Dream World

"The medieval dream journey is not always to a lower world, but it turns up (or down) so often as to give the impression that the poets of the time regarded dream and fantasy as an essential part of the imaginative cosmos they were safeguarding" (Northrop Frye Words With Power 236)

Price on Dreams

I wanted to post this clip because it tied when with my groups' presentation on the Cave chapter of Northrop Frye's Words With Power when he talks about dreams.

Dear Dr. Sexson

Dear Dr. Sexson

I apologize for not only my truancy this semester, but also for my procrastination on blogs. I don't try to make accuses but I really do have to agree with Sam when he said "I'm not a blog person." It was really hard for me to stay on top of these blogs this semester with everything else that I had. I hope you don't hold against me and I look forward to being in your Shakespeare class next semester. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas.

God as a Literary Character

God as a Literary Character

            Before this course began, my knowledge of this Bible was very limited. Although my parents had me undergo confirmation of the Catholic religion, I am a non-religious person. I had never read the Bible before this class and the only knowledge I had of it was from listening to all of those sermons when my parents would drag me to church. Over the duration of this course many different elements began to be brought to attention. It became much easier to identify God as nothing more than a literary character, created for nothing more than to instill good and positive morals in to people’s minds.

            One thing that I could not help doing throughout the entirety of this class was comparing the readings to the movie Year One. The Book of Genesis was where I developed most of my interest during this semester. I had always known of Cain slaying Abel but it wasn’t until I read of the tale that I learned there was more there. I knew that Cain killed Able out of jealousy because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice of meat and fat over Cain’s sacrifice of produce. Although, I had no idea that Cain immediately felt remorse after doing so and that it was the creation of one of the Seven Deadly Sins “Jealousy,” as well as the expression “Be your brother’s keeper.”

            One of the most powerful things that were learned over the course of this semester was that God was a very vengeful and strict character. In numerous occasions he slew people for not obeying his commands. The killing of Onan for spilling his “seed” on to the Earth instead of impregnated his partner. Also, there is the entire Book of Job which is a perfect example of the wrath that God bestows on people. “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge” (Job 36:11).  When I had the chance to talk to someone about the Bible I chose to go a little above and beyond and use my journalism skills on a priest from my old confirmation class. I mentioned that passage from the Book of Job and asked if that as true then how come all of the devout religious followers living in riches with “all of pleasures of life”. His response was expected and almost identical to that of what the priest in the movie Rudy said. He said “prayer is what is expected of us and God will only answer if he wants to, he doesn’t have to answer because we are supposed to pray regardless.” I wasn’t surprised with his response it just keeps adding to the fact that more and more people seriously follow what was meant to be moral instilling literature. The priest didn’t have much to say about the vengeful wrath of God other than “God strikes down on those who sin. Those who go against God’s will will suffer for their actions.” He would avoid that question by regularly referring to the New Testament in which God is the more forgiving individual. That was the most important thing that was learned this semester. It was the great difference between the Old and New Testaments and how god went form a vengeful cold blooded killer to a sweet forgiving character.

            I was able to learn, over the course of this semester, that most importantly there are many different ways of reading and interpreting the Bible and a firm reading of most of its material could give an individual more knowledge of it than devout followers. The discovery of the vengeful side of God gave understanding that this character was not the forgiving individual known today. But more than anything, I was able to see the literal influence that the Bible has on everything today. I was able to see that humor could be made from it teachings such as the movie Year One portrays. I also found that it even seems that even an interview with a priest can tell you that even the most devout will deny God’s dark side.

           

My Rendevouz with an Priest

As I mentioned in previous post, my parents had me attend a catholic confirmation course when I was in my high school days. When we were asked to talk to some people about the Bible, I realized that my neighbor would not be enough for an reasonable interview. So I decided to retrace some old roots an interview a priest that would come and speak to our class back in the day. He was pressed for time and in a hurry but i figured with my new open non religious mindset that this would be a short conversation anyway.

