David Quint
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161914
- eISBN:
- 9781400850488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161914.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter places the reconciliation of Adam and Eve in book 10 against the preceding first two-thirds of book 10, which have described the building by Sin and Death of their bridge over Chaos and ...
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This chapter places the reconciliation of Adam and Eve in book 10 against the preceding first two-thirds of book 10, which have described the building by Sin and Death of their bridge over Chaos and Satan's return to hell. Each of these appears to be a “triumphal act,” allusively associated with the triumph of Augustus depicted on the shield of Aeneas in Aeneid 8, the chronological “ending” of Virgil's poem. However, allusion equally returns both demonic acts to the beginning of the Aeneid, the storm and shipwreck off of Carthage, and suggests the recursive shape of evil in the larger book 10—a book in which the narrative sequence of events seems to run in a loop. Therefore, these satanic acts of heroism are now understood as mock-triumphs that parody the real triumphs of the Son—true endings that foreshadow apocalyptic ones—at the respective ends of books 6 and 7.Less
This chapter places the reconciliation of Adam and Eve in book 10 against the preceding first two-thirds of book 10, which have described the building by Sin and Death of their bridge over Chaos and Satan's return to hell. Each of these appears to be a “triumphal act,” allusively associated with the triumph of Augustus depicted on the shield of Aeneas in Aeneid 8, the chronological “ending” of Virgil's poem. However, allusion equally returns both demonic acts to the beginning of the Aeneid, the storm and shipwreck off of Carthage, and suggests the recursive shape of evil in the larger book 10—a book in which the narrative sequence of events seems to run in a loop. Therefore, these satanic acts of heroism are now understood as mock-triumphs that parody the real triumphs of the Son—true endings that foreshadow apocalyptic ones—at the respective ends of books 6 and 7.
Brian Murdoch
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564149
- eISBN:
- 9780191721328
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564149.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
This book examines the development in medieval European literature of the story of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from paradise. The gaps in what the Bible records of their lives were filled in ...
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This book examines the development in medieval European literature of the story of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from paradise. The gaps in what the Bible records of their lives were filled in early and medieval times to a great extent by apocrypha or pseudepigrapha such as the Latin Life of Adam and Eve (which merges at some points with a series of legends of the Holy Rood). It describes their attempt to return to paradise by undertaking penance whilst immersed in a river, Eve's second temptation, and the ways in which Adam and Eve cope with the novelties of childbirth and death. The Vita Adae et Evae is part of a broad apocryphal tradition, but is not a unified text, and there are very many variations within the substantial number of extant versions. It was translated and adapted in prose, verse, and drama (as tracts, in chronicles, or as literary works) in virtually all western and some eastern European languages in the Middle Ages, and survived sometimes beyond that. These adaptations are examined on a comparative basis. There is a limited iconographical tradition. The book argues that the study of the apocryphal tradition demands examination of these vernacular texts; and also brings to light a very widespread aspect of European culture that disappeared to a large extent—though it did not die out completely—at the time of the Renaissance and Reformation, with their renewed insistence on canonicity and on the establishment of a foundation text for works of antiquity.Less
This book examines the development in medieval European literature of the story of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from paradise. The gaps in what the Bible records of their lives were filled in early and medieval times to a great extent by apocrypha or pseudepigrapha such as the Latin Life of Adam and Eve (which merges at some points with a series of legends of the Holy Rood). It describes their attempt to return to paradise by undertaking penance whilst immersed in a river, Eve's second temptation, and the ways in which Adam and Eve cope with the novelties of childbirth and death. The Vita Adae et Evae is part of a broad apocryphal tradition, but is not a unified text, and there are very many variations within the substantial number of extant versions. It was translated and adapted in prose, verse, and drama (as tracts, in chronicles, or as literary works) in virtually all western and some eastern European languages in the Middle Ages, and survived sometimes beyond that. These adaptations are examined on a comparative basis. There is a limited iconographical tradition. The book argues that the study of the apocryphal tradition demands examination of these vernacular texts; and also brings to light a very widespread aspect of European culture that disappeared to a large extent—though it did not die out completely—at the time of the Renaissance and Reformation, with their renewed insistence on canonicity and on the establishment of a foundation text for works of antiquity.
