Christian Ethics Essays (1551 words) - Bible, Christianity

Christian Ethics Exam 2, Lecture 2 We in our society are happy when we condemn other people. We as Christian cannot do it. The book of Isaiah Isaiah was trying to get the people of Israel to live exclusively according to the righteousness and justice of God. Rather than emulate the nations of Babylon, Assyrian and Egypt. Isaiah has a very clear notion of what justice is and that is the fair treatment of disadvantaged. He mentioned and the psalms mentioned this often and other prophet mentioned this and that is there are three special classes of people in Israel that are to be treated with special care, which are: the orphans, the widows and the strangers. You determine the justice of a society based on how they treat the orphans, the widows and the stranger. Now what do those three have in common? What an orphan and a widow have in common is no father, no male and no patriots. The patriot was the center of all authority and power. All inheritance passes from the patriot to the next patriot and so if you are a widow without a husband or an orphan without a father, you are not part of social power of society. You have not power because it is passed from male to male. The stranger are those people in Egypt who also came out with Moses and the Israelite in the exodus but they where not kin or decedents of Abraham, but they to were part of the protection and blessing of God from the exodus. The strangers were from a different ethical group. Everybody belongs somewhere in the world because in the book of number's it say I have access to land. The strangers had no access to any form of property, God blesses them but when they left Egypt they had no place to live. So the orphans, the widows and the stranger's do not have access to social power. They are what you call the disadvantage. Time and time again, Isaiah, the prophets and the psalms would tell us that we must treated these people fairly because according to Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 29 (although he said Leviticus) 10% of what you have should go to the orphans, widows and strangers. This is justice. Isaiah form of justice is treating those who cannot take care of themselves fairly. Righteousness according to Isaiah is the right worship of God, which is we really recognize the uniqueness of God. That is one of the reasons why several time throughout Isaiah insults the idols. Righteousness is the right worship and the exclusive worship of God, while justice is to carry those who cannot carry themselves. Chapter 51 verse 17 The reason why Jerusalem is such a devastated and destructive place is because they wanted to emulate the other nations. They did not want to live by extreme righteousness and justice of God, so God judges them for them. Chapter 52 verse 1 This chapter talks about paradox and irony. Paradox those not mean contradiction. Contradiction is when two things don't have the same truth-values. A paradox can be both true but different. Para means aside while dox means opinion Two opinions that are aside but beside one another with different views. Redemption is eschatological according to Isaiah, which is it occurs in history but not according to historical cause. It occurs by God but not in a supernatural realm. What he describes in this chapter is that one-day Jerusalem holy city. It would be heaven on earth. Jerusalem would only become a holy city only if it is done directly by God. God those it not any other thing does it. Not another king, not another ruler, not another intuitions. This has to be done strictly by God otherwise it would just replicate the problem. Example was one of the greatest empires but now it is in ruins. So Isaiah say don't pattern yourself on something that would destroy you like the greed and the injustice but rather pattern yourself by being righteous and just and than you would become the holy city. Chapter 58 1-9 Muedfalsepiety Personal devotion should require social justice and righteousness. But the people of Israel try to manipulate God with

Why is Act I scene V of Romeo and Juliet an effective piece of drama Essays

Why is Act I scene V of Romeo and Juliet an effective piece of drama Essays Why is Act I scene V of Romeo and Juliet an effective piece of drama Essay Why is Act I scene V of Romeo and Juliet an effective piece of drama Essay Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is about Romeo from the Montague family and Juliet from the Capulet family who meet and fall in love. But the problem is, their families are feuding. They tragically die because of their love for each other and then their families make up.I will be analysing Act I scene V of Romeo and Juliet and showing how it is an effective piece of drama, by showing the Dramatic effects, the Themes, and the Plot Development.In Shakespeares time, the audience was live, and there were no special effects in places like the Globe theatre (Shakespeares plays were written to be performed there), so the actors (or players) had to work hard in portraying their characters and scenes.Dramatic effects that could be created were through changes of mood and pace from section to section, and the behaviour of actors, with the emphasis of words, gesture, and movement. In Romeo And Juliet, Dramatic irony was used a lot, as the audience know that the end is trag ic because of the prologue, but the characters do not know.The characters speech in Act 1 scene 5 shows the contrast of characters; with those who speak in prose are lowborn, servants, and those who speak in blank verse or rhyme are noble, higher, main characters. For example, Wheres Potpan, that he helps not to take away? He shift a trencher! He scrape a trencher! In comparison, Tybalt speaks in rhyme; Now, by the stock and honour of my kin, To strike him dead I hold it not a sin The only exception would be a comedic character speaking in prose, but this does not apply in this scene. The use of contrast and similarity between the old and young, aggressive and sensitive, and noble and lowborn reveals their characters in more depth.There are three main themes included in this play. One theme is Hatred. In Act I Scene V this includes the anger of Capulet towards Tybalt when Tybalt tells Capulet of Romeo at the party. He shall be endurd. What, Goodman boy! I say he shall. Go to. He use s short, snappy sentences, imperatives, to show his anger towards Tybalt. Tybalt shows hatred towards Romeo, as shown here; Fetch me my rapier, boy. What, dares the slave Come hither, coverd with an antic face, To flee and scorn at our solemnity? Tybalt uses sibilance so he sounds spiteful. Tybalt has thoughts of revenge towards Romeo, and says, I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, Now seeming sweet, convert to bittrest gall. The hatred shown here affects the rest of the play because without this hatred, later in the play, Romeo would have not killed Tybalt, not got sent to Mantua, and the tragedy of Romeo and Juliets death would have not happened.The theme of Love is portrayed when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time. O, She doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night He uses rhyming couplets and portrays Juliet as light, and beautiful compared to everything else. When Romeo and Juliet speak to each other for the first time, they are spe aking in a sonnet, mirroring each others words. They are literally in a world of their own, as they are separate from all the other characters on stage, and the audience is focused on them, even though there is still a party in the background. Romeo and Juliet are having the same amount of lines and important words, such as hands or lips, which shows their mutual feeling, and their true and pure love is shown by their sensitive behaviour and their speaking of hands and lips. To some this may seem flirtatious, but there is religious imagery included, such as; And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss. Juliet is speaking here of the pilgrims that touch the hands of the saints statues in church, and how significant they are, relating them to a kiss. She is literally telling Romeo that he may either touch her hand or kiss her, which makes their love for each other more pure and innocent.The last theme is Fate. Romeo seems to hint a foreboding sense of unease; Ay, so I fear, to more is my un rest. And Juliet speaks of love and death; My grave is like to be my wedding bed. These are premonitions, as what they speak of actually happens later in the play. They also show dramatic irony, as the audience already know what will happen in the end from the prologue.The plot shows cultural traditions and setting of the time, with the family honour of the people of Verona. Tybalt is insulted by Romeos presence at the party, and is honourable to his family. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe; A villain, that is hither come in spite, To scorn at our solemnity this night his aggression shows that he is an violent and reckless character.At Capulets party, they are to introduce Juliet to Paris, but Juliet does not fall in love with Paris, but with Romeo instead. The party also shows that Capulet has a large house with many servants and a large, full table of food and drink available for anyone who would like to take advantage of this. Come, lets away, the strangers are all gone. This t ells us that he would invite strangers into his house so they would enjoy themselves. This shows his status as quite high for that time, because people of that time were known for their kindness and generosity.The development of the plot shows the characters relationships and motivations grow. More action is introduced, and the audience become tense from the storyline. This scene is very significant towards the rest of the play, and is a significant piece of drama in that way, as the whole production of Romeo and Juliet is a very significant piece of drama itself.