OH! Dr. Sexson also mentioned a movie to watch: WAKING LIFE.

Kari - How God is represented; JEDPR interpretations; God had to be human at one point; Enjoys it when people stand up to him; God in Job.

Laura - Last chapter we read in Frye; 3 things and why they make us think; Bible is a poem; Reading the Bible as a work; Reality continues beyond the Bible; Cycle of Life; Society has to force its interpretation of the Bible on people.

Kim - Why do bad things happen to good people?; Job and his tragedies in Frye; Satan got Job's property; House that killed Job's children; Fire that killed Job's sheep; 9-11, drunk drivers, Hurricane Katrina, accidents; You cannot question these b/c ppl have their own assumptions...THEODICY.

Gabby(me) - See previous posts...

Dane - The Bible illuminates the individual; Conflict/Freedom; The book The True Believer by Eric Hopper (sp?); The Grand Inquisitor (parable)

Ryan - Ecclesiastes chapter in Frye; written by wealthy to keep the poor from moving forward in society; VANITY; Marxism ~ Political interpretation of Ecclesiastes.

Lindsay - The Slave; Wanda and Jacob's "love" was not really love; Love has to be experienced through God - everything else is lust; Halleluja by Jeff Buckley (class serenade to Dr. Sexson)

Brian - Frye Chapter 24; Should we read the bible LITERALLY? Read it like a poem - each word has much meaning; Oral Tradition that was passed down and written later; Bible means exactly what it says; NO QUESTIONING IT.

These are the notes I took for November 30th on individual presentations...

Amy - Ezekial comparison to John's visions in Revelation; They have the same pattern and steps and images; Difference: Ezikial never implies that he has seen God; Precious stones and rainbows...

Amanda - Creation of Light ~ God's first creation; Water and Light ~ Main themes in Genesis; Water seems to exist before light; Newton studied light first

Rosa - Music "The coming of the Lord" possibly?/ Revelation "We are gifts and can give gifts" Biblical Fortunes.

Adam - Not in class.

Kerry - Time in the Bible; Chronos/Kairos (2 different notions of time); Apocalypse ~ the Bible into one moment; We are not told how to perceive time - must figure it out ourselves.

John - Western Myth; creative poem/story/rhyme/prose; Abraham, Jonah, Sarah - everything is connected; "Honesty is so far from truth."

Kelly - Why The Slave is entitled The Slave; Jacob's enslavement; Wanda the slave; Jacob a slave to a story that he was not aware of.

Alex - Not in class.

Rosana - Blood Wanda (The Slave); Creative poem; "in silence, she fades away."; Menstration became taboo; History of Freud - Penis envy what? The person with the penis is envious! Children have all of their mother's attention; Importance of women and fertility in the Bible...

The Mark of Cain
In the Old Testament, Cain is a figure that has been highly criticized and misunderstood. However, there are many “firsts” in the Bible because of this character. In Genesis, it is written that Cain is the firstborn of Adam and Eve. He is also the first person in the Bible to murder anyone and to be exiled. And, according to Northrop Frye, his involvement in farming may paint a picture of who he really was symbolically and metaphorically.
Genesis 4:1 states,
“Now the man [Adam] had marital relations with his
wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth
to Cain. Then she said, ‘I have created a man just
as the Lord did!’”

According to the Bible, Cain was the very first birth of a child ever. There is some stipulation that he may have been a twin to his brother Abel, but Cain is widely known as the first son of the first people God created. Since the first child ever born deserves a name that means something, Adam and Eve named him “Cain”, meaning Qayin in Hebrew. The name most likely is a wordplay off of the Hebrew term Qanah, which has two possible meanings. The first being to aquire; the second being to create. The second would make the most sense after reading Eve’s words noted above. Cain is, in fact, the very first creation between the first man and woman.
Looking at this aspect of the story from a scholarly perspective, Cain is indeed the first person to murder anyone in the Bible. This could be symbolic of the fact that all of God’s creatures, no matter what order they came into play chronologically, there is one thing that is known. They are all imperfect and they all sin. Cain represents the ability to create human life and the ability to destroy it.
Genesis 4:3 - 5 states,
“At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of
the ground for an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought
some of the firstborn of his flock - even the fattest of them.
And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, but
with Cain and his offering he was not pleased.”