Rosanna Cox
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264706
- eISBN:
- 9780191734557
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264706.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies
This chapter investigates the seventeenth-century cultural and historical context of Milton's portrayal the relationship of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost. This approach aims to bring the ...
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This chapter investigates the seventeenth-century cultural and historical context of Milton's portrayal the relationship of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost. This approach aims to bring the intellectual, doctrinal, and political debates with which he engaged in his portrayal of the relationship between the sexes. The chapter examines Milton' understanding of the ideas of woman, womanhood, and the cultural debates about the relationship of man and woman in marriage and in the household, and the ways in which these conceptions formed his political and theological outlook. Milton's thoughts on gender and marriage, which were grounded in reformation and seventeenth-century Puritan teachings, in political debates on family and political obligation, and in the ideological and imaginative relationships between politics and gender, formed his prose and poetry on the relationship of man and woman.Less
This chapter investigates the seventeenth-century cultural and historical context of Milton's portrayal the relationship of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost. This approach aims to bring the intellectual, doctrinal, and political debates with which he engaged in his portrayal of the relationship between the sexes. The chapter examines Milton' understanding of the ideas of woman, womanhood, and the cultural debates about the relationship of man and woman in marriage and in the household, and the ways in which these conceptions formed his political and theological outlook. Milton's thoughts on gender and marriage, which were grounded in reformation and seventeenth-century Puritan teachings, in political debates on family and political obligation, and in the ideological and imaginative relationships between politics and gender, formed his prose and poetry on the relationship of man and woman.
Carol Harrison
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199281664
- eISBN:
- 9780191603402
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199281661.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter examines the various ways in which Augustine talks about human fallenness and sin in the early works, and how these relate both to this understanding of creation from nothing and to the ...
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This chapter examines the various ways in which Augustine talks about human fallenness and sin in the early works, and how these relate both to this understanding of creation from nothing and to the Fall of Adam and Eve. It considers how far ‘original sin’ can be legitimately spoken of in these works, and concludes that its characteristic features — human solidarity in Adam’s sin, ignorance and difficulty in willing, the role of habit, concupiscence and inability to do the good without grace — shape Augustine’s understanding from the beginning.Less
This chapter examines the various ways in which Augustine talks about human fallenness and sin in the early works, and how these relate both to this understanding of creation from nothing and to the Fall of Adam and Eve. It considers how far ‘original sin’ can be legitimately spoken of in these works, and concludes that its characteristic features — human solidarity in Adam’s sin, ignorance and difficulty in willing, the role of habit, concupiscence and inability to do the good without grace — shape Augustine’s understanding from the beginning.
Vita Daphna Arbel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199837779
- eISBN:
- 9780199932351
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199837779.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This book investigates representations of the emblematic first woman by examining one of the earliest and most influential accounts of Adam and Eve subsequent to the Hebrew Bible, namely the ...
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This book investigates representations of the emblematic first woman by examining one of the earliest and most influential accounts of Adam and Eve subsequent to the Hebrew Bible, namely the apocryphal Greek Life of Adam and Eve (GLAE) from antiquity. It further considers the cultural and ideological significance of these representations. Previous studies of the GLAE’s complex historical and literary development have paved the way for considering additional thematic issues. One such issue is the representation of Eve. Treating the figure of Eve as a culturally constructed representation of woman, this book employs observations from contemporary sociological perspectives, traditional biblical scholarship, studies of the Books of Adam and Eve, and critical feminist theory to examine pivotal issues that have not yet been investigated in previous scholarship. The book offers a nuanced examination of the GLAE’s multifaceted and at times contradictory depictions of Eve/femininity. It situates these literary depictions within the hybrid Greco-Roman cultural world in which they emerged and looks at the extent to which they both reflect and construct contemporaneous concepts in regard to Eve’s/women’s standing, role, authority, and realms of experiences. Finally, the book considers how the GLAE narrative endows the biblical story of Eve with new contemporaneous details and meanings that, in turn, establish building blocks for later traditions. Aiming to introduce a dynamic study of the GLAE’s Eve, each chapter investigates a distinct representation of the first woman, revealing a web of traditions and voices—be they official, dogmatic, popular, or subversive—that converge in a multivocal dialogue over Eve/femininity in the cultural landscape of antiquity.Less
