SUMMARY OF USED TEXT In “The Visions of Daniel and Their Historical Specificity,” Goswell argues that the visions found in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 do not relate to four concrete kingdoms, but based upon the visions, the apocalyptic character of Dan 7 and its lack of an objective basis, and the difference in genre for chapters 8-12, the visions serve as an outline to human history as a whole and illustrate the kingdoms that will rise and fall over time. First, the article argues that neither Dan 2 nor Dan 7 contain a simple depiction of a succession of kingdoms. As Daniel interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Dan 2, four pieces of a statue representing kingdoms are provided, with each kingdom being more inferior to the one before it. …show more content…
Goswell is quite strong on his knowledge of the literary genre of the text, and applies that information seamlessly to enhance the reader’s understanding of the text, especially Daniel 7. The author directly relates the imagery of the four winds and the great sea to other ANE works that feature that same imagery (such as the Enuma Elish, works of Baal-Yaam, Anzu myth), implying that Daniel may have either been inspired by those works when interpreting his vision, or that Daniel used those works as a starting point to make a connection with his audience. Goswell continues analyzing the literary genre by stating the nature of apocalyptic literatue. Being quick to state that apocalyptic literature by nature is non-specific in terms of historicity, the author links the passages in Daniel to this genre due to their intentional ambiguity on the subject of the “four …show more content…
All in all, I thought that Goswell succeeded in proving his thesis, and did not contradict it in any way or form. I learned quite a large amount of information I had not previously known, as well as a new perspective on the two primary visions present in the text. I do wish that Goswell had better represented the historical context aspect of hermenutical interpretation, as I feel that proper supplication of such context would’ve greatly increased not only the strength of Goswell’s argument, but also my learning experience as the reader. I also wish that the author had included more of a theological exegesis in his article. I feel that there was much more untapped theology in the text than what he had pulled. However, I was most fascinated by his use of literary context, and I feel like this is where I gained the most knowledge from his exegesis. I had previously known nearly nothing about types of biblical literature, and was quite intruiged not only by the apocalyptic genre as a whole, but also how biblical literature applied to the literary styles of the
The Bible, for many centuries, has impacted society, culture, and religion in innumerable ways. Included in the Bible’s impact, is fictional literature (Erickson, 2015). Biblical allusion, defined as an ancillary reference to Scripture ("Definition," 2015), can be a useful tool for fiction writers to draw the attention of the reader to certain biblical truths. Mixed in with the writer’s style and language, biblical allusion, assists in building plot lines, themes, and influence over the reader’s beliefs (Erickson, 2015). Nevertheless, the real magic of biblical allusion lies within the author’s creative genius and ability to infuse biblical themes, metaphors, images, and characters in with the story to allow the audience to reach certain
...er reading the book it made me more conferrable with this side of Jesus. I loved the character of Andreas and I seek to become more and more like that Galilean from Nazareth that he was searching for Jesus. I loved his passion and constant anxiety to need to learn more about Jesus that something I aspire to have.
The Lost Letters of Pergamum shows how even in a different time period and culture, people all have their own journey of discovering who Christ is to them. In this first century, the idea of God as one who loves and wants a personal relationship with humans is mind blowing, especially in this Roman Emperor culture where they are taught that the political leader is god. It shocks Antipas that God would want to be involved in his life. This story was amazing and I really enjoyed the letter format. It was so interesting to see the extreme conflict between the Romans and Christians and how God was faithful and saved Antipas in the end despite it.
I find John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards to be the most fascinating writers I have ever read. For one, they are the "apostles" of our time. Second, their comparisons to the apostles of Christ are too close to ignore.
Ezekiel is a crazy man that makes no sense, but like Ivar, he has wisdom beyond most people’s Sensor 2 comprehension and his suffering easily makes him more knowledgeable. Ivar’s suffering comes because of other people’s distrust and misunderstanding of the kind man that is Ivar. The Bible is one of the most famous pieces of literature, arguably the most beautifully written, and the best story told in literature. Cather’s use of Biblical motifs gives the reader a sense of grandeur and is a definite story of faith.
Reading, "The Shadow of the Galilean," was extremely different than what I was expecting this book to be. I was expecting to be reading of just the life of Jesus and the stories that are presented throughout the New Testament of how He brought people to follow Him and the struggles that He had gone through; not a book that contained both historical facts and fictional characters and events within it. Despite my initial reaction, I became thoroughly interested in this book once I began to read it because it was so different than what I was expecting. The fictional part of it kept me entertained throughout its entirety and made me curious to know what happens next at all times. All in all, I recommend that any person who is learning about the life of Jesus and wants a little "kick" to His stories, dive into Gerd Theissen's narrative of "The Shadow of the Galilean."
This model dispersed as absolute monarchs were seeing the world change from when the Sun King reigned (491). Works Cited Coffin, Judith G., et al. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 17th ed. of the year.
The timeline altered in the first verse of Dan. 7 serves as the opening to the four visions of in the remainder of Daniel. Belshazzar is cited in the first verse of chapter seven (7) as the King of Babylon, however Belshazzar is noted as the last King of Babylon and the son of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter five. The last king of the Babylonian Empire was Nabonidus. It is believed that Nabonidus for inexplicable reasons moved to the town of Teima and abrogated the empire to his son Belshazzar. Therefore, Seow points at that the “literary setting of Daniel 7 is the beginning of the end of the Babylonian Empire” (Seow, p. 101). The literary chronology of the period set is correct, but it is generally agreed among scholars (Collins, Hartman, Di Lella) there is no historical value in the dating. It is for this reason that most commentators immediately go into verse two of 7. Nevertheless, Daniel states, “Then ...
Click on the name of one of the authors (below) to see what makes their account of the gospel special.
This piece of criticism has strengthened my arguments as to who the real monster is. It has given me a new way to look at things in the novel. I have since then re-read part of the novel and can now read it much more clearly. It will help me greatly in strengthening my argument for the final paper.
Daniel was a prophet and also the author of the Old Testament book of Daniel. The time period in which this book took place was between 560 to 530 B.C. Smith. Daniel was a servant to King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel to only worship the god of Nebuchadnezzar’s choosing, and that Daniel could only eat certain foods. Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to listen to the king.
So let's look at how these two selected passages allude to the nature of the works as they each give account of the great flood that kills all of mankind. The author of Gilgamesh portrays ...
Daniel 7’s literary organization is crucial to account for. To begin, the text falls into a series of subsections. However, there is a significant amount of discrepancy regarding the subsections that the text falls into. To explain, according to Paul Raabe, asserts that “chapter consists of three formal elements: vision, the seer’s request for clarification, and the angel’s interpretation” (Raabe, 267). Raabe continues to assert that the text falls into five subsections, which consist of the vision, the seer’s request for clarification and the angel’s brief interpretation, the seer’s request for further clarification and the angel’s lengthier interpretation (Raabe, 270).
He talked about how to be a true scholar that has the right dutys that comes with being one. Which must also have great knowledge of nature. He says that books can be very helpful since they are keeping the age old ideas alive, which are the best for studying ideas and accomplishments of past people. I also find it interesting because he does not want scholars to follow the rules but go by their own and be a thinking man. Which is pretty different from what we are told today I think. The language he used was very strong and very educational because he was really trying to let everyone know about nature. It is also very convincing since he is trying to persuade them into becoming a “Man
Note how he lumps together "phantasm, species, or whatever". This is very sloppy, but influential nonetheless. And notice how he maintains that the object of our knowledge is the idea, and not real being (as it was for the Greek and Mediaeval thinkers).