211 Blogging of the Bible

My term paper...enjoy, my friends, enjoy

2006-12-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Envisioning the Apocalypse: Ellison’s Invisible Man & the Book of Revelation

There was something I had to do and I knew that my forgetfulness wasn’t real, as one knows that the forgotten details of a certain dreams are not truly forgotten but evaded. I knew, and in my mind I was trying to reach through the gray veil that now seemed to hang behind my eyes as opaquely as the blue curtain that screened the street beyond the safe. (Ellison 537)

In the Book of Revelation, the world as it appears is rolled away, and, as John reports it, a serious of visions and images pass before his eyes. Likewise, in the final chapter of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the unnamed, multi-named hero experiences a series of apocalyptic images. According to Northrop Frye, “Every passage in the Book of Revelation is a dense mosaic of allusions to and echoes from the Old Testament” (235). If Revelation is itself the continuation of a literary tradition, it should come as little surprise the Ellison builds upon it in order to enhance the American literary tradition. Like Revelation is to the Old Testament, so Invisible Man is “a dense mosaic of allusions” to Revelation[1]. While certainly an interesting (and rather lengthy) essay could be written paralleling the images in both texts, this essay is more concerned with the act of removing the veil than what is behind the curtain. By comparing how the vision of these heroes is altered, the new world they see, and the importance they attach to their new sight, a strong parallel between the texts emerges that begs us to reconsider our assertion that the Invisible Man dwells in the underworld.

The word ‘Apocalypse’ comes from the Greek ‘Apokolypsis,’ the literal English translation of which is ‘the removal of the veil,’ the assumption being that the world we see now is an illusion. In order to see the world as it truly is, then, one must enter into a different state. For John, the author of Revelation, in order for the veil to be lifted, he must be “in the spirit” (Rev. 1:10). The Invisible Man receives his apocalyptic visions also while under the influence, though the spirit which possesses him is slightly more mundane, at least according to his initial perceptions of his altered state. As he is entering into Harlem, the site of his revelation, he notes “I’d had too many drinks” before observing that “Time ran fluid, invisible, sad” (Ellison 532). The very nature of an apocalyptic vision necessitates that the seer be in a state that is detached from the ties of logic, and both John and the Invisible Man make careful note of the severing of their perceptions from the confines of realism.

This detachment from a strictly literal view of the images presented allows for a richness of imagery in both texts.

[T]he first living creature [was] like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. (Rev. 4:8)

In the above passage, John conjures up through the use simile and imaginative imagery both a powerful, all-seeing, spatially-adept mythic creature and quite the depictional quandary for literal-minded artists. Things with wings also enter into Ellison’s novel; “And I looked above toward the sound, my mind forming an image of wings, as something struck my face and streaked” (533). Sight figures prominently in both descriptions; though, while John remains an observer, Ellison’s hero loses his literal vision, thanks to the “something” that he, unlike John, is unable to describe in detail. Moving into imaginary visions, the Invisible Man, like John, must utilize a vast array of similes. As the Invisible Man looks upon the fragments of broken windows, “the shattered glass glittered in the street like the water of a flooded river” (556) (emphasis mine). The translation of a reality that does not follow traditional perceptions of the world poses a problem for both authors, necessitating the use of familiar images to prompt the reader into a similar (like, if you will) state that is free from the confines of expectations and logic.