This book investigates representations of the emblematic first woman by examining one of the earliest and most influential accounts of Adam and Eve subsequent to the Hebrew Bible, namely the apocryphal Greek Life of Adam and Eve (GLAE) from antiquity. It further considers the cultural and ideological significance of these representations. Previous studies of the GLAE’s complex historical and literary development have paved the way for considering additional thematic issues. One such issue is the representation of Eve. Treating the figure of Eve as a culturally constructed representation of woman, this book employs observations from contemporary sociological perspectives, traditional biblical scholarship, studies of the Books of Adam and Eve, and critical feminist theory to examine pivotal issues that have not yet been investigated in previous scholarship. The book offers a nuanced examination of the GLAE’s multifaceted and at times contradictory depictions of Eve/femininity. It situates these literary depictions within the hybrid Greco-Roman cultural world in which they emerged and looks at the extent to which they both reflect and construct contemporaneous concepts in regard to Eve’s/women’s standing, role, authority, and realms of experiences. Finally, the book considers how the GLAE narrative endows the biblical story of Eve with new contemporaneous details and meanings that, in turn, establish building blocks for later traditions. Aiming to introduce a dynamic study of the GLAE’s Eve, each chapter investigates a distinct representation of the first woman, revealing a web of traditions and voices—be they official, dogmatic, popular, or subversive—that converge in a multivocal dialogue over Eve/femininity in the cultural landscape of antiquity.
Brian Cummings
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199677719
- eISBN:
- 9780191778605
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677719.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, European Literature
This chapter traces the development of artistic representations of Adam and Eve in the Renaissance from Dürer, through Hans Balding Grien and Lucas van Leyden, to Rembrandt. It focuses on the idea of ...
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This chapter traces the development of artistic representations of Adam and Eve in the Renaissance from Dürer, through Hans Balding Grien and Lucas van Leyden, to Rembrandt. It focuses on the idea of human embodiment, in its formation both within classical philosophy and Christian theology. It examines how religious representations resonate with the materialist ideas of the new philosophy of Descartes and Hobbes. The chapter finishes with a detailed analysis of embodiment in Milton's Paradise Lost. At its heart is the representation of Adam and Eve as primal figures of human identity. The chapter uncovers the ambiguous meaning of embodiment in the Genesis story in relation to sexuality and mortality. It uses a variety of artistic, philosophical, and literary materials to place the idea of selfhood in new contexts.Less
This chapter traces the development of artistic representations of Adam and Eve in the Renaissance from Dürer, through Hans Balding Grien and Lucas van Leyden, to Rembrandt. It focuses on the idea of human embodiment, in its formation both within classical philosophy and Christian theology. It examines how religious representations resonate with the materialist ideas of the new philosophy of Descartes and Hobbes. The chapter finishes with a detailed analysis of embodiment in Milton's Paradise Lost. At its heart is the representation of Adam and Eve as primal figures of human identity. The chapter uncovers the ambiguous meaning of embodiment in the Genesis story in relation to sexuality and mortality. It uses a variety of artistic, philosophical, and literary materials to place the idea of selfhood in new contexts.
David Quint
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161914
- eISBN:
- 9781400850488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161914.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This introductory chapter provides an overview of John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). Paradise Lost tells the story of two falls. There is the unending fall of Satan and his followers, and there is ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). Paradise Lost tells the story of two falls. There is the unending fall of Satan and his followers, and there is the Fall—and spiritual regeneration—of Adam and Eve. Satan's story is the old epic dispensation, the search for temporal power as a zero-sum game driven by envy and the desire for glory above one's peers. It can only culminate in kingship, war, and destruction—and in alienation from God in a literal or mental hell. The fall of Adam and Eve tells the story of the new dispensation of Milton's epic: of how love between human beings, here exemplified in marital love, enables the love of God; of the experience of spiritual goods that exceed finite temporal ones; of hope for an existence beyond the finitude of death.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). Paradise Lost tells the story of two falls. There is the unending fall of Satan and his followers, and there is the Fall—and spiritual regeneration—of Adam and Eve. Satan's story is the old epic dispensation, the search for temporal power as a zero-sum game driven by envy and the desire for glory above one's peers. It can only culminate in kingship, war, and destruction—and in alienation from God in a literal or mental hell. The fall of Adam and Eve tells the story of the new dispensation of Milton's epic: of how love between human beings, here exemplified in marital love, enables the love of God; of the experience of spiritual goods that exceed finite temporal ones; of hope for an existence beyond the finitude of death.
