before his realization ultimately makes his epiphany invalid, and its sole purpose is to only assist him in receiving sympathy from the citizens of Thebes. Sophocles uses the phrase “this evil is mine” to suggest how Oedipus has matured through the course of his life, taking responsibility for his own sinful actions and behaviors. Certainly, Oedipus is filled with regret, and Sophocles even uses repetition on the word “guilt” to symbolize how this emotion has devoured his entire life into despair, where “sorrow” and “guilt” intertwine by force. Truly, as Sophocles comments, the ramification of making a sinful decision prompts an act of retribution from the gods in deciding the miserable fate of an individual through his rebellion towards evil against the supernatural. Thus, in the tale of Oedipus and his jinxed fate, Sophocles expresses Oedipus’ prideful attitude that is rooted towards hubris and the overconfidence it buys to illustrate the vicious cycle of the sinful decisions we make and the sudden awareness of how our own tragic flaw would lead us into impending trouble and overwhelming
In the play Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, two themes appear; one that humans have little control of their lives because fate always catches up with them and the theme that when someone makes a mistake, they will have to pay for it.