Initially, both Revelation and Invisible Man, peppered with “I looked” and “I saw”, seemed to be personal memorializing of a personal experience; however, a desire to allow others to experience the vision second-hand pervades both texts. John’s narrative takes an epistolary form, directly addressing itself to “the seven churches that are in Asia” (Rev. 1:4) and later broadening into “anyone” (3:22), a technique that through the specific naming of an audience, betrays a strong desire for a readership. The Invisible Man takes on the form of an orator—addressor of ‘anyone’—throughout the novel with his many speeches. However, as he asks at the end of the novel, “So why do I write, torturing myself to put it down?” (579). Why bother transcribing spoken words into print? “Why should I be dedicated and set aside—yes, if not to at least tell a few people about it? […] Who knows but that, on some lower frequencies, I speak for you?” Ellison’s hero asks the reader (579, 581). Here, the Invisible Man joins John in asserting that: a) his experience has been different than the common man’s, and b) his experience has implications for the common man. In order to open the eyes of the common man, both speakers feel the need to translate their vision onto paper, creating a pattern of symbols that are inherently visual, though must be interpreted on another level, much like how the speakers perceive the world.

In class, we discussed how Invisible Man failed to complete the pattern of the hero because Ellison’s hero never returned from the underworld; while the Invisible Man certainly lives underground in both senses of the word (in a “hole” (6) and self-removed from society’s laws (7)), I would argue that in the context of the apocalyptic stress on the removal of a veil in order to see things in their true light, the Invisible Man on the metaphoric level resides in heaven, like the ascended Jesus, rather than in hell. Throughout Revelation, John associates heaven and truth with bright light and hell and ignorance with darkness. The 1,369 light bulbs (of the highest quality and with the addition of more being planned) of Ellison’s hero are important then as instruments of illumination, for, as he says, “The truth is the light and light is the truth” (7). In the Invisible Man’s dream at the end of the novel, Jack, Emerson, Bledsoe, Norton, and others cut from him his illusions in the form of “two bloody blobs” (569), his eyes. However, removal of optical instruments does not blind the Invisible man; instead it initiates him into a state where he can “see that which I couldn’t see” (570), ignorance and blindness (the underworld) has been replaced by a new way of seeing. In Invisible Man, both figurative and literal darkness has been cast out by a visual illumination allowing us as readers, like Ellison’s hero and John, get a glimpse of something behind the surface, something that slinks behind the curtain.

[1] While some might see the parallels between Invisible Man and Revelation as strictly coincidental or unintentional allusions to a vast apocalyptic literary tradition, the similarity between the two texts can hardly be attributed to chance; as Howard Bloom points out in his introduction to Modern Critical Interpretations: Invisible Man, Ellison deliberately crafts his novel around the framework of literary tradition, specifically, the Bible (1).

Things to know about Ruth

2006-12-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Originally, our group had a hard time coming up with much to discuss about Ruth ('Um...it's a story about a pushy mother-in-law?'). However, by the time our presentation came around, we had almost too much to discuss. Nonetheless, Ruth in three points:

-"Where you go I will go"-so says Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi. A beautiful pledge of allegence.

-Like in The Slave, Jewish laws play a big role in this little romance. (Legislative affecting personal)

-Ruth, a convert, becomes the great-grandmother of David, at least according to the final geneology (Boaz--Ruth's second husband--was the father of Obed who was the father of Jesse who was the father of David)

A bit o' biblical humour

2006-11-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

A good friend sent this to me. It reminded me, of course, of the "Biblical Humor" time we had in class the other day. Although it mocks British government agencies, hopefully, you'll still find it rather humourous.

Noah in 2006
In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in England and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.

Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans."

He gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

"Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval. I've been arguing with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I should have obtained planning permission for building the Ark in my garden because it is development of the site even though in my view it is a temporary structure. We had to go to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

Then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, the RSPCA sued me.

They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the County Council, the Environment Agency and the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many BMEs I'm supposed to hire for my building team .

The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only CSCS accredited workers with Ark-building experience.

To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

Test time again!

2006-11-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

Words to know:
Hagiography: holy writings, writings about saints, writings that only present saintly side of a person
Heilsgeschichte: holy history
Kairos: decisive moment in time which obliterates time
Kerygma: proclamation of what one must do to be saved
Theodicy: question of the justice of God (why do bad things happen to good people?)
Epiphany: sudden manifestation of God
Enthusiasm: being possesed by a god
Sublime: experience that is a mixture of the awesome and the awful
Apocalypse: removal of the veil
Parataxis: use of the conjunction of "and" to connect sentences, creates breathless, childlike feeling (as seen in Mark)
Eschatology: doctrine of the last days
Archetype: transcendant meaning
Signature: specific historical example
Parable: attack on the structure of expectation
Tat Tvam Asi: That Thou Art.