Michael Peppard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300213997
- eISBN:
- 9780300216516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300213997.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The conclusion takes up two small fragments not yet analyzed in the book: scenes of paradise and Adam and Eve. Focusing on how the primordial couple was understood in early Syrian Christianity ...
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The conclusion takes up two small fragments not yet analyzed in the book: scenes of paradise and Adam and Eve. Focusing on how the primordial couple was understood in early Syrian Christianity enables a recapitulation of some of the themes of the book, while also showcasing the common initiatory ideas of new creation and paradise restored. The book then ends with a reflective reading of one of the earliest Christian collections of “hymns,” the Odes of Solomon, widely considered to be from second- or third-century Syria. We cannot know for sure exactly what words were on the minds and lips of initiates at Dura-Europos, but many of these odes echo the spiritual themes, biblical narratives, and notions of salvation that were precisely emphasized in this room. Dwelling on representative motifs from these Odes offers a fitting end to this historical reconstruction of the Christian community at Dura-Europos.Less
The conclusion takes up two small fragments not yet analyzed in the book: scenes of paradise and Adam and Eve. Focusing on how the primordial couple was understood in early Syrian Christianity enables a recapitulation of some of the themes of the book, while also showcasing the common initiatory ideas of new creation and paradise restored. The book then ends with a reflective reading of one of the earliest Christian collections of “hymns,” the Odes of Solomon, widely considered to be from second- or third-century Syria. We cannot know for sure exactly what words were on the minds and lips of initiates at Dura-Europos, but many of these odes echo the spiritual themes, biblical narratives, and notions of salvation that were precisely emphasized in this room. Dwelling on representative motifs from these Odes offers a fitting end to this historical reconstruction of the Christian community at Dura-Europos.
Peggy McCracken
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226458922
- eISBN:
- 9780226459080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226459080.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter turns to self-sovereignty in order to interrogate the relationship between autonomy, choice, and desire, and authority over others. It begins with a study of portrayals of Eve in a ...
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This chapter turns to self-sovereignty in order to interrogate the relationship between autonomy, choice, and desire, and authority over others. It begins with a study of portrayals of Eve in a variety of literary and visual texts, including the twelfth-century Jeu d’Adam (The Play of Adam), manuscript illuminations of the temptation scene, and thirteenth-century translations of the apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve. The chapter argues that medieval representations of Eve’s encounter with the serpent suggest that Eve is tempted not just by knowledge, but by a vision of self-sovereignty that promises sovereignty over others. By contrast, when snakiness and sovereignty are represented in the thirteenth-century Bel inconnu (The Fair Unknown) and Jean d’Arras’s fourteenth-century Roman de Mélusine (The Romance of Mélusine), a knight’s specular relation to a snake woman’s body produces knowledge that defines a sovereign position for the knight even as it exiles or distances the woman from a position of authority and power.Less
This chapter turns to self-sovereignty in order to interrogate the relationship between autonomy, choice, and desire, and authority over others. It begins with a study of portrayals of Eve in a variety of literary and visual texts, including the twelfth-century Jeu d’Adam (The Play of Adam), manuscript illuminations of the temptation scene, and thirteenth-century translations of the apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve. The chapter argues that medieval representations of Eve’s encounter with the serpent suggest that Eve is tempted not just by knowledge, but by a vision of self-sovereignty that promises sovereignty over others. By contrast, when snakiness and sovereignty are represented in the thirteenth-century Bel inconnu (The Fair Unknown) and Jean d’Arras’s fourteenth-century Roman de Mélusine (The Romance of Mélusine), a knight’s specular relation to a snake woman’s body produces knowledge that defines a sovereign position for the knight even as it exiles or distances the woman from a position of authority and power.
Alison A. Chapman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226435138
- eISBN:
- 9780226435275
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226435275.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This chapter shows that Milton applies basic early modern ideas of legality--and specifically of property ownership--to Adam and Eve in their sinless condition. He uses words like "sole propriety" ...
