why are no real wise women found in the wisdom literature?
"After searching long without success: I have found one man in a thousand worthy to be called upright, but I have not found one woman among them all" - Ecclesiastes 7:28
(that makes me mad!)
I definitely think it's cool that Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs... this seems radical, against the background of a text where women are only praised for their work as wives.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Responses
I just thought I would add this picture to give us a little comic relief. It seems to summarize a lot of my feelings during this course! ha!Noah - nice!
I don't know what to make of it all, but I love it. It's unbelievable how many traditions that can be found in the sediment of Christianity's stories.
Pratik - disturbing!
I don't think I've ever questioned the logic that you just spelled out, but it does support this picture of a god that wants to punish the very attributes it proclaims to have programmed in its subjects.
Candace - I'm floored!
I would love to work with someone to compile the canon of Wisdom. If she is the perfect entity of knowledge and, of course, wisdom, then I would rather be reading her book!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wisdom as a Woman
I've been reading the next article on the syllabus, "The Perspective of Wisdom", and came upon a reference to Proverbs. In the scripture, Wisdom is personified in feminine form. What interests me, is that she has her own voice. In it, she claims to have been the first creation of the Lord himself, as well as "his darling and delight" as he finished the rest of his labors.
The article goes on to discuss whether this appearance is a "personification" or "hypostatization". The definition of the second term sounds kind of like the shekinah of Jewish Kabbalah. The term originally referred to the "visible manifestation of the Divine Majesty" according to the OED, but in the tradition of some Jewish mystics it has come to be understood as the feminine aspect of divinity.
Interesting stuff.
The article goes on to discuss whether this appearance is a "personification" or "hypostatization". The definition of the second term sounds kind of like the shekinah of Jewish Kabbalah. The term originally referred to the "visible manifestation of the Divine Majesty" according to the OED, but in the tradition of some Jewish mystics it has come to be understood as the feminine aspect of divinity.
Interesting stuff.
~ Proverbs discussed in class ~
I was goin through the proverbs we discussed in class and a particular sprang up @ me:
Folly is deep-rooted in the hearts of children; a good beating will drive it out of them.
(22:15 ~ Page 673)
So, who has deep rooted this 'folly' in the hearts of children ? God as the creator I guess?!! Then why the blame the children?? Besides the meaning of folly has been changed from 'Perilously or criminally foolish action, Evil; wickedness, Lewdness; lasciviousness' to 'A lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight; An act or instance of foolishness'. What is the modern reader supposed to interpret?! I'm studying this text so I took the trouble to find all definitions of 'folly' but I doubt an ordinary church-goer will find obsolete meanings on the OED!! He would rather bash his child up for lacking understanding. Moreover, it seems to encourage corporal punishment towards children rather than the non-corporal way!! I thought a child was associated with innocence. All my heart out to those unlucky children!!
Folly is deep-rooted in the hearts of children; a good beating will drive it out of them.
(22:15 ~ Page 673)
So, who has deep rooted this 'folly' in the hearts of children ? God as the creator I guess?!! Then why the blame the children?? Besides the meaning of folly has been changed from 'Perilously or criminally foolish action, Evil; wickedness, Lewdness; lasciviousness' to 'A lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight; An act or instance of foolishness'. What is the modern reader supposed to interpret?! I'm studying this text so I took the trouble to find all definitions of 'folly' but I doubt an ordinary church-goer will find obsolete meanings on the OED!! He would rather bash his child up for lacking understanding. Moreover, it seems to encourage corporal punishment towards children rather than the non-corporal way!! I thought a child was associated with innocence. All my heart out to those unlucky children!!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Prophetic fulfillment, Marcionism, C.S. Lewis and Sol Invictus
First off, thanks joey and kathryn.
As for Christ having no credibility in Marcionism, i'm only aware of one argument, and its a bit out there, but somewhat interesting. It could be considered an offshoot of C.S. Lewis' "true myth" concept. One could argue that Jesus was the concrete embodiment of any number, or the culmination of all of the "Solar Messiah" mythologies (or for this case, prophecies). Jesus shares many attributes with various sun-deities, most of which seem to originate in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian mythology (and hence most derivative mythologies) regarding the sun seems to derive from the sun's apparent movement around the time of the winter solstice. As the solstice (around Dec 21-22) approaches the sun moves further towards the south, and on the solstice it stops. During this solstice and for the following two days the sun's trajectory does not change. Around the 25th the sun's trajectory starts to move back towards the north, or rise. Here's a diagram to help explain:
the lower picture represents the most southerly path the sun takes, usually on the 21st or 22nd of December; the sun stays on this path for approximately 3 days.
