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Jacob

2012-02-15T20:14:15Z

Blain: /* Loss of Joseph */

[[Image:Jacob angel.jpg|thumb|250px|Jacob Wrestling with the [[Angel]] By Gustave Doré, 1855 ]]

'''Jacob''' ([[Hebrew]]: '''יעקב''', ''Yaʿăqōḇ''; [[Arabic]]: '''يعقوب''', ''Yaʿqūb''; "holds the heel"), or '''Israel''' ([[Hebrew]]: '''יִשְׂרָאֵל''', Standard ''Yisraʾel'' Tiberian ''Yiśrāʾēl''; [[Arabic]]: '''اسرائيل''', ''Isrāʾīl''; "struggled with God") (2168 AM–m. 2245 AM–2315 AM) (1836 BC–m. 1759 BC–1689 BC), is the third of the [[patriarch]]s of Israel and the man who gave the nation of [[Israel]] its name. He was the younger son of [[Isaac]] and [[Rebekah]] and the grandson of [[Abraham]]. He had two wives, two concubines, and thirteen children in all.

== Birth ==
{{Bible quote|Isaac entreated [[Yahweh]] for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it be so, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh. Yahweh said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger." When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.|book=Genesis|chap=25|verses=21-26|version=ASV}}

The name Jacob means "holds the heel" and refers to this incident. Holding the heel is the posture of a supplanter. This name was prophetic of Jacob's life, since he supplanted his elder brother Esau as the heir of God's promise to [[Abraham]].<ref name=Ussher>[[James Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World]]'', [[Larry Pierce]], ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 98-99</ref>

== Buys Esau's Birthright ==
{{Bible quote|Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.|book=Genesis|chap=25|verses=27-34|version=ASV}}

Esau is a [[Typology|type]] of the unsaved man; he cares nothing for God or God's promise and is willing to give it up merely to relieve a temporary hunger. {{Bible quote|Also will I make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.|book=Psalm|chap=89|verses=27}}

Here, the word for firstborn is related to the word for birthright. Therefore the birthright is also related to the coming Messiah, [[Jesus]], and [[Esau]] despises him and is a type of all men who will despise and reject him. Esau, then, is justly deprived of his birthright.

Nevertheless Jacob does not appear well here. The word for "boiled" is one that elsewhere has overtones of pride and Jacob's methods can hardly have been pleasing to God.

[[image:Isaac_blessing_Jacob.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Isaac]] blessing Jacob]]

== Obtains Isaac's Blessing Deceitfully ==
As Isaac continued to age, he could no longer see as well. At the same time, he clearly favored Jacob, and Rebekah knew it. She and Jacob conspired together to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.

Jacob wore goatskins, to simulate Esau's [[hirsute]] body, and served Isaac a savory stew made from goat kid meat, calling it venison. The plan worked. Esau found out about it when he returned from his hunting trip, and observed rather hotly that Jacob was aptly named. {{BibleRef|book=Genesis|chap=27|verses=1-27,30-36}}<ref name=Ussher2>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.'']], pgh. 112</ref>

Here Isaac's weakness of character is evident, since he loves Esau in preference to Jacob because Esau satisfies his appetite for savoury food; he does not enquire of God to discover his will. Rebekah in turn shows her favoritism. Neither parent seems to have been a good guide of character to their sons; it is hardly surprising that Jacob is willing to go along with deceit. But that can neither justify nor excuse Jacob, who used dishonorable methods.

Nevertheless, it was God's will that the elder should serve the younger and that was accomplished. {{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=9|verses=13}} Presumably, it would have been accomplished in nobler but now unknown ways had Rebekah and Jacob been willing to leave things in the Lord's hand.

== Flees from Esau to Laban ==
Esau was determined to kill Jacob, and so Jacob had to flee. Rebekah "covered" for Jacob by quite reasonably telling Isaac that for Esau to marry [[Hittite]] women was bad enough, and for Jacob to do the same would be worse. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=27|verses=41-46}} This was perfectly true, but was ''not'' Jacob's actual reason for leaving.

On his way to Padan-aram and the home of his uncle [[Laban]], Jacob had a dream of a ladder extending all the way from earth to heaven. In that dream, [[God]] spoke to Jacob directly and confirmed that Jacob inherited all the blessings previously bestowed upon Abraham and Isaac. Jacob changed the name of the place from Luz to Bethel.<ref name=Ussher3>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 113</ref>

== Serves Laban to Obtain His Wives ==
Jacob arrived in Padan-aram, and stopped at the community well. He noticed that the well was capped with a heavy stone. He asked the local villagers about it, and they told him that the stone was always removed when all the local flocks were gathered at the well for water. Then he saw a lovely girl leading a flock of sheep to the well. This, of course, was Rachel. When he saw her, he uncapped the well himself, watered the sheep, and introduced himself as her cousin.

Rachel was one of two daughters of Laban, but was the younger of the two. Jacob served Laban without a wage for a month, and then Laban asked Jacob to name his wage. Jacob named Rachel as his wage, and agreed to serve Laban for seven years to pay her bride price. Laban agreed.<ref name=Ussher3/>

The custom in those days was for a man to wait at least a week after arranging to marry a woman. After the week had passed, Jacob prepared for his wedding night. But Laban substituted Leah, Rachel's older sister, in her place. Jacob protested, and Laban answered that local custom did not permit a younger sister to marry before the older sister. Laban immediately said that if Jacob would serve him for ''an additional'' seven years, he could marry Rachel as well. Jacob agreed to this.<ref name=Driscoll>Driscoll, James F. "[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12630a.htm Rachel]." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Accessed November 13, 2008.</ref><ref name=Hirsch>Hirch E and Seligsohn M. "[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=57&letter=R&search=rachel Rachel]." The Jewish Encyclopedia, n.d. Accessed November 13, 2008.</ref><ref name=Schoenberg>Schoenberg, Shira. "[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rachel.html Rachel]." Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2008. Accessed November 13, 2008.</ref><ref name=Konig>Konig, George. "[http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p90.htm Rachel]." AboutBibleProphecy.com, 2001. Accessed November 13, 2008.</ref><ref name=Ussher4>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 115-6</ref>

In addition, Laban gave each of his daughters a handmaid to serve her: [[Zilpah]] for Leah, and [[Bilhah]] for Rachel.

