Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1098 to 1179, was not known until the late 1970s. There was a rise in curiousity over Hildegard because she lived to be both an artist and a prophet. Moreover, Hildegard is associated with an abundance of traits. She is a preacher, visionary, scientist, poet, and many more characteristics. Hildegard’s life was filled with great joy, but also was accompanied with sickness and loss. She grew up in the monastery at Disibodenberg, where her parents entrusted her to the church at a very young age. At the church, Hildegard grew up with her mother and sister nuns. Unlike her sisters, Hildegard breaks the status quo in women and spirituality by having a voice and reuniting the mind and body. Unlike most women in …show more content…
Hildegard produces both written and visual descriptions and interpretations of her visions. For example, Hildegard states that “that most just inheritance which we lost in Adam” (Hildegard, 55). In other words, Hildegard is blaming Adam for the notorious act in the Genesis. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The prominent version of this story is that Eve yielded to Satan’s suggestion of taking the fruit from the tree, which God had strictly forbidden them to eat. This act violated a sacred trust. When God spoke to Adam, he blamed Eve and Eve had to take full responsibility for the actions, instead of sharing them with Adam. As a result, Hildegard goes against the status quo by holding Adam accountable for going against God’s orders. In the medieval era, the blame was put on Eve. In addition, Hildegard lived during a time period where women did not have entitlement. Men would hold powerful positions. Thus, Hildegard takes a risk by altering the perceived belief and blaming it on a man. However, Hildegard does not pay any heed to the potential repercussions and condemns Adam in her …show more content…
In the twelfth century, it was perceived that the symptoms of sin were physical illness. It was said that sin is the cause of sickness in the world. In addition, it was a common practice for people to suffer in order to gain repentance and bring themselves closer to God. However, Hildegard rejected this notion. In fact, she states that suffering brought the soul far away from God. For example, Hildegard writes, “I am a sinner who fled from life: covered with sores I return to you,” and “I stink from the wounds with which the serpent has defiled me” (Hildegard, 59). The use of her diction of “stink” and “sores” shows the pain people at this time inflicted themselves. In addition, Hildegard argues that those who do physical harm to themselves steer themselves away from God. Hildegard proposes that healing brought people closer to God. She pleads, “Humility, true healer, give me your help.” (Hildegard, 59). In other words, humbleness and asking for repentance brings one closer to God. Hildegard had an enlightened view that people should not suffer in order to feel close to
In “High Holy Days” by Jane Shore the idea of innocent youth awakening from a slumber for the first time is conveyed at a rate of infinite constancy from beginning to end. At the poem opens the tone of the speaker is childish and picayune. Throughout the eloquent stanzas filled with reminisces of the speaker, the tone becomes passionate and valiant. The writer, Jane Shore, awakens the speaker to her reality as a Jewish woman living in a world that does not condone her religion.
In times before printed books were common, stories and poems were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. From such oral traditions come great epics such as England’s heroic epic, Beowulf. In Beowulf, the monster Grendel serves as the evil character acting against the poem’s hero, as shown by his unnatural strength, beast-like qualities, and alienation from society.
Warner's book details the special importance of the Virgin Mary throughout Christianity and explores her religious and secular meaning. She discusses such things as the Church's attitude toward virginity, the role model of the Virgin martyr, the Virgin's relics, and her role as an intercessor with God.
Some may think that Hildegard is treated, at times, too harshly for her visions. Hildegard finally decides to express her visionary gift, but unfortunately, she is not openly shown ecstatic emotions. She confides in her friend, Volmar, and is greeted with the proper expressions of excitement and enthusiasm. She is also greeted with these expressions from Abbot Kuno, although slow to show at first but eventually persuaded into enthusiastic reviews. However, when a council of monks inspects the products of her gift, she is met with skepticism and denial. These emotions are mainly brought up because of her gender. Many may believe this is reinforced with the lines: “You’re saying that you can understand, but we can’t?”; “To claim to hear secrets that prophets were denied? Outrageous!”; “Only the Holy Father can judge her case”; and “She will probably be expelled from the Church as a heretic!” Not only
Most can agree that random evil and suffering, such as accidents, war, illness, crime, and many more, have the power to disrupt human happiness. Most would also agree that it is not the evil and suffering that affects one, as much as it is how one responds to the evil and suffering that occurs in one’s life. It is undeniable that suffering occurs to everyone in some shape or form, and while others may not believe that it is suffering, it all depends on one’s life. There are many examples a reader can draw from in recent and ancient literature that provides examples of other’s suffering and how they responded to those stimuli. This essay explores how the problem of evil is addressed by Greek tragedy and by Western monotheistic tradition.
The epic poem Beowulf, an abundance of apparent evils such as the monsters. What about the not-so-apparent ones? Often the true evil hides behind what is obvious to us. In modern society, evil is everywhere because it resides inside society itself. Although the story of the warrior Beowulf is riddled with evil monsters, the true evil lies just beneath the surface.