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This chapter shows that Milton applies basic early modern ideas of legality--and specifically of property ownership--to Adam and Eve in their sinless condition. He uses words like "sole propriety" and "dower" to create an idea of unfallen proprietorship, and this Edenic vision echoes early modern ideas about the origins of legal property. In Book 8 of Paradise Lost, Milton also uses images of coining and the language of collateral securities to characterize Adam and Eve's marriage. However, the advent of sin changes the nature of proprietorship, as when Adam refuses to relinquish the "bond of nature" that he has in Eve. The fall introduces a form of legal coverture in which Eve, the wife, becomes a chattel owned by her husband, and this change is related to early modern assumptions about the legal incapacity of wives.Less
This chapter shows that Milton applies basic early modern ideas of legality--and specifically of property ownership--to Adam and Eve in their sinless condition. He uses words like "sole propriety" and "dower" to create an idea of unfallen proprietorship, and this Edenic vision echoes early modern ideas about the origins of legal property. In Book 8 of Paradise Lost, Milton also uses images of coining and the language of collateral securities to characterize Adam and Eve's marriage. However, the advent of sin changes the nature of proprietorship, as when Adam refuses to relinquish the "bond of nature" that he has in Eve. The fall introduces a form of legal coverture in which Eve, the wife, becomes a chattel owned by her husband, and this change is related to early modern assumptions about the legal incapacity of wives.
Gerard O'Daly
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199263950
- eISBN:
- 9780191741364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263950.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses the poem's presentation of appropriate Christian diet, moderate, avoiding the meat of quadrupeds, with meals preceded by prayer. Praise of food as the divine creator's gift is ...
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This chapter discusses the poem's presentation of appropriate Christian diet, moderate, avoiding the meat of quadrupeds, with meals preceded by prayer. Praise of food as the divine creator's gift is combined with the narrative of paradise and the fall of Adam and Eve, and subsequent human degeneration, until Christ, the gentle saviour, brings victory over the serpent Satan: the Christian hope is heavenly immortality of soul and resurrected body. The poem stresses the Adam-Christ and Eve-Mary contrasts. The appropriation of themes from Virgil and Ovid is discussed.Less
This chapter discusses the poem's presentation of appropriate Christian diet, moderate, avoiding the meat of quadrupeds, with meals preceded by prayer. Praise of food as the divine creator's gift is combined with the narrative of paradise and the fall of Adam and Eve, and subsequent human degeneration, until Christ, the gentle saviour, brings victory over the serpent Satan: the Christian hope is heavenly immortality of soul and resurrected body. The poem stresses the Adam-Christ and Eve-Mary contrasts. The appropriation of themes from Virgil and Ovid is discussed.
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226590073
- eISBN:
- 9780226590097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226590097.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Isotta Nogarola, an Italian-born French author and Ludovico Foscarini, a Venetian governor, debated the question in 1451 of whether Adam or Eve had committed the greater sin when they ate of the Tree ...
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Isotta Nogarola, an Italian-born French author and Ludovico Foscarini, a Venetian governor, debated the question in 1451 of whether Adam or Eve had committed the greater sin when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge and were expelled from Paradise. Quoting Aristotle, Foscarini argues first that ignorance is no excuse and second that pride was the cause of Eve's sin. Nogarola argues throughout that the female is by nature more fragile, more inconstant, and more ignorant than the male and that therefore she is not responsible for her actions. Two arguments point to Nogarola's final authorship. The first rests on an analysis of the arguments presented—Nogarola is the driving force, it is she who repeatedly raises new perspectives to challenge very old perceptions. The second rests on Foscarini's words to invite Nogarola to compose a polished literary work based on the views the two had exchanged.Less
Isotta Nogarola, an Italian-born French author and Ludovico Foscarini, a Venetian governor, debated the question in 1451 of whether Adam or Eve had committed the greater sin when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge and were expelled from Paradise. Quoting Aristotle, Foscarini argues first that ignorance is no excuse and second that pride was the cause of Eve's sin. Nogarola argues throughout that the female is by nature more fragile, more inconstant, and more ignorant than the male and that therefore she is not responsible for her actions. Two arguments point to Nogarola's final authorship. The first rests on an analysis of the arguments presented—Nogarola is the driving force, it is she who repeatedly raises new perspectives to challenge very old perceptions. The second rests on Foscarini's words to invite Nogarola to compose a polished literary work based on the views the two had exchanged.
