...An Explication of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell William Blake’s trouble with orthodoxy within religion was never more apparent than in his poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. It becomes clear that his problems with the Church run deeper than just their organization, but with their views on good and evil, and there is still debate today about what Blake’s true feelings were and how they were conveyed through the poem. This paper will simply explain the nature of the poem and the events that come together within it. The beginning of Marriage sets up an image of a man walking through a “perilous path” that is described as “The vale of death” (Blake 1.4-5). Rintrah, a personification of wrath, watches the man be swayed from his path by the “sneaking serpent,” which can easily be interpreted as the Devil (Blake 1.17). The man is driven into the wild to fend for himself, where he will struggle and be tempted by the good and evil sides of himself and of the world. The next plate that Blake writes is not in a poetic form, but instead calls forth a challenge to the Swedenborgian view of religion. He humorously writes that “it is now thirty-three years since its advent: the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is the Angel sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up” (Blake 3). Blake’s jokes about Swedenborg’s relationship to Jesus Christ and his changes to the Christian church lead into his next point, which is how contradictory he believes these...
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...Katrina Jabbari Professor Scott-Curtis English 46B 3 Feb. 2015 “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake The poem, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake, largely expresses Blake’s views and feelings regarding the social and political situation going on at the time the poem was written and engraved in the late eighteenth century. The poem is a satirical work and a bit of a mockery of the bible—a “bible” in which Hell is portrayed as being the place of interest, with the author being the Devil’s disciple. Themes in the poem strongly suggest Blake’s feelings of anti-conformity and anti-institutionalized religion. Blake feels as though institutionalized religion represses people and inhibits creativity and happiness. In the portion of the poem titled “The Proverbs of Hell,” almost all of the proverbs portray ideas of pro-indulgence and giving in to one’s desires. For instance, “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom…” or, "The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction." Blake advocates for the arts and leading an uncensored life led by one’s desires, as opposed to following “instruction” and conforming to religious ideals of what is “good.” Blake is an intellect and believes in the power of art. He states that “Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius.” He seems to have believed in the madness of art over the “advances” made with science and “good” which is guided by...
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...any supernatural occurrences? If yes, please explain. IDEAS AND BELIEFS THAT PEOPLE HAVE ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE HOW DIFFERENT RELIGIONS VIEW THE AFTERLIFE. CATHOLIC JUDAISM CHRISTIANITY ISLAM WICCAN TAOISM ATHEISM SATANIC MORMON AMISH NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES CHILDREN VS ADULTS EXPERIENCES REINCARNATIONS HAUNTINGS DEMONS ANGELS EXORCISMS HEAVEN VS HELL PURGATORY? GOD(S) EDITORIAL: OPINION/BELIEFS/ARGUMENT: The Afterlife does exist; although it may vary on different points depending on each individual who experiences it. Some first hand and others may witness another individual’s experience in some way. Whether it’s through spiritual (feeling) means or physical means (apparition). SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Why are my beliefs valid? ------------------------------------------------- The Afterlife: a pretty broad and potentially complicated idea for most people. It has many different sub-topics within it. So if one were to talk about it and try to explain the concept to someone else, where would they begin? Perhaps they could start with the different religious beliefs and ideas of a Heaven, or place of paradise, and its alternative, Hell, or place of eternal suffering and damnation, perhaps even Limbo? Now what is that exactly; a place of judgment,...
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...in this age the term is more used for polytheists who aren’t Hindu believers or ancestral worshipers. In my own religious beliefs, Wicca, the afterlife varies based on the god or goddess being followed. In Greek based Wicca there is an afterlife and depending on how your soul acts in that life varies on where you’ll be sent [Marks]. In Cherokee following paganism, how my mother follows, they do not believe in a literal place like heaven but more that when a person dies they go on as ghosts, wandering the earth [The Tradition Belief System]. Then there are the non-theistic groups like agnostics and atheists. Agnostics tend to vary from person to person on death and the afterlife so it’s hard to tell what they believe [Agnostics]. Atheists do not believe in an afterlife. Taking a focus on Roman Catholicism is quite intriguing. While they believe their practitioners do go onto an afterlife, they also believe that human beings are riddled with sin. But the exception to that is those who believe in Christ wiping them of their sins are allowed into Heaven. In Roman Catholicism they believe in three places they could end up...
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...one of the main reasons it is regularly visited. It is a genre in which the dystopian texts frequently challenge the views and values of their current audiences. This is because they are judged and critiqued on their depiction of scenes and events that breach sensitive moral and ethical issues. What makes the genre so fascinating both to read and write is to remind ourselves of the capabilities of humanity and just how much we can impact a hypothetical world. It is also a way in which we can ponder the extremes we as a society can reach and reflect the possibilities of the very future of the human race. Another reason why the concept intrigues us is because dystopian texts are subconsciously thought to be renditions of hell. With Utopia being the impression of heaven or an ideal world, Dystopia corresponds as the opposite. These ideas are explored in Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian piece “Brave New World” [1932]. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is considered a dystopian text due to its conception of a new world that reflects an authoritarian state. The story depicts a world set in the year 632 A. F. (After Ford) about 600 years into Huxley’s future. Immediately the story introduces the setting of the World State – where the human race was born from the destruction of our current civilisation and led to fruition by Henry Ford. The themes an issues conveyed in the story...
