Thomas a Kempis was a monk in the Augustinian order. He was born in Kempen, Germany in the year 1380. In his life time he wrote a book about his way of viewing Christianity. The book The Imitation of Christ, is more about the spiritual and emotional approach pertaining to faith. Boethius, was born in Italy, and was a Roman senator, philosopher, and more. He was born a couple years after the last Roma Emperor, naming himself as the King of Italy. Boethius wrote his book Consolation of Philosophy, while he was imprisoned for conspiracy to overthrow Theodoric the Great. While kemps book is more about the spiritual and emotional sides of faith Boethius’s is about the philosophical outlook on faith.
Kempis disputes faith by saying that humanity
He believed and practiced his faith rather different than others making people believe he was not Christian at all. His beliefs however were verified by his theological plot. His book Consolation of philosophy, is strictly written in a philosophical tune.
Boethius makes his conviction a in a philosophical religious work in the structure close to classical Greek, much like the writings of Plato. Consolation of philosophy Boethius tries to unravel the considerable "issue of underhandedness." He does so by utilizing the ideas of "Provision" and "Destiny" to contend that insidiousness cannot exist in a world controlled by a genuine preeminent great. However one could contend against Boethius, yet he would simply return with another counter contention. In conclusion I feel that Boethius ' contention that malevolence does not exist is a substantial one.
One of the characters is designated philosophy, she is marginally an imagination, and she comes to Boethius while he is in confinement waiting for his execution. She verbalizes with him and expounds how his gifts, fortune, health, accolade, and power were never his to commence with, and could facilely be taken away. Designating it is unwise to become annexed to material things. As Boethius begins to believe the logic that lady philosophy is arguing, the two begin a
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
Of Music: Understanding the Text 1. Boethius begins the essay by writing about the other senses, especially sight, before introducing the topic of music because our actions we part take are “not so obvious” why the way we are when we are listening to music and using our senses. The similarity of music and the senses are not so easy to comprehend our actions under the influence of music and the knowledge of our senses. 2.
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
I was given the task to make a decision concerning the confession of Alexandros of Nicomedia regarding his Monophysite beliefs. After carefully studying Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, and closely analyzing his arguments, I was able to come to a conclusion. Boethius would argue that the correct thing to do is punish Alexandros to push him to reform himself rather than just senseless torture, given that wicked men technically do not exist, wicked men are already punishing themselves and wicked man can reform themselves by suing the right punishment.
...d appear to be unrestrained and unpunished because their wickedness and the lack of true happiness that is associated with it is their punishment (Consolation of Philosophy 94). To both Augustine and Boethius, God is completely good and sovereign. However, He allows men free will and the punishment or rewards that come with these free decisions.
Logos plays a relatively minute role in this paper due to logos being about rational or logical appeal and because this essay is about Thomas’s religious beliefs and the belief in God is not based rational or logical facts, it is based on faith and faith does not fall under logos. Also logos is hard to have in this case because everyone has different religious beliefs causing a religious statement to be true fact for some and ghastly lie to other. This makes religion views seen as that of opinion which ...
Thesis: The completion and substance of Oedipus Rex allows Oedipus to live grief-stricken throughout his successful search for justice.
St. Boniface, originally named Winfrith, was an extremely studious man, a converted monk, priest, missionary and finally martyr. Born in 672, near Exeter, England, St. Boniface at an early age developed a desire to follow the path of God and live a monastic life. Through non-stop prayer and religious practices, he tuned his mind and body to reach beyond the obstacles and enticements of everyday life at his young adult age. He was a major influence on society during his life and affected the lives and history of Germany permanently. Often called the “Apostle of Germany”, St. Boniface was a strong believer in the principles of the Church and truly wanted to open any pagan believers minds to the knowledgeable and rewarding path of the Christian life.
Plato was born in Athens, Greece around 427 B.C. He was always interested in politics, until he witnessed his mentor and teacher, Socrates, death. After learning of the callousness of politics, Plato changed his mind and eventually opened up The Academy, which is considered if not the first, one of the first Universities. Students at the Academy studied many different fields of science, including biological and astronomical. The students also studied many other fields, such as math. Plato developed many views that were mathematical in nature. He expressed these views through his writings. According to Dr. Calkins of Andrew University, "Timaeus is probably the most renowned of Plato's thirty-five dialogues. [In it] Plato expresses that he believes that the heavenly bodies are arranged in perfect geometric form. He said that because the heavens are perfect, the various heavenly bodies move in exact circles." (Calkins 1). Of course that is a much summarized view of what Plato discusses in Timaeus, but still a solid view on Plato's beliefs about cosmology. Cosmology can be loosely defined as everything being explained and in its place or beautiful. The cosmos is beautiful because everything is perfect. Plato understood that when he defined the most perfect geometric design as the circle. In a circle one line is always equidistance from one point. In Plato's universe there are two realms, eternity and time. The factor that creates "time" out of the chaos of "eternity" is the Demiurge. Plato's Demiurge can be defined as an architect creator theological entity. The importance of the Demiurge in this paper is to compare and contrast him with Boethius's God in The Consolation of Philosophy.
The most important Boethian influence Chaucer extracts is the intensity of something being increased or decreased by the knowledge of its opposite. Boethius' main discussion of this concept is in books three and four deal where he deals with the problem of evil. The question at hand is, "How can evil exist in a world with an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God?" If God is all-powerful, is anything impossible for God? If God is all-good, can God commit evil? After much discussion, Boethius concludes that evil is a lack of good and those who commit evil lack something. He writes, "so it is plain that those who are capable of evil are capable of less" (Boethius 110). He continues, "Therefore the power of doing evil is no object of desire" (110). Thus "the power of doing evil" is a lack of "the power of doing good." Boethius can know what evil is only when he first realizes how to determine good.
Boethius's idea of a simultaneous God that could remain omnipresent without propagating or condoning evil became a cornerstone in Christian theology during the medieval ages. The Consolation soothes the reader not because it provides a theological proof, but because it reveals that injustice will never be rewarded by the truly virtuous God. In the Consolation of Philosophy, reason represented by Lady Philosophy comforts the imprisoned Boethius that in a world created by an eternal, emanating God, bad can never overcome virtue and goodness.
Augustine of Hippo - One philosopher that I found interesting was Augustine and his involvement in the early church. "Augustine is acknowledged as having been one of the most important influences on the development of the western Christianity. The theological system he developed dominated the mediaeval church until the thirteenth century and its influence is still felt today (Bradshaw, 2009)."
Through critical analysis of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, the work Oedipus Rex, and other research it is affirmed that Oedipus searched for the truth but due to his pride could not see his connection to the plague that infected Thebes.
Kerr, H. (1990). Readings in christian thought (2nd ed.). H. T. Kerr (Ed.). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Dodds, E.R. "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael J. O'Brien. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 17-29.