For as long as I can remember, God is said to be a benevolent deity who oversees all the happenings of the world and mercifully forgives all of mankind for their sins. Most Christians, if asked, will say that “God is good” and more so, he is forgiving. The Puritan notions of hellfire and brimstone, and that God is vengeful have been replaced by sincere benevolence. This new age Christian idealism has its helpfulness in today’s “misguided” society, but ultimately, as presented thus far in the Bible, is wrong. God’s image in the first five books of the Bible paints a picture of domination and malevolence.
As early on as the book of Genesis, God, in almost ever single story, kills and utterly destroys any person or civilization that does not believe in him. The story of Noah’s Flood is a prime example. In Noah‘s Flood story, God’s feeling towards his people are first examined:
And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth...So the LORD said, ‘I will bolt out form the Earth the human beings I have created...for I am sorry that I have made them...
I have determined to make an end of all flesh...I am going to destroy them along with the earth. (Gen. 6.6-12)
The Antediluvians were to God wicked and innately evil, his divine creations were flawed. Although, to God, humanity has been flawed since Eve doomed all humanity by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
In Exodus there are still several examples of how malevolent God is portrayed. God acts through Moses to bring about the plagues against Egypt.
Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart...in order that I may show these sign of mine among them...I have made fools of the Egyptians...so that you may know that I am the LORD.
(Ex. 10.1-2)
To God, in order for the Israelites to truly believe in him, he must show off his powers to nations different to his own. After every plague though, the Pharaoh might have just given up and let the Israelites leave Egypt, but God hardened his heart each and every time to make an example out of him. As a result of God hardening the Pharaoh’s heart, thousands upon thousands of innocent Egyptians had to die due to the plagues brought against Egypt.
Further more in Exodus, God says: “but you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves, for you shall not worship any other God, for the LORD whose name is jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex 34.
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
John Proctor is a tragic hero. He goes through a lot to try and save his wife and prove the other “witches” innocence. But hen has a downfall that holds him back and causes him to suffer. This ultimately leads to his downfall and his death. Thus fits with the definition of a tragic hero so I believe John Proctor was a tragic hero.
...ten to him through fear and aggression, and sets strict laws to prove his strength, but only makes his people hate him for putting his laws against the laws of the gods.
A tragic hero is defined as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. In The Crucible, a town wide crisis is spreading quicker than a wildfire. This crisis is caused by the accusations of people practicing witchcraft. Among those who are accused is John Proctor. Now, John Proctor may seem like any other farmer, however, he is generally well liked and even looked up to by other towns people. He can be grouped as a tragic hero quite easily, as John has a dirty little secret. John committed adultery against his wife, Elizabeth with a young girl named Abigail. His pride comes into question as he attempts to redeem himself of his sin.
One of God’s monikers is “The Creator”. He made the universe in seven days, brought a huge flood upon the Earth and rained fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. Killing through massive disaster was the only option for God, because he couldn’t control the people and make them benevolent. He didn’t have the power. If God had the power, then he would have acted accordingly. God doesn’t like to kill his people, despite him being quick to kill. He wants humans to be fruitful and multiply, he doesn’t want to destroy them. It is irrational to believe that a creator would want his creations to die. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God even gives the town a chance to redeem themselves, but the town fails.
Tragic hero, definition given by greek philosopher, Aristotle, states that "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." He also explains that the tragic hero is “a person of noble status who has a mixture of good and bad in his personality, he has a fatal flaw. .” Proctor was a stand-up guy who spoke his mind. Around town, people used his name with honor and integrity. John Proctor respected himself. The reason why John Proctor could be called the “tragic hero” in The Crucible is the fact that he was of noble status who has a mixture of good and bad in his personality. His fatal flaw,
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God can be seen as having a sort of bi-polar attitude. In the beginning chapters God is shown as a caring person when he is creating the earth and when he talks about how he wants Adam and Eve to succeed and do well and how he gives Adam a companion, Eve because he feels Adam will be lonely. As the book unfolds God becomes very angry with how his world is turning out. Sin has been introduced and humans seem to be falling away from the righteous. This upsets God and he creates an idea that he will flood the world so that only Noah and the people and animals inside the ark will live. His intentions seem horrible, trying to kill humans because they have sinned, but in reality he is trying to free the world of sin so that the remaining humans will live wonderful lives free of pain and despair. The flood can be seen as both a positive and negative thing. To non-believers they may find fault in the idea that God felt that he had to punish the world as a result of how sinful the people of earth had become. To help promote their ideas they could use statements from the Bible such as this one when God's feelings are stated about how he seems to be dissatisfied with the people of earth, "The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain" (Genesis 6:6). It can also be revealed when God states, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth" (Genesis 6:13).
Ursula Le Guin’s piece, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, depicts a conflict between the utter happiness of a whole society and the suffering of a single child. Within the piece, an adolescent is locked in a small closet in exchange for complete happiness and health of the rest of those present in Omelas society. The child is not aware of what goes on in the society outside but society is well aware of the small child and the terms and conditions that come with his incarceration. This roots the dilemma of keeping the child locked away for the sake of everyone else’s happiness or letting him out to allow him to achieve happiness. The use of a scapegoat for the wellbeing and happiness of those surrounding exemplifies the idea of ethical dilemmas present in this piece.
God’s power “is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and higher and higher, til an outlet is given” (Edwards 109). God’s anger builds up from the people who sin, and eventually he unleashes his madness and irritability towards people who are at fault. He’s the ruler of all people and with only the movement of his hand, he can send a disaster of punishments. As more people commit sins, God’s desire to retaliate becomes sufficiently greater. He has dominance over humans and when he sees the right time to strike back, he easily does. God is shown as rude when he threatens people with his bountiful power to send them to hell if they cross him. Likewise, at any given time, God can extract “his hand from the floodgate, [and] it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power” (Edwards 109). Whenever God feels it is necessary to let out his rage, just by lifting his hand, he can release his overflowing power which will swallow the population of sinners and send them all to hell. God is a bully because his violence and power is at the tips of his fingers ready to use against guilty and disobedient humans. God is in total control for making decisions to lead people to hell, which demonstrates his dominant impact over humans.
The myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
Moses and the Plagues in which God punishes the Egyptians with ten plagues and secures the Israelite’s freedom (Exodus 7:14).
over the Egyptian gods. Each plague was an attack on a particular Egyptian god. Moreover, not only was God’s purpose to reduce Pharaoh’s resistance and free the Israelites with the plagues, it also displayed God’s power conquering over the Egyptian gods; proving He is the one true God (Holiday Celebrations). Because of the plagues, Pharaoh finally surrendered and freed the Israelites from slavery.
A person’s individualized and distinctive patterns of thinking, judgment, thoughts, emotions, and habits make up his personality. Personality is under evaluation in Psychology. These traits make each individual different and significant and lead to the theories of personality which are the psychological theories of personality.
The core of the play then unfolds from the actions and words of this ghost. Hamlet's revenge against his uncle is certainly fueled by the ghost's words, but the ghost seems to serve a more subtle and internal part here. In the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy (III.i.55-88), Hamlet makes it clear his is not only unsure of what action to take, but unsure of himself as well. It seems his father's aberration confuses Hamlet ...
When we are born, over time we grow up and develop a personality. For each person, our personalities differentiate between one another which presents a wide variety of individuals. According to psychology, there are different factors that make up who we are. Today, I will be talking about the four major theories of personality (Psychodynamic, five-factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive).