A Jewish Reading of Milton
John Milton produced some of the most memorable Christian texts in English literature. Central pieces of Milton’s work, including Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, specifically allude to stories that Judaism and Christianity hold in common. Historically, the anti-monarchical regime Milton supported, under the leadership of Cromwell, informally allowed Jews back into England in 1655 after Edward I exiled them in 1290 (Trepp 151). Additionally, seventeenth-century British Christians looked increasingly to Jewish texts to understand their own religion (e.g. Robert Ainsworth and John Seldon), with Hebraic studies from German scholarship and Latin translations of Jewish texts entering during the interregnum
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Rabbenu Gershom (discussed above regarding the divorce tracts) addressed the issue of polygamy, noting that the custom (minhag) of monogamy had become so strong in Jewish sensibility, that he legislated a ban on polygamy (a takkanah), not applicable to Jews in Muslim countries who remained polygamous (Steinsaltz 67). Such halakhah are not considered part of the 613 commandments (mitzvot) from God and therefore do not add to Torah but to regional religious culture (Rich). Milton also recognizes this process, “that a tolerated custom hath the force of a Law, and is indeed no other but an unwritt’n Law” (Tetrachordon 1041). Hence, turning divorce merely into an anciently tolerated custom, as his opponents do, merely transforms it into accepted and acceptable legislation, especially since Law cannot condone evil custom by Milton’s theology (ibid. 1041). Thus, Milton seeks to prove polygamy legal in response to those who treat it as a biblically forceful ban and “consider something a sin when it is not a sin” (OCD 1181). Essentially, Milton appreciates that different types of religious rules require different rankings and consensus; he corrects his contemporaries who have ranked the suggested ban on polygamy too highly. By extension, he also defends a certain degree of tolerance for various …show more content…
In Milton’s (English) Restoration works, particularly Paradise Lost, Paradise Regain’d, and Samson Agonistes, he fills in the gaps of the biblical story. Much more than an expressive psalmist, Milton writes new poetic or instructive portions about events “unrecorded left through many an Age” (Paradise Regain’d 16), just like a midrashic commentator. The story-telling aspect of exegesis (aggadic midrash) is one delight of passing Talmud down to Jewish youth. Every Jewish teenager has heard how Abraham, at age twelve, smashed his father’s idols in defiance (a regular Miltonic iconoclast). Sometimes these stories contain anachronisms, such as the patriarchs studying Torah prior to the revelation at Sinai, for instructive purposes (Steinsaltz 256). Likewise, Raphael and Adam allude to contemporary astronomy debates in Book 8 of Paradise Lost. Working with Paradise Lost, Werman concurs, “Milton echoes Judaic midrashic themes and materials in his reworking of the Genesis narrative” (9). Complementing Rosenblatt’s halakhic connections, Werman’s extensive appendix enumerates words and phrases in Paradise Lost that call to mind various aggadic midrashim from various sources (169-240). Several critics connect Paradise Lost to the Zohar, a text of Jewish mysticism (Werman 5). Indeed,
In 1095 Pope urban II call all Christians to take part in what would become the world’s greatest Holy War in all of history. Urban’s called Christians to take up arms and help fight to take the Holy Land of Jerusalem back from the accursed Muslims. During this time of war the whole world changed. Land boundaries shifted, men gained and lost and gained power again, and bonds were forged and broken. The Crusades had a great impact on the world that will last forever. There were many major social, political, religious and economic changes that occurred during the crusades. But first, a brief history to give backbone to these reasons.
Many changes occurred in France during 1789 until 1799. This ten-year span, not only brought major upheaval to the government, but to social aspects within the country as well. Both, Edmund Burke’s, Reflections on the Revolution in France and Mary Wollstonecraft’s, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’, were published during this revolutionary time period. Although Burke and Wollstonecraft possess contradicting views, their works both include opinions about justice, equality and tradition. Burke’s conservative views persuade the reader to understand that the government follows a natural and cyclical path just as nature does. Wollstonecraft directly retorts by insisting that individuals, not nature, control society and therefore the path it takes. She also insisted that these individuals needed to alter their ways in order to revolutionize society for the better.
Religious feelings were the principal cause of the Crusades. Up until 1065 the Moslems had control o...
Milton establishes himself as the legitimate teller of the tale – and this tale will take us beyond the mythology of the Greeks’Aonian Mount and inoculate us against Hell’s prodigiousness. He is taking us beyond mythological or explanatory pictures of ourselves, to an area where we may bask in a greater comfort:
Both the Crusaders and the Muslims wanted power. In contradiction the church wanted to reunite Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire with the Roman Catholic Empire giving the Church extra power. Baldwin of Boulogne is a key example in portraying the Crusader’s quest for power; splitting off from the rest of the army and traveling east until he reached Armenian where he would establish himself as ruler. Like Boulogne, Bohemond of Taranto also abandoned the majority to better his own personal status—he took over as Prince of Antioch. Through these two prominent figures we see that power was a necessity to the leaders of this era; and unfortunately the people look up to their leaders and do likewise. However, if these Crusaders were fighting for “religious factors” then they would recognize that God holds the ultimate power and they are nothing without him. But these power hungry individuals obviously lacked humility...
Milton does not believe everything that the analogies imply. Man has been given reason, but each man uses this gift differently. "Best books to a naughty mind are not unappliable to occasions of evil" (211). To an evil man a book about evil will fill his brain with even more vile ideas. A man like that does not practice temperance and should not be reading books of that nature. Men of pure minds, on the other hand, can read any book without being corrupted. Milton thinks that one is pure if he has knowledge of evil and rejects it, like The Lady did in Comus. Books written on evil topics can't hurt a man "if the will and conscience be not defil'd" (211).
