The Comparison and Contrast of the Lives of Paul and Manasseh
Saul and Mannaseh are two men who have the same problem, but God brings both men to the same point in his will.
Saul, which would soon be Paul, was brought up in a Jewish household and was taught by Gamaliel, Gamaliel was a very important and well-known teacher of the Jewish law. In many older Jewish writings he was called a "learned man". This would cause Saul to be of a higher estate or class because of being taught by Gamaliel. He later became a Pharisee because of his knowledge. His being a Pharisee meant that he believed in angel, demons, and a bodily resurrection from the dead, among other things. Being a Pharisee will help Saul later in his life. He was also a "zealot" of the Law. That was a Pharisee that took the meaning of the Law to the extremes. His job was to capture Jews who were trying to go to Damascus, which was against the laws at that time. After capturing them he would take them to Jerusalem where they would be tried for their " crime". Under some circumstances he would actually kill the Jews on the spot. All of this combined together was at that time considered a very "holy" or righteous person. Then on his way to Damascus Saul was stopped by a light that blinded him-It was the Lord. The Lord said "Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me?" Then the Lord led Saul to the city in which later Ananias was told to go to heal Saul. When Ananias healed him it also filled him with the Holy Ghost, or salvation. After Saul was healed both physically and spiritually he went and was baptized as proof of his conversion. This is where he was "righteous" in not only man's eyes but in God's.
Now at the complete opposite end of the spectrum there is Mannaseh.
Mannaseh was an evil king from birth. His father, Hezekiah, was a very godly man, along with his great grandfather Zechariah, who tore down all the high places and groves for false gods such as Baalim. He became king at a very young age of 12. He worshipped baal and the gods of the heavens and practiced witchcraft too. He built alter to false gods in the Lord's temple.
Comparing and Contrasting Relationships in Hurston’s Novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee
very strong Christian king and does what he has to do as a king. This
However, in the first book of Samuel, Saul does not possess the quality of self awareness. This can be because Saul ...
Background: The history of Saul is thought to have ended at the battle at Mount Gilboa, but summarized as follows: after falling in battle the evil spirit that God set upon him became his Beast, in horror and shame he pulled himself from the wall Beth-shan and fled into the night. History would have you believe that his body had been burned. Convinced that he had fully fallen out out of God’s grace, he turned to prayer and a path of redemption. He had hoped that meditation, prayer along with other abnegation techniques could quell the Beast, however nothing could for long.
...he battle with the men, but we do know that both of these stories have a very clear message. Both of these stories wants to save lives in some type of way. They both overcome obstacles and come out on the winning side even though that side is death. Furthermore, they carry on the legacy that Jesus left by trying to uplift higher to newer dimensions. The struggles of these characters can give hope to anyone who comprehends the depths of each story.
According to Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas, "The conversion of Saul of Tarsus must surely rank among one of the most significant events, not just in church history but also–certainly that–but in world history." Saul persecuted Christians and was an eyewitn...
When two siblings are born together, and are close in age, many people wonder whether they will be the same or different altogether. A “River Runs through it” shows two brothers who grew up in the same household, and grew up loving to do the same activity fly fishing. Both brothers were raised in a very strict presbyterian household. Norman is the older brother, and he is much more responsible and family orientated. Paul is the irresponsible younger brother; Paul as an adult was not at home much anymore. Both brothers were loved equally as children, but how they view and use love is what separates them. Paul and Norman differ in behavior and character.
66.4). This can be found both in 1 Cor. 4 and Romans 2. Looking at Romans 4:5 Westerhom says about Paul, “his point is striking but his language is conventional…The apostle is using language of ‘righteousness’ in ordinary ways to speak of the extraordinary divine answer to the human predicament” (p. 67.1). Because of our sin nature, we cannot come to the point of being pronounced righteous from obeying the law’s standards. The only way for this to happen is to be given the righteousness of Christ by grace through faith. For Westerholm it is impossible for Paul to mean what Wright says he means. Righteousness does not mean membership in the covenant or a seat at the family table of fellowship (p. 98.7). These are realities for the believer however they are not the definition of righteousness.
Pauls's Case is the story of a young man who struggles with his identity. Paul feels that he knows where he belongs, but his family and teachers refuse to support his choices. In the middle of Paul's Case, there is a switch in narration. At this point, the reader can associate with Paul and his problems. Paul struggles with both internal and external conflicts, causing him to be quite a puzzling character. From tha perspective of his family and teachers, Paul seems abnormal. From his perspective, however, he seems misunderstood.