Readers of the Bible are puzzled by God’s decision to accept Abel’s offering and reject that of Cain’s. Many scholars have studied this topic and have concluded that Cain’s offering should have been sacrificial. However, the gaps in the text, or lacunae, leave it up to the reader to determine why God turns Cain away. According to Frye’s writing in his text Biblical and Classical Myths, this part in the story is looked at as ironic, rather than tragic. Cain is as baffled as the readers when God turns him away in Genesis 4:5. Frye calls Cain a “rejected” and “passed-over” figure in the Bible.
Genesis 11:4 states,
“By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain,
and through his faith he was commended as righteous,
because God commended him for his offerings. And
through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.”

Again, why Abel’s offering is looked at as “righteous” and “greater” than Cain’s, only the author of Genesis will ever know. However, readers of the Bible must read between the lines of biblical text and recognize metaphors and representations to understand what God really wants from his people. Either that or God has a horrible sense of humor.
After Cain’s unworthy offering to the Lord, the Bible notes that his expression was “downcast” - and rightfully so! What did Abel do that was somehow superior to Cain? Abel is a shepherd and Cain is a farmer; Abel offered sheep, while Cain offered what he grew from the ground. Where is the wrong in this? The Bible gives no answer - it is filled with lacunae.
So, while Cain was wondering what was wrong with his offering, he grew jealous - jealous and angry. And then it happened in Genesis 4:8:
“Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the
Field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked
his brother Abel and killed him.”

And there it was: the first murder in the Bible. It is rather ironic that Cain’s first offering was not sacrificial, so he rubbed God’s nose in Abel’s death, as if to say, “You wanted a sacrifice. Here’s your sacrifice.”
Yes, Cain was the first child to be born in the bible, and he was also the first person to murder anyone. However, there may be a much more important part to Cain than these things; the fact that he is a farmer may even explain why Cain did the things he did. Frye argues that the fact that Cain was a farmer has much symbolic meaning in the Bible.
Frye, like many other scholars, believes that the proper offering to God would have been something sacrificial due to the Passover and the story of Isaac and Abraham. The Hebrews “idealized” the pastoral community much more than the agricultural economy, which Cain represents. Abel brought his finest, fattest and youngest lambs as a sacrificial offering to the Lord, while Cain brought foods he had harvested. Frye notes that the imagery of harvest becomes relevant much later in the Bible and that perhaps the story of Noah is the first to establish an agricultural way of life. By having Cain be the first murderer in the Bible, this may symbolize what the Hebrew people felt was more important at this time: a pastoral economy, which Abel represents. Hence why God chose Abel’s offering over Cain’s.
Another likely reason why Abel’s offering is accepted and Cain’s is not is by looking at what Jesus represents. This seems to have no relevance at first, but if one analyzes it closely, the outcome is quite ingenious. Within the Bible, God sends Jesus, “the lamb”, to earth to die for everyone’s sins. Jesus represents the sacrificial aspect of the lambs Abel offered to God. By doing this, Abel was favored by God because his offering alluded to the fact that Jesus would be sent to earth someday to be sacrificed for all of God’s people. So, Cain in this scenario had a huge disadvantage to that of his brother. The fact that he represents the agricultural economy caused him to be marked and exiled forever.
Any person could mistake Cain’s character for being a jealous and bloodthirsty older brother in the book of Genesis. However, with the proper understanding of what his character represents, the reader will see that Cain played a part in the Bible. He may have been the first born son to Adam and Eve; he may have been the first murderer, but he represents an economy that was not favored in his time, which lead to his poor decision making and later, his demise.

Okay, so my last summary for Saul was a bit weak...here is my new one:

I am the great Saul: first King of Israel. God gave Samuel a divine image, and guess what? It was me. I am so divine, in fact, that I am annointed 3 different times in the Bible.
My army and alliances worship me. I am adored by them, and who can blame them? For I am divine.
I will have none of this talk from Samuel saying that God regrets making me king. Oh, that wishy-washy God - annointing me and then trying to take my power away. Oh, how he confuses me.
No one cares that I tried to murder Jonathan. He disobeyed my orders. My army was not to eat anything until the battle was over - to ensure divine support for victory. And little Jonathan just had to test me...
And David? Saying that I tried to kill him as well? Did he not know that I was posessed by an evil spirit sent by God? Like he can't dodge a few spears I throw at him. David will not be king. He cannot take my throne.
And about the genocide thing. So what if I spared the king and best livestock? What kind of god wants complete genocide. Samuel, God's little servant, wanted my army to wait seven days before we could even attack. What is that about? Everyone seems to be testing me, questioning my power and authority. Do they not realize who I am? I am divine. I am Saul - King of Israel.