Kimberly A. Hamlin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226134611
- eISBN:
- 9780226134758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226134758.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Chapter One argues that the Genesis creation story played a defining role in debates about women’s rights for generations and that this is why so many women responded enthusiastically to Darwinian ...
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Chapter One argues that the Genesis creation story played a defining role in debates about women’s rights for generations and that this is why so many women responded enthusiastically to Darwinian evolutionary theory in the second half of the nineteenth century. By refuting special creation and asserting human-animal kinship, Darwin offered attentive readers with a new way to think about the differences between women and men and an alternative, naturalistic creation story. Ultimately, Darwinian evolution inspired some freethinking (a nineteenth-century term referring to agnostics and atheists) feminists to renounce Christianity all together, forcing a split in the women’s rights movement. After 1890, in the wake of the controversy caused by Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Woman’s Bible, the women most influenced by Darwinian evolution were ousted from the largest suffrage organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). This chapter establishes the enthusiasm that a variety of women had for evolutionary theory in the 1870s and 1880s and why, after the 1890 merger of NAWSA, the women who continued to speak and write about the feminist applications of evolutionary theory did so in free thought, sex reform, and socialist venues, rather than within the suffrage movement.Less
Chapter One argues that the Genesis creation story played a defining role in debates about women’s rights for generations and that this is why so many women responded enthusiastically to Darwinian evolutionary theory in the second half of the nineteenth century. By refuting special creation and asserting human-animal kinship, Darwin offered attentive readers with a new way to think about the differences between women and men and an alternative, naturalistic creation story. Ultimately, Darwinian evolution inspired some freethinking (a nineteenth-century term referring to agnostics and atheists) feminists to renounce Christianity all together, forcing a split in the women’s rights movement. After 1890, in the wake of the controversy caused by Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Woman’s Bible, the women most influenced by Darwinian evolution were ousted from the largest suffrage organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). This chapter establishes the enthusiasm that a variety of women had for evolutionary theory in the 1870s and 1880s and why, after the 1890 merger of NAWSA, the women who continued to speak and write about the feminist applications of evolutionary theory did so in free thought, sex reform, and socialist venues, rather than within the suffrage movement.
Gerald O'Collins, SJ
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199238903
- eISBN:
- 9780191696794
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238903.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter focuses on the Book of Genesis and tells the human condition and the religious practices of Adam and Eve, Noah and his family, and the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah as these prove ...
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This chapter focuses on the Book of Genesis and tells the human condition and the religious practices of Adam and Eve, Noah and his family, and the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah as these prove how God cares for everyone and shows a universal benevolence. The name ‘Adam’ is a Hebrew word that signifies ‘human being’ or ‘humanity’. Adam also plays as the name of the first human in the Bible. The figures of Adam and Eve may be individual, but are used to characterize the totality of human race and not merely the story of them. The entire human community is said to be the focus of the opening chapters of Genesis including the creation of humans through the power of God and then their fall into sin that has affected the generations following them. What people read in those chapters depicts universally to human beings their origins, and their life in the presence of God. The climax of the said chapter is the relationship between humans and God after the sin has been done. The Genesis story sees the disobedience of Adam and Eve as the main reason why humans started to become bad and sinful. Cain murders his father and his action provokes the increase of violence practiced by the descendant of Cain. Because of the rotten minds of humans, God decided to have the so-called judgement day in the form of a catastrophic flood. Although God decided to clear mankind, the merciful love of God still operates. After the flood, there comes a new generation of humans wherein Abraham and Sarah played a decisive role in achieving the divine purposes.Less
This chapter focuses on the Book of Genesis and tells the human condition and the religious practices of Adam and Eve, Noah and his family, and the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah as these prove how God cares for everyone and shows a universal benevolence. The name ‘Adam’ is a Hebrew word that signifies ‘human being’ or ‘humanity’. Adam also plays as the name of the first human in the Bible. The figures of Adam and Eve may be individual, but are used to characterize the totality of human race and not merely the story of them. The entire human community is said to be the focus of the opening chapters of Genesis including the creation of humans through the power of God and then their fall into sin that has affected the generations following them. What people read in those chapters depicts universally to human beings their origins, and their life in the presence of God. The climax of the said chapter is the relationship between humans and God after the sin has been done. The Genesis story sees the disobedience of Adam and Eve as the main reason why humans started to become bad and sinful. Cain murders his father and his action provokes the increase of violence practiced by the descendant of Cain. Because of the rotten minds of humans, God decided to have the so-called judgement day in the form of a catastrophic flood. Although God decided to clear mankind, the merciful love of God still operates. After the flood, there comes a new generation of humans wherein Abraham and Sarah played a decisive role in achieving the divine purposes.