The setting of the short story “Paul’s Case” is clear and appropriate for the story. This is because Paul's feelings in the story happen to have a direct connection to the setting of the story. The East Coast of the United States is where the story takes place. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Newark, New Jersey, and then on to New York, New York, the exact setting differs throughout the story. “…the dull dawn was beginning to show grey when the engine whistled a mile out of Newark” (Cather). At this point in the story, the main character, Paul, is on board a train which has departed from his hometown of Pittsburgh en route to the Jersey City Station. From there, he plans to make his way to the glamorous New York City, a city that he has always dreamed about visiting. As Paul reads the Pittsburgh paper on the morning of his eighth day in New York, he figures out that his dad is coming for him. “The rumour had reached Pittsburgh that the boy had been seen in a New York hotel, and his father had gone East to find him and bring him home” (Cather). Paul’s father is pursuing him because Paul had left home over a week ago and his father, only now, knows where Paul has run off to. The setting has a direct correlation to the state of Paul’s mind. For example, in a gloomy Pittsburgh, Paul tries anything and everything to get out of the life he is living, and escapes to the glamour and high-class life of New York. “…the New York scenes are heavily ironic…as [Paul] luxuriates in the Waldorf” (Wasserman). He does this in an attempt to find a better life for himself and to make himself, ultimately, happy.
In Beloved, Sethe’s journey from enslavement to freedom is explained. Although she is physically free from the bondage of slavery for 18 years, but is still haunted by the terrible recollections of it as it is clear when one day, after many years , Paul D, a former and the last of the male slaves to survive after their escape from Sweet Home, the plantation in Kentucky, where Sethe was also a slave 18 years before, comes to visit Sethe and stirs up memories and its effects of her past which have been tried hard to bury and suppress.
In "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather, a young man named Paul is unhappy with his home and school life. He is happiest when he is at Carnegie Hall, where he works as an usher. When he is not physically at Carnegie Hall, his thoughts remain there causing his school work to suffer. When his father finds out about his problems in school he has Paul banned from Carnegie Hall, taken out of school, and put to work. One day, while on his way to make the company's deposit, Paul decides to take some of the money and go to New York to experience the life he feels he was destined for. Unable to cope with the punishment for taking the money he commits suicide. The central idea in this story is that it takes patience and perseverance to accomplish your dreams, and you should not give up on them.
The bond between a parent and a child is one of the strongest things on this earth. The relationships between father and son in the novel The Chosen by Chaim Potok, the poem "The Gift" by Li-Young Lee, and the short story "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather all show this strong bond. In all three genres father and son are the most prominent characters. All have the absence or near absence of mother figures. They also all show how important a father is to his son. The Chosen by Chaim Potok, "The Gift" by Li-Young Lee, and "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather all show the importance of father-son relationships through the fathers' involvement in their sons' lives, the fathers teaching their sons life skills, and the fathers' immense love for their sons.
Angered by his futile efforts to stop the spread of Christianity, Paul prepared a trip to Damascus, where he had heard many Christians were hiding. Not only were they hiding, they were also preaching Christ in the synagogues there. So, accompanied by a troop of armed temple guards, Paul rode out of Jerusalem to the city of Damascus, which was about one hundred and fifty miles away. As they neared the outer edge of the city, a shaft of light much brighter than the noonday sun suddenly fell upon the little company. The group fell to the ground trying to protect their eyes from the blinding light. A voice from heaven spoke to Paul. "Paul, Paul, why persecutest thou me?" Then Paul asked, "Who art thou, Lord?" The voice replied, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest." Then Paul asked what he should do. Jesus answered "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Nor is the New Testament's approach to the law unique. Most Christians can probably think of nothing more unique than the Apostle Paul's approach to the law, but any student of ancient Greece knows otherwise. Many of the themes that fill Paul's writings were lifted from his Greco-Roman background. During New Testament times, the Greco-Roman world was filled with Mystery Cults, sporting such names as Eluesinian Mysteries, the Orphic Mysteries, the Attis-Adonis Mysteries, the Isis-Osiris Mysteries, Mithraism, and many others. A common feature of these secret cults was a belief in a heroic redeemer, a heavenly being who would visit earth in human form, battle evil, die a sacrificial death, rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, offering salvation from death to all who follow him.