I told him about the class I'm taking and that there were a few passages that I wanted to ask him about. I mentioned the Book of Job with the main premise to discuss the wrathful side God. I mentioned the passage "If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, the shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge" (Job 36: 11-12). I asked him why is it that if so many people do obey him, then why are they not living in riches and all of the pleasures of life. His response was almost exactly the same response that one of the priests said in the movie Rudy. He said, "praying is what is expected of us, it is our duty. God answers will come if he decides to." Deciding that was an acceptable answer to that question, I immediately switched to the need to find out about that vengeance. When I would ask him about the latter half of that passage he would immediately change the topic by referring to passages out books from the New Testament in which God is more peaceful and forgiving. He would literally dance around the topic as if he would not admit that God is a vengeful character who will slay someone for not obeying him. He did, however, acknowledge the story of Onan from the Book of Genesis. He said that God will strike down on those who do not obey him.

Interview with a Bible Thumper

Over the duration of this course I've had the opportunity to sit and talk with many people about certain parts of the Bible. The on that stuck out to me the most was when I was talking with a neighbor of mine who claims to be a devout Christian and although he is a holiday church goer only, he still claims to have read the Bible on numerous occasions.

The greatest part of the conversation came when the movie Pulp Fiction was brought up when he truly believed that the passage Ezekiel 25: 17 was really "path of the Righteous Brother." It was honestly as if had never even taken the time to even look it up on the internet  let alone one of the many Bible that infested his entire household. It was just shocking to see that someone who always boasting of God and his devotion to being a Christian have no literal understanding of the Bible or anything it states. I'm not religious, and that's probably what made this a better conversation. My parents were definitely the more religious. They made me undergo catholic confirmation when I was in high school but it is definitely safe to say that I do not believe in god. But that is what was able to make this conversation with my neighbor so much better. The fact that someone like me knew more about the Bible then someone who considers himself a devout follower of the Bible. Maybe next time he brush up on his studies.

Once Again... Year One

I thought of this clip and I though that it was only necessary to drift off topic and go in to this for a few. It is interesting because in this clip all of Adam and Eve's children are present. I found the depiction of their son Seth to be of particular interest because they depicted him as somewhat of the dimwitted and stupider of the children. I thought it was also interesting how Adam said that Lilith was his Daughter when all of the research that I did for a previous blog stated that she was his first wife. Aside from that, it was interesting how they put the "am I my brother's keeper" line into this segment. Cain said it to his father Adam instead of to God.

Year one Cain and abel.m4v

Hey everyone, sorry I have been such a lazy individual this past semester but now I will post my first blog. I feel that it is only necessary that for my first blog that I start from the beginning of the bible. Upon reading book 4 of Genesis i could not help but continue comparing it with the movie Year One which was a parody on the entire Book of Genesis

The video posted is a parody that can shed some humor into the Cain and Abel fight in book 4 of Genesis, and it even starts to show a little accuracy. Right after Cain hits Abel with the rock, he says "What have I done?" as if he felt immediate remorse for his actions, only to be vacated by more abuse. What is also interesting about this clip is that is shows the smiting of Cain by god when he leaves the mark upon his forehead. Is it strange that out of all the humor they were making out of the Bible for this movie, they still managed to harvest some accuracy.

Good Old Abe

As I continued to read the Book of Genesis I reached the part where Abraham was in the process of sacrificing Isaac, and yes, once again I was reminded of Year One. Abraham's part in that movie was so essential to the humor it was able to port


This clip gives great references to many events in the Bible. The first is obviously Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, but humor can be found in this because it is Jack Black and Michael Cera's characters are the ones who are "sent by god" to stop the sacrifice.


There is also a reference to Genesis 17 in which Abraham talks about circumcision. he reference to it being "a very sleek look" and "going to catch on" was a humors hint at how common the practice has become after once only being a religious act.

Lilith... What a Mystery.

In my endeavors through the Bible I thought it might be a smart decision to jump around in my readings. With a little help from my friend Year One I developed an interest in the character of Lilith. All of my research told that she was me that she was mentioned in Isaiah 34, however her name is never mentioned. Aside form that I became more interested in the belief that she is in the category of female demons. There are many different theories as what type of person Lilith was. In many translations she was referenced as animals. "And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortlesses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with wild beast of the island..." (Isaiah 34: 13-14). The dark relation to the animals mentioned in this passage leads me to believe that she was not well looked upon by God and all of the other characters in the Bible. The always trusted Wikipedia stated that Lilith is in fact a succubus which is in the female demon category.

Yes....Year One.

I thought this scene in Year One was particularly funny because this was obviously after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and Jack Black and Michael Cera's characters sneak back in to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge.