Week 6 Discussion Question

1. Week 6 Discussion Question • Change generally occurs when a need or question arises that can't be answered by the current situation, so something that can fill the need or answer the question is developed, found, etc. • Consider the ancient literature that we have read and the religious literature that represents the earliest type of medieval literature. • What need does the rise of Christianity, and eventually Islam, meet that the ideals of the ancient world were unable to serve? • After all, that is why things change, isn't it?

2. Monday: Matthew 5-7, Luke 15 Mrs. Fallon

3. Matthew Background • “emphasize and illustrate some of the early Christian church's approach to the world around it. • teachings of Jesus as they are aimed at a primarily Jewish audience. • links the parallels drawn between Christ's ministry and the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. • This technique is used to broaden and strengthen the applicability of Christian recommendations for human conduct.”

4. Luke Background • targeted largely at a non-Jewish, Hellenic (Greek) audience. • Both of these works • sought to expand the audience of Christian ideas to be a worldwide audience. • the message they wanted to get out; the method was secondary.

5. Matthew 5-7 “The Sermon on the Mount” • Blessed are [all the suffering] because they will receive [various blessings] in heaven. • Shine your light! • Elaborates on various commandments, especially adultery • “Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.” (24) • Don’t flaunt your awesomeness: generosity, prayer, fasting

6. More Matthew • “where your treasure is, there also will be your heart” (25) so your “treasure” needs to be godly, not worldly; “you cannot serve God and mammon [wealth]” (25) • Don’t judge • “Ask, and it shall be given you” • Be good to others; don’t take the easy way; beware false prophets, watch their actions; build your house on the rock

7. Luke 15- Parables • The lost sheep is a better find than the unlost sheep. • Prodigal son: squanders his inheritance and comes back asking for forgiveness. His father is so happy he’s “come back to life” that he celebrates his return while his brother is miffed that he followed the rules all along and never got celebrated.

8. Tuesday: Augustine’s Confessions I, II, III, V, VI, VIII Mrs. Fallon

9. Augustine’s ConfessionsBackground • Shift occurs between ancient and medieval literature • “This shift is most clearly illustrated with the works of Augustine.” • “What is different is the methodology that he employs both to consider and to write about his beliefs.” • “Christian doctrinal teachings became much more central to men's lives.”

10. Background Continued • Islam “was a threat to the proprietary position of Christian faith and the Church in the affairs of men.” • “Instead of fighting amongst themselves, at least part of medieval men’s efforts was directed at defending the faith and destroying heretics.” • “many of the ideas that are at the core of medieval thought are reflected in [Augustine’s] writings.”

11. Most important background (yet) • “writing reflects a much more personal, internalized self reflection.” • “Augustine's is generally believed to be the first autobiography to reflect on the youth of its subject” • “it also is the first to attempt to explore motivations for actions rather than merely recording vices and virtues.” • “It also concentrates on Augustine's spiritual life as reflected in his actions instead of just on his actions. It is analytical and evaluative.”

12. Hey, WOW even MORE IMPORTANT • “The most striking difference between Augustine's Confessions and ancient Greek and Roman models that came before is that Augustine is no longer the heroic extrovert, … he is reflective, observant, analytical, and focused on the individual's place within God's plan for mankind.” • “His interpretation of original sin, that is the basic tenet that all men are inherently sinful save for God's grace and intervention, became the fundamental truth of Christian Europe.”

