Old Testament Essay Example for Free

Old Testament Essay Found in the Old Testament of the Bible, Psalms have a certain mythic quality to them. Originally written as songs, Psalms are often used to present morality tales or to provide an acknowledgment of certain moral concepts. It is believed that Psalms were originally written by King David, although there is way to completely verify the actual authorship. Records indicate, however, that the Psalms are several thousands of years old. This brings forth the important question: how is it that Psalms remain relevant in today’s modern world? The answer is that the themes found in the Psalms are timeless because they are based on a â€Å"common sense† approach to moral living that does not fall out of style as the years pass. Specifically, the songs of the Psalms are designed to address God directly. However, this does not mean that those listening to or singing the Psalms are to ignore their content. Actually, it is the opposite that is true as Psalms are also designed for reflection. In other words, a sort of meditation is intended while singing or listening to songs. Again, while the Psalms are directed towards God, those involved in the worship are intended to realize a transformative experience. How is this achieved? There are a number of ways and in order to understand how it occurs one must look closely at certain passages within the Psalms. Consider Psalm 4. This Psalm speaks to God with the intention of asking God to be forgiving of glory that was not directed towards God. Additionally, the Psalm talks about God putting gladness in one’s heart with the end result being a spiritual re-awakening. Understanding and Analyzing the Psalms 2 Now, there are many potential interpretations to this Psalm. On the surface, it is clear that a warning about materialism is present. Forgiving one’s glory can refer to a person seeking penance for looking for the material things in life. When the person realizes that materialism is not what one should seek in life, the person immediately turns to God. As such, one can infer that this Psalm is a wake up call to those who assume they can find happiness through materialism. When they realize that true happiness comes from an embrace of the spiritual, they develop a complete reversal of their outlook on like. In a way, one could say this shares similarities to the concept of nirvana in Zen Buddhism. Once again, there is certain timelessness to the subtext found within this psalm. After all, materialism and all its troubles have been with us since the dawn of time. To free oneself of materialism is to be free of attachments which put the person in charge of his life as opposed to mitigating factors. As such, the timelessness of this Psalm is understandable. Psalm 17 is quite an interesting Psalm since it is a call for help. Specifically, this Psalm asks God’s help in providing protection from the wicked who may seek to oppress the singer as well as protecting the singer from the problematic wickedness that might exist within the person’s own heart. Ultimately, this Psalm reveals that it is not out of the ordinary for people to feel self-doubt and external pressures. That is, they may not always do the right thing and they may find themselves in danger of falling under the influence of those who may do them harm. God understands this and understands people may need help when dealing Understanding and Analyzing the Psalms 3 with difficult situations. Again, this is a timeless concept that has existed all throughout the ages. The third and last illustrative example from the Psalms is Psalm 23 which is possible the most famous Psalm of all. In this Psalm is the famous passage â€Å"though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. † Within this Psalm is the crux of the worship of God. That is, no matter how bad things may be, God will always be there for you. While his help may not always be overt or obvious, he will never abandon his children. Ultimately, this is a timeless message of positive beliefs that has allowed the Judeo-Christian religion to maintain followers for thousands of years. What these three Psalms display is the notion that sometimes the worshippers need to profess their beliefs out loud in the form of song as a means of absorbing what is taught. Yes, on the surface, the Psalms appear to speak to God directly but it is a common Judeo-Christian belief that God lives in all of us. As a result, it becomes important to verbally affirm one’s belief so in order to remember why people believe. Whether it is disavowing material gain, dealing with internal or external demons, or remembering that God never abandons us, the Psalms provide a clear message of hope that we sometimes forget. Therein is a very important component of the Psalms: the Psalms prevent us from forgetting the reason for the faith. Of course, the Psalms are open to wide interpretation. However, the timelessness of the Psalms is without question and their purpose for existence is clearly understood.