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...whether there is life after death is simply a question of faith for some individuals. Religions generally interpret death as the death of the body and not of the soul. To this day, there is no precise answer to this issue and over the centuries experts have tried to explore and unravel the mysteries of this complicated or rather confusing phenomenon but have failed to arrive at a concrete conclusion. It has long been established that the Western and Eastern society have very different views on death that have been developed over the centuries. In the Western society, death is viewed as something that is permanent and emphasized the notion of Heaven and Hell. Heaven is conceptualized as a place of eternal bliss or happiness after death and Hell is depicted as a place where souls are continuously tortured or punished by creatures of Hell called demons. The entrance to either of these places relies on the deed or sins that have been committed in one’s life. Christianity is one of the many religions that view death in this concept. The Eastern society, as an...
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...HU 4640 Week 5 Analysis Freedom vs. Predestination Maynard Azurin July 21, 2014 ITT Online What is predestination? Predestination is believed to be a doctrine which God determines if a person will go to Heaven or Hell. This gives everyone in society an opinion towards their beliefs to teaching what choices we have in accepting Christ. Predestination is also the belief that everything that will happen have already been decided by God or fate and cannot be changed (Webster (2014). Predestination. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predestination.) What is freedom? Many of us in today’s society see freedom or free-will as to being liberal. Freedom is not just being free as it is more of being free to what you have to express in what you believe and do. Many call freedom as “free as a bird” but to an extent in certain ways. Freedom can be simplicity, such as relaxing to live as well as others. Freedom also gives us the ability to make decisions without other influences from other people or governments. In today’s religious views, freedom teaches us the facts of God’s plan for salvation that every individual person has a choice to make, to either accept or reject God’s gift of salvation (Bennet (2009) http://www.freewill-predestination.com). Christians today see life towards destiny. We live and die after we live our lives. Fate is usually a predetermined course of events beyond our control. Whatever happens, happens, and there is nothing we...
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...CHRISTIANITY vs. HINDUISM At a time when our great nation is bombarded with a seemingly endless war, unthinkable crimes towards children and ever-increasing unemployment rates it is natural for one to seek religion for answers as well as faith. There are many different religions other than Christianity and Hinduism to include Taoism, Judaism, Confucius, Buddhism and Islam. Regardless of which aspect one chooses to indulge, the premise is the same: to provide comfort and peace in ones everyday life. Two of the religions have many similarities as well as stark contrasts; both will be explored. The parallels will be examined first. Both Christianity and Hinduism share a commonality in the concept of heaven and an afterlife. Spiritual perfection is found in Christianity’s Heaven and Hinduism’s moksha. Cleansing of the soul is also mentioned in both Hinduism and Christianity, with a profound focus on water. Christianity speaks of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to comprise God, while Hinduism has three primary Gods which many believe act as on in Brahman. Christianity places a strong emphasis on such values as peace, respect, honesty, character, reliability, compassion and faith. Hinduism, too, holds honesty, compassion and selflessness as strong virtues within its teachings, as Dharma (religion) is the duty of every human being that must be fulfilled. Both Hinduism and Christianity share an acceptance of other religions, with the land of Hinduism, India, having...
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...teach this period is entirely symbolic, and not worth fretting over. Others say we’re in the Millennium now, and that it began when Jesus Christ defeated Satan by His death, burial, and resurrection. Most prophecy teachers contend that this apocalyptic period is still future, that it will immediately follow the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and will be a time of universal peace on earth as Jesus Christ governs all nations from Jerusalem. But what is the real truth about the thousand years? To discover the answer, one must carefully examine the only authoritative source where it’s taught, the Bible, especially chapter 20 in the book of Revelation. (Wohlberg, 2007) Here’s Revelation 20 in its entirety: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after...
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...Atheism vs. Catholicism For some reason or another Atheists feel they need to beat you over the head with their view of creation, laws, the Bible, God, the Constitution and more. They consistently tell Christians that they are wrong. Atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers will always seem to quote science, scientists, NASA and others. Using scientific theory to disprove the Bible is like using gasoline to put out a fire, The reverse of that would be using the Bible to prove the existence of UFO’s, it cannot be done. The Bible is “the” source of explanatory information about all of the things that the Atheists attempt to debunk with scientific theory. Atheists seem to have a mental block about the reality of the real truth about who is responsible for even their own existence. They are more than willing to put their trust in Charles Darwin who wrote a book 150 years ago titled “On the Origin of Species” and is now commonly known as the Theory of Evolution. Atheists have no problem putting their full trust in the fact that we all descended from a common ancestor, which is what Darwin’s book was really about. Even though there is no proof to this date that Darwin was correct 150 years ago, when labs and science were in their infancy; Atheists believe he was right but they just cannot believe the Bible. The Bible is filled with witnesses to the events describe in it. Additionally, it is filled with witnesses to prophecy; both to prophecy as it was being fulfilled...