== Births of Jacob's Sons ==
: ''Main Article: [[Twelve sons of Israel]]''

== Leaves Laban after Twenty Years ==
Jacob served Laban for twenty years—seven years for the right to marry Leah, seven more years for Rachel, and six more years for the right to select certain livestock from Laban's herds. Even in that transaction, Jacob indulged his penchant for trickery. The terms of his agreement with Laban were that he would select all the livestock that were spotted or streaked or "ringstraked." So Jacob made ''sure'' that certain livestock would be spotted or speckled or otherwise marked in that manner, and only if the said livestock were strong and hardy and robust. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=30|verses=25-43}}

Whether Laban's sons suspected anything untoward in Jacob's practices, the Bible does not say. The Bible ''does'' say that Laban's sons knew that Jacob was getting the best of the livestock, and they resented him for that and told Laban so. Not long after that, Laban ceased to look at Jacob in the same way, and Jacob noticed. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=31|verses=1-2}}

At this point, God sent Jacob a message that it was time for him to leave. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=31|verses=3}} Jacob then informed his wives of that message—and then proceeded to exaggerate the enmity between himself and Laban, so that his wives would be certain to take his side against that of their father. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=31|verses=4-13}} For their part, Rachel and Leah were suspicious of their father's motives in any case. As they saw it, Laban had sold them for Jacob's service, and those wages had already been spent. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=31|verses=14-26}}<ref name=Ussher5>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 122</ref>

Jacob and his family did leave—largely in secret. And in one respect, Jacob perhaps succeeded all too well in turning Leah and Rachel against their father. Rachel stole some household idols, or ''teraphim'', from Laban.<ref>Zucker, Robert. "[http://emol.org/kabbalah/teraphim/hebrewteraphim.html Teraphim of the Hebrews]." ''[http://emol.org/kabbalah/teraphim/index.html Teraphim]'' pages, 2006. Accessed December 31, 2007.</ref> Whether she did this because she feared that the teraphim would somehow inform against her, or because she still trusted images made by man rather than God, the Bible does not say. Jacob knew nothing of the theft.

Laban learned of Jacob's flight three days later, and also discovered the theft of the teraphim. Consequently, he gave chase. He caught up with Jacob and demanded to know why Jacob had left so abruptly, and without informing him, and especially why Jacob had stolen the teraphim. Jacob resented that last suggestion (because he did not know what Rachel had done) and even permitted Laban to search Jacob's camp. Laban did. Laban never found the teraphim, however—because Rachel hid them in her camel's bag, sat on it, and told Laban that she could not rise to greet him because "the custom of women" (which is to say, the monthly cycle) was "upon [her]." {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=31|verses=34-35}} (This was a lie. In fact, Rachel was probably pregnant with [[Benjamin]] at the time, though not progressed enough to show.) Jacob took advantage of Laban's embarrassment and shamed Laban into concluding a permanent treaty of peace. The two even set up a stone pillar to solemnify the peace.<ref name=Ussher6>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 124-5</ref>

== Prepares to Meet Esau ==
Shortly after this last meeting with Laban, Jacob saw a small company of angels in his path. He recognized (correctly) that he was looking at a portion of God's army.

Jacob also knew that Esau lay ahead of him. He sent messengers to Esau's camp with greetings of peace. The messengers came back and informed Jacob that Esau was coming to meet him, at the head of a four-hundred-man force. Jacob, fearing that Esau meant war, divided his company into two parts, so that if Esau were to destroy one, the other part might still escape. He also prepared a large gift of livestock for Esau and sent that ahead next.

Esau met Jacob and received him graciously. At first he declined Jacob's gifts, saying that he, Esau, had enough on his own. But Jacob insisted, and Esau took the gifts. The two brothers parted on friendly terms, and eventually would reunite in burying their father Isaac. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=32-33}}<ref name=Ussher7>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.'']], pgh. 126-7</ref>

=== Wrestles with an Angel ===
In {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=32|verses=22-32}}, shortly before his meeting with Esau, Jacob was caught alone and actually wrestled with an angel. This angel could not win against Jacob, so he dislocated Jacob's thigh; still Jacob held on and refused to release the angel without a blessing.

The angel did deliver a blessing, and declared that from that day forward, Jacob's true name would be '''Israel''' ("he struggles with God"), because he had actually struggled with a messenger of God and won.

When Jacob went on to meet Esau, he acknowledged this encounter in his discussion with him and implied that the encounter had changed him as a man.<ref name=Ussher7/>

== Lives at Bethel ==
At this time, God instructed Jacob to go to Bethel, where Jacob had earlier seen the vision of the ladder. Jacob instructed all within his camp to put away all foreign gods and other idols. Presumably Rachel gave up the ''teraphim'' that she had earlier stolen from Laban at this time. Jacob hid all these articles under an oak before they marched.

When they came to Bethel, God specifically renewed with Jacob all the vows He had earlier made to [[Abraham]] and [[Isaac]], and also confirmed Jacob's change of name to Israel. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=35|verses=1-15}}

== Death of Rachel==
At this time, Rachel went into labor. The labor was difficult, and in fact she died in childbirth. Before she died, she said that the child should be named Ben-oni, or "son of my pain." Jacob insisted on giving the child the name of Benjamin, or "son of my right hand."<ref name=Driscoll/> {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=35|verses=16-20}}

Jacob buried Rachel at or near the site where she died, and erected a pillar that stood at least until the life of [[Moses]]. Today the government of [[Israel]] guards the traditional site of Rachel's tomb.<ref name=Schoenberg/> This traditional site lies four miles south of [[Jerusalem]] and one mile north of [[Bethlehem]].<ref name=Driscoll/>

== Lives at Shechem ==
: ''Main Article: [[Dinah#Rape and Revenge|Rape of Dinah]]''

Jacob next pitched camp outside the city of [[Shechem]], on a parcel of land that he bought from the city's ruling family. Jacob stayed at this site for seven years. Then his daughter [[Dinah]] strayed from the camp, and Prince [[Shechem (prince)|Shechem]], son of the king of the city, saw Dinah and took her by force. The prince then went to his father and asked his help in negotiating his marriage to Dinah. And so King [[Hamor]] of Shechem came to Jacob to open the negotiations.

Two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, hatched a plot of revenge. They told Hamor that they could not consent to see their sister married to an uncircumcised man. Hamor offered to have himself, his son, and all the men of the city circumcised, and Jacob's sons accepted that offer.

The night that the men of Shechem circumcised themselves, Simeon and Levi attacked the city in force, killed all the adult males, and plundered the city. Jacob rebuked Simeon and Levi for this act, but they said that they would not deal with their sister as though she were a prostitute. Jacob and his troop struck camp and marched away. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=34}}

== Loss of Joseph ==
: ''Main Article: [[Joseph]]''

Three years later came the greatest tragedy of Jacob's life: the loss, as Jacob supposed, of his son Joseph. Jacob favored Joseph (and probably Benjamin as well) over his other sons, for Rachel's sake and also because Joseph (and Benjamin) were born late in his life. (In fact, Jacob was 91 years old when Joseph was born.)

In fact, Jacob made for Joseph a coat with sleeves—an extravagance that his other sons resented. Joseph was also arrogant and tactless, and tended to bear evil tales. When Joseph began to dream of later having dominion over the rest of his family, his brothers resented him even more. Even Jacob himself regarded Joseph's dreams with suspicion when Joseph told him of his dream of the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowing before him.

One day, Jacob sent Joseph to find his brothers, whom he had sent with the livestock to the Shechem country. Joseph did not return, but his brothers did—bearing Joseph's ripped and bloodstained coat and telling Jacob that a wild breast had killed Joseph and eaten him. Jacob announced that he would go to his grave mourning for Joseph. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=37}}<ref name=Ussher8>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 129</ref>

== Move to Egypt ==
Jacob would not hear of Joseph again for another twenty-two years. These years included seven years of extraordinarily good harvests, followed by a most severe famine.