1 and 2 Samuel - Group 2

I am the great Saul. I am the first king of Israel. Samuel had a divine image, and guess what? It was ME! I am so handsome and powerful that I was annointed 3 different times as king - once with Samuel, once for the public, and once again after my very first victory. The tribes of Jordan adore me. They worship me, for that matter. But then, how can I blame them? I will lead my army to victory against...well, everyone!
I will make vows like "no one shall eat until the battle is over in order to ensure divine support for a victory." My men do not need sustanance! They have me on their side! I AM DIVINE! No one will disobey my orders, for if they do (AHEM, Jonathan), I will kill them! Yes, I will kill you for eating a little bit of honey! Who needs sustanance? The weak! I need no food to wreak havoc on my enemies. My army should not either. I AM DIVINE!
The commanders of my army have a problem with me killing our ally Jonathan! Who are they to say what I can and cannot do? Just like Samuel, telling me to wait seven days before I can attack the enemy. Total genocide, eh? I think I'll just kill all of the men, women, children, babies and the weakling livestock...then I think I'll leave the king and the best livestock alive. They deserve to be spared.
And what is this, God? You wishy-washy God. How could you annoint me and then try to take it from me? You want to give my throne to David? Who is this David character trying to steal my throne...David who??? I am so confused by your decisions, God.
And who is Samuel to be angry with me?! I am king. I have total power. I am divine! No more of this David nonsense. I am not a failure. I am Saul: King of Israel.

AHHHHH. I'm doing research for our group project...am having a FABULOUS time. I found a link that may help me out greatly in writing my part for our project that is on Tuesday...oh dear God...Tuesday. It's on Tuesday. I have so much to do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Samuel

TEST REVIEW! FUN FUN!

HAGIOGRAPHY--holy writing--writings about someone that only reveal their saintly nature and NOTHING ELSE.
KAIROS--decisive moment of time that obliterates time
KERGYMA--Proclamation of what one must do to be saved--the sermon on the mount is a POSITIVE version of the DECALOGUE: the 10 COMMANDMENTS
In the book of JOB, SATAN is the ACCUSER rather than the JUDGE or the DEVIL
PARABLE--an attack on the structures of your expectations
JOB is being TESTED; not PUNISHED
According to Professor Sexson, the 3 greatest tragedies are: Brothers K, King Lear and Job...all of which contain the idea of theodicy
What was God's reply to Job? HE DOES NOT REPLY, but says, "WHO ARE YOU?"
Define EPIPHANY: sudden manifestation of God (Moses and the burning bush, Job and the whirlwind)
SUBLIME: a mixture of the awesome and the awful--terrifying yet beautiful
ENTHUSIASM: meaning possessed by the gods
The opening of Ecclesiastes begins, "Vanity of vanities...all is vanity"
Hebel translation of the word "vanity": VAPOR MIST FOG--these things prevent you from seeing
True/False: Jesus individualizes the book of Exodus...TRUE
Fill in the Blank: THE LORD GIVETH AND THE LORD TAKETH AWAY
True/False: Job is a model of patience: FALSE!
APOCALYPSE literally means "the removal of the veil"
KNOW FRYE's 7 stages of the Bible (again, and in order) Creation Revolution Law Wisdom Prophecy Gospel Apocalypse
PARATAXSIS--a breathless way of connecting events by using the word "and"
Wanda's name is changed to SARAH. Why? All converts to Judaism are named "Sarah" who is the daughter of Abraham (this comes from Singer's THE SLAVE)
Name the 3 Archetypal HEROES: MOSES JESUS DAVID
Know about Frye's Mystery Religions
ESCHANTOLOGY: doctrine of the last things...the end of the world...this issue underwrites nearly every chapter in the New Testament
Know how BIOGRAPHIES in FRYE are related to the GOSPELS...the GOSPELS are NOT BIOGRAPHIES
Maria--Whitefish, MT--November 17, 1981--Robert and Nancy
ARCHETYPE: a transcendant meaning
TAT TVAM ASI: "that thou art" YOU ARE IT!
Heilgeschichte--taking the ordinary and making it into a holy history
"FOOL" comes from what book? PROVERBS
J's last great character? MOSES
Which natural image occurs in both the beginning of the bible and at the end of the bible? WATER

Good luck everyone!

MORE CLASS NOTES:

The beginning of Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities. All is Vanity." KNOW THIS FOR THE TEST!