Does Islam Cause Violence in the Middle East? Essay -- Islam, religion

Since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, a large focus of the Western Powers, like the United States, has been on the Middle East. Out of this has come a conclusion that this area of the world is prone to be more violent than other parts and this is largely to due to the Islamic religion. This the West has concluded in large part through observation coupled with some qualitative data. However, is this an adequate assertion of the area, and of the religion of Islam? To begin various types of violence will be explored quantitatively and qualitatively to see if there is a difference in the level of violence seen in the Middle East as compared to Western States. Once it has been determined if there exists a difference in the amount of violence in the Middle East, as compared to Western States, it than shall be explored to see what role Islam may play in it. Comparing Violence It has been assumed that while the rest of the world appears to be seeing decreasing levels of violence, it appears the Middle East has yet to experience this same trend. By just watching the news or reading the paper, it has appeared that in the past couple of decades there have been either an increase in violence in the Middle East. In addition, it has also appeared that certain types of violence that the West has not experienced for some time still exist within the region. The question this raises then, is the Middle East more violent? On the other hand, is this nothing more than Islamophobia? To find the correct answer both a quantitative and qualitative approach will be taken. Through this patterns should emerge that will lead to answer whether are not the Middle East is more prone to violence than other Western States (Pinker, 20... ...s Office on Drugs and Crime. (2013). UNODC Homicide Statistics. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/homicide.html This publication is put out by the United Nations and its office on Drug and Crime. The purpose of this publication is straight forward. It is to the homicide rates of each State. The data is collected by various agencies, some associated with the United Nations and some not. This document is easy to read and to understand. It serves the purpose in which it was created by showing the homicide rates nearly all the States in the world. The underlying issue with it is that not all the data is complete. When it comes to Western, developed, States the data is complete. However, when it comes to less developed states, it is not. This can causes issues if someone is looking for patterns or comparing regions.

Chief Seattle’s 1854 Oration †Was it true? Essay

Chief Seattle, leader of the Duwamish tribe, was author of the famous speech to Washington Governor Stevens upon his arrival to Seattle in 1854. However, many doubt Chief Seattle’s speech to have taken place. There is little credible evidence available to back up the existence of the speech with the exception of a newspaper article written by a Doctor Henry A. Smith. The article, titled â€Å"Chief Seattle’s Speech,† was published in the â€Å"Seattle Sunday Star† on October 27th, 1887. If Doctor Smith was witness to Chief Seattle’s epic speech, he was the sole translator. How are we to know that translation faults and liberations were not made by Doctor Smith? The Duwamish language was not a written language, having no alphabet, thus no official record or writing could have been made. For these reasons, it is highly probable Chief Seattle’s Oration of 1854 never existed. The first and only published account of Chief Seattle’s Oration was written in the â€Å"Seattle Sunday Star† on October 27th, 1887. The author of the article, Doctor Henry Smith, was said to have been a witness at the speech and served as a translator for Chief Seattle; however, no official document of this account exists in any historical archive. Chief Seattle’s speech has been widely cited in numerous books and documents, but every citation leads back to Doctor Smith’s article. Therefore, the only proof available that this speech ever occurred is the newspaper article dating back to 1887 from this one source. If we are to give the benefit of the doubt to Doctor Henry Smith as having been witness a to this speech, who is to say the translation was  correct? For all we know â€Å"Doctor† Henry A. Smith made up every word of the speech, nobody would know. Chief Seattle was known to have been illiterate, neither knowing how to read, write or speak English (McCarthy par. 12). His speech was presented in nice paragraph form, almost as if Chief Seattle was reading the address off a piece of paper, even though Chief Seattle could not read. The Duwamish language had no alphabet, it could not be written, it was only spoken. There is no possible way Chief Seattle could have had anything to  read from or look at while giving his speech to Governor Stevens. Due to these facts, no official record of the speech could exist. Yes, Doctor Smith could have written a near-perfect translation, but there is no evidence to suggest this. An account of the speech by the Duwamish tribe, or a copy of the speech in Duwamish, does not exist for anyone to refer to. The man known as Chief Seattle existed, the Duwamish tribe existed, Doctor Smith existed, these are known FACTS. However, there is only but one written account by a Doctor Henry Smith that this Oration took place, and only one translator was said to have been at Chief Seattle’s Oration and that one man was a Doctor Henry A. Smith. The Duwamish tribe had no written language for an official copy of this speech to have taken place, and there is no reason for anyone to believe that Doctor Smith took an exact translation with no liberations added. For these reasons, Chief Seattle’s Oration of 1854 never existed.

