Let me know Thee, O Lord, who knowest me: let me know Thee, as I am known.
(St. Augustine of Hippo: Confessions X, 1)
I have ever been a Christian; to speak precisely, a Presbyterian, for more than ten years. However, I cannot help but confess that I have never believed in Christian creeds completely, and for a long time my religious inclination was near to Deism, a theological system of natural religion, opposed to s the orthodox dogmata, i.e., creeds of all revealed religions, and therefore condemned by both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches as heresy, or more radically as Atheism. In fact, Deism, as David Hume attacked in his Dialogue, has several philosophical defects, and more dangerously may reduce Providence into being predicable. Faced with this dilemma, what I ought to do is to make certain what religion is at bottom not through scriptural investigate, but through historical. I, albeit no longer a Christian, believe that examining the development of Christendom is tantamount to studying what religion is, because the Christian theological issues reveals the nature of religion profoundly. For the sake, I chose this book ‘The End of Ancient Christianity’ to study.
‘The End of Ancient Christianity’, written by R. A. Markus, is a research of shifts in Western Christendom from 4th through 6th centuries, wherein Christians experienced a monumental event. Emperor Constantine converted into Christianity; scilicet, Christianity ceased to be the religion of a persecuted minority, and was regarded as the official religion of Roman Empire. For Christians cogitating who would be redeemed in the Last Judgment, nonetheless, this change is not an event to be worth commemorating. Martyrs were considered to be distinguished from others when Christians was persecuted and slain by the Roman government. Once Roman Emperor converted into Christianity, however, who would be persecuted? Ironically enough, Christian governors now began to persecute paganism and heresy. Whereupon, in this period, Christians must think more and more about what the boundary between Christianity and paganism is, and what the doctrines of Christianity are.
This book can also be considered as an essay concerning Latin Fathers’ theology, in particular Augustine’s. In the following paragraph, then, I would like to discuss about some theological debates that attract my attention vastly. First of all, as mentioned above, the so-called ‘Constantine Revolution’ made quite an impact upon Christians; consequently, they were forced to find new ways of distinguishing themselves. For instance, as Augustine put it, a converted rhetorician replied to his Christian friend who did not believe he was a Christian until he came to the church, by asking him whether the walls of the church made Christians. From some aspects at least, Christianity, though claiming that God is love, is essentially elitism. The French word ‘elite’, in fact, is originally taken from ‘to elect’; that is to say, the noblest amidst men, and women, are the chosen people. If so, what to be noble is for God becomes the problem. The Fathers in this period did not find the answer at all, nor did their followers. Methinks, the problem in Christians’ minds would be the permanent, probably also the paramount, question for ever.
Furthermore, another debate amidst late 4th century Fathers which interests me, and meanwhile forces me to consider more, is whether or not a Christian should be an ascetic. Some leading Christian thinkers, e.g. St. Jerome and Pelagius, maintained that to be a pious Christian must be an ascetic, denying one's own desire for anything except divine grace. On the other hand, unlike Jerome, Augustine, although placing high value on virginity, made room for marriage. Thus he said that good was marriage, but virginity better. According to the interpretation of Fathers, our sexual desire originates from the original sin; therefore, to preserve virginity is the way in which we can pursuit the spiritual perfection. However, we cannot ignore the fact that human lust after sexual acts is an unavoidable situation, also a state of eagerly wanting, for human beings. When I reflect on this question, as Augustine, faced with the perplexity, I wonder whether to satisfy one’s lust would be sinful. For this, I conclude as below. Man is doomed to want, and thus to err, but, as Alexander Pope put it, to err is human, to forgive divine. We, even though destined to be mistaken, can do good deeds to make expiation for our guilty; on the other hand, to avoid erring, we may lose opportunity to do our best, and exactly it is also guilt. We cannot forget that human being is born to be defective and never be perfect, but to overcome his plights, he, even failed, can preserve his nobility and dignity. This is my reflection.