Frye's 7 stages of the Bible:
-creation
-revolution
-law
-wisdom
-prophecy
-gospel
-apocalypse

Job
Job--not being punished, rather, tested
Satan plays the role of the accusor in Job
How does God reply to Job? (Who are you?--demonstration of power)
According to Job: 'The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.'
Job is a model of patience. (FALSE)

Mark
Frye: The Sermon on the Mount is the archetype of the Decalogue (10 Commandments in a positive form)
Christianity seems to have started as a mystery religion (young man in sheet in Mark)
Frye: Gospels are not biographies
Frye: Jesus individualizes the book of Exodus

Ecclesiastes
Opening: "Vanity of vanities, sayth the Teacher, all is vanity."
Hebel: fog/mist (translated as 'vanity')

Various
In The Slave, what is Wanda's name changed to? (Sarah, common name taken by female converts)
Maria: was born Nov 17, 1981 in Whitefish, MT (birth story, the birth of the hero)
Moses, David, & Jesus: archetypal heros
Sexson: Brothers K, Job, & King Lear--three greatest tragedies

Notes from 9.11.06

2006-11-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Rev 22--"Shall We Gather at the River"
Tehom: Genesis, waters of chaos
imagination: means by which we form connections
Revelation: vision-hallucination, highly enegmatic
Apocalypse: individual, first person account
--conflict between righteous minority and evil
Frye 225: time as Kairos (not chronological--knotch in the arrow)
Odyssey: going home--like a baseball player who must circle bases in order to get a home run

The Slave

2006-11-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

So, the time has come to blog The Slave. To begin at the end, Singer's conclusion had me tearing up a bit. And when I get teary, I get cranky--so after thinking, "Aw, what a sweet conclusion!", I began dissecting that ending and came to the conclusion that it was corny. So, Singer, you really expect me to believe years after burying a woman and obliterating her grave, they would, by pure chance, bury her husband right next to her? How realistic is that?

And, of course, that is the problem--not with Singer's conclusion, but with my reading of it. My desire for a realistic ending ignores the beauty of the myth.

In a world of myth, of course Jacob's bones would be mingled with those of his love. Of course Tamar's seemingly odd choice of bed-partners leads to David. Of course, Job, having survived a period of trials, gets everything back--and then some. Of course, wondering the desert for 40 years does not result in the extinction of a band of sheepherders; rather it ends in the building of a nation. Joseph sold into slavery to some random slave traders ends up directly saving his family from famine. Some may say it's God's plan directing the events, both in The Slave and in The Bible. And perhaps it is. Perhaps God boils down to a directing force behind myth.

And really, deep down inside, I must admit I don't always want realism in my reading. Look what the realistic reading does to the society described by Singer. Because of their strictly literal interpretation of the laws of.....who exactly? shall we say Moses?, the Jews of Singer's novel are unable to accept the beautiful Wanda. In fact, all of the conflicts in the novel stem from a tug-of-war between the literal and the mythic. Initially, Jacob struggles to reconcile his feelings for Wanda (which, depending on your degree of cynicism, belongs in the mythic realm) with the solid, written-and-unchanging (according to his interpretation) laws which govern his life. The Lord of Pilitz becomes almost frantic when he begins to suspect what he views as a miracle (Wanda--er, Sarah--the mute's speaking) might not be so miraculous after all. And much is made of Sarah's minor trespasses of Jewish law because of her love for Jacob.

As Singer explores, to what extent should we align reality with myth? What really is 'reality'? The obvious answer seems to be that everyday life is reality and literature is myth....but what if we ultimately are just "the same Jacob and the same Rachel"?

