The Bible, for many centuries, has impacted society, culture, and religion in innumerable ways. Included in the Bible’s impact, is fictional literature (Erickson, 2015). Biblical allusion, defined as an ancillary reference to Scripture ("Definition," 2015), can be a useful tool for fiction writers to draw the attention of the reader to certain biblical truths. Mixed in with the writer’s style and language, biblical allusion, assists in building plot lines, themes, and influence over the reader’s beliefs (Erickson, 2015). Nevertheless, the real magic of biblical allusion lies within the author’s creative genius and ability to infuse biblical themes, metaphors, images, and characters in with the story to allow the audience to reach certain …show more content…
conclusions, or teach important lessons about faith (Erickson, 2015).
The short story, The Rabbi in the Attic, written by Eileen Pollack (Curtis, 1998), enlightens the reader to the difficulties experienced by religious congregations as a whole, in a very regimented and legalistic form or religion. Pollack’s story also alluded to the fact of how ordered types of religions can lead to conflicting views and ideals from within the congregation over the same God (Schultz, 2015). The theme of The Rabbi in the Attic is undeniably about the harmful effects on congregations that adhere to ritual, tradition, stringent religious law and the emotional upheaval that follows dogma (Schultz, 2015). The Biblical allusion in The Rabbi in the Attic was highlighted by the characters and mimicked the adversity experienced by Jesus Christ with the Scribes and Pharisees in the New Testament gospels. Rabbi Heckler could be considered representative of the high priest Caiaphas (Pollack, 1998, p. 237) in enforcing the law, and the congregation, as those being oppressed by the law and wandering in darkness (Pollack, 1998, p. 240). After Rabbi Heckler’s ouster enters orthodox Rabbi Marion Bloomgareten, who represented the essence of reform similar to Jesus Christ (Pollack, 1998, p. 255). Like Christ, Rabbi Bloomgarten
faced many difficulties and sought to strike balance between the old and the new with a reformed brand of Judaism. Just as Christ faced a final showdown with the Sanhedrin in the Bible, so did Rabbi Bloomgarten with Rabbi Heckler (Pollack, 1998, p. 260). At the conclusion of The Rabbi in the Attic, Rabbi Bloomgarten did attain a minor spiritual victory with the congregation and find common ground with Rabbi Hecker, but to Rabbi Bloomgarten’s disappointment, the congregation continued to struggle with ritual and tradition (Pollack, 1998, p. 266), comparable to the 1st century church. God’s law should supersede ritual and tradition (Sneed, 2015), hence Pollack’s story highlights the negative spiritual effects experienced by congregations for failing to place God’s law over religious dogma, especially in a changing world. While Pollack’s story echoed the struggles of religious congregations in the face of change, Flannery O’Connor’s story of Parker’s Back (Curtis, 1998), concerned the individual struggle that is often faced with God’s call to redemption. Unlike Pollack, who used a direct approach with a familiar Bible story, O’Connor used varying biblical themes, characters, and symbolic elements to tell O.E. Parkers. Hence, O’Connor’s theme focuses on how God can save the unlikeliest of sinners, in very unorthodox ways. The story begins with Parker in an unhappy marriage to a woman who would later become known as Sarah Ruth. Sarah Ruth’s plain appearance and ugliness likely represented the evils of sin, which Parker was in firm denial and could not understand (O’Connor, 1998, p. 167). However, as the story progressed, Sarah Ruth, while still characterized as ugly, would go on to briefly represent righteousness, and a call to repentance for Parker. Unique to this story are the names of the characters. Sarah Ruth, possibly represented the noble women of Sarah and Ruth in the Bible, while Parker’s name change (O’Connor, 1998, p. 174) may have signified a time of transition that may parallel the Apostle Paul’s conversion. Nonetheless, as the story of Parker’s Back evolved, the reader is drawn back to Parker’s initial spiritual experience or God’s call with a tattoo artist (O’Connor, 1998, p. 170), followed by a courtship with Sarah Ruth, that could be regarded as God wooing a sinner to faith. Unfortunately, and like any other journey to spiritual awakening, there is a further rejection of the truth, and more revelation by God to win over the sinner. In Parker’s case, the two major turning points to redemption were the fire with the tractor (O’Connor, 1998, p. 177) and the tattoo of the Byzantine Christ. The fire involving the tractor appeared to be symbolic of God’s revelation to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), while the iconoclastic nature of the Byzantine Christ tattoo, may have been used to symbolize Parker’s unhappy life and final denial to accept God’s call (Schultz, 2015). Not to be overlooked is the marital strife between Sarah and Parker, as such, the tattoo may have been an attempt by Parker to finally gain acceptance from Sarah (Tolbert, 2015). O’Connor’s story ended with Parker’s complete submission to the Lord, which usually does follow a strong emotional response from the newly converted (O’Connor, 1998, p. 185). Sadly, Sarah Ruth, at this juncture of the story, offers no comfort to Parker; instead there is only disdain, typical of what may occur between Christians of opposing beliefs. In summary, O’Connor’s fictional tale of Obadiah Parker typifies the way God calls, the called to redemption, beginning with a reckless life, denial of sin, hitting rock bottom, and followed by the events leading to spiritual awakening and final acceptance.
Some works show their true colors right away. Gene Edward Veith’s book, Reading Between The Lines, addresses philosophical ideas, literary sub genres, and reader criticisms in order to ascertain a Christian’s role in literature. He also goes through various historical periods and examines their more prominent works and schools of thought. While a select few of his conclusions about Christianity in relation to the arts have merit, others contain more damaging implications. Specifically, his statements regarding television represent inaccurate and offensive thinking.