Like his grandfather and his father before him, Jacob heard that in [[Egypt]] he might find relief. Unlike them, he did not go to Egypt immediately. Instead he sent his remaining sons (except Benjamin) to go to Egypt to buy grain. His sons returned only after some delay. They were laden with grain, but also had had all their money returned to them. More disturbing still, they told Jacob that the [[viceroy]] of the country had accused them all of spying, briefly imprisoned one of them (Simeon), and then had released them, and even given them the grain they had bought and returned the money they had bought it with. But he had charged them strictly that they must not return to Egypt to buy any more grain, unless Benjamin accompanied them. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=42}}

Jacob at first refused. Having (as he supposed) lost Joseph, he did not want to lose Benjamin as well. But the famine was so severe that eventually the family had eaten all the grain that they had earlier bought, so they had to go back to buy more. Judah promised Jacob that he would personally guarantee the safety of Benjamin; only then did Jacob consent to send Benjamin along. (By then Benjamin was a married man with ten sons of his own.) Jacob also instructed his sons to take double the price they had earlier taken, plus the original money they had tried to buy grain with, thinking that the return of the money was an oversight on the Egyptian viceroy's part. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=43}}

When Jacob saw his sons next, they told him an incredible story: that ''Joseph was alive, and was none other than the viceroy of Egypt!'' Jacob did not believe the story at first, until his sons showed Jacob the great wagon train that Joseph had specifically sent to bring Jacob and all his household into Egypt. {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=45|verses=25-28}}

Jacob entered Egypt, together with his wife Leah (if she still lived; the biblical text is not clear on this point), his sons, and their wives and sons, on 2298 AM (1706 BC). He was, as he stated to the [[Pharaoh]] of the time, 130 years old.

== Prophecies concerning his children ==
As Jacob prepared to die, he summoned all his sons to his bedside. Furthermore, he adopted Joseph's two sons, [[Manasseh]] and [[Ephraim]], as his own, and preferred Ephraim over Manasseh.<ref name=Ussher9>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 146</ref> He then spoke multiple prophecies concerning the future of his sons, and of the tribes that each son would found.

== Death ==
Jacob lived a total of 147 years. He died in 2315 AM (1689 BC). In accordance with his wishes, Joseph had him buried in the cave of [[Machpelah]], along with [[Abraham]], [[Sarah]], [[Isaac]], [[Rebekah]], and [[Leah]], who had died earlier.<ref name=Ussher10>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 146-7</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== See Also ==
* [[Abraham]]
* [[Isaac]]

{{nb hebrews}}
{{nb Israel}}
[[Category:Book of Genesis Persons]]
[[Category:Jewish People]]

Hell

2012-02-15T20:12:59Z

Blain:

[[Image:Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hell.jpg|right|300px|thumb|''Hell'', painted by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], part of ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]''.]]
In the English translation of the [[Bible]]'s [[Old Testament]], the word '''Hell''' normally corresponds to the [[Hebrew]] ''sheol'', which was simply the place of the dead. But in the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[New Testament]] the word used is either ''Gehenna'' (the garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where fires were kept eternally burning to consume the refuse and keep down the stench) or ''Hades'', the [[Greek mythology|Greek]]s' dark, gloomy underworld. The modern English word appears to derive most directly from "Hölle" or "Hela" or "Hel", goddess of the dead in Germanic/[[Norse mythology]]. When the [[Anglo-Saxons]] later embraced [[Christianity]], the existing word in the language was reused in the new Christian concepts.

To Christians, Hell is a place where the souls of the wicked are punished eternally for all the [[sins]] they perpetrated during their lifetime on Earth. Since all have sinned (Rom 3:23), Hell can not be avoided on one's own merits, but through the love gift of [[Jesus]] one can know, love, and serve [[God]] and share eternity with Him in [[Heaven]].

The Christian and [[Muslim]] religious traditions often emphasize the ''Gehenna'' aspect: Hell is extremely hot and filled with fire and [[brimstone]]. Opinion varies on the question of whether, while Hell itself is eternal, experience of it purges away the sins of sufferers to the point of eventual redemption. See [[purgatory]]. A minority of Christians do not believe in an eternal Hell as punishment, believing instead that the souls of the wicked are annihilated. This view, which is directly contradicted by Scripture, is referred to as [[Annihilationism]]. Other deniers of Scripture question whether Hell has a literal burning fire, or it is merely separation from God and therefore has the same torment as if there were a burning fire. This view has been supported by writers such as [[J.P. Moreland]], although the Bible clearly contradicts this view and other symbolic interpretations of Hell. It is clearly a real, physical place where the wicked are punished for their sins.

Although Hell is a focus and a concern in Christian theology, the Bible has an even greater focus. In the [[King James Version]] the word Hell is mentioned 54 times, but [[Heaven]] is mentioned 551 times.

* [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 13:41-42 - ''The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.'''

* Matthew 25:41 - ''Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.''

* Matthew 25:46 - ''And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.''

* [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 9:43 - ''And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.''

* 2 Thes 1:7-8 - ''And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.''

* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 20:10 - ''And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the breast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.''

* Revelation 20:14-15 - ''And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.''

== See also ==
* [[Dante's Inferno]]
* [[Mystery:What Percentage Go To Hell?|What percentage of people go to Hell?]]

[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]

Scopes Trial

2012-02-15T20:11:50Z

Blain: /* The Trial */

The '''Scopes Trial''', sometimes known as the "Scopes monkey trial," took place in [[Tennessee]] in 1925. It was engineered as a challenge to the state's Butler Act which prohibited public schools from teaching the theory that man had evolved from more primitive life forms. The willing defendant, John Scopes, was duly convicted, although this was later overturned on a technicality. Concerning the Scopes Monkey Trial, Uncommondescent.com declared: "It is a little known fact that [[William Jennings Bryan]] agreed to be interrogated by [[Clarence Darrow]] only if Bryan could in turn interrogate Darrow views of [[evolution]]. Darrow agreed, but then right after interrogating Bryan directed the judge to find Scopes guilty, thereby closing the evidence and thus preventing Bryan from interrogating Darrow"<ref>http://www.uncommondescent.com/evolution/the-vise-strategy-squeezing-the-truth-out-of-darwinists/</ref>. Generally speaking, [[Atheism and Debate|leading evolutionists generally no longer debate creation scientists]] as the evolutionists tend to lose the debates.<ref>http://www.icr.org/article/811/</ref>

The trial gained notoriety after it was dramatized for both stage (1955) and screen (1960). Titled ''[[Inherit the Wind]]'', both dramatizations distorted the facts of the case and were promoted to harm [[Christianity]].<ref>"'Inherit the Wind' relentlessly distorts what happened in Dayton, Tenn., in 1925."[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/2/story_226_1.html]</ref><ref>As recently as April 17, 2007, the ''Village Voice'' endorsed a new Broadway rendition of ''Inherit the Wind'' as "a dramatization of the 1925 [Scopes] trial."[http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0716,feingold,76394,11.html]</ref> The highlight of the trial was when [[Clarence Darrow]] agreed to testify as a witness if [[William Jennings Bryan]] would also testify. First Bryan testified before a huge crowd, but when Darrow's turn came he instead reneged on his deal and ended the trial by asking the jury to find his client guilty, which ended the trial.