It is easy to place the blame on fate or God when one is encumbered by suffering. It is much harder to find meaning in that pain, and harvest it into motivation to move forward and grow from the grief. It is imperative for one to understand one’s suffering as a gateway to new wisdom and development; for without suffering, people cannot find true value in happiness nor can they find actual meaning to their lives. In both Antigone and The Holy Bible there are a plethora of instances that give light to the quintessential role suffering plays in defining life across cultures. The Holy Bible and Sophocles’ Antigone both mirror the dichotomous reality in which society is situated, underlining the necessity of both joy and suffering in the world.
What is good and evil and where did it come from? Everything in the world was created from the one God. The God theory infused all things in the world and that live beyond it. From this viewpoint good and evil both derived from the God law. They have both lived since the construction of the world. Yet, evil was in a dormant form at that juncture. Evil is in our mind, not inside our aspiring heart (http://www.srichinmoy.org/spirituality/spirituality/good_and_evil).
Pagan concepts are intertwined in this work, as is the nature of the time period. Fame was very important. Receiving status allowed one to prosper in this time and receive the best out of their life. Beowulf is enthralled with the idea of fame as he fights Grendel, but it is balanced out and reconciled with Christianity by his desire to protect his people. Vengeance was brought out when Beowulf tells Hrothgar to not grieve and that “It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (72 Simpson & David). Honor is disregarded when Beowulf’s men leave him to fight with the dragon. Wilgaf shames them and it can be inferred that they will be disregarded as warriors and nobles for their behavior. Protecting one’s master was essential during that time to receive food and shelter, in addition to having the Gods’ favor (Lawson). Christianity makes an appearance when it references the antagonist, Grendel, “a fiend out of hell” (43 Simpson & David) and the protagonist, Beowulf, whom the “Holy God, in His goodness, guided…to the West-Danes, to defend [Hrothgar and his subjects] from Grendel” (49 Simpson & David). Christianity was a prominent influence for authors of the Anglo-Saxon time period. The Christians had faith in God’s ability to determine their fate. If they lost a contest then God has decided they are not worthy of winning. Every day they will try to prove they are holy enough to have God’s grace and be saved from eternal damnation. The literature written was a reminder to the people to always do what is right and to avoid sinning. Because the only people who could write were priests, religion was added into stories when they were written and when previous works were transcribed. The presence of the church was ever present to ensure the obedience of the people. If all they were exposed to was religion that
Wealhtheow is Hrothgar's queen and the mother of his two sons. Wealhtheow portrays the role of a traditional Anglo-Saxon woman at the time. When Wealhtheow is first introduced to the audience, she immediately falls into her role as peaceful greeter and cocktail waitress. The author writes, "Then Wealhtheow came forth / folk-queen of the Danes daughter of Helmingas / and Hrothgar's bedmate. She hailed all of them / spoke her peace-words stepped to the gift-throne / fetched to her king the first ale-cup" (ll. 612-6). Wealhtheow then proceeds through the meadhall "offering hall-joy to old and to young / with rich treasure-cups" (ll. 621-2). When Wealhtheow first approaches Beowulf and the Geats, she "bore him a cup / with gold-gleaming hands held it before him / graciously greeted the Geats' warleader" (ll. 623-5). The author then reinforces that she is a member of the weaker gender by directing Wealhtheow to her proper pos...
Finally, the analogy to the fruit of knowledge and the downfall of man is played out by Sethe as she gathers her children (her fruit) to her. The text continues the analogy as Sethe does something unthinkable, something evil, and she is cast out of the garden for it. These passages serve to reaffirm the never ending battle between good and evil.
The structural and technical features of the story point towards a religious epiphany. The title of the story, as well as its eventual subject, that of cathedrals, points inevitably towards divinity. Upon first approaching the story, without reading the first word of the first paragraph, one is already forced into thinking about a religious image. In addition, four of the story’s eleven pages (that amounts to one third of the tale) surround the subject of cathedrals.
The concept of suffering plays an important role in Christianity, regarding such matters as moral conduct, spiritual advancement and ultimate destiny. Indeed an emphasis on suffering pervades the Gospel of Mark where, it can be argued, we are shown how to "journey through suffering" (Ditzel 2001) in the image of the "Suffering Son of Man" (Mark 8:32), Jesus Christ. Although theologians have suggested that Mark was written to strengthen the resolve of the early Christian community (Halpern 2002, Mayerfeld 2005), the underlying moral is not lost on a modern reader grappling with multifarious challenges regarding faith in the face of suffering. In his article "A Christian Response to Suffering", William Marravee (1987) describes suffering as an "experience over which we men and women continue to stumble and fall". The way we view God is crucial to the way we view suffering according to Marravee, who delineates the disparity between a view of God as an ‘outsider’ and the biblical image of God – where God is an ‘insider’ who suffers with us in our struggle. This essay seeks to explain the Christian view of suffering and the purpose suffering can have in our lives.
In the epic poem Beowulf, the struggle between good and evil reveals its omnipresence in even the oldest of tales. The many allusions and symbols throughout the story relate to Christianity and other Pagan beliefs. By looking at them, it becomes apparent that the author of Beowulf believed that the constant war between good and evil is not only fought by the common man but also in the ranks of their highest esteemed rulers and warriors, and even in their dreaded nightmares where monsters lurk and wait for the death of man. Beowulf was written during the budding of Christianity in England, when it was newly forming. In the story there are obvious references to Christian rituals.
Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.