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...Name: Zamora, Cherry Lynn A. Section: N8 PRE-FINAL PAPER RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 1. Feeling of Absolute dependence by Schleirmacher * What I understand in Schleirmacher’s feeling of Absolute dependence is it’s our God-consciousness that arises from self-consciousness for being piety. It is our “utang na loob”, in this case it is a consciousness of the one to whom we are dependent—God. We have always this feeling of dependency that we owe our life to God. It is when we recognize the presence of God in ourselves, it also that start for us feel and practice religious experience. Like for example, whenever I achieve an accomplishment or a goal, I always make sure that I will go to church and thanked God for it. I have this feeling that I should thank Him for guiding me and helping me to achieve such success. It shows that i am self-conscious about the presence of God to me. 2. Mysterious Tremendum et Fascinans by Rudolf Otto * The Mysterious Tremendum et Fascinan by Otto is his concept of Numinous or numen or divine. It is composed of three parts, such as: Mysterious/Mysterium is the experience of wholly other, or the blank wonder. Next is the Tremendum which is the awefulness-it is the terror or unapproachability “wrath of God”, overpoweringness as the sense of one’s own nothingness in contrast to its power, the creature-feeling or the sense of dependence, and energy, the vitality and will which explain that the world is full of energy because of God. And...
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...CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEWS Christian Worldviews Alexandria Wildman Liberty University CHRISTIAN WORLDVEIW Christian Worldview Part I Worldveiw is how we look at the world around us. Basic assumptions that help you make sense of reality. It is a person’s philosophy of life just as colored glasses let you see the world in different colors, Everyone’s worldview lets them see the world in different ways to each person. (Presentation: What is Worldview) Christian Worldview Part II Origin In “Gen 1:1” It says that God created the heavens and the Earth, though there are many views on how life Started this is what Christians believe when asked “How did life begin?” We believe this because as Christians we follow the bible and it’s stated first thing. As stated by Dawson McAllister God created mankind to fulfill his eternal plan, though he did not need us, we are here to teach his word to guide others to eternal life. Identity Galatians 5:22-23 Being human means to be joyful, to be loving, kind, faithful and gentle, but it also means we make mistakes because we are granted free will we are tempted by unholy things, God created humans. When he made Adam and Eve he let them decide to name his creations, animals are not meant to be treated less than...
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...same logic I use when I defend the existence of God, after taking biology this year it only made my belief in a God stronger by learning how life on earth works, from my point of view It really amazes me how people think that there is no God. The Afterlife: (Maximum 200 words) I am a theist and I believe that there is an after life. I am a firm Believer in God so naturally that would make me a firm believer in the after life as well. Proving that the after life is real is a very difficult thing to do but, I believe one of the biggest pieces of evidence that there is a life after this one is of all the testimony of people who have had N.D.E (Near death experiences) around the world and come back to life and share there journey through heaven with everyone. What so remarkable about all this testimony is how similar the details of...
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...view on religion changes because new information is tested. Not only is it that the world changes constantly, but I do not find the courage to tell people about my views if only in the end I will be scolded on what may or may not be right about them because in all actuality it is my choice to believe whatever I insist on. The thought that I am able to change my mind of beliefs also frightens me that I will never be quite right. What I do know I believe about God and Jesus is questionable, I am aware that they are two different people and primarily play two different roles and are supposed to be that way. The bible is the “book of life” and it is said to guide us through life. It is known to determine whether or not we are going to “heaven” or “hell”. It teaches us how to live in the name of Jesus without sinning and committing any of the “wrongs” stated in the Bible. I am also aware that the Bible ends with “The Book of Revelation” and it states how God is coming back, but without reading it to get my own perspective I am unaware of what is really going to happen and the “Christian community” all have different beliefs about the revelation. The thing about religion is you have to know what you believe to be true and what a myth is. Worldview is not necessarily a “worldview” because everyone gets their personal beliefs upon it. God is the almighty king, he is the father, and he is the man above all humanity. He is the one who “rules” the world. More commonly known as the “eternal...
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... 2 Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, however, it does not believe in Supreme Creator Being. Christianity is a monotheistic and believes that Christ is the son of God. Christianity is an offshoot Judaism whereas Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism. Christianity is a Abrahamic religion and Buddhism is a Dharmic religion. There is no god in Buddhism anything like Jesus Christ. Buddha is seen more as a really great person that once lived that reached a higher level of consciousness. Buddha wanted to teach how people goo free themselves and reach Nirvana. Jesus had a set of rules to live in order to get to Heaven. If is really not known or expelled were what Nirvana is, besides a freedom from the pain and suffering from life and the recantation we all must go through. Heaven on the hand is supposed to be a paradise where you in the after life you meet all your loved ones in a paradise, made by god himself. Buddhism was started about 5 B.C.E in India , Christianity started around 33 C.E. in Palestine. Granted they started many years apart but they do have the same basic ethics and commitment to community and family . They have the same basic concept of threat people how you want to be treated and what comes around goes around. Both Buddhism and Christianity have ritual worship , devotion and symbolism. Both are currently still widely practiced today. Christianity having roughly 2,100,000,000 followers of all varying types...
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