In the era, some people, pretending to own a ‘scientific’ or ‘positivist’ mind, do not have any interest and belief in religious considerations or ideas about Deity and immortality, namely future life, yet once they begin to reflect as to whether or not human life has meaning, they cannot avoid raising some essential questions seriously. For instance, if there were no Deity as the absolute principle, what would be the criterion we should follow? If there were no criterion we should follow, could we do anything we desire to do, however evil? Therefore, we cannot help but conclude that if we deny religion, we will be mistaken greatly. As mentioned above, on the other hand, to study the development of Christianity, for my part, is to inquire into what religion is, because Christianity is concerned with significant theologian questions, e.g. the problem of free will, much more than other two main revealed religions, Judaism and Islamism. The epoch between the convert of Constantine and early medieval time, i.e. so-called Late Antique, is the crucial period shaping medieval Christianity, and even what it appears today, as far as I am concerned, and thus I recommend this book ‘The End of Ancient Christianity’ for the study of the area. Now, to put a coda to this essay, I would like to say, the more we study about the period following the convert of Constantine, the less unreasonable and unassailable it seems to us; the more we investigate what theologian issues the Fathers did controvert, the more profoundly we, albeit not everyone is a Christian, become aware of strong anxiety in the hearts of foresighted Christians.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Perfume, the story of a muderer - 林鈺鈴
The fleeting realm of scent- reflection and analysis on “Perfume, the story of a murderer”
Mesmerized, trapped, and eventually captured…
These are the very destined paths for those who have once stepped into the curious, yet tempting land created by Patrick Suskind: the fleeting realm of scent.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the notorious murderer who committed numerous crimes was sophisticatedly illustrated by the author as a man lacking of all senses which normal people seem to possess, but incredibly endowed with the unparalleled sense of smelling. “I have the best nose in Paris” declared he with confidence as if other people did not believe him.
Born on 7, 17 1700, he was a cancer in terms of contemporary constellation, and was ought to be “sentimental” with great need of love. However, he was totally against from what we think he supposed to be. Was it a scheme set by the author or a pure coincidence? No matter what it was, it had already spiced the story to excellence and from which I found great pleasure (for it became more ironic and interesting.). Then, what drove him to commit murder? Since he was a man without any feeling (that is to say, there wouldn’t have been people who he hated to death.), what else could possibly lead him to the horrible deed? Well, in my personal interpretation, sometimes one’s extreme fear toward something might afterwards transform into motivation of things one wish to achieve. Realizing that he had no odor of his own, Grenouille doubted whether he truly ever existed or not. The fear of self-unknown gave birth to his ambition (grave and cruel): to create his own perfume so as to prove his being in this world.
At last, he had accomplished his task but it also brought him to death penalty, for he took almost thirty young women’s souls. On the day of execution, Grenouille sprinkled a little perfume on himself and soon he was all covered with his “achievement”. Well, indeed, something queer did happen again (you will never stop overcoming surprises when reading this masterpiece.): people no longer hated him any more, but instead, they loved him, wanted to touch him, and thought him an angel sent from god. The flattery, the intense change from people disgusted Grenouille. Grenouille felt no satisfaction or a tiny bliss on what the perfume had given him. What worse, he wanted to abandon it, to end it, or more precisely, to abandon himself, to end himself.
Patrick Suskind had undoubtedly made a surprise to every reader, but he also had made some fun of people (or criticism to be exact?): human are being so easily fooled or cheated by the only masked fact they saw.
The story began and ended with the birth and death of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and it seemed to have no sequence following. Just like his odorlessness, once he disappeared and he meant to disappear. I won’t say that Grenouille’s life stands for tragedy, but I will say he was a lucky guy. Although it was only after his death did he received “true love” (which he desired the most from others but he could not tell, I suppose.). After all, he had succeeded in all what he aspired and died with no regret, but his own will.
Mesmerized, trapped, and eventually captured…
These are the very destined paths for those who have once stepped into the curious, yet tempting land created by Patrick Suskind: the fleeting realm of scent.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the notorious murderer who committed numerous crimes was sophisticatedly illustrated by the author as a man lacking of all senses which normal people seem to possess, but incredibly endowed with the unparalleled sense of smelling. “I have the best nose in Paris” declared he with confidence as if other people did not believe him.
Born on 7, 17 1700, he was a cancer in terms of contemporary constellation, and was ought to be “sentimental” with great need of love. However, he was totally against from what we think he supposed to be. Was it a scheme set by the author or a pure coincidence? No matter what it was, it had already spiced the story to excellence and from which I found great pleasure (for it became more ironic and interesting.). Then, what drove him to commit murder? Since he was a man without any feeling (that is to say, there wouldn’t have been people who he hated to death.), what else could possibly lead him to the horrible deed? Well, in my personal interpretation, sometimes one’s extreme fear toward something might afterwards transform into motivation of things one wish to achieve. Realizing that he had no odor of his own, Grenouille doubted whether he truly ever existed or not. The fear of self-unknown gave birth to his ambition (grave and cruel): to create his own perfume so as to prove his being in this world.
