The Fourth Crusade: An Analysis of Sacred Duty ‌

The crusades were a Christian enterprise. They were proclaimed in the name of God for the service of the church. Religion was the thread which bound crusaders together and united them in a single holy cause. When crusaders set out for a holy war they took a vow not to their feudal lord or king, but to God. The Fourth Crusade was no different. Proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1201, it was intended to recover Christian control of the Levant after the failure of past endeavors. Crusading vows were exchanged for indulgences absolving all sins on behalf of the church. Christianity tied crusaders to the cause. That thread gradually came unwound as Innocent\u27s crusade progressed, however

Mortal Reason and Divine Infinity: Justifying the Ways of God to Men in Book VI of Paradise Lost

In his epic poem, Paradise Lost, Milton’s goal was to “justify the ways of God to men” (PLI.25-26). For his seventeenth-century Protestant audience, this meant reconciling both the paradox of human free will and divine foreknowledge and the paradox of human suffering and God’s goodness. Although God’s speech in Book III makes an explicit argument declaring God’s justice, this paper will show that Book VI, the War in Heaven, completes this argument by attempting to move the poem’s readers beyond the limits of human reason into a divine understanding of the universe. Through temporal compression and confusion, created by the language of Book VI and Satan’s creation of the cannon, the poem elevates the reader from mortal temporality to divine infinity. This perspective, which approximates God’s omniscience, just as the War in Heaven simulates human suffering, allows post-lapsarian humans to understand intuitively how those paradoxes may be harmoniously resolved

Videojuegos de acción y aventura en el aula de Cultura Clásica. Uso de la saga God of War para el aprendizaje comparativo de mitos griegos

We present this proposal to strengthen the learning of certain classical Greek myths using the video game God of War III in the Classical Culture classroom of 4th ESO. In order to achieve this goal, certain key scenes from the game will be used toprovide context. Thus, the students will be able to play them in the scheduled sessions and interactively experience a possible interpretation of the myths presented, and then compare such interpretation with the original texts.Se presenta una propuesta para afianzar el aprendizaje de determinados mitos clásicos griegos usando el videojuego God of War III en el aula de Cultura Clásica de 4º de ESO. Para ello se usarán de forma contextualizada y práctica determinadasescenas clave del juego en clase. Se permite así que el alumnado las juegue en las sesiones programadas y experimente de forma interactiva una interpretación posible de los mitos presentados, para después compararla con los textos originales

Fighting at the command of God: Reassessing the borderline case in Karl Barth’s account of war in the Church dogmatics

This is the author's pdf version of the book chapter.This book chapter discusses Karl Barth's attitudes to warfare and pacifism.This book chapter was submitted to the RAE2008 for the University of Chester - Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies

Scriptural Justification for the American Revolution

This thesis will seek to examine the intention of the Founding Fathers regarding their decision to break from England in what became the American Revolution. On July 4th, 1776, fifty-five men gathered to sign the defining document of their cause – the Declaration of Independence. As the document presents the climactic argument against the English crown, this thesis will seek to analyze its writers’ intentions, presuppositions, and rationalizations. Ultimately, this thesis will demonstrate that the Founders not only sought biblical justification for their actions and opinions, but followed the letter of biblical and common law in order to please both their Creator and their consciences

Radicals in the Revolution: The Persecution of Christians During the Revolutionary War

This paper explores the plight of radical Christians in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution. Pennsylvania, up until the American Revolution, was governed by Quakers, and home to people of many denominational backgrounds, including various Anabaptist sects, such as the Amish, Mennonites, and Brethren. Both Quakers and Anabaptists adhered to the most conservative interpretation of Jesus’s teachings on not resisting an evil person (Matthew 5:38-42) and the swearing of oaths (Matthew 5:33-37). When Protestant revolutionaries took over the Pennsylvania government during the War, they required all residents of Pennsylvania to take an oath of allegiance to the Colony. The Quakers and Anabaptists, because of their conscientious objection to the War and to swearing oaths, refused to do so. The revolutionaries, as a result, treated them as if they were the worst of traitors. The irony, however, is that religious freedom was one of the causes for which they fought. As a supplement, it further explores how conscientious objectors were treated in future wars, in order to show that events such as this set a precedent for the way America has interpreted religious freedom. In order to truly study history, both sides of a given issue must be examined, whether they be positive or negative

Różewicz and Bonhoeffer. On the Margin of the Poem Learning to Walk by Tadeusz Różewicz

The departure point of the analysis presented in this article is a poem written by Tadeusz Różewicz learning to walk (nauka chodzenia). The protagonist of the poem is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who created the theory of “religionless Christianity”. According to Bonhoeffer, a modern Christian has to immerse himself/herself in the “godless” world so that – in tandem with the Saviour – he/she can be experience the final abandonment. The author of this article tries to prove that the theology of Bonhoeffer had a great impact on Różewicz, making him reconsider his viewpoint on faith. Due to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the poet also found a solution for a basic contradiction that was explicated in the famous poem entitled Bez (Without): “life without god is possible / life without god is impossible”

The languages of peace during the French religious wars

The desirability of peace was a common topos in sixteenth-century political rhetoric, and the duty of the king to uphold the peace for the benefit of his subjects was also a long-established tradition. However, the peculiar circumstances of the French religious wars, and the preferred royal policy of pacification, galvanized impassioned debate among both those who supported and those who opposed confessional coexistence. This article looks at the diverse ways in which peace was viewed during the religious wars through an exploration of language and context. It draws not only on the pronouncements of the crown and its officials, and of poets and jurists, but also on those of local communities and confessional groups. Opinion was not just divided along religious lines; political imperatives, philosophical positions and local conditions all came into play in the arguments deployed. The variegated languages of peace provide a social and cultural dimension for the contested nature of sixteenth-century French politics. However, they could not restore harmony to a war-torn and divided kingdom