...The brave and strong Geats were ready to battle through all that faced them. Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon that ended Beowulf’s life were all descendants of Cain. In the Anglo-Saxons period, all the evil acts were believed to be existed because of Cain. Cain committed the first murder by killing his brother Abel. As stated in the poem, “…monsters born/ Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Lines 19-20). Beowulf won many battles and destroyed the Evil with only fourteen men because he was the bravest, strongest, and the most powerful warrior among the Geats. Beowulf was the bravest among the Geats. He “chose the mightiest men he could find, the bravest and the best of the Geats” (Lines 120-121). Grendel, a progeny of Cain, had the appearance of Evil. Grendel was banished by God living “in a hell/ Not hell but earth” (Lines 18-19). Grendel was made up of both, half human, half beast, brutal, and wicked. The brave Beowulf must fight this creature with bare hands. He defeats Grendel with his bravery. Although Grendel was dead, the evil was still there, Grendel’s Mother. Grendel’s Mother attacks Herot and takes Hruthgar’s closest friend in revenge of his son. She runs missing with one victim “to save her life” ( Line 410). Beowulf, the strongest among all, “leaped in to the lake” (Line 450), described by Hruthgar to battle Grendel’s Mother. She welcomed Beowulf to the bottom of the sea. Grendel’s Mother tried to harm him but Beowulf’s tight ring-woven mail...
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...profession was looked down upon. Shepherds spent their days around animals, spent their nights outdoors guarding the same animals, and were found only in the company of fellow shepherds. There was nothing special about one who tended and kept sheep. But God saw something special in these lowly men. Looking into the lives of many great men and women in the Bible used significantly by God, you shall find that at least at one time they were shepherds—Rachel, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David. The first man whose sacrifice is recorded to have pleased God was a shepherd: Abel. Unlike Cain, Abel gave God a sacrifice of his first. As we have already seen, the sacrifice of the first of one’s fruits signified total dedication of all the fruits to God, from whom all good things come. Abel honored God. In response to God’s question after he had killed his brother, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain mocked his brother’s profession by answering, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, as if to say, “Am I my brother’s shepherd?” Shepherds were looked down upon. This could also have been another reason Cain’s jealousy burned against his brother. A mere herdsman, a shepherd, was looked on with favor by God, instead of him. 147 Brenda Siara Jesse, David’s father, when asked by Samuel the prophet to present to him the sons in his household, brought all except for David. When Samuel found not, amongst those presented, the king whom God had chosen, he asked Jesse if he had presented ...
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...Daniel Barton October 27, 2014 Religious Literature Transient and Permanent Qualities in East of Eden: The Relationship Between Good and Evil Torben Grodal talked of art film as possessing two basic elements, transient and permanent, but they are also seen in the novel East of Eden. Steinbeck creates scenes that at first have a transient quality, and then purposefully connects to a permanent nature. These permanent qualities, grappled with by the Trask’s and Lee, examine the never ending battle between good and evil. In the novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck constructs scenes that have an initial transient quality, but then persistently associates these with a permanent nature that examines the conflict between good and evil. Steinbeck portrays Cathy as a very evil character, someone who is just inexplicably evil and makes several allusions to her being a monster and devil. When first introducing the reader to Cathy, Steinbeck writes about the creation of monsters, an obvious parallel. He goes on to say that, “monsters are variations from the accepted normal to a greater or a less degree. As a child may be born without an arm, so one may be born without kindness or the potential of conscience” (72). He wastes no time in comparing a monster to Cathy. He believes that Cathy is not an ordinary evil either, but that she is a very abstract form of evil, the exact idea of evil and that she has no good in her body. Steinbeck does not only believe that Cathy is a monster, but...
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...of Eve questioning G-d’s superiority. As Adam and Eve question G-d’s dominance and eat the forbidden fruit, due to the serpent’s cunningness, they all get punished in distinct ways. “Because you have done this you are cursed…” (Pg. 19) G-d says this to the serpent for deceiving Eve and therefore Adam, as well. This story illustrates the importance of respect and value to one’s elders and superiors. This specific moral is applied in everyday life with the importance of respecting one’s parents/ guardians and others superiors such as one’s educators, bosses, coaches, etc. In another example of important morals as shown within the Bible, is the story of Cain and Abel, “The First Murder”, in the Genesis. This story comes across two brothers leading to competitive aspects of everyday life. Due to jealousy and envy over Abel, Cain decides to murder his brother. As learned through this story, jealousy is a destructive trait that can lead to one’s undoing. In today’s society, there...