In this essay the writer will discuss the colonisation of Australia, and the effects that dispossession had on indigenous communities. It will define health, comparing the difference between indigenous and non- indigenous health. It will point out the benefits and criticism of the Biomedical and sociological models of health, and state why it is important in healthcare to be culturally competent with Transcultural theory. The case study of Rodney will be analyzed to distinguish which models of health were applied to Rodney’s care, and if transcultural theory was present when health care workers were dealing with Rodney’s treatment plan.
...fficient training for health workers, communication barriers, a general mistrust in the health care system and culture shock has contributed to issues in delivering services to many Indigenous communities. The reason to why these issues have emerged is a result of two main factors, the lack of health services that are needed to address the issue and the silence of Indigenous communities which leads to misunderstanding between the government and Indigenous communities. Indigenous Australian’s experience this major disadvantage and neglect in the Australian society due to the poor healthcare system and policies that haven’t had a positive effect on the issue. For the issue of Indigenous health to be resolved, the Government and social policies need to address and meet the need of Indigenous people to overcome the poor health conditions that these communities suffer.
Thank you for taking time to read my letter. As a nursing student of University of Technology Sydney, I studied contemporary indigenous subject this semester. In this letter I want to illustrate 3 main social determinants of health that impact indigenous Australian health which I found and analysed during my recently study. And also offer some suggestion that could help the government improve aboriginal Australian mental health conditions in the future.
Milton’s theodicy is shown as a way to explain why if God is all loving, why he lets bad things happen to us. His basic concept is that because Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, many consequences came after. For example children dying of cancer. Many times in our lives things happen that we don’t think are good necessarily, but good things come from bad things. The choices we make have consequences and, but sometimes we are given trial for, what we believe, is no particular reason. This has been the question from the beginning. Milton decided to write this because it is on everyone 's mind, and he wanted to challenge Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. Milton was successful, in that, his book is well known, but The Iliad and The Odyssey are still the basis of human thought. Everyone in their lifetimes wants to accomplish something that will help them to be more successful than they are now. This was Milton’s thought process. Who wouldn’t want to write a book and have it be considered the basis of human thought and maybe even the book people associate with our nation? Most people would, this is why Milton tried and somewhat had a success. The
Since 1788, when the white people first came to Australia, Australian Indigenous people have experienced systematically debases Indigenous culture and people. Due to that reason Indigenous people have profound effects on health and emotional wellbeing (Dudgeon 2010, p. 38). As per Parker (2010, p. 5) Diabetes, renal failure, cardiovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease figure prominently in Aboriginal and Torrens state Islander health issues.
A main cause of the Crusades was the treatment of Christian pilgrims. They were robbed, beaten, and then sold. The main group of Turks, the Seljuk Turks, were threatening and growing in power. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexus I, began to become worried and sent out an urgent plea to Pope Urban II, in Rome. He requested for Christian knights to help him fight the Turks. Pope Urban II did agree to his appeal although Byzantine Emperors and Roman Popes were longtime rivals. He also did agree with Alexus I, in fearing that the Turks were expanding. Pope Urban encouraged French and German Bishops and Nobles to also take part in this. “ An accused race has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and had depopulated them by pillage and fire.” This is when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land. Urban did agree to this having some of his own motives in mind. He was hoping his power would grow in ...
At a personal level, Burke’s assertions appear to support efforts for self-preservation because of his status in the social and political spheres of London. Because he was a Statesman, it was evidently easier for Edmund Burke to advocate slow changes for equality in France because he was already enjoying power in the British House of Commons (par. 32). For that reason, Thomas Paine’s calls for democracy and liberty for the people of France are more appealing. Naturally, if the French needed time to elevate the social and political statuses of the commoners, then the Revolution would not have been necessary. However, the noble-born were not ready to lose their supremacy, and there are very high chances that had they been aware of what the low-class citizens were planning, they would have retaliated with brutal force. Consequently, an upheaval was a need to change France, and anything contrary to that would need concrete proof that the Crown was ready to consider the problems of the people. On that note, contrary to Burke 's views, the people obviously had enough sense to realize that they were never going to have any privileges without force. Correspondingly, Paine 's statement that contemporary times demanded changes was plausible when one considers the fact that the American colonies had previously revolted against the English Crown. Evidently, liberty was in the minds of the revolutionists in France, and that defied all traditions that sustained loyalty to the French
Paradise Lost is an epic poem portraying John Milton’s theological standpoints. The theme is knowledge and the fall of man. Milton uses his poem to state some of his theological beliefs and his personal reflections. Milton wrote Paradise Lost in the 17th century but uses influence from classic poets. Milton’s epic is an extremely important piece of literature. The excerpt used in this commentary takes on the subjects of sin and the punishment with regards to the atonement from God’s point of view. Milton’s states many of his own theological opinions but wants the reader to know that God is justified in everything that he does, and also wants them to know that man has free will.
Child maltreatment is a widespread issue that affects thousands of children every year. There are four common types of child maltreatment; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. All of these types of abuse are very serious and can have many consequences for the children and families. The most common consequence of severe child maltreatment is the removal of that child from their home (Benbenishty, Segev, Surkis, and Elias, 2002). Most social workers trying to determine the likelihood of removal evaluate the type and severity of abuse, as well as the child’s relationship with their parents (Benbenishty et al., 2002). When children are removed from their homes there are many options of alternative housing. The places they are allowed to live are a relative’s home, foster home, or a group home. In a study of children removed from their homes, 68% went to a foster home rather than a relative or another form of alternative housing (Faller, 1991). Reunification with a parent is the most common goal that is set forth by Child Protective Services even though recurrent abuse is likely to happen based upon the prior type of abuse and the age of the child (Connell et al., 2009). Child maltreatment is becoming a prevalent problem that has numerous consequences for both the child and family.