== Publicity Motivation ==
The impetus for the Scopes trial began in a meeting among town leaders at a drugstore in Dayton, Tennessee, in response to a newspaper advertisement placed by the American Civil Liberties Union ([[ACLU]]) offering to provide legal services to anyone willing to be prosecuted under the Butler Act.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}, {{hnb|Linder|2002}}. See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref> Town leaders agreed that a trial would provide publicity to the town,<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}</ref> whose population had dwindled to 1,800.<ref>{{hnb|Linder|2002}}</ref> The town leaders found a willing defendant in John Scopes, a gym teacher and football coach who also substituted (sometimes as a biology teacher), though Scopes could not recall ever teaching evolution.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006}}. See also {{hnb|Coulter|2006}}</ref> John Scopes told the town leaders, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

Fundamentalists took up the challenge, led by theologian [[William Bell Riley]], who signed up Bryan to assist the local county prosecutor. The national media rushed to Dayton.
== Grand Jury ==
Racing other Tennessee towns, Judge John T. Raulston accelerated the convening of the grand jury and "...all but instructed the grand jury to indict Scopes, despite the meager evidence against him and the widely reported stories questioning whether the willing defendant had ever taught evolution in the classroom."<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006|p=108}}</ref> He was indicted on May 25, after three students testified against Scopes at the Grand Jury, at Scopes' behest.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006|p=89, 107}}</ref>

== The Trial ==
Darrow brought the Scopes case in the hopes of winning a public relations and legal victory. Historians typically believe in evolution and declare victory for Darrow, but in fact Darrow and the ACLU lost the case badly and Tennessee continued to limit the teaching of evolution in [[public schools]] for roughly another 50 years.

The [[ACLU]] challenged a Tennessee statute, the Butler Act, that imposed a fine for teaching in government schools that man descended from more primitive life forms. The statute did not prohibit teaching most aspects of [[evolution]]. The textbook at issue in the case suggested indirectly (through a tree-like diagram) that man descended from lower life forms.

Bryan attacked Darrow in court, noting how Darrow had previously claimed that murder defendants Leopold and Loeb were driven to crime by what they were taught, which was [[Nietzsche]]'s atheistic philosophy. Bryan quoted Darrow as saying that "Is there any blame attached because somebody took Nietzsche's philosophy seriously and fashioned his life on it? ... The university would be more to blame than he is. ... Your honor, it is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university."

Bryan was an extraordinary speaker, recognized to be among the best in American history. Darrow wanted to prevent Bryan from making a persuasive closing argument to the jury, and Darrow searched for another way to try to score points for his side.

So Darrow stunned the court by requesting to cross-examine Bryan, in the hope that Bryan, like many attorneys, would be a poor witness. Darrow's attempt was unprecedented, because trial attorneys almost never take the witness stand in their own cases. Bryan agreed.

A witness in a trial is always at a disadvantage on cross-examination, because he can only answer questions that are posed by a hostile adversary. On cross-examination, Attorneys are allowed to ask leading(yes or no) questions to force the desired response, unlike on direct examination. Attorneys are particularly vulnerable, because their knowledge of the law and tendency to speak in legalese hinder their performance.

Darrow undoubtedly thought that he could turn Bryan into the proverbial buffoon that liberals wanted. As the transcript reveals, however, Bryan got the better of his accuser. Bryan repeatedly turned the tables on Darrow's questions, which the large courtroom audience found amusing at Darrow's expense. Here is a sample:<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day7.htm</ref>

:Bryan--These gentlemen have not had much chance--they did not come here to try this case. They came here to try revealed religion. I am here to defend it and they can ask me any question they please.

:Judge--All right. (Applause in audience.) …

:Bryan--Those [the audience] are the people whom you insult.

:Darrow--You insult every man of science and learning in the world because he does believe in your fool religion. ....

:Darrow: Wait until you get to me [N.B. this apparently refers to Darrow's agreement to be a witness]. Do you know anything about how many people there were in Egypt 3,500 years ago, or how many people there were in China 5,000 years ago?

:Bryan--No.

:Darrow--Have you ever tried to find out?

:Bryan--No, sir. You are the first man I ever heard of who has been in interested in it. (Laughter)

:Darrow--Mr. Bryan, am I the first man you ever heard of who has been interested in the age of human societies and primitive man?

:Bryan--You are the first man I ever heard speak of the number of people at those different periods.

:Darrow--Where have you lived all your life?

:Bryan--Not near you. (Laughter and applause).

Darrow tried again and again to trap Bryan, and, from his viewpoint, he sometimes succeeded. For example, Darrow grilled Bryan on the topic of Bryan's literal interpretation of the Bible. Notably, Darrow pressed Bryan on the issue of how the sun stood still for [[Joshua]] in the [[Old Testament]]. In the end he showed that it could not have taken place through natural causes, which, as an atheist, was all he felt he needed. For those who believed it was a miracle for the sun to stop at all in the sky, as the Bible infers, the concept that it could not have taken place naturally was irrelevant.

:Darrow--The Bible says Joshua commanded the sun to stand still for the purpose of lengthening the day, doesn't it, and you believe it?

:Bryan--I do.

:Darrow--Do you believe at that time the entire sun went around the earth?

:Bryan--No, I believe that the earth goes around the sun.

:Darrow--Do you believe that the men who wrote it thought that the day could be lengthened or that the sun could be stopped?

:Bryan--I don't know what they thought.

:Darrow--You don't know?

:Bryan--I think they wrote the fact without expressing their own thoughts.

:Darrow-- Now, Mr. Bryan, have you ever pondered what would have happened to the earth if it had stood still?

:Bryan--No.

:Darrow--You have not?

:Bryan-- No; the God I believe in could have taken care of that, Mr. Darrow.

:Darrow-- I see. Have you ever pondered what would naturally happen to the earth if it stood still suddenly?

:Bryan-- No.

:Darrow--Don't you know it would have been converted into molten mass of matter?

:Bryan--You testify to that when you get on the stand, I will give you a chance.

:Darrow--Don't you believe it?

:Bryan--I would want to hear expert testimony on that.

:Darrow--You have never investigated that subject?

:Bryan--I don't think I have ever had the question asked.

:Darrow--Or ever thought of it?

:Bryan--I have been too busy on thinks that I thought were of more importance than that.

A later exchange ended, once again, with the audience laughing:

:Darrow--I will read it to you from the Bible: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every breast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Do you think that is why the serpent is compelled to crawl upon its belly?

:Bryan--I believe that.

:Darrow--Have you any idea how the snake went before that time?

:Bryan--No, sir.

:Darrow--Do you know whether he walked on his tail or not?

:Bryan--No, sir. I have no way to know. (Laughter in audience).

