Unlikely Savior :: Religion Religious Essays

Unlikely Savior If people were asked to describe a judge or leader for the Israelites, imaginations might conjure up a pious, older man paying strict adherence to the Mosaic laws and Codes of his people. One would not call to mind a young man with superhuman strength who drinks, fights, gambles and goes whoring whenever the spirit moves him. Samson fits the latter description, a very unlikely vessel for the Holy Spirit. Even more remarkable is the realization that Samson was exactly the way God wanted him to be—a hell-raiser. Why would God pick such a rabble-rousing rogue to be the champion of freedom for His chosen people? Because Samson was a catalyst meant to disrupt the complacency of the Israelites with regards to their subjugation to the Philistines—the proverbial lit match to the powder keg. He was also created to serve as an archetypical folk hero for his generation and those to follow, a larger-than-life symbol to remember and take heart from when thi ngs got tough. â€Å"Created† is the operative word for Samson—he is created for a purpose. He doesn’t become the man he will be due to happenstance; he is given no choice. God had plans for him since before he was born. In a passage similar to others found in both the Old and New Testaments, an angel comes to Samson’s mother (then barren) and announces a miraculous birth. He instructs her to abstain from wine and not to eat things from the vine or unclean things. He adds that â€Å"†¦no razor shall come to his head: for the child will be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.† Samson was predestined to initiate a chain of events, not to see what he started to its conclusion. Note that the angel said, â€Å"†¦shall begin to deliver,† not â€Å"†¦shall deliver...†(Judges 13:3-5). Regardless of the outcome, Sampson reaches adulthood and sets forth to fulfilling his destiny with great aplomb.

Human Energy Use

Human uses of energy over 10,000 years are explained in Changing Environments (Morris et al, 2003a). Until 10,000 years ago humans lived as hunter gatherers in small groups, this changed in the current interglacial stage or Holocene with the introduction of agriculture. Figure 2. 19 page 82 of (Morris et al, 2003b) indicates that during the early agriculturalist period humans had begun to domesticate animals that could be used for carrying and pulling. Energy use increased from 0. 24 W (calculations – Morris et al, 2003c, p 81-82) per day per capita in the previous period to 0. 8 W per day as it was realised that extra somatic energy obtained from food could be assisted by the use of tools made from metals such as bronze and iron. Energy use advanced by using tools, and as we moved to the advanced agriculturalists period energy consumption more than doubled to 1 W. The industrial society brought major changes in the use of energy with agriculture, transport and mining. There w ere increases in the use of fossil fuels as workplaces and homes were heated and the steam engine was introduced. (Morris et al, 2003d p 83). We can see in Figure 2. 9 page 82 of (Morris et al, 2003b), that during the period energy consumption rose to 4 W. The greatest increase of energy is 11 W in the technological society this was 10 W more than the early agriculturalists. This period sees energy increases in home, commerce, industry, agriculture and transportation. It is also during this time that we begin to see the use of fossil fuels to create electricity, gas and oil and also the introduction of