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...James Baldwin begins the novel of Sonny’s blues with the narrator’s mother, charging him with watching over Sonny, asking him to serve as his brother’s keeper. The dynamic between the two brothers is a parallelism to the relationship between the brothers Cain and Abel in the Bible. In that narrative, Cain, after murdering Abel, asks whether he is supposed to be his brother’s keeper. The narrator, following his mother’s death, is presented with a similar dilemma. Since their mother’s death, Sonny’s life has been marred by prison and drug abuse. The tension between the two brothers is so great that after one particular fight, Sonny tells his brother to consider him dead from that point on, a statement that, again, deliberately echoes the biblical narrative of Cain and Abel. Baldwin’s sentences also contain a biblical tone and rhythm. Like Cain, the narrator turns his back on his brother and fails, at first, to respond to Sonny when he is prison. He has failed to live up to his mother’s commandment that he watches over his brother—but the failure is only temporary. By the end of the story, the narrator has taken Sonny back into his home. He finally takes on the role of his brother’s keeper, constantly watching and worrying over Sonny as he emerges from the darkness of prison and drug abuse. The idea of brotherly love extends beyond the relationship between the narrator and Sonny into the community as a whole. Harlem is plagued by drugs, poverty, and frustration, but members of...
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...The sin of Man and God’s Grace James R. Cornelius IV Liberty University Online Author Note Jcornelius3@liberty.edu Abstract From the beginning of creation to the present three things have kept occurring. Man has sinned against God, There has been immediate and eternal consequences. The wonderful God we serve has kept his covenants and shed his Grace on us and gave a way of redemption from the eternal consequences. Keywords: Sin, consequences and redemption The sin of Man and God’s Grace Through Genesis 1-11 we read about man sinning, his immediate and eternal consequences, and God making a way for redemption. Today man is still struggling with his sins against God reaping the immediate consequences and eternal consequences. Though around 2000 years ago Christ came and fulfilled Old Testament Prophesy and made the way to eternal redemption attainable. Adam and Eve Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:8) He had it made. God even gave him a companion. (Genesis 2:21-22) All they had to do is not eat of the tree that gave the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:17) As we do so many times today they did not obey God and listened to the devil in chapter 3 and ate the fruit. God gave them freedom to obey or not to obey. God gives us the freewill to obey or not. Why you may ask? “But if, of our Own Choice, and against the steady urge of our Nature, we obey God, there is Character in that.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, Dr. Henry Halley, 1965, p. 67)...
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...Introduction The Old Testament is replete with stories of revenge that embody Lex Talonis, a concept loosely translated from Latin to mean “an eye for an eye”. It is not surprising, therefore, that throughout the entire book of Genesis we find only two accounts of reconciliation between feuding siblings: Jacob’s reunion with his brother Esau (Gen ); and Joseph’s act of mercy towards his brothers (Gen 45: 1-28). Apart from these two episodes, in the only other instance of sibling rivalry we find in Genesis ends with Cain’s tragic murder of his brother Abel (Gen). Even within the two reconciliatory narratives represented in Genesis, Joseph’s story is the sole one with a truly respectable outcome (Genesis 45: 1-28). Esau’s and Jacob’s relationship remained strained even after the brothers ended their feud, with each going their own separate way and subsequently establishing independent communities: the Israelites (Jacob); and the Edomites (Esau). It would seem justifiable had Joseph sought to settle scores with his brothers for having beaten him, left him in a pit to die and ultimately sold him to Egyptian slavers. However, notwithstanding the pain inflicted upon him by his brothers, Joseph chose the path of forgiveness and used his influence in Egypt to ensure his family would survive the famine. The reconciliation narrative in Genesis 45 is the first occurrence of a genuine forgiveness and reconciliation account in the bible, where Joseph’s character stands as a prophetic foreshadowing...