===The conclusion===
The next day, it was Darrow's turn to be cross-examined. But Darrow took the public by taking the unprecedented step of asking the jury for a guilty verdict against his client.<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day8.htm</ref>

After 8 days of trial, and 9 minutes of deliberation, Scopes was found guilty on July 21 and ordered to pay a fine of $100. The conviction was overtuned on appeal by a technicality.<ref>The Tennessee Constitution had a clause that any fine that high must be set by a jury, not by the judge. The state's Supreme Court vacated the verdict due to that, and then ruled that because Scopes no longer lived in the state, the case was moot.</ref>

== Aftermath ==
Bryan, a 65-year-old diabetic lacking in modern treatments, died peacefully in his sleep during his afternoon nap after church five days after the conclusion of the Scopes trial.<ref>{{hnb|Larson|2006|p=199}}</ref> Bryan's victory in the Scopes trial was a fitting end to a principled, illustrious career.<ref> http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/bryan.html</ref> Scopes never had to pay the fine - the judge had set the amount but Tennessee law at the time prohibited judges from setting fines over $50.

The law challenged by the [[ACLU]] in the Scopes Trial remained in effect for over 50 more years. In 1967, Tennessee repealed the Butler Act, and in 1968, the Supreme Court ruled in ''Epperson v. Arkansas'', 393 U.S. 97, that such bans on teaching are unconstitutional if they are primarily religious in intent.

Tennessee continued to downplay evolution in its schools until 2005.<ref>http://www.edexcellence.net/institute/publication/publication.cfm?id=352&pubsubid=1169#1169</ref>
==Image and memory==

The trial gained renewed attention after it was dramatized for both stage (1955) and screen (1960). Titled ''[[Inherit the Wind]]'', both dramatizations distorted the facts of the case and were promoted to harm [[Christianity]].<ref>"'Inherit the Wind' relentlessly distorts what happened in Dayton, Tenn., in 1925."[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/2/story_226_1.html]</ref><ref>As recently as April 17, 2007, the ''Village Voice'' endorsed a new Broadway rendition of ''Inherit the Wind'' as "a dramatization of the 1925 [Scopes] trial."[http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0716,feingold,76394,11.html]</ref>

== The movie and play ==
The play ''Inherit the Wind'', and the adapted movie, were fictional accounts of the Scopes Trial.<ref>http://www.themonkeytrial.com/</ref> Several modifications were made; characters names were changed, and many crucial facts were changed. The authors have said that the play was really an attempt to mock Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], and to equate anti-communism with anti-intellectualism.<ref>http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2005/07/08/07</ref> The movie featured the popular Spencer Tracy as Clarence Darrow, and even garnered a few Academy Award nominations.

The movie features an angry mob trying to lynch a jailed teacher; in fact, the ACLU ran advertisements with offers to pay expenses for a teacher to volunteer for the case, and Scopes was never jailed and never paid even a fine.

The movie version heaped mockery on any argument that teaching evolution could be socially harmful.

The movie portrayed the character based on Bryan as a complete buffoon. Bryan's death was also portrayed as happening in the courthouse, when in fact he was an elderly man suffering from diabetes who died peacefully in his sleep.

American history books usually describe this case as a major defeat for Fundamentalists.<ref>The trial "marked a decisive setback for fundamentalism," says ''The Enduring Vision, Fifth Edition,'' Chapter 23: The 1920s: Coping with Change, Paul S. Boyer, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Clifford E. Clark, Jr., Carleton College; et al. (a commonly used American history textbook for Advanced Placement US History classes).</ref> In fact, the successful defense of the law enabled Tennessee to keep the racist evolutionary textbook out of its schools, to avoid teaching the falsehoods of evolution (such as the [[Piltdown Man]] featured in the trial textbook) to schoolchildren, and to permit the State (which still rejects a state income tax) to grow in [[conservatism]] to this day. Liberals [[Al Gore]], [[John Kerry]] and [[Barack Obama]] all failed to carry the state in recent presidential elections.

==References==
<references/>
==Bibliography==
* Clark, Constance Areson. "Evolution for John Doe: Pictures, The Public, and the Scopes Trial Debate." ''Journal of American History'' 2000 87(4): 1275-1303. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2674729 in JSTOR]
* Conkin, Paul K. ''When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism, Scopes, and American Intellectuals.'' (1998). 185 pp.
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Coulter
| Given = Ann
| Year = 2006
| Title = Godless: The Church of Liberalism
| Publisher = Crown Forum.
| ID = ISBN 978-1400054206
}}
* Edwards, Mark. "Rethinking the Failure of Fundamentalist Political Antievolutionism after 1925". ''Fides Et Historia'' 2000 32(2): 89-106. 0884-5379
* Folsom, Burton W., Jr. "The Scopes Trial Reconsidered." ''Continuity'' 1988 (12): 103-127. 0277-1446, by a leading conservative scholar
* Gatewood, Willard B., Jr., ed. ''Controversy in the Twenties: Fundamentalism, Modernism, & Evolution'' (1969)
* Harding, Susan. "Representing Fundamentalism: The Problem of the Repugnant Cultural Other." ''Social Research'' 1991 58(2): 373-393.
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Larson
| Given = Edward J.
| Authorlink = Edward John Larson
| Year = 2006
| Title = Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial And America's Continuing Debate over Science And Religion
| Publisher = Basic Books
| ID = ISBN 978-0465075102
}} [http://www.questia.com/library/book/summer-for-the-gods-the-scopes-trial-and-americas-continuing-debate-over-science-and-religion-by-edward-j-larson.jsp online edition]
* Lienesch Michael. ''In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement.'' University of North Carolina Press, 2007. 350pp

*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Linder
| Given = Douglas
| Year = 2002
| Title = The Scopes Trial: An Introduction
| Publisher = University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
| URL = http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm
}}
* Moran, Jeffrey P. ''The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents'', Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 240pp
* Moran, Jeffrey P. "The Scopes Trial and Southern Fundamentalism in Black and White: Race, Region, and Religion." ''Journal of Southern History''. Volume: 70. Issue: 1. 2004. pp 95+. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5005987461 online edition]
* Smout, Kary Doyle. ''The Creation/Evolution Controversy: A Battle for Cultural Power.'' (1998). 210 pp.

[[Category:Fundamentalism]]
[[category:evolution]]
[[category:creationism]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

Dante's Inferno

2012-02-15T20:10:42Z

Blain: /* Demons and monsters */

[[Image:Gustave_Dore_Inferno1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Dante lost in the dark forest: ''In the midway of this our mortal life / I found me in a gloomy wood, astray'' (Canto I)]]
The '''Inferno''' is the first of the three cantiche in [[Dante]]'s poetic work, ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'', about his imagined trip to [[Hell]] ('Inferno' is the Italian word for 'Hell'). It is very frightening. According to Dante, the inscription at the entrance to Hell reads "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

''The Divine Comedy'' was most famously illustrated by [[Gustave Doré]], whose very literal interpretations of the punishments sinners suffer in Hell are truly horrifying.