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives; and perhaps more importantly, understand the significance Ruth’s life has had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapters “Shul” and “School” next to each other. Here, both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is, “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassment Ruth and James feel for their circumstances. In “The Ne...
Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
Fifth The Editors of The Encyclopædia Britannica, ed. " Allegory. " The Encyclopædia Britannica.
In the novel Cold Sassy Tree (1984), Olive Ann Burn's plot focuses heavily on religion and its role in society. Mary Willis Blakeslee, a Baptist, is tried for heresy by the deacons of the Baptist church for marrying Hoyt Tweedy, a Presbyterian. “The deacons voted to put it in the church records that ‘Mary Willis Blakeslee has swapped her religious birthright for a mess of matrimonial pottage’” (11). After her father Rucker Blakeslee confronted the deacons they agreed to remove the pottage element from the document (11). Although this confrontation with Grandpa intimidated the deacons it didn’t impede them from excommunicating Mary Willis from her “birth church.” As it ended up she decided to attend the church of her husband, Hoyt Tweedy. As Cold Sassy Tree illustrates, in Georgia in the early 1900’s religion played a major role in marriage decision along with membership to the church. This sort of attention that Mary Willis acquired was very hard for her to tolerate emotionally. It was important to her to appear respectable to the community. Regardless of this embarrassment caused by the Baptist...
...e to the study of the bible instead of all the doubts that was created by the other criticism. To them all the odd parts and repeated phrases or parts all add to a strikingly beautiful tale. They see the bible as a literary masterpiece in which the authors used gorgeous imagery to strike at the heart of the reader to show them God’s greatness. In essence rhetorical critics want you to see the big picture instead of all the little side pictures. The J story of Genesis as well at times the P story is filled with imagery that is meant to show God’s power.
This short story gives the opinions and beliefs of Ozzie Freeman, a thirteen year old Jewish boy who questions the rationality of the Jewish religion. Rabbi Binder, his teacher, is persistent to overthrow Ozzie and put an end to his profane questions. Eventually this leads to Ozzie's escape up to the roof of synagogue. In turn, Ozzie achieves religious freedom by making the Jews convert to Christianity. In the Conversion of the Jews, it is my belief that Roth's character Ozzie reenacts the dark hours of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and by doing so I believe Roth is stressing the importance of religious tolerance.
The Hebrew Bible, better known as the Old Testament, is a collection of tomes that form part of the Biblical canon. Many scholars around the world do not think that a single author wrote the books contained in the Hebrew Bible, but rather that it represents centuries of stories frequently compiled after the events they describe . The stories were created with visions for the future, in order to allow audiences insight into communities and beliefs that were common thought during their era. The stories responded to the issues and problems of their time, but also addressed contemporary climates. While the stories themselves may not be true, they convey truth without needing literal readings. For example, the creation stories in Genesis, portray God as creating the universe, and while this is considered as not ‘literally true’; the stories communicate theological truths about mankind’s relationship with God through the eyes of Hebrew writers .
The perception of religion is different for everyone and for the grandmother in the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, being a lady with good Christian values was how she defined herself. The grandmother’s innocence of the evil existing in the world cost her and her family their lives. The story “Cathedral” however, has a more positive outlook on faith. The narrator, “Bub”guided by a blind man named Robert was able to visualize and draw a picture of a cathedral, without really knowing what one was. This essay will examine how the outcomes of both stories were affected by the beliefs of those involved.
In his short story, “Conversion of the Jews,” Philip Roth illustrates a conflict between faith and reason through a young boy’s endeavors to find the truth. A thirteen-year old Jewish boy, Ozzie, habitually questions Rabbi Binder, since Ozzie’s logical reasoning frequently disagrees with Rabbi Binder’s religious faith. Consequently, Ozzie often finds himself in trouble. One day, he claims that Rabbi Binder “[doesn’t] know anything about God” and runs to the roof, refusing Rabbi Binder and the firemen’s orders to come down. Instead, before jumping down onto the firemen’s yellow net, Ozzie forces the Rabbi, the custodian, his mother, and his classmates to say that they believe in Jesus. Through Ozzie’s refusal
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
Because of their Puritanical beliefs, it is no surprise that the major theme that runs throughout Mary Rowlandson and Jonathan Edwards’s writings is religion. This aspect of religion is apparent in not only the constant mentions about God himself, but also in the heavy use of biblical scriptures. In their respective writings, Rowlandson and Edwards utilize scripture, but for different purposes; one uses it to convey that good and bad events happen solely because of God’s will, and the other uses it, in one instance, to illustrate how it brought him closer to God, and, in another instance, to justify his harsh claims about God’s powerful wrath.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Inspiration of the Bible is not based on a mentally stimulating force, influence, or mood. Rather, biblical inspiration is grounded in God’s authoritative nature found in 2 Timothy 3:16. Moreover, the words “breathed out” affirm God’s creative authorship. Therefore, inspiration refers to the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon the authors of the Bible. These sacred writings, while involve man as an agent, are not based on human initiative. In fact, the prophetic accuracy of Scripture confirms divine initiative because “prophecy never had its origin ...
Also, Biblical narrative includes groupings or numbers to represent symbolic meanings (Schnittjer 212). Furthermore, biblical narrators of the Pentateuch use repetition as a way of driving home a theme (Schnittjer 239). By understanding each literary device at the disposal of the writers, a reader can grasp the full theological meaning of the Scriptures. Also, Schnittjer points out, “The storyteller controls what readers hear and what they do not hear and how they hear what they hear” (Schnittjer 285). His point doubles down on the intentionality in which the Pentateuch was compiled. The greatest effort a reader can make is to understand the purpose of the