"The Burial of Count Orgaz" by El Greco

This painting is full of symbols that reflect Catholic beliefs. There is heaven full of angels and other important figures and the Earth where people surroung the Saints who descended from heaven. On Earth, Saints Augustine and Stephen lower the Count into the sepulcher. The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are interceding for the Count's soul. Jesus is at that the top.

The presence of the Saints demonstrate the Catholics' tendency to worship or revere saints; St. Augustine and Stephen seem to be like gaurdians. Likewise, the Virgin Mary stresses that idea even more because she seems to be interceding for the Count's soul. Therefore, people pray to her and the saints because she acts kind of like a mediator trying to save people's souls. The men dressed as Spanish conquistadores symbolizes Catholic Spain's battle against Protestant England; it helps to reinforce the Catholic beliefs expressed in the painting among the audience. Overall, this alterpiece is typical of those found in Catholic churches. Inspiring religious fervor, they are enormous and elaborate and are placed in the front of the church so that during mass people can worship the Saints or Christ or whomever who are depicted in the paintings. At the top, Christ, I'm assuming, symbolizes that he is the one that ultimately chooses to accept souls into heaven; he even has open arms, which represents that he's welcoming. This alterpiece emphasizes the importance of Saints and the Virgin Mary to the Catholics; they are just as important as Christ because they are depicted as larger than him. It shows the results of praying to them because they play an intercessory role in receiving souls in heaven, which motivates people to pray. They're beliefs influenced the artist to depict saints, the virgin, and Christ, and the saints reinforced their beliefs.

Survival of the Fittest

I think that it is highly advantageous for religions to change their interpretation of scriptures over time. The society in which it is located changes and along with it the attitudes and beliefs (although not necessarily religious) of the people. This cultural change may cause the religious and secular worlds to clash potentially causing ruptures between the people and religion. Religions could start losing their followers because they reject certain beliefs that currently prevail in the broader society.

For example, nowadays there are religions that condone homosexuality. It is also an attitude that is spreading. If more religious people begin to change their attitude toward homosexuality, then perhaps they will begin to question their church’s principles. Therefore, those religions could lose both their power and followers, who would then turn to other religions that express their newfound attitude.

It reminds me of "survival of the fittest" in terms of religion. The churches that fail to interpret their belief system according to the present state of their society put themselves at risk for extinction. The churches or religions that do derive their beliefs from a modified interpretation of scripture increase their chances of surviving. Adjusting religious beliefs to society, religions could appeal to more people, attracting more followers, which benefit its health.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine mentioned several points that people need to use in order to analyze and understandscriptures. One of the points that he mentions is to know the language(s) in which the text was written and to be well familiarized with the symbolism embedded in some terms. Certain terms have different metaphorical and hidden meanings in different languages. Using a specific language, people can identify key words used in figurative expressions, which may shed light on the idea it is trying to address. Without knowing the concepts or places the word symbolizes, the text may seem unintelligible. A snake in a passage of a text could be taken literally instead of figuratively. Zion could be interpreted as a city instead of Mount Zion (Israel).

Important metaphors or analogies could hide the true meaning of the Psalms. This point could help interpret the Psalms. In the Psalms a few passages refer to
God dominating a sea monster. I was puzzled after reading these because I assumed it referred to a shark of which people were afraid because of an accident that happened to them. But then I read the footnotes, which clarified its significance. The sea monster was an idea from canaanite religion/mythology that was incorporated into the Psalms. Without being familiar with these words that have hidden meanings, then I would not have understood those Psalms. Several of the Psalms contain metaphorical expressions, such as pit, Leviathon, lyre, etc. that would have remained mysteries if people had not studied the language and the meanings attached to them.

Psalms: God and Nature

I think that the Psalms strategically incorporate God into nature in some passages. It is a way of juxtaposing the two so that the readers can put into perspective that one is above the other in power. For example:

“His is the sea and He made it, and the dry land His hands did fashion…” 95:5

“… and He turned their rivers to blood, their currents they could not drink.” 78:44

"He blasted the Sea of Reeds, and it dried up, and He led them through the deep as through wilderness." 106:9

It makes God look like such an incredibly powerful, creative being. He created it and the earth is his possession, which he granted to humans. Especially the Psalms that illustrate how he has the ability to manipulate his creations magnifies his position in the world, which is higher than that of humans. As a result, he can inspire fear and respect in his followers, which in turn motivates them to comply with his principles. If they disobey, they will experience disasters. If they obey, they’ll experience prosperity and help as in the form of water (which is essential to life) coming from rocks.

The Psalms involving nature are similar to paintings that use hierarchic scaling. Hierarchic scaling is depicting people in an artwork a certain size which corresponds to their importance in society, to a group, or the artist himself. In the Psalms, a verbal form of hierarchic scaling is used. The Psalms depict God as an omnipotent being that controls nature resulting in fortune or chaos for humans. In a painting, God would be the dramatically larger person because he has absolute control over nature; humans would be the smaller subject in the painting because they depend on God’s will. This strategy helps people or his followers understand his power while functioning as a tool that inspires both fear and respect.

Week 4- Ethics

I see the Psalms as a reflection of the ethics God believes his followers or the people of Israel should follow. They should be honest (15). They should keep their promises and be genuinely truthful. They should not harm other people physically or verbally (15). People shouldn’t betray their friends or allies. People should be humble (37). If they commit evil deeds, then they should repent and accept their punishment (51). Breaking these morals is evil and evil creates more evil (7). In short, people should try to be innocent.