[[Category:Poetry]]
[[Category:Sin]]

==Structure of Hell==
Dante's vision of Hell is a very ordered one. Hell is an enormous conical pit that leads down to the centre of the Earth. Within the pit are nine circles of decreasing size, where those condemned to Hell are punished. Every kind of sin has its own allotted place, either an entire circle or, lower down, a subdivision of a circle. Down the side of the entire pit runs a crack, which was caused by the [[earthquake]] that happened at the [[Crucifixion]].

===The gate of Hell===
At the gate of Hell there is an inscription, famously ending 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here', because those condemned to Hell have lost their chance of salvation for good. Beyond the gate is the river [[Acheron]], the first of four rivers in Hell. As in classical mythology, [[Charon]] the ferryman carries the souls of the dead across the river. Gathered on the near bank are the Futile, souls of the dead who did nothing remarkable in their lives and are condemned to be forgotten.

===Limbo===
The first circle of Hell is [[Limbo]], home to those who led good lives but were not Christians, so cannot enter Heaven. Although it is in Hell, Limbo is relatively pleasant - the only punishment is disappointment and regret. Limbo in the Divine Comedy is analogous to the [[Elysian Fields]] in classical mythology.

[[Image:Ferdinand_Victor_Delacroix_006.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Dante and Virgil are ferried across the River [[Styx]], towards the City of Dis: ''And thus the good instructor: "Now, my son, / Draws near the city, that of Dis is named"'' (Canto VIII) (Illustration by [[Eugene Delacroix]]).]]

===The lesser circles===
The next four circles are known as 'lesser Hell', because the sins that are punished there are the result of weakness rather than malicious intent. These are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Circle
! Sin
! Punishment
|-
| Second
| [[Lust]]
| Wind
|-
| Third
| [[Gluttony]]
| Rain
|-
| Fourth
| [[Greed]]
| Pushing boulders
|-
| Fifth
| [[Anger]]
| Submerged in a marsh
|}
The marsh in the fifth circle is the river [[Styx]]. Dante and his guide must again be ferried across to continue their journey.

===The City of Dis===
The four lower circles of Hell (known collectively as lower or nether Hell) are inside a walled city called Dis (one of the names of [[Satan]]). From outside the city looks like a bustling metropolis of [[evil]], but inside it is revealed to be an eerie and deserted graveyard. This is the sixth circle of Hell, where [[heretic]]s are buried in tombs and set on fire.

===The seventh circle: Violence===
The seventh circle is split into three regions, where different forms of violence are punished:

* Violence against others, including tyranny, is punished in [[Phlegethon]], the river of fire. This river runs right round the outer edge of the seventh circle and then down towards the center of the pit.
* Violence against oneself. On the inner bank of Phlegethon is a wood, where the trees turn out to be [[suicide]]s who have been condemned to give up their human form. Wanton spendthrifts (mainly compulsive [[gambling|gamblers]]) are also punished here, pursued through the wood by harpies.
* Violence against [[God]] or nature. This category includes [[blasphemy|blasphemers]], [[Usury|usurers]] and [[homosexuals]]. All are punished in a desert of unbearable heat where fire rains from the sky.

The only way to cross the desert is to walk along the dykes that guide the river Phlegethon towards the center of Hell. Beyond the desert, this river flows down a sheer drop into the eighth circle.

===Malebolge===
The eighth circle is called Malebolge (which could be translated roughly as 'evil ditches'). It is made up of ten concentric trenches, each of which is home to those guilty of a different form of [[fraud]]:

[[Image:Mohammed by gustave dore.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Mohammed]] and other sunderers are punished in the eighth circle: ''"Now mark how I do rip me: lo! / How is Mohammed mangled"'' (Canto XXVIII)]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Form of fraud
! Punishment
|-
| [[Seduction]]
| Forced marching and whipping
|-
| [[Flattery]]
| Buried in filth
|-
| [[Simony]]
| Stuck in wells and set on fire
|-
| [[Sorcery]] and soothsaying
| Heads twisted backwards
|-
| [[Barratry]]
| Immersed in boiling tar
|-
| [[Hypocrisy]]
| Crushed under lead cloaks
|-
| [[Theft]]
| Turned into [[lizard]]s
|-
| Evil counsel
| Fire
|-
| Sundering
| Mutilated by [[demon]]s
|-
| [[Deceit]] and [[forgery]]
| Disease
|}

These sins are known as minor fraud, as distinct from treachery (see below), which is considered a worse form of fraud. The imaginative, cruel and grotesque punishments of the eighth circle provide some of the most enduring images in the Inferno, and are what most people have in mind when they think of the works of Dante.

[[Image:Gfdyte7y6.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Satan in the Ninth Circle of Hell: ''That Emperor, who sways / The realm of sorrow, at mid breast from the ice / Stood forth'' (Canto XXXIV)]]

===Cocytus===
The ninth and lowest circle, situated at the bottom of a deep well leading down to the center of the earth, is set aside for [[Treachery|traitors]]. The circle takes the form of a frozen lake called [[Cocytus]] (the fourth river of Hell), and the traitors are frozen into the [[ice]]. Some have their heads free, while others are completely covered, according to the severity of their treachery.

In the ultimate depths of this circle, the travelers come upon [[Satan]] and the three worst human offenders: [[Judas Iscariot]], [[Brutus]] and [[Cassius]]. Satan is depicted as a three-headed, winged [[demon]] of immense size, yet at the same time he is a pathetic figure: he is unable to move except to beat his wings ineffectually, and he cries constantly. The three worst traitors are punished by being chewed by Satan himself, and Judas, as the worst of all, is also lacerated by Satan's claws.

In Dante’s time, [[Julius Caesar]] was honored as the first emperor of Rome, and Rome brought the ‘[[Pax Romana]]’. Hence, his assassins Brutus and Cassius are seen as having betrayed the divinely-ordained natural order.<ref> [[The Divine Comedy]], By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol 1: Inferno. Copyright 1970 by Princeton University Press. </ref>

==Denizens of Hell==
===Sinners===
As he and Virgil travel through Hell, Dante speaks to many of the people he meets. Each circle is home to a multitude of sinners who are punished there, but the ones Dante identifies are mainly taken from antiquity, the [[Bible]], and Florentine and Italian history.

Some notable encounters are:
* [[Ulysses]], who is punished in the eighth circle for his role in the [[Trojan War]] (Dante sympathised with the Trojans as the ancestors of the founders of [[Rome]]).
* Brunetto Latini, a teacher of Dante's, who is punished for his homosexuality in the seventh circle.
* [[Mohammed]], who is punished as a sunderer in the eighth circle. As the founder of [[Islam]], his is blamed for leading many people away from Christianity. However, not all Muslims are treated so badly - some are allowed a place in Limbo, which means they committed no sin other than lacking the correct faith.
* Various [[Pope]]s - Dante took an extremely dim view of what he saw as the corrupt nature of the [[Church]] at the time.