The Shocking Ideas of Kate Chopins The Awakening

The Shocking Ideas of The Awakening Ideas that resist existing social boundaries commonly are rejected at first, because people don’t want to wake up from their reliable lives. Kate Chopin, however, believed that an awakening was in order, and she attempted to open the eyes of society through her novel The Awakening. The public’s reaction to Chopin’s novel was not one of acceptance. Too strong a drink for moral babies, and should be labeled ‘poison,’ was the how the Republic described Chopins work (Seyersted 174). This is how society viewed a novel that is intended to give people insight into the minds and feelings of women as human beings. Of course, over the years, society grew to not only accept Chopin’s ideas, but to embrace†¦show more content†¦Chopin translated eight of his works and through him developed her style of writing. She shared his concept of a hero : An isolated world-weary and misanthropic hero who revels in his own sensuality; who trusts in nature and distrusts human relationships, especially love; who experiences a sense of liberation through solitary walks and confidences in his writing... and who is strongly drawn to death as a solution to the repetitive meaninglessness of lifes pleasures. (Taylor 160) This was the basic outline for the plot of The Awakening. The book starts with Edna, a New Orleans high society wife and mother who was miserable with her life. While spending the summer in Grand Isle, Edna meets Mademoiselle Reiz whose music is the only thing in which Edna finds happiness. Through the music Edna awakens to the fact that she has the right to be happy. Finding Ednas behavior unusual, her husband Mr. Pontellier takes the advice of a friend and leaves on a long business trip, giving Edna her space. On the isle she also meets Robert Lebrun who awakens her to a passion Mr. Pontellier could never give her. During the summer they fall deeply in love but Robert is scared of being condemned by society and flees to Mexico.(Bloom 11). After Robert leaves, Edna meets Alcee Arobin. Hopeful that Alcee will be like Robert, she takes him into her home. Once there Alcee becomes as controlling as Mr. Pontellier.Show MoreRelatedNurse2025 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å" Common Themes Found in Kate Chopins Short Stories Kimberley J. Dorsey Stevenson University English 152, Writing About Literature 152-OME1 Charlotte Wulf November 14, 2010 Abstract Many of Kate Chopin’s short stories share the common themes of female oppression. The females in her stories are trying to find a way to escape their oppression and have a sense freedom and individuality. TheyRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And The Awakening2567 Words   |  11 PagesApril 14, 2015 ENG 112L Final Paper This paper will examine the life of Kate Chopin along with her writing style and theme in The Story of an Hour and The Awakening. Chopin has a unique writing style that shows throughout all of her works. Her works carry similar themes that include: women in search of independence, negative views of marriage, and self-assertion. While reading Chopin’s work, the reader will conclude that Chopin’s writing is very inspiring because she incorporates obstacles that sheRead More feminaw Seeking a New Identity for Women in The Awakening Essay1461 Words   |  6 PagesSeeking a New Identity for Women in  The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Awakening, Chopin questions gender roles. Chopin seeks an identity for women that is neither wife nor mother. To achieve this end, she incorporates progressive feminist ideas into her writing. Yet, in the end, Chopin also shows that, because of years of conditioning, many women are unable to escape society’s stereotypical roles by any satisfactory means. The protagonist of the novel, Edna Pontellier, does not possess the skillsRead More Female Sexuality Desire in Chopins The Storm Essays1822 Words   |  8 PagesFemale Sexuality Desire in Chopins The Storm  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   In Kate Chopins time traditional patriarchal notions about women and sexuality deemed sexual passion a negligible, even improper, aspect of womens lives. Yet Chopin boldly addresses a womans sexual desire in her short story The Storm. This story shockingly details a torrid extramarital sexual encounter between Calixta and Alcee` in the midst of a raging storm. 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Desiree is happy being wife and mother to newborn male baby while in the Locket Edmond is constantly thinking about his sweetheart Octavie. Both stories touch different sides of love, which appears fortunate in the Locket, but destructive in Desiree s Baby. In â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Armand begins distancingRead More Stop Literary Censorship Essay1566 Words   |  7 PagesStop Literary Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Censorship is becoming more and more common all over the world today. The online Encarta Encyclopedia defines censorship as, supervision and control of the information and ideas that are circulated among the people within a society. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of books...for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be objectionable or offensive. Henry Reichman from the Education World website defines it as, theRead More Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God, Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, June from The Joy Luck Club, and Edna from The Awakening1727 Words   |  7 PagesGatsby, June from The Joy Luck Club, and Edna from The Awakening In most of the worlds greatest literature, there have been introduced countless courageous characters and triumphant victories. These characters have the power to father strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. Such characters as Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God, Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, June from The Joy Luck Club, and Edna from The Awakening. Throughout each of these magnificent stories comes anRead MoreThe Awakening By Kate Chopin1816 Words   |  8 Pagestask was to take care of her husband and children. Kate Chopin’s book, The Awakening, expresses the failures and the successes in a woman s life as she tries to live with the harsh cultural demands placed on her life. Edna fights against the stereotype mother/woman and the pressures of 1899 that demand her to be a meek and loyal housewife. Although Edna ultimately commits suicide thus wasting her efforts against an oppressive society, The Awakening still supports and endorses feminism as a method