This astrological phenomenon is where many of the death-rebirth sun-deity myths originate. This is also why many pre-Christian religions have festivals around Christmas, and certain sects within christianity reject the celebration of Christmas as tainted by paganism. The most notable of these is the Roman festival of Sol Invictus. This was a celebration worshipping several different sun deities that occured on Dec 25. Easter is also usually right around the vernal (spring) equinox for similar reasons, i.e. Spring being representative of the rebirth of the life which appears dead during the harsh winter, new beginnings, etc.
The occurrence of an actual event that was foretold in the sky and seeped into what could be considered a "Jung-ian" collective subconscious through various mythologies regarding the life enabling star could be considered to be fulfilled by the life and death of Jesus Christ.
However, given that many of the astro-&-theo-logical elements were very possibly added to the story of Jesus later, as opposed to being actual events, this argument has lots of holes that I can't logically patch up.
Like I said, its quite a stretch, and I certainly don't endorse this myself, but it is an interesting argument nonetheless.
As for Christ having no credibility in Marcionism, i'm only aware of one argument, and its a bit out there, but somewhat interesting. It could be considered an offshoot of C.S. Lewis' "true myth" concept. One could argue that Jesus was the concrete embodiment of any number, or the culmination of all of the "Solar Messiah" mythologies (or for this case, prophecies). Jesus shares many attributes with various sun-deities, most of which seem to originate in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian mythology (and hence most derivative mythologies) regarding the sun seems to derive from the sun's apparent movement around the time of the winter solstice. As the solstice (around Dec 21-22) approaches the sun moves further towards the south, and on the solstice it stops. During this solstice and for the following two days the sun's trajectory does not change. Around the 25th the sun's trajectory starts to move back towards the north, or rise. Here's a diagram to help explain:
the lower picture represents the most southerly path the sun takes, usually on the 21st or 22nd of December; the sun stays on this path for approximately 3 days.
This astrological phenomenon is where many of the death-rebirth sun-deity myths originate. This is also why many pre-Christian religions have festivals around Christmas, and certain sects within christianity reject the celebration of Christmas as tainted by paganism. The most notable of these is the Roman festival of Sol Invictus. This was a celebration worshipping several different sun deities that occured on Dec 25. Easter is also usually right around the vernal (spring) equinox for similar reasons, i.e. Spring being representative of the rebirth of the life which appears dead during the harsh winter, new beginnings, etc.
The occurrence of an actual event that was foretold in the sky and seeped into what could be considered a "Jung-ian" collective subconscious through various mythologies regarding the life enabling star could be considered to be fulfilled by the life and death of Jesus Christ.
However, given that many of the astro-&-theo-logical elements were very possibly added to the story of Jesus later, as opposed to being actual events, this argument has lots of holes that I can't logically patch up.
Like I said, its quite a stretch, and I certainly don't endorse this myself, but it is an interesting argument nonetheless.
Monday, October 1, 2007
More On Prophecy's Necessity
Well, it seems to me that Jesus had only prophecy to support him because the Jews were already looking for a supposed messiah. If you read the gospels literally, his miracles also attest to validity, but that's a bit far-fetched. Let's just peruse the gospels using a skeptic's filter - the only logical and natural support is prophecy. If Marcion discounts the OT, and if miracles are a creation of later chroniclers, then Jesus has nothing more than a claim of fulfillment. Unfortunately, that, too, is empty because there would be nothing to fulfill.
Response to Noah and Joey
Noah, I love the comparison you brought up concerning the verses in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. Yahweh's duality is a fascinating concept.
Joey, you mention that Jesus relies on prophesy to obtain credibilty. I guess I've never thought about where Christ's credibilty comes from, and instead took it for granted. However, I see exactly what you mean.
I just wanted to thank both of you for your posts as they've allowed me to consider new things.
Thanks!
Joey, you mention that Jesus relies on prophesy to obtain credibilty. I guess I've never thought about where Christ's credibilty comes from, and instead took it for granted. However, I see exactly what you mean.
I just wanted to thank both of you for your posts as they've allowed me to consider new things.
Thanks!
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