If they refuse to live like this then, then they have to face the consequences which may come in the form of illness, suffering, and other misfortunes. However, people don’t necessarily follow those morals because it is the “right” thing to do. I think that they apply the ethics to their lives out of fear. Several passages in the Psalms refer to God’s rage. The only way to avoid being harmed or even destroyed is to follow the ethics.

In addition, it is very convenient to obey these morals. God grants people protection from suffering. He also protects them from the enemies, which are people who don’t follow the ethics in the Psalms. But this convenience undermines another important moral: to “give free of charge” (37). People aren’t really living their lives selflessly because they have in mind the prosperous future that awaits them for behaving in such manners. God promises them that he will grant their desires and that they are the heirs of the Earth for following these morals. It is a livable ethic, but there is a tinge of hypocrisy caused by the fear of God and his desireable promises.

From what I know about Christianity, I think that Psalms’ ethic is very similar to it. They resemble closely the Ten Commandments. For example, “Thou Shalt not lie” is basically the same as the deceitful will stumble in the Psalms. However, the Psalms, I think are not very specific in some cases. They are more general. For instance, it says that you shouldn’t betray an allies but that isn’t very specific because there are several forms of betrayal such as lying and murder. I think that they are very much alike.

I think that the Psalms are missing something. Instead of focusing on God and how they will anger him for the wrongdoings they commit on earth, they should have focused on why it is wrong to harm others for example. The Psalms are missing the purpose of applying this ethic, which allows them to understand that people shouldn’t harm others because they have feelings as well. I’m sure people understood that but in the Psalms the emphasis was more on divine punishment.

Psalms

Despite the minor flaws in the Psalms, I enjoyed reading them so far because they reveal cultural and spiritual aspects of the historic time period in which they were written. One of the aspects that I disliked was their repetitiveness. Most of the Psalms convey the same meanings but in slightly different ways. A lot of them involve supplications; the character or narrator begs for forgiveness because of a sin they committed. Perhaps the difference among these types of Psalms is the historical context because they many of them are about different events. I was also puzzled after reading the first few because I’m not familiar with the Psalms and I was expecting them to be more positive. I was surprised that a lot of them instead referred to the wrath and fury of God toward humans. I expected them to place more emphasis on praising or glorifying God’s greatness and benevolence than on fearing him. I also found surprising that the people in the Psalms actually wish other people harm and even death; they pray to God that he eliminate them because they sinned. But then when they themselves sin, they beg for forgiveness and mercy, which I found somewhat ironic.

On the other hand, I like the Psalms because they reveal some of the cultural and spiritual characteristics of the time period in which the Psalms were written. A lot of them talk about the events taking place like warfare, plagues, and prosperity. This indicates that perhaps they lived during turbulent times. Perhaps that turbulence motivated other people to find solace in God. Also, because some of the Psalms refer to a lead person or a group, they imply that they were possibly intended for a group to setting so that they could sing or read them together. Therefore, congregations were part of their culture.

In the Psalms, you can easily see signs of spirituality. The people who wrote or read the Psalms obviously had some kind of close relationship with God. They turn to him for guidance and help in times of need. They also feel compelled to respond to him for their wrongdoings; tbey consider him so important they ask him for forgiveness. In addition, they portray notable figures from Christian history in such a way that they seem like role models. For example, David sinned and repented. His action and response could have influenced people to apply that to their spiritual lives. It seems that people then had a strong relationship with God because they placed so much trust in him because they continued obeying and respecting him even in during adversities. They did not reproach him for their plight. They Psalms indicate that to them it was important to maintain the relationship with God. This aspect makes reading the Psalms more interesting. They are not just poems, but historical events that reveal the culture and spirituality of that era.

Psalm 2

I think that the 2nd version of Psalm 2 is written better than the one in our book. The one in our book is easier to read; the organization and selection of the words gives it clarity. To me this version emphasizes the readers and humans more than the other version; the sentences end with “you” or “they/them.” For example, “Be chastened, you rulers of earth,” and “the Master derides them.” It also focuses more on fearing God instead of revering him. Moreover, it has words with multiple syllables, rendering it less powerful when spoken because you say the words not necessarily more slowly but it extends the sentences so much that it loses some of the emotion involved. It makes sound awkward as well. In addition, it lacks a pattern that could make it sound more poetic.

Although the 2nd version is harder to read, it has more emotion. Each line has about the same number of syllables, which makes it flow better when read. In addition to fear, this version includes the word reverence, which arouses respect for God. In addition, the parts of the psalm that appeal to the emotions and demonstrate the power of God are written with single syllable words. I don’t know how to explain but I just think that words with one syllable have more passion or power when spoken together. The words are spoken not quickly, but one right after the other. Therefore, to me this version of pslam 2 emphasizes the passion within it. Moreover, some of the lines end with “I will.” These words are the ones the reader will remember the most because they are at the end. Also, they are part of the main clause, which carries the most emphasis. As a result, the readers will recall the emphasis on what God promises to his loyal followers.

The colonists would interpret it almost literally. A part of the Psalm, God states, “… thou fhalt poffeff the utmoft coafts abroad.” The colonists in this time period have just arrived and are adjusting to this country that is already inhabited by the Native Americans. Reading this Psalm would comfort them that as long as they follow God, then God would give them this country. Thus, the colonists could justify the removal of the Native Americans from their land because they are not followers of God. Applying the psalm to their situation, they would probably think that the Native Americans are being disloyal to God, which means that he will unleash his rage upon them. This perspective would probably be stronger among the Puritans who strongly believe in predestination; they probably think the New World is theirs because God had already decided it. Basically, this Psalm would allow the colonists justify their actions and their claim for the New World.