Hebel translates into "breath, vapor or fog"

Hebel is the Hebrew name for "vanity"

Quotes: "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die."
"Carpe Diem" (spelling?)
"Sorrow is better than laughter..." didn't get the rest...boo.
"Wisdom is superior to folly, yet wisdom itself is folly" FRYE

Hemmingway's THE SUN ALSO RISES comes from the book of Ecclesiastes

JOB:
~7 sons
~3 BEAUTIFUL daughters
~very materialistic (he has "a lot of stuff")
~"BIG FUN REPUBLICAN FAMILY'

There are 3 parts: THE LID (prolouge), THE BOTTOM (epilouge), and THE MIDDLE "The oreo cookie"

Job loses everything--all of his stuff!


"Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return" AKA: I came into the world with nothing, and I shall leave it in the same manner

NEVER USE THE PHRASE, "It can't get any worse" because IT CAN!

Job 2:11--Job 42:10 (Before it was prose. Now it's poetry) This is after Job opens his mouth

He is tested, then gets everything back: The Doctrine of Retributive Justice--if you are a good person, good things will come to you, and if you are a bad person, then bad things will come to you.
This ties into the idea of THEODICY: the question of whether God is just or not

"If we couldn't forget, we couldn't function" I LOVED THIS QUOTE from SEXSON
ALL IS SUFFERING. ALL IS FLEETING.

The story of Job is trying to make the point that nothing can make up for what is lost

CHAPTER 3 IS EXTREMELY PESSEMISTIC
THE second best thing is to die. The first is to have never been born at all. (WOW)

Job 7:11 ~ really important passage in this chapter! Joni Mitchell (LOVE THIS WOMAN) has a song based on this chapter

~The book of Mark is like Hemmingway's writing: "He came in. She came in. He sat down. She sat down."

~You don't know something until you need to know it! Plato says that you already know everything you need to...you just forgot it...the idea of ANAMNESIS.

~Our presentations are supposed to INFORM, INSTRUCT, STARTLE, EDUCATE

~Back to Moses...
Exodus 3: Moses is an example of a mythological hero; He is exemplary; "I am who I am"

~Call to Adventure
MOSES throws his staff to the ground and it turns into a snake

~VISIT SLATE.COM

~The New Testament is in constant dialouge with the Old Testament. Ex: The Pharoah and King Herod

~Kahran--the holy book for Islam

~There are 3 Levintine religions: Christianity, Islam and Judeaism

~Review page 96 in Frye: Christianity and Mythology

~December 21--Winter Solstice--the shortest day of the year

~Christmas is TRULY PAGAN--Christmas trees, SANTA CLAUS, ETC.

~EXODUS 24 is SUBLIME!
God tries to kill Moses and Zephora after he tells them to go to Egypt...is the Lord BIPOLAR? (ha).
Moses lingers, so God tries to kill him....PROCRASTINATION!

~Freud: "uncanny" AKA: inexplicable

~Zephora is a great strong woman in the old Testament...she cuts off her son's foreskin and touches Moses' feet with it.

PAGE 225 in Bloom: complex origins of circumcision

~Enigma--there is no answer or explanation

~I / Thou relationships

Genesis 17--the first mentioning of circumcision

Plagues of Egypt: gnats, locusts, thunder, hail, darkness, water to blood, frogs, flies, livestock disease...

Author NATHANIEL WEST, THE DAY OF THE LOCUSTS

~Pulp Fiction--John Travolta makes reference to Ezekial

~The Parting of the Red Sea: IT TOOK MOSES 40 YEARS TO DO ALL OF THIS, however we should not take this number literally.

~There are MANY versions of the 10 Commandments

~"LIKE" is a word to be aware of in Exodus 24

Here are the 1st notes in class after the test (Tuesday, October 10)...I know a lot of people missed this day...the classroom was rather quiet and sad. Forgive me if none of this seems to make sense...this class is hard to take notes in...
~OUR NEXT TEST: November 14
~Read Frye Chapter 9

The Bible=Fiction

Mythologies: the way in which we analyze and organize our universe.
~ "J does not write histories; J writes mythologies."

Heilsgeschichte--the German word for "history"
~ "Important pieces of history become mythologized."

Exodus ~ The Double Mirror ~ everything in Exodus alludes to something in the New Testament

Moses' Birth: Boys are killed while the girls shall live under Pharoah's rule ("Slaughter of the Innocence"). He fears that a man will be born that will contest him--younger, more powerful and questions his authority. Sound familiar? It's because the story is MYTHOLOGY.

