Maccabees describe the actions of the Greek ruler Antiochus IV

by | Jun 29, 2022 | Democracy

 

1. Maccabees 1 and 2 Maccabees 6 describe the actions of the Greek ruler Antiochus IV as he tried to abolish the Jewish religion and unite his kingdom under one religion – the Greek religion. He knew the threat Rome posed and wanted to have something that united his kingdom and provided a rallying point in the event Rome attacked. Please write one good paragraph in response to this question for a total of 10 points).

2. Maccabees 6:8-11 and 7:1-42 describe some of the persecution and torture experienced by the Jews under Antiochus. Some were frightened by the government’s powers, but many were galvanized into rebellion against Antiochus. Persecution certainly continues in our world as well. Why do you think some people under persecution abandon their religion or loyalties? Why do you think some people remain faithful and die for their beliefs? What does persecution ultimately accomplish? Please write one good paragraph in response to this question for a total of 10 points).
3. The events recorded in 1 and 2 Maccabees had a major impact on Jewish thinking in the 1st century A.D. That history influenced Jewish expectations for a messiah. The term “Messiah” had political and military connotations, and Jesus challenged these presuppositions when the term was applied to him. Since the canonical Bible does not include any of this history, how should churches fill in this gap so people

will have a better understanding of what the Jews expected and why Jesus challenged their notion of Messiah? (Please write one good paragraph in response to this question for a total of 5 points).

Wisdom and Sirach both sound a lot like the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible. We tend to receive advice and pass along advice just like people always have done.
Answer these three sets of questions in a good paragraph (5 to 6 sentences) for each: (20 points overall)
1. Wisdom 2:6 contains the statement “Let’s enjoy the good things in life.” In its context it describes the attitude that those who do not worship God have, but Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible states several times that those who believe in God should enjoy eating, drinking, and working – the simple pleasures of life. In the New Testament Jesus was criticized because his disciples did not fast like the disciples of John the Baptist. His first miracle or sign in the Gospel of John was changing water into wine. Jesus seemed to enjoy eating, drinking, and being with people. What do you think are the simple pleasures of life that are meant to be enjoyed and why? Do you think religious people are often too austere and don’t seem to have fun? Why or why not?
2. Sirach 6:5-17 describes a fair-weather friend and a faithful friend. What do you think makes a friend a true friend? What are at least three characteristics of a true friend?
3. Sirach 9:1-9 provides advice about women. What do you think of Sirach’s advice? The role of women has certainly

changed in the last 50 years in the United States and continues to change. What do you think Sirach might say today and why?

4. Wisdom is quite different from knowledge. We might get knowledge from books or the Internet, but wisdom comes from somewhere else. What do you think makes a person truly wise?

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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