===Demons and monsters===
As well as the shades of humans, Hell is home to a number of supernatural creatures. Some of the punishments are carried out by demons, for example a demon with an enormous sword mutilates the sunderers in the eighth circle. In addition, each circle is guarded by a creature who personifies the sins punished there:
[[Image:canino.png|right|thumb|200px|A carving of Cerberus, guardian of the third circle: ''Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange'' (Canto VI)]]
* '''Minos''', mythical king of [[Crete]], guards the second circle (lust). He is depicted as a monstrous creature with a tail, who has the task of assigning new arrivals in Hell to their allotted place.
* [[Cerberus]] the ravenous three-headed dog guards the third circle (gluttony).
* '''Plutus''', the personification of wealth, guards the fourth circle (greed). He speaks the unintelligible phrase 'Pape Satan, Pape Satan aleppe!', which has caused much debate among scholars as to its meaning.
* '''Phlegyas''', another mythical king, is the ferryman who carries Dante across the Styx (circle of anger).
* The '''furies''' are seen on the walls of the City of Dis before Dante and Virgil gain entry to the circle of heresy.
* The seventh circle (violence) is guarded by the [[Minotaur]] and patrolled by [[Centaur]]s.
* '''Geryon''', depicted as a strange breast with a handsome face and scaled body, carries Dante and Virgil down into the circle of fraud.
* Many giants, including [[Nimrod]] and the [[Titans]], stand around the edge of the lowest circle. The [[Titans]] committed treason by waging war against the gods, while Nimrod committed treason against God by building the [[Tower of Babel]] (he now speaks a language that none can understand).

== Punishments ==
The most famous feature of the Inferno is its wide and imaginative variety of punishments, many of which have an obvious connection with the sin in question. This connection is mentioned directly in canto XXVIII, where those who caused divisions and schisms are themselves split apart by a sword-wielding demon. The [[Italian]] word ''contrapasso'' is used to describe this idea.

The degree of ''contrapasso'' varies from one punishment to the next. In some cases, such as the schismatics already mentioned, or the [[hypocrisy|hypocrite]]s who are crushed under lead cloaks with a thin layer of gold on the outside, the association is very direct. In others, it is more oblique; for example, the souls of the lustful are blown about by a wind, which some commentators see as representing how, in life, they were buffeted by the caprice of their own emotions. In still other cases, it is hard to see any correspondence at all - for example, [[barratry|barraters]] are boiled in tar, which is obviously painful but has little to do with political corruption.

This variation could be seen as a good example of the inconsistency of style that characterises the Divine Comedy as a whole (see the discussion on [[The Divine Comedy#Style(s)|styles]] in the main article).

== In Popular Culture ==

A 2002 best-selling mystery novel by Matthew Pearl, ''The Dante Club,'' is a piece of historical fiction set in [[Boston]] in 1865. It is based partly on real events; the [[Dante Club]] was real, the mystery story is not. At the time, not many people in the [[United States]] knew [[Italian]] or Dante's work. A group of writers formed a club to translate Dante's work and promote his importance. Three of them were [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[James Russell Lowell]]. Like Dante's work itself, it has frightening and gruesome scenes, but is rich in historical background.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External Links==
* [http://www.divinecomedy.org/divine_comedy.html ''Research Edition''] of ''The Divine Comedy'' by the Electronic Literature Foundation

{{DivineComedy}}
[[Category:Christian Literature, Art, and Media]]

Biblical creation account

2012-02-15T20:09:31Z

Blain: /* Original manuscripts */

The creation account in [[Genesis]] describes the origin of the [[world]], [[life]], and [[mankind]]. Much of the rest of [[Scripture]] builds on the foundational [[history]] recorded in Genesis.

== Summary of the creation account ==

=== Creation week ===
{{main|Creation week}}.

Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 describes how God created [[light]] and darkness, [[heaven]] and earth, the [[sea]]s and [[plant]]s, the [[sun]], [[moon]] and [[star]]s, the [[fish]]es and [[bird]]s, the [[animal]]s and ''then'' man over the course of six 'days' (Hebrew ''yom''), before resting on the seventh day.

=== [[Adam and Eve]], and the Garden of Eden ===

From Genesis 2:4 to the end of the chapter, the creation of the first man and [[woman]], [[Adam]] and [[Eve]], is described, along with the [[Garden of Eden|garden]] into which they were placed. The account also records that God brought various creatures<ref>''All the breast of the field and all the birds of the air'', so clearly a subset of all the creatures.</ref> to Adam to name. None of them made a suitable helper for Adam, so God created a woman for Adam.

=== The Fall ===

Although God had told Adam that he could eat any of the trees in the garden except one. However, Genesis 3 describes how Eve then Adam disobeyed God and ate from that one tree. In response, God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden and imposed other punishments.

=== Children ===

Genesis 4 relates that [[Cain]], one of Adam and Eve's children, murdered his brother [[Abel]]. God punished Cain by causing his crops to fail, forcing him to lead a nomadic lifestyle. He did, however, protect Cain from others killing him. Some of Cain's descendants are listed, along with some of the accomplishments of him and his descendants.

Adam and Eve had a replacement son, Seth.

=== Chronogenealogy ===

Genesis 5 contains a [[chronogenealogy]] of Adams descendants extending to [[Noah]]'s sons. Biblical scholars have used these and other chronogenalogies and other time indicators to calculate the [[date of creation]] backwards from later events to conclude that creation occurred around 4,000 B.C.

== Doctrine ==

The creation account provides the basis for much of doctrine discussed later in the Bible, including the origin of [[sin]], [[marriage]], and [[clothes]].<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4906/ Anglican Church challenges evolution], by Tas Walker.</ref>

== Original manuscripts ==

As for the rest of the Bible and virtually all other ancient documents, the original manuscripts have not survived. Instead, we have copies, and various ideas exist regarding what form the originals took.

The traditional view, still accepted by many Christians, is that the [[Pentateuch]] (Genesis to Deuteronomy) was written by Moses, possibly by direct revelation from God. Jesus endorses this, referring to Moses' writings.<ref>For example, Mark 12:26 (ESV): ''And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?'', a reference to the events of [[Exodus]] 3.</ref>

Citing Moses as the author does not preclude him using older documents as sources, and a related view is that Genesis was compiled by Moses from documents that dated back to the persons whose history they describe. In this view, Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 could have been written by God Himself (as there were no other eyewitnesses), and Genesis 2:4 to the end of chapter 4 would have been written by Adam. These documents would have been handed down generation after generation, until coming into the possession of Moses as leader of the Israelites at his time.