Sexson made note of the novel "Deliverance"...never read the book, never saw the movie...not sure if I want to partake in either. Anyway, it is about delivering yourself from your personal bondage...whatever your bondage may be...GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER.

~Rivalry of the son and father for the female (MOM)

Author Renk (sp?) The Birth of the Hero...read it (if you want)

THE HERO'S JOURNEY (22 points) I love the hero's journey. We learned all about it in Sexson's mythologies class. I tried to find the text we used for the class online, but I couldn't...and I don't remember the title. I should have kept the book, but I was broke and sold it back to the bookstore...damn. Go read Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces instead...you will be completely enlightened.
Some points of the hero's journey (that pertain to many many stories told today like: The LOTR, Harry Potter, Star Wars...etc etc) are: a) Crazy conception b) the hero is wanted dead at birth c) raised by adopted parents d) sent away e) refusal to call *Hero can say "yeah" or "nah" f) the use of supernatural aid...ETC.
~ We seldomly know little of the hero's childhood...and there is a MALE BIAS. Generally do not see any female heroes...boo.

TS Eliot: "WE SHALL NOT CEASE FROM EXPLORATION, AND AT THE END OF ALL OUR EXPLORING WILL BE TO ARRIVE WHERE WE STARTED AND KNOW THE PLACE FOR THE FIRST TIME." If I got anything out of ENGL210, it was this quote that is will be seared in my mind forever. This quote ties in perfectly to the hero's journey.

"el" = Godly...when your name ends in "el" (Like mine), it means you are godly...ha. Right.

Can you find the "OZ" in "bOZeman"?

"Moses" means drawn out of the water...which he was.

Archetype of the fugitive: Cain/Abel or Moses/Egyptian he kills
Moses flees to Midean (sp? Can't really read my own writing...) and meets a man with 7 daughters...he marries one of them...they have a son...story is filled with gaps...or LACUNA.

*Epiphany is a manifestation of the divine
*Theophany is a manifestation or appearance of God or a god to a person (the burning bush).

Sexson noted that Exodus 24 is a "sublime" passage in the Bible

"God streaks" in Exodus 34...for real.

Sooo, my group has the books of Samuel, and within our group, we have created 2 mini groups...one is taking over 1 Samuel and the other is taking over 2 Samuel...I am in the mini group of 1 Samuel, so I figured I would start reading and researching for some ideas about our project...here goes...

~Traditionally, the book of Samuel has been said to be written by Nathan, God and Samuel himself...however, modern scholars disagree with this for the most part...and we all NOW know why.

According to Wikipedia, the text makes a strong distinction between the Hebrews, Judahites, and Israelites. Here are the differences:
a) Israelites consistently refers to Saul's forces. It also is used to refer to the supporters of the rebellions against David's reign, in contrast to his supportes.
b) Judahites consistently refer to David's supporters during the rebellions against his rule, in contrast to the rebels.
c) Hebrews are consistently used to designate a group that are separate and distinct to the Israelites and Judahites, and who sometimes take the side of the Philistines against those of Israel and Judah. It is weakly associated with Jonathan initially, and then more strongly with David's band of outlaws.

According to http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=131&letter=S&search=Samuel the two books of Samuel originally formed a single book, as did the two books of Kings.
The article at this site has a lot of information about the book of Samuel. It breaks it down into lame man's terms so that one is able to understand the different sections of the book. It also gives historical background, enlightening me even more!

It is so interesting to read the Bible now. I grew up going to church every Sunday and going to Awana every Wednesday night, and all that was presented to me about the Bible from these two things was that EVERYTHING was FACT.
After taking Sexson's Mythologies class and now Biblical Foundations of Literature class, I see that these "FACTS" are just stories. To teach little children that these stories actually happened is bogus. Now, I am a grown woman, and up until my Freshman year of college, I thought that the Bible was absolute truth, meaning that these stories were factual.
It sounds completely absurd to me now (and I'm even a bit embarassed to admit this on a blog site). Being in these two classes, I now see that I was robbed of truth as a child, rather than enlightened by a sermon or an Awana meeting. This, however, has not changed my personal beliefs about the Bible--just altered them. I like having knowledge. Jaded people are not given enough credit...being jaded means they are wise. Why has it taken me this long to figure it out?
However, I still really wish someone would have said, "HEY. These stories are just that: STORIES. Jonah really didn't get swallowed by the whale." Damn liars. All of 'em.