Notes from 2.11.06

2006-11-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

Frye: unity found when reading Bible as a whole (reoccuring image of water--Revelation 22.1)

Mark
who's hearing what correctly?
parables: attack on the structure of expectation
Luke 10.25-37--Parable of the Good Samaritan, not the expected conclusion
--love your neighbor as yourself (thou shalt vs. thou shalt not (10 Commandments-style))
--what have you done positively today?

parable-comes from parabola (comes at a curve)

Luke 15--Parable of the Prodigal Son
--unexpected conclusion
--education: not the confirmation of what you already know

Mary & Martha (Luke 10.38-42): turning of the tables

Mark 13: mini-apocalypse (destruction of the temple)
--early Christianity: the End is coming!

Revelation
-language so vague we can fit it into most any era
-Mark: apocalypse NOW

Christianity seems to have originated as a mystery religion
--young man of Mark being initiated into the mystery
--en-thios: God is inside (possesed by the spirit of God)

is Revelation mere crazy hallucinations or is it a series of brilliant images that allow us to see things new?

listen to "The End" by The Doors

Notes from 31.10.06

2006-11-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Kerygma: proclimation--what must I do to be saved?

New Testament
Helenistic world:
-mystery religions--often centered on heroic figures (often women)
--------------------town of Eleusis
--------------------secretive initiations
-------------------------democratic: male/female, slave/free--no distinctions
-------------------------would dress in sheets
-------------------------come out with face shining
-------------------------something said, done, shown
reality gets ruptured, another demension of experience
get off the literal line!

Pharisees
--liberals
Bloom: sacrimental sense
Equus--play about sacrimental view of the world

Job & Theodicy
-question of unquestioning submission
comedy or tragedy?
-----------some claim written by a Greek
-----------inquiry into human suffering
-----------expose the gods! (Prometheus)
Elihu-we learn something from suffering
God answers questions with questions--display of authority
Frye: we need prologue and epilogue (answers)
-doubts important component of faith

Mark
Essenes--outskirt group that encouraged withdrawl from world. Teacher of Righteousness: "The end of the world is near! Are you prepared?"
-probably earliest of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
-crudest (simplest)
-parataxis--oral style ('and')
-no subordinant clauses
-"immediatly!"
-parable--attack on the structure of one's expectations (Mark 4.10)
Frye's answer: parables ARE the teachings

The question of authority in Mark

2006-11-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

I've read the book of Mark before--once upon a time in a Sunday School class which believed in dissecting individual verses (a la Jonathan Edwards) to glean whatever truths they believed were hidden there--, but reading it this time I was struck with how quickly it moved--spurred by all of the "and"s and "immediately"s that we talked about in class. Beyond the pace set by literary conventions, the book itself is really quite small (especially compared to, oh, let's say that grand book of Numbers) and took me under an hour to read all the way through.

But what interested me most was Mark's theme of authority: Jesus marches on to the scene and immediately begins telling demons and people what they can and cannot say about him. What authority does he really have, though? Both demons and people defy his commands and loudly proclaim Jesus' claim to authority ("You are the Son of God"). Interesting, don't you think, that the very people who recognize Jesus' position are the one's denying his commands? Even Jesus' God-power of healing is not his to control, as demonstrated by the woman who is healed merely by touching his cloak and the multiple instances of people's faith (or their friends' faith) healing them--not Jesus himself. Beyond that, Jesus is not doing his own will, but rather his father's--and is betrayed because "the Scriptures must be fulfilled."

Free-will, then, is apparently not an attribute of God.

Notes from 26.10.06

2006-10-27T10:16:00.000-06:00

theodicy: bad things happen to good people.

Deep Wisdom: Hamlet vs Polonius (To be or not to be? vs To thine own self be true.)