At last, he had accomplished his task but it also brought him to death penalty, for he took almost thirty young women’s souls. On the day of execution, Grenouille sprinkled a little perfume on himself and soon he was all covered with his “achievement”. Well, indeed, something queer did happen again (you will never stop overcoming surprises when reading this masterpiece.): people no longer hated him any more, but instead, they loved him, wanted to touch him, and thought him an angel sent from god. The flattery, the intense change from people disgusted Grenouille. Grenouille felt no satisfaction or a tiny bliss on what the perfume had given him. What worse, he wanted to abandon it, to end it, or more precisely, to abandon himself, to end himself.
Patrick Suskind had undoubtedly made a surprise to every reader, but he also had made some fun of people (or criticism to be exact?): human are being so easily fooled or cheated by the only masked fact they saw.
The story began and ended with the birth and death of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and it seemed to have no sequence following. Just like his odorlessness, once he disappeared and he meant to disappear. I won’t say that Grenouille’s life stands for tragedy, but I will say he was a lucky guy. Although it was only after his death did he received “true love” (which he desired the most from others but he could not tell, I suppose.). After all, he had succeeded in all what he aspired and died with no regret, but his own will.
Siddhartha - 晉羚莉
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
The novel is based on a historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived 25 centuries ago in northern India. He was born into wealth and privilege, but chose to relinquish the luxurious palace life and seek enlightenment. Buddhism is both a philosophical and religious teaching in India. In the novel, by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is known as the “Illustrious One.” He is a well-known enlightener that all people admired. His countenance is fulfilled with intellectual knowledge of wisdom and his inner self is possessed with invulnerable peace.
Siddhartha was a young priestly caste fellow with high vocation and status. He was enclosed with features of intellects, fervent thoughts, and strong wills in his beliefs of karma and the Four Noble Truth in Buddhism. In the novel, Siddhartha is described as ‘strong, handsome man with lofty brow and king like eyes.’ The author uses the adjective modifiers to describe his high standard of status and reputation in people’s eyes. However, with his entire well being, Siddhartha is not pleased with the worldly life he owns. He thirsts for more knowledge of wisdom to improve his maturity. He wants to be enlightened with the teaching of wisdoms from Buddhism. There are a variety of wealthy and high status people in a society, often times, they feel that money does not own everything in this world such as health and love. This is when people start to believe in religion and want to find the true meaning of existence in life.
Siddhartha’s dissatisfied life is full of restlessness; he does not feel valued for his existence in the world, so his soul wonders for true meaning of reality. The “seeds of discontent” lies in his inner soul. Thus, he wishes to start a self-denial journey to search for his innermost beliefs. The usage of figurative language as in a metaphoric content is applied when Siddhartha’s “seeds to discontent” is compared to his unsatisfying prosperous life. I believe the “seeds of discontent” directly links to the materialistic society, in which the discontentment is the feeling of insecurity and loneliness of people. Meanwhile, as their desires of greed are built up, they start to shop for goods such as bags, clothing, luxurious car, jewelries, and etc in order to fulfill and mend our holes of insecurity. In order to escape from the money-oriented world, some people may choose to meditate and join religious practices to help them understand the real purposes of being in this world.
In the novel, Siddhartha’s insatiable thirst for knowledge has led him to join the ascetics. Siddhartha discovers that ‘the world tasted bitter, life was pain,’ in which his only way to alleviate pain is to become ‘empty.’ Siddhartha wants to ‘let the self die’ in order to experience purity. Both ‘empty’ and ‘let the self die’ imply Siddhartha’s wish for absence of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow. By taking the path of self-denial, the mind will be appeased. Agonies will be absent when Siddhartha reaches the Nirvana. Many Buddhism practices in modern days such as mindfulness meditation has allowed us to free from all desires, wishes, and pleasures. It is a palliative way to release pain, agony and suffering in life. Other religious practices like community services projects have helped us realize how fortunate we are. By looking at an abundance of unfortunate people in this world, we learn to cherish and appreciate things and people around us. Being able to give is not what everyone can do; therefore we should feel good about having the chance to help.
When the soul and the religion overlap with each other, the inner self can experience values for life. “Your soul is the whole world,” it is vital quote that signifies the importance of connection between our internality and the world. The author creates this spiritual effect of the soul to encourage Siddhartha to be enlightened and make influences to the world. Once the soul and the self has reach Nirvana with absence of worries and sufferings, Siddhartha will be able to realize that the social issues like poverty and disasters are caused by the desires’ from every individual in the community. If we can reduce our desires, we can prevent countless social issues and natural disasters.