13. I (Birth-Childhood) II (Adolescence) “I burned for all the satisfactions of Hell” (52) Gave in to love/lust and grew distant from God “I loved my own undoing, I loved the evil in me” (52): Stole pears for fun Laying it all out to reflect on the senselessness of the sins people commit and the joy they experience in the acts themselves • “all good things are from You, O God” (48) including the care he received as a baby • He grows up, experiences school • Reflects on his weakness in wanting to be a worldly success, which as a boy meant immorality • Reflects on the waste he was as a student focusing on “empty” studies like Greek lit rather than “useful” studies

14. III (College Student) V (Goes to Rome) Chose Rome because the students were more serious and disciplined Snuck off from his mother who begged him not to go Justifies it by saying God was calling him to go to Rome and his mother’s wish for him to stay was selfish Her punishment by God for her selfishness over him was his own leaving; sees himself as God’s tool for punishing his mother • Goes on about being “in love with love.” To me, he’s saying he felt incomplete and resorted to a variety of different immoral thoughts and acts to feel more complete. • Stooped to the immoral ways of his peer group • Read Cicero’s Hortensius and was inspired him to study scripture and begin “the journey upwards by which I was to return to You.” (56) • His pride made him feel insulted when studying the scripture was easy for him.

15. VI (Marriage) VIII (Conversion) “The lower condition which had grown hibitual was more powerful than the better condition which I had not tried.” (60) Feels called to Abstinence (personified as a woman) but hesitates out of fear Hits rock bottom; has a breakdown Hears a voice telling him to “take and read” (61) so he commits to reading scripture The first random passage he reads is Romans 13.13 (62) Instantly converted, commits life to God, no longer wants a wife • Mom followed him to Rome and tries to find him a wife • Serious study buddies consider living together to form a perfectly equal community but the wives ruined the idea = can’t escape the world • Has a mistress who leaves him with a son but engaged to marry but then gets another (rebound) mistress because he can’t wait to marry and because he’s heartbroken over the first one leaving

16. Wednesday: Qur’an 5, 10, 12, 55

17. Background • Koran=Qur’an • it was a way of life that appealed to a very large percentage of a given population. • Threatened Christianity; Jews were around too, but they did their own thing. Christian Europe was scared of Muslims and Islam • The Muslims (referred to as Pagans by Christians) and the Christians (referred to as Infidels by Muslims) were fighting for control of the Holy Land for much of what is known as the Middle Ages.

18. Background • cornerstone text for the Islamic faith • Qur’an is not a narrative. It contains relatively brief stories, but it is essentially a book of revelation. • Founded on the teachings of the Qur’an, Islamic society rivaled medieval and early modern European society in grandeur and accomplishments • similar to the Bible, the Qur’an provides a fundamental guide to proper human conduct.

19. 5 10 More of the same “We destroyed whole generations when they did evil” (83) Flood? Can’t be choosy about when to be faithful “God does not wrong people at all– it is they who wrong themselves.” (85) God owns everything…God is generous but people do not thank him well enough. **Doesn’t conflict with Bible, just spins it differently • Delineates rules for food/meat • Delineates cleansing before prayer • “God loves those who do good.” • Christians and Jews have forgotten important parts/hidden parts of Scripture • “Do not grieve over those who disobey.” (76) • Much less user-friendly version of God; more vicious to those who are not true believers or truly repentant • Mohammad-messenger to affirm scripture • Believe  Loved, safe • Untrue  Punished forever • One God, no trinity, Jesus was a messenger • Respect limits of the good things God has provided you • “Control of the heavens and the earth and everything in them belongs to God: He has power over all things.” (82)

20. 12 55 “Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?” Both=humans and jinn (divine creatures) Guilty will go to hell for eternal fire “those who fear” will go to a luxurious heaven where they will have virgins Levels of heaven/gardens of heaven • Story of “Joseph” whose brothers sell him into slavery and he returns years later blessed because of his faith and honesty • Basically a parable for people to see that the faithful are rewarded and the untrue are punished.

21. Week 6 Discussion Question • Change generally occurs when a need or question arises that can't be answered by the current situation, so something that can fill the need or answer the question is developed, found, etc. • Consider the ancient literature that we have read and the religious literature that represents the earliest type of medieval literature. • What need does the rise of Christianity, and eventually Islam, meet that the ideals of the ancient world were unable to serve? • After all, that is why things change, isn't it?