Ecclesiastes
vanity: Heb.-hebel (vapor/fog)
-pointlessness of existence
-are we ever satisfied?
*pessimistic & epicurean (eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die)*
-seems out of sync with other wisdom books

in Hebrew, 'creation' and 'grave' sound almost the same

Job
like an Oreo cookie: Prologue------------Body------------Epilogue
------------------------prose--------------poetry------------prose
----------------------conventional------complex---------conventional

Prologue & Epilogue: concerned with quantifying Job's happiness
-One day, something happens (the Prosecutor comes before God)

Tragedy: exploration of the nature of human existence
-"Naked came I from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away."

'The patience of Job'
-Have you read his complaints in the frosting?

Doctrine of Retributive Justice: good works=good outcome, bad works=bad outcome

'We'll just replace 'em'--'making up' for suffering (unjust)
All is suffering, all is fleeting: Buddhism (Ferryman in The Slave)

3 Great Tragedies
Job
King Lear
Brothers Karamazov

Notes from 24.10.06

2006-10-27T09:56:00.000-06:00

Names
Isaac Bashevis Singer--Nobel Prize for Lit winner
Bashevis: born of Bathseba
Sarah: commonly-taken name of female converts to Judism
Benjamin: tradition! myth! ("Perhaps it was always the same Jacob and the same Rachel.")

Why call it The Slave?

Talmud: commentary on the Bible divided into the Mishnah and the Gemara

The Teacher: prominent societal role in Jewish tradition
What makes a good teacher?
Old school teaching: importance of memorization
-Teachers first to go when anti-intellectuals take over

Why do the good suffer and the evil prosper?

The more stories you know, the better chance you have to redirect the story.

'Gimple the Fool': a short story by Singer--the Holy Fool

Wisdom Literature
deals with everyday (secular) concerns
two types: simple/complex
----differ in style, theme, and type of wisdom

simple wisdom: proverb (simile) & fable, practical wisdom, provides answers (Like Polonius's instructions to Hamlet: be wary in France! To thine own self be true!)
complex wisdom: provides questions

Ecclesiastes: complex--asks why are we?

Notes from 19.10.06

2006-10-24T12:01:00.000-06:00

TERM PAPER--3-5 pages, email idea

Simile (like, as) & Metaphor (is)--initiation into a revised sense of consciousness

EXODUS 24
Sublime ('that was AWEsome')--Bloom
--problem: no graven images
'It was just the light on the mountains.'-Martin Buber

Frye--Exodus mirrored in the Gosepels
nature or vision?
It is not one or another, it is both.

How should we view accounts of the past?
-'You Are There' with Walter Kronkite?
--time machine, how it really happened
--What was real?

OR

-Metaphorical/mythological understanding
--Gospels are NOT biography
--Wisard of Oz: the wizard doesn't know

METAPHOR--SPIRITUAL

apacolypse--removal of the veil (Apo Calypsus)
eschatology--doctrines of the last days
literal eschatology--historical date ser for the end of days

1977--the world ended (Millerists)

Jesus & Eschatology
-metaphorical, 'realised' (the end has come, we just didn't notice)
-literal (it is coming)

Notes for 17.10.06

2006-10-24T11:53:00.000-06:00

Ways of learning:
Sage on the Stage or Guide on the Side?
Instruct or Surprise?

Richard Freedman, Hidden Book of the Bible--J extends into the Samuels, etc.

God reveals his 'personal' name after already having been referred to by it--conundrum?

Bloom: YHWH in fire--'do not approach!', Moses's call to adventure

One thing becomes another (God becomes flames in a bush, Moses's staff becomes a snake)= importance of metaphorical understanding

Old Testament- New Testament: dialogue (dialectic--give and take discourse--with tradition, Frye 92) or superceded?

Levantine religions (based on the Book)
------------
-Judism
-Christianity
-Islam

oh, christ-mas!

2006-10-19T06:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at the gym, I forgot my headset and home and was thus forced to listen to the girls chatting next to me.