The novel is based on a historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived 25 centuries ago in northern India. He was born into wealth and privilege, but chose to relinquish the luxurious palace life and seek enlightenment. Buddhism is both a philosophical and religious teaching in India. In the novel, by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is known as the “Illustrious One.” He is a well-known enlightener that all people admired. His countenance is fulfilled with intellectual knowledge of wisdom and his inner self is possessed with invulnerable peace.
Siddhartha was a young priestly caste fellow with high vocation and status. He was enclosed with features of intellects, fervent thoughts, and strong wills in his beliefs of karma and the Four Noble Truth in Buddhism. In the novel, Siddhartha is described as ‘strong, handsome man with lofty brow and king like eyes.’ The author uses the adjective modifiers to describe his high standard of status and reputation in people’s eyes. However, with his entire well being, Siddhartha is not pleased with the worldly life he owns. He thirsts for more knowledge of wisdom to improve his maturity. He wants to be enlightened with the teaching of wisdoms from Buddhism. There are a variety of wealthy and high status people in a society, often times, they feel that money does not own everything in this world such as health and love. This is when people start to believe in religion and want to find the true meaning of existence in life.
Siddhartha’s dissatisfied life is full of restlessness; he does not feel valued for his existence in the world, so his soul wonders for true meaning of reality. The “seeds of discontent” lies in his inner soul. Thus, he wishes to start a self-denial journey to search for his innermost beliefs. The usage of figurative language as in a metaphoric content is applied when Siddhartha’s “seeds to discontent” is compared to his unsatisfying prosperous life. I believe the “seeds of discontent” directly links to the materialistic society, in which the discontentment is the feeling of insecurity and loneliness of people. Meanwhile, as their desires of greed are built up, they start to shop for goods such as bags, clothing, luxurious car, jewelries, and etc in order to fulfill and mend our holes of insecurity. In order to escape from the money-oriented world, some people may choose to meditate and join religious practices to help them understand the real purposes of being in this world.
In the novel, Siddhartha’s insatiable thirst for knowledge has led him to join the ascetics. Siddhartha discovers that ‘the world tasted bitter, life was pain,’ in which his only way to alleviate pain is to become ‘empty.’ Siddhartha wants to ‘let the self die’ in order to experience purity. Both ‘empty’ and ‘let the self die’ imply Siddhartha’s wish for absence of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow. By taking the path of self-denial, the mind will be appeased. Agonies will be absent when Siddhartha reaches the Nirvana. Many Buddhism practices in modern days such as mindfulness meditation has allowed us to free from all desires, wishes, and pleasures. It is a palliative way to release pain, agony and suffering in life. Other religious practices like community services projects have helped us realize how fortunate we are. By looking at an abundance of unfortunate people in this world, we learn to cherish and appreciate things and people around us. Being able to give is not what everyone can do; therefore we should feel good about having the chance to help.
When the soul and the religion overlap with each other, the inner self can experience values for life. “Your soul is the whole world,” it is vital quote that signifies the importance of connection between our internality and the world. The author creates this spiritual effect of the soul to encourage Siddhartha to be enlightened and make influences to the world. Once the soul and the self has reach Nirvana with absence of worries and sufferings, Siddhartha will be able to realize that the social issues like poverty and disasters are caused by the desires’ from every individual in the community. If we can reduce our desires, we can prevent countless social issues and natural disasters.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - 紀佳妤
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Introduction:
Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
(sources: official website)
I was wondering how a story about the boy in the striped pyjamas can be when I first saw this book. It sounds like a children book but its cover, with only three plain colors which are far from bright, seems to convey the idea that it’s not going to end up happily ever after. It was not until I finished the reading did I realize it is about a serious topic.
The striped pyjamas in this book are symbolic of criminals who did nothing wrong but just were born to be. Those criminals are the Jew. Shmuel, nine-year-old, is one of those in the striped pyjamas. He was found by Bruno, who was on his exploring journey around his new home ‘Out-With.’ Bruno’s father, a general, was promoted to be in charge of the concentration camp and that’s why Bruno’s family moved to near the camp and why Bruno would ever have a chance to meet Shmuel. With an electric fence which emblems a barrier between two ethnic groups in between, the two little boys became good friends, though. Bruno, a Christian, and Shmuel, a Jew, treat each other with true heart and pure spirit, which is the very part that brings about the most conflicting point.