In 1886 [[Julius Wellhausen]] promoted the idea that the the [[Pentateuch]] was written by a number of different but unknown authors at a later time than Moses. This "[[Documentary Hypothesis]]", as it has become known, is widely accepted and taught by more-liberal colleges. Conservative Biblical scholars such as [[Kenneth Kitchen]] and [[Gleason Archer]] and others give various arguments on why the Documentary Hypothesis is not supported by any evidence and also ignores evidence that Moses wrote the [[Torah]]. <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/moses.html</ref><ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0404W3.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/13</ref><ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/aec2.html</ref><ref>http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/moses.htm</ref> <ref>http://answering-islam.org.uk/Campbell/s3c1.html</ref> In addition, Dr. Yohanan Aharoni argues that archaeological discoveries shows that later authors or editors could not have put together or invented the [[Torah]] stories hundreds of years after they happened. <ref>http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/bible_criticism.htm</ref> [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[Josh McDowell]] in his work ''New Evidence that Demands a Verdict'' discusses the development of the Documentary Hypothesis and its presuppositions, discusses various components of the Documentary hypothesis why scholars believe they are invalid, and lastly cites evidence that scholars believe argue for the [[Mosaic authorship]] of the Pentateuch. <ref>http://www.geocities.com/k9ocu/DH.htm</ref>

According to the documentary hypothesis, the creation account is a combination of two different and inconsistent original accounts. Supporters of the theory point to what they see as discrepancies, such as Genesis 2:19 being worded as though God created animals and birds after Adam, whereas Genesis 1 indicates that man was created after the birds and animals. Opponents of the Documentary Hypothesis say that Genesis 2 is not intended as a chronological account, and should be read in the context of the preceding narrative, thus reading Genesis 2:19 the way that the NIV translates it: "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the breasts of the field and all the birds of the air."<ref>As well as derivatives of the NIV, the [[English Standard Version]] includes this translation in a footnote, and Darby's translation also uses this wording.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Old Earth Creationism]]

== References ==

<references/>

==Sources==

* Cruden, A., ''Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments'' (Lutterworth, 1930)
* ''The Holy Bible'' (King James Version)
* ''The New English Bible'' (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
* ''The New Jerusalem Bible'' (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
* Peake, A.S., ''Commentary on the Bible'' (Nelson, 1962)
* Young, R., ''Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible'' (Lutterworth, 1939)

[[Category:Book of Genesis]]
[[Category:Creationism]]

Biblical creation account

2012-02-15T20:09:02Z

Blain: /* Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden */

The creation account in [[Genesis]] describes the origin of the [[world]], [[life]], and [[mankind]]. Much of the rest of [[Scripture]] builds on the foundational [[history]] recorded in Genesis.

== Summary of the creation account ==

=== Creation week ===
{{main|Creation week}}.

Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 describes how God created [[light]] and darkness, [[heaven]] and earth, the [[sea]]s and [[plant]]s, the [[sun]], [[moon]] and [[star]]s, the [[fish]]es and [[bird]]s, the [[animal]]s and ''then'' man over the course of six 'days' (Hebrew ''yom''), before resting on the seventh day.

=== [[Adam and Eve]], and the Garden of Eden ===

From Genesis 2:4 to the end of the chapter, the creation of the first man and [[woman]], [[Adam]] and [[Eve]], is described, along with the [[Garden of Eden|garden]] into which they were placed. The account also records that God brought various creatures<ref>''All the breast of the field and all the birds of the air'', so clearly a subset of all the creatures.</ref> to Adam to name. None of them made a suitable helper for Adam, so God created a woman for Adam.

=== The Fall ===

Although God had told Adam that he could eat any of the trees in the garden except one. However, Genesis 3 describes how Eve then Adam disobeyed God and ate from that one tree. In response, God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden and imposed other punishments.

=== Children ===

Genesis 4 relates that [[Cain]], one of Adam and Eve's children, murdered his brother [[Abel]]. God punished Cain by causing his crops to fail, forcing him to lead a nomadic lifestyle. He did, however, protect Cain from others killing him. Some of Cain's descendants are listed, along with some of the accomplishments of him and his descendants.

Adam and Eve had a replacement son, Seth.

=== Chronogenealogy ===

Genesis 5 contains a [[chronogenealogy]] of Adams descendants extending to [[Noah]]'s sons. Biblical scholars have used these and other chronogenalogies and other time indicators to calculate the [[date of creation]] backwards from later events to conclude that creation occurred around 4,000 B.C.

== Doctrine ==

The creation account provides the basis for much of doctrine discussed later in the Bible, including the origin of [[sin]], [[marriage]], and [[clothes]].<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4906/ Anglican Church challenges evolution], by Tas Walker.</ref>

== Original manuscripts ==

As for the rest of the Bible and virtually all other ancient documents, the original manuscripts have not survived. Instead, we have copies, and various ideas exist regarding what form the originals took.

The traditional view, still accepted by many Christians, is that the [[Pentateuch]] (Genesis to Deuteronomy) was written by Moses, possibly by direct revelation from God. Jesus endorses this, referring to Moses' writings.<ref>For example, Mark 12:26 (ESV): ''And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?'', a reference to the events of [[Exodus]] 3.</ref>

Citing Moses as the author does not preclude him using older documents as sources, and a related view is that Genesis was compiled by Moses from documents that dated back to the persons whose history they describe. In this view, Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 could have been written by God Himself (as there were no other eyewitnesses), and Genesis 2:4 to the end of chapter 4 would have been written by Adam. These documents would have been handed down generation after generation, until coming into the possession of Moses as leader of the Israelites at his time.

In 1886 [[Julius Wellhausen]] promoted the idea that the the [[Pentateuch]] was written by a number of different but unknown authors at a later time than Moses. This "[[Documentary Hypothesis]]", as it has become known, is widely accepted and taught by more-liberal colleges. Conservative Biblical scholars such as [[Kenneth Kitchen]] and [[Gleason Archer]] and others give various arguments on why the Documentary Hypothesis is not supported by any evidence and also ignores evidence that Moses wrote the [[Torah]]. <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/moses.html</ref><ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0404W3.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/13</ref><ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/aec2.html</ref><ref>http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/moses.htm</ref> <ref>http://answering-islam.org.uk/Campbell/s3c1.html</ref> In addition, Dr. Yohanan Aharoni argues that archaeological discoveries shows that later authors or editors could not have put together or invented the [[Torah]] stories hundreds of years after they happened. <ref>http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/bible_criticism.htm</ref> [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[Josh McDowell]] in his work ''New Evidence that Demands a Verdict'' discusses the development of the Documentary Hypothesis and its presuppositions, discusses various components of the Documentary hypothesis why scholars believe they are invalid, and lastly cites evidence that scholars believe argue for the [[Mosaic authorship]] of the Pentateuch. <ref>http://www.geocities.com/k9ocu/DH.htm</ref>

According to the documentary hypothesis, the creation account is a combination of two different and inconsistent original accounts. Supporters of the theory point to what they see as discrepancies, such as Genesis 2:19 being worded as though God created animals and birds after Adam, whereas Genesis 1 indicates that man was created after the birds and animals. Opponents of the Documentary Hypothesis say that Genesis 2 is not intended as a chronological account, and should be read in the context of the preceding narrative, thus reading Genesis 2:19 the way that the NIV translates it: "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air."<ref>As well as derivatives of the NIV, the [[English Standard Version]] includes this translation in a footnote, and Darby's translation also uses this wording.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Old Earth Creationism]]

== References ==

<references/>

==Sources==

* Cruden, A., ''Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments'' (Lutterworth, 1930)
* ''The Holy Bible'' (King James Version)
* ''The New English Bible'' (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
* ''The New Jerusalem Bible'' (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
* Peake, A.S., ''Commentary on the Bible'' (Nelson, 1962)
* Young, R., ''Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible'' (Lutterworth, 1939)

[[Category:Book of Genesis]]
[[Category:Creationism]]