Girl one: You know what--Christmas is coming!
Girl two: I wonder how it came about--I mean, why is it in December?

[myth, dear girls, myth!]

Girl one: Yeah, I think I heard somewhere that Jesus was actually born in the summer.
Girl two: I think I've heard that, too.

They must both watch the History Channel.

Notes, 10.10.06

2006-10-10T18:25:00.000-06:00

Moses & the Exodus

Generations--P

Lots of redaction happening in Moses's story (makes J's contribution hard to decipher)
--Exodus 2:15, a well! smells of J

No historical evidence of mass exodus of Jews from Egypt (who is writing the history)

Frye: chapter 9--mirrored in gospel (allusion of freedom from bondage)
'Out of Egypt-bringing God'
-Deliverance

Heilsgeschichte: holy history (mythological & spiritual significance)

How to prove the 'normal' is really the 'super-normal'? (answer: mythological basics)

Myth of the Birth of the Hero (Rank, drawing upon Lord Ragland's collection of stories from around the world)
---------------(Some of the) 22 Components of the Hero----------------------
-extraordinary circumstances of conception
-attempt to kill at birth
-sent away to be saved (often in a box or a basket)
-adopted by foster parents
-mysterious childhood
-becomes fugitive at coming of age
-meets beautiful woman
-is called (epiphany/theophany)

bOZeman--do we live in myth?

Slaughter of the Innocents: male ruler fears male successors, kills babies (basic mythology--see Achilles, Jesus, Moses of course)
-Freud, Oedipus-struggle and the father circumventing by killing young rival

YHWH--I am what I am

Exodus 33:23--God streaks. Can you see God and live?

testing 1, 2, 3

2006-10-04T17:43:00.000-06:00

FRYE
Greek translation of the Hebrew texts: Septuagint (7)
7 stages of the Bible:
-creation
-revolution
-law
-wisdom
-prophecy
------
-gospel
-apocalypse
U-shaped structure Frye refers to is what literary type? (comedy)
Frye's thoughts on the Whore: not sexual as much as theological (ie
Hosea)
Bible tends to be antagonistic to: women, snakes, and nature
Trees and water (will have some sort of question concerning)
Trickster figure (think: smooth)
Archetype: fundamental or primary image, symbol, or story
Look at the 'dying god' on pg 63
Pastoral turns into Agricultural turns into Urban

BLOOM
J's most prominent literary feature: irony
Documentary hypothesis (multiple authors of first five books)
Bloom argues J is a moralist (false!)
Blessings=more life

ASSORTED SOURCES
Mortal crimes (most prominently, apostasy--worshipping false gods)
Bride/Bridegroom metaphors
P vs. J on God's traits (will have a list of attributes to place under
correct column)
Traditional Patriarchs
Rebecca's watering of the camels proves she is the right girl
Theodicy--why do bad things happen to good people?
Lacuna(e)--gap in the narrative
Henotheism--my god is better than your god
Gnosticism: nurturing divine flame of knowledge within self
Patriarchy: rule of fathers
Exodus=Trojan War in regards to historical-mythological importance
(about 1200 BCE)
Know J P E D R
Women's sins in the Bible: generally sexuality and deceit
Esau (some question about him)
Types and Antitypes (Chapter in Frye about?)
Etiologies: metaphorical explanation (why women experience pain in
childbirth, etc)

Satan and sulphur

2006-09-24T19:44:00.000-06:00

I know we haven't talked about Satan much (and probably won't until Job and the New Testament), but I found this Slate article about the sulphuric tendencies of Satan interesting.