When Bruno put on the striped pyjamas and crept through the small hole under the fence for the purpose of seeking Shmuel’s missing father, he became a member of the concentration camp unexpectedly. Bruno’s sincerity toward his best friend is somehow a gradual process to death. The identity of Bruno, in essence, didn’t shift, but in the striped pyjamas Bruno is no longer a german general’s son but an innocent victim under the prevailing racism at that time as the same case in which Shmuel was turned into a criminal from a guiltless Polish little boy.
I felt an excruciatingly pain when I read the last paragraph of chapter nineteen: ...Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go. My eyes were flooded with tears since I was touched deeply within, especially when I saw the movie adapted from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Bruno and Shmuel held hands tightly and in their hands were faith in each other. It’s certainly a sorrowful image that in the dark were two pairs of eyes of naivete and fearlessness and the next second two little boys vanished from this world along with numerous lives. Simultaneously the horrifying, brutal and atrocious execution was gnawing away my conscience. I felt guilty for what germans did in the duration of world war. However, Bruto’s father, a blind patriot, is another kind of victim of the time. A father himself caused the death of his son, which is absolutely of great agony for a parent.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a powerful story but is simply told. It’s strange that while the sentences are seemingly effortless, it’s difficult to read. Still, I’d like to recommend this book to everyone. It’s even far more sarcastic to look at the event that happened back in the period of world war two through children’s pure eyes.
Introduction:
Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
(sources: official website)
I was wondering how a story about the boy in the striped pyjamas can be when I first saw this book. It sounds like a children book but its cover, with only three plain colors which are far from bright, seems to convey the idea that it’s not going to end up happily ever after. It was not until I finished the reading did I realize it is about a serious topic.
The striped pyjamas in this book are symbolic of criminals who did nothing wrong but just were born to be. Those criminals are the Jew. Shmuel, nine-year-old, is one of those in the striped pyjamas. He was found by Bruno, who was on his exploring journey around his new home ‘Out-With.’ Bruno’s father, a general, was promoted to be in charge of the concentration camp and that’s why Bruno’s family moved to near the camp and why Bruno would ever have a chance to meet Shmuel. With an electric fence which emblems a barrier between two ethnic groups in between, the two little boys became good friends, though. Bruno, a Christian, and Shmuel, a Jew, treat each other with true heart and pure spirit, which is the very part that brings about the most conflicting point.
When Bruno put on the striped pyjamas and crept through the small hole under the fence for the purpose of seeking Shmuel’s missing father, he became a member of the concentration camp unexpectedly. Bruno’s sincerity toward his best friend is somehow a gradual process to death. The identity of Bruno, in essence, didn’t shift, but in the striped pyjamas Bruno is no longer a german general’s son but an innocent victim under the prevailing racism at that time as the same case in which Shmuel was turned into a criminal from a guiltless Polish little boy.
I felt an excruciatingly pain when I read the last paragraph of chapter nineteen: ...Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go. My eyes were flooded with tears since I was touched deeply within, especially when I saw the movie adapted from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Bruno and Shmuel held hands tightly and in their hands were faith in each other. It’s certainly a sorrowful image that in the dark were two pairs of eyes of naivete and fearlessness and the next second two little boys vanished from this world along with numerous lives. Simultaneously the horrifying, brutal and atrocious execution was gnawing away my conscience. I felt guilty for what germans did in the duration of world war. However, Bruto’s father, a blind patriot, is another kind of victim of the time. A father himself caused the death of his son, which is absolutely of great agony for a parent.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a powerful story but is simply told. It’s strange that while the sentences are seemingly effortless, it’s difficult to read. Still, I’d like to recommend this book to everyone. It’s even far more sarcastic to look at the event that happened back in the period of world war two through children’s pure eyes.
Friday, January 8, 2010
英文讀書心得徵文比賽結果
恭喜以下同學獲獎!
特優 應外一 紀佳妤 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (獎金2000元)
優等 應外一 晉羚莉 Siddhartha (獎金1500元)
佳作 1. 應外一 林鈺鈴 Perfume, the story of a muderer (獎金1000元)
2. 歷史二 邱信翰 The End of Ancient Christianity (獎金1000元)
語言中心將於二月開學後第一場導讀會進行頒獎!
特優 應外一 紀佳妤 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (獎金2000元)
優等 應外一 晉羚莉 Siddhartha (獎金1500元)
佳作 1. 應外一 林鈺鈴 Perfume, the story of a muderer (獎金1000元)
2. 歷史二 邱信翰 The End of Ancient Christianity (獎金1000元)
語言中心將於二月開學後第一場導讀會進行頒獎!
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