James Barr
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263760
- eISBN:
- 9780191600395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263767.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Studies Jewish works originating between the Old and New Testaments, some of them from the ‘Apocrypha’ but going back to early times.
Studies Jewish works originating between the Old and New Testaments, some of them from the ‘Apocrypha’ but going back to early times.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and ...
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An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and Eve, David, and numerous other examples are also given. Comparisons are drawn with various earlier stories from Egyptian school-books. The last part of the chapter looks at the style of Solomon’s Song of Songs, which uses the literary genre to which the Arabic term wasf (meaning extravagant metaphorical language) has been ascribed.Less
An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and Eve, David, and numerous other examples are also given. Comparisons are drawn with various earlier stories from Egyptian school-books. The last part of the chapter looks at the style of Solomon’s Song of Songs, which uses the literary genre to which the Arabic term wasf (meaning extravagant metaphorical language) has been ascribed.
Christopher Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152080
- eISBN:
- 9781400842414
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152080.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This introductory chapter analyses the fourteenth book of The City of God against the Pagans (c. fifth century CE) by Augustine of Hippo. Book 14 contains the analysis of Adam and Eve's life in the ...
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This introductory chapter analyses the fourteenth book of The City of God against the Pagans (c. fifth century CE) by Augustine of Hippo. Book 14 contains the analysis of Adam and Eve's life in the Garden of Eden and their subsequent Fall. This is an episode central not only to his theological project, in that Augustine single-handedly created the doctrine of original sin that dominated the thinking of the Church for so long, but also to his political theory, because it provides the setting for the central categories of the work's overall argument. More importantly, the chapters in book 14 contain by far the most sustained rumination on Stoic philosophy to be found in the entire work.Less
This introductory chapter analyses the fourteenth book of The City of God against the Pagans (c. fifth century CE) by Augustine of Hippo. Book 14 contains the analysis of Adam and Eve's life in the Garden of Eden and their subsequent Fall. This is an episode central not only to his theological project, in that Augustine single-handedly created the doctrine of original sin that dominated the thinking of the Church for so long, but also to his political theory, because it provides the setting for the central categories of the work's overall argument. More importantly, the chapters in book 14 contain by far the most sustained rumination on Stoic philosophy to be found in the entire work.
Peter Thacher Lanfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199926749
- eISBN:
- 9780199950591
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926749.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
There are few texts as central to the mythology of Jewish and Christian literature as the Garden of Eden and its attendant motifs. Yet the direct citation of this text within the biblical corpus is ...