Sarah's Laughter

2006-09-23T12:32:00.000-06:00

We've talked a bit in class (with both Sexsons) about Sarah's reaction to Yahweh's announcement of her impending pregnancy. Most intriguing to me is the difference between the Bible's account and The Book of J's version. In the Bible, we are told Sarah says, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?" (Genesis 18. 12). In J, Sarah is a bit more explicit about Abraham's inadequacy: "Now that I'm used to groaning, I'm to groan with pleasure? My lord is also shriveled" (Bloom 82). Biblical Sarah delicately states that they are both old; and her conclusion seems to be that since they are both old, they cannot expect to have pleasure. On the other hand, J's Sarah is delightfully more jaded. Her life has been hard, her man is not any more. Who do these angels think they are kidding?

Class Notes, Weeks 1 & 2

2006-09-09T19:48:00.000-06:00

The Quilted Bible

Litany--lists (can make reading difficult, but heck, if it's your greatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreat
grandfather listed there, it wouldn't be quite so mind-numbingly dull)

Bible--biblia (Greek): many books

Multiple authorship (Documentary Hypothesis Theory)
P--Priestly Author
J--story elements, YWH, wrote most of Genesis
E--refers to God as Elohim
D--Deuteronomy
R--The Redactor, mercilessly splicing the manuscripts together

Frye: 'There are things that are untranslatable, but some things lose nothing with translation.' (not a direct quote, thus single quotation marks)
--images
--consistency of voice

The Holey Bible

Lacuna(e)--gap(s) in the narrative

Daoism--for everything that happens, there is something gained and something lost. (yin/yang)

How do we know what is 'good' and what is 'bad'?

Grapes of Wrath: see Isaiah 63.

The Bible: model for behavior or mirror of identity?

Retelling of texts

7 Stages of the Bible (Frye):
-Creation
-Revolution (Exodus)
-Law
-Wisdom
-Prophecy
------------
-Gospel
-Apocalypse

Myth: an aggregation of stories, images, and allusions that tell people who they are and what
God expects from them.

The God(s) of the Bible

Bloom: Everyone misreads.
strong / weak

YWH → Yahweh → Jehovah

Polytheistic–many gods ←↕→

Patriarchy in Jewish Religion, Monotheism

Henotheism– I have a god, you have a god. Mine is stronger.

Creation Myth:
Logos (divine power of word), P vs. Muddy-fingered, life-breather, J

Testimony–“Put your hand under my thigh.” (Genesis 24.3)

Greek mythology → Trojan War Hebrews → Exodus
(just let it be a myth, you crazy people!)

Talmud–interpretive commentary made by rabbis

P:
-organization
-cultic over story
-transcendent
-Logos

P (God) vs. J (Lord God) in English translations

Frye: Bible antagonistic to:
-women
-snakes
-nature

Blogging the Bible: Professional Version

2006-09-07T22:04:00.000-06:00

This past summer, I've been reading the very entertaining blog kept by David Plotz for Slate, an online magazine associated with The Washington Post, as he reads the entire Bible (sounds familiar, eh?). To begin at the beginning of his Blogging of the Bible, click here.

A tradition of seconds?

2006-08-31T22:05:00.000-06:00

"It is difficult to locate in Western literature and history a more charismatic figure than David."--Harold Bloom, The Book of J (pg 41)

Interestingly, throughout the book of Genesis, the theme of the second-born being preferred to the first-born crops up again and again. Cain kills his younger brother; why? Because God has "regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard" (Genesis 4:4-5). The line of Noah, the only genes that survive the Flood, springs from Seth, a younger brother of Cain. Precious Isaac, though referred to several times as Abraham's firstborn is, in fact, his second son (ah, yes, Ishmael!). Jacob craftily worms himself into the position of Isaac's heir by outsmarting his elder brother, Esau, and Jacob's darling Rachel is herself a younger child....And that's just up to Genesis 30.

I'm inclined to agree with Bloom that J culminates her story with David--she certainly sets the precedent for Yahweh's chosen to not be the first-produced. David was anointed king only after the failure of Saul, Israel's first king. Not only preceded in reign, David was the youngest son of Jesse, preceded by three brothers. Having already prepped us with a series of better-seconds, J can proudly present David, greater than what has come before.