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... The Cain Within Us (Thielicke) Answer all of the following questions from chapter 13, Thielicke. 1. Identify the symbolism of “the space in which Cain lifts his ax and Abel falls lifeless to the ground”. 3The space is the beginning of wanting what others have, the start to a cycle of power and wealth that has continued throughout history. Unknowingly Cain and Abel created a pattern for which we can see everything of ourselves and all around us. ***This age-old story of Cain and Abel is the pattern for everything that we can see in ourselves and all around us. (Keep this pattern in mind as you analyze the rest of the chapter.) 2. To what “shock” (p188) is Thielicke referring? A shock that occurs when you only read half the story of Cain and Abel, as you read the story it abruptly changes to “the Lord has regard for Abel”. Why did God approve of Abel’s offering but not Cain’s offering is the shock. Is it because Cain was a questionable character? 3. Why Cain did not “suit” God? (This is the key to understanding the Cain and Abel story). When Cain’s countenance falls short, he begins to brood and devise mischief due to his egotistical self-asseration. 4. Does Thielicke view God as “capricious”? Explain. No, Thielicke gives reason to why one might think God is unpredictable. Some people are extremely while others due as they might to walk straight find themselves with no luck. But as the reading continues he states that although the story of Cain and Abel...
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...days. The language or the text used in the poem presented the concept of “scop”, which originated from the Old English language which means to shape. God is being referred to as the Great Shaper and all the beauty seen by the Anglo-Saxon were fruits of God’s creation. The term “scop” can also represent a poet. In this poem, the Anglo-Saxons considered the fact that the author made use of beautiful words and imagery to create a poem is comparable to God’s work when he created earth. This can be read in the lines “The clear song of a skilled poet, telling with mastery man’s beginnings, how the Almighty had made the earth” (Beowulf 86-98). Another proof that the author is a Christian is when there was mention of the story of the two brothers Cain and Abel. This can be substantiated in the lines “Cain's clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel, the Eternal Lord had exacted a price” (Beowulf 86-98). The presence of the word God is evident in several occasions in the poem such as “Afterwards a boy-child was sent to Shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by God to that nation “(Beowulf 12). Some...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY ONLINE Biblical Worldview AN ESSAY SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR LARRY BROWN BIBL105-B13 OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY BY CAR FEBRUARY 2015 Since I first started reading the Bible I have looked at the first 11 chapters of Genesis as merely a historical text to tell how God created the world, His grace, His love, His justice and His Holiness. However after reading it with an eye toward how it influences my world view and how I see the natural world, the human identity, human relationships and civilization I see there is a wealth of information overlooked in most people’s basic understanding of what could be considered the most important 11 chapters in the Bible. As we see from the beginning of the Book of Genesis a triune God created the entire natural world and all living things in six days. According to Moses writing he meant six twenty-four hour periods, this is based on the fact Moses used the word “Yom” for day in this book. “Yom” as used in other parts of the Bible refers to a day as a twenty-four hour period by this we can be sure Moses wasn’t referring to a day as some other period of time. Based on this God is showing us we are to work six days and rest on the seventh or Sabbath as seen in Genesis 2:2-3 (NIV) “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” These first 11 chapters also show us the fallacy in evolution as the Bible clearly states He created all living things...
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...Darren J Black Jr Daryl Neipp BIB 105 7 September 2015 My Biblical Worldview: How does Genesis 1-11 effect it? Introduction How does Genesis 1-11 effect my worldview and how does it contribute to my everyday life. Reading these chapters has a big impact on my life and there are so many things that it covers in such a condense amount of time. You have Adam and Eve being created and how that effects my worldview on marriage in the world. Also how we define ourselves as a man and a woman and the different roles of each of us that the bible defines for us. How Cain and Abel relantionship with each other defines how we should act and not become jealous with one another. The wickedness in the world when Noah was here and how the Lord saw the world was so evil and destroyed it, which is kind of how I look at our world today. There many topics in these chapters that I will discuss and explain how all of this effects my biblical world view today and what I think of all of it in this paper that I am writing today. Natural World The 1st chapter of the bible pretty much sets out the natural world and all that is in it, in Genesis chapter 1 to 2 the LORD our God makes everything light, darkness, land, sea and all the creatures in the world. He creates Adam and later Eve somewhere to live and basically live off the land. This chapter is the reason the natural world exist and that God was gracious to give us so much in it. Without the beast that roam the earth or the birds that...