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There are few texts as central to the mythology of Jewish and Christian literature as the Garden of Eden and its attendant motifs. Yet the direct citation of this text within the biblical corpus is surprisingly rare. Even more conspicuous is the infrequent reference to creation, or to the archetypal first human pair. In fact, most covenantal texts in the Hebrew Bible begin with Abraham or with the Exodus rather than with the story of the garden. However, attention to Eden and the drama of the garden narrative increases in Jewish and Christian sources of the first centuries BCE and CE in which exegetes renew their interest in the earth’s creation. This exegetical shift is both to the former, first creation, as well as to the hope for an eschatological new creation. Most studies of Gen 2–3 omit analysis of the expulsion narrative of verses 22–24 altogether, leaving this section off as a late editorial addition with little relevance to the Eden Narrative as a whole. This choice is perplexing given the prominent place given by later interpreters to the motifs contained in these verses. The Tree of Life, the problem of wisdom, and the removal of access to the Garden become more important for Eden’s interpreters than Adam and Eve, the serpent, or the curses placed upon them. This book analyzes the expulsion narrative as an ideological insertion into the Garden of Eden narrative of Genesis 2–3 in response to the ascendency of scribal wisdom in the late seventh- and early sixth-centuries BCE. Additionally, this book proposes a new method of textual analysis, which places limits of reasonable constraint on the possibilities of interpretation, arguing that the essential dialogues of the redacted Eden narrative are reflected in the reception history of Eden’s interpreters.Less
There are few texts as central to the mythology of Jewish and Christian literature as the Garden of Eden and its attendant motifs. Yet the direct citation of this text within the biblical corpus is surprisingly rare. Even more conspicuous is the infrequent reference to creation, or to the archetypal first human pair. In fact, most covenantal texts in the Hebrew Bible begin with Abraham or with the Exodus rather than with the story of the garden. However, attention to Eden and the drama of the garden narrative increases in Jewish and Christian sources of the first centuries BCE and CE in which exegetes renew their interest in the earth’s creation. This exegetical shift is both to the former, first creation, as well as to the hope for an eschatological new creation. Most studies of Gen 2–3 omit analysis of the expulsion narrative of verses 22–24 altogether, leaving this section off as a late editorial addition with little relevance to the Eden Narrative as a whole. This choice is perplexing given the prominent place given by later interpreters to the motifs contained in these verses. The Tree of Life, the problem of wisdom, and the removal of access to the Garden become more important for Eden’s interpreters than Adam and Eve, the serpent, or the curses placed upon them. This book analyzes the expulsion narrative as an ideological insertion into the Garden of Eden narrative of Genesis 2–3 in response to the ascendency of scribal wisdom in the late seventh- and early sixth-centuries BCE. Additionally, this book proposes a new method of textual analysis, which places limits of reasonable constraint on the possibilities of interpretation, arguing that the essential dialogues of the redacted Eden narrative are reflected in the reception history of Eden’s interpreters.
Jeffrey J. Kripal
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226453804
- eISBN:
- 9780226453828
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226453828.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
“Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.” With those words in Genesis, God condemns the serpent for tempting Adam and Eve, and the serpent ...
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“Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.” With those words in Genesis, God condemns the serpent for tempting Adam and Eve, and the serpent has shouldered the blame ever since. But how would the study of religion change if we looked at the Fall from the snake's point of view? Would he appear as a bringer of wisdom, more generous than the God who wishes to keep his creation ignorant? Inspired by the early Gnostics who took that view, this book uses the serpent as a starting point for a reconsideration of religious studies and its methods. In a series of related essays, the author moves beyond both rational and faith-based approaches to religion, exploring the erotics of the gospels and the sexualities of Jesus, John, and Mary Magdalene. He considers Feuerbach's Gnosticism, the untapped mystical potential of comparative religion, and even the modern mythology of the X-Men. Ultimately, the book is a call for a complete reorientation of religious studies, aimed at a larger understanding of the world, the self, and the divine.Less
“Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.” With those words in Genesis, God condemns the serpent for tempting Adam and Eve, and the serpent has shouldered the blame ever since. But how would the study of religion change if we looked at the Fall from the snake's point of view? Would he appear as a bringer of wisdom, more generous than the God who wishes to keep his creation ignorant? Inspired by the early Gnostics who took that view, this book uses the serpent as a starting point for a reconsideration of religious studies and its methods. In a series of related essays, the author moves beyond both rational and faith-based approaches to religion, exploring the erotics of the gospels and the sexualities of Jesus, John, and Mary Magdalene. He considers Feuerbach's Gnosticism, the untapped mystical potential of comparative religion, and even the modern mythology of the X-Men. Ultimately, the book is a call for a complete reorientation of religious studies, aimed at a larger understanding of the world, the self, and the divine.
James Barr
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263760
- eISBN:
- 9780191600395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263767.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The biblical expression that humanity is created ‘in the image of God’ has been taken as evidence in the debate about natural theology. Various interpretations, ancient and modern, are here discussed.
The biblical expression that humanity is created ‘in the image of God’ has been taken as evidence in the debate about natural theology. Various interpretations, ancient and modern, are here discussed.