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...book is based off of the central biblical themes of sin, punishment, and forgiveness, however Hawthorne take it a step further by including numerous biblical allusions throughout the text. By both alluding to and specifically citing parts of the bible, the author is able to further emphasis those themes presented within, and make a stronger connection to bible itself. In the beginning of the narrative, Hawthorne alludes to the story of Cain in reference to Hester’s red letter “A”. On page 81, he claims that Hester’s “A” “with her native energy of character and rare capacity, could not entirely cast her off, although it had a set a mark upon her more intolerable to a woman's heart than that which branded the brow of Cain.” Cain was a biblical character in Genesis 4. As the story goes, both Cain and his brother Abel competed for God’s affection by presenting offerings to him. God was highly impressed by Abel’s offering but not so much Cain’s. Jealous of his brother, Cain decides to murder Abel and for that God punishes him gravely. Cain was...
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... Cassie Spencer returned home and was greeted with her yard covered in red flags, and her daughter was playing in the middle of them. Her home had become a methane field. Only 3,000 feet away was a gas well that had been sending methane gas onto her property. Her house’s value decreased to only 29,000 dollars from 150,000 dollars; they had to install a methane monitor in their basement and had to add a methane-water filtration system. Their neighborhood was already evacuated once before due to the high methane levels. Cassie states, “We [Cassie’s Family] moved here because we love the woods. We wanted to stay here our whole lives,” and then continued to say, "We're not asking for a lot and now they're taking it all away. In a million years, I never would have thought that people could do this and get away with it." The damage to Cassie’s property had all happened before the gas wells were even fracked, a process involving pumping water, dangerous chemicals, and sand into the gas well to recover gas. (Fracking explained: opportunity or danger by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell) Fracking might be even more dangerous to the people around the wells, as in the future there might be more leaks of the fracking chemicals, not just methane gas. In the United States, fracking has become very common. Some countries don’t have as much commercial fracking, but many are starting to participate. For instance, according to BBC News, the United Kingdom’s government believes fracking...
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...Introduction This annotated bibliography is designed to give readers an understanding of how Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin is a modernization of the biblical account of Cain and Able. While the text of Sonny’s Blues does not align with the story of Cain and Able verbatim, the underlying theme of being a “brother’s keeper” is central to both stories. I set out to identify the various elements involved in being a “brother’s keeper”. After reading the biblical account of Cain and Able, two sub-themes came to the forefront self-identity and responsibility. I selected the sources listed below to highlight the ways Baldwin uses the themes of identity and responsibility, and other literary mechanisms to connect Sonny’s Blues to the biblical account of Cain and Able. Byerman, Keith A. "Words And Music: Narrative Ambiguity In 'Sonny's Blues'." Studies In Short Fiction 19.4 (1982): 367. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Byerman discusses how music and words create ambiguity in Sonny’s Blues. He points out the rhythm of the wording in the text and how the narrator uses the words to communicate his ideas and as a defense mechanism when his reality is too harsh to handle. The narrator’s candid wording at times draws the reader in with understanding and intrigue. Yet, his vacillating uses of metaphors seem to shut the reader out when the details become too sensitive. Just as the narrator uses words to present his case to the reader, Sonny uses music...
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...Essay #1 In Ann Bradstreet’s writings, it is clear that she is highly intelligent and well educated for the women of her time, with a large family library. Her writings are about what is around her: her religion, history, family, political and puritanical views. She had a difficult life with illness, hunger, and the loss of her child, but still she wrote with wit, love, and a sense of community. Religion and God’s plan play a crucial role in many of her writings. When she wrote, Upon the Burning of Our House, a sad, but forgiving poem, “And, when I could no longer look, I blest His name that gave and took,” she acknowledges her belief of God’s involvement in the fire, but doesn’t seem angry by it. “Thou hast an house on high erect, Fram’d by that mighty Architect…Stands permanent, though this be fled.” Anne Bradford was a very spiritual woman and believes God has a home for her in heaven and this home on earth is only temporary. To go to heaven would be “A prize so vast as is unknown” and “There’s wealth enough, I need no more.” She writes “My hope and treasure lies above,” evidences heaven is the ultimate destination. Anne Bradford seemed to be a very loving, respectful, and devoted wife to her husband Simon. In To My Dear and Loving Husband, she writes, “If ever two were one, then surely we…I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold…My love is such that rivers cannot quench…” The passion she feels for her husband truly shines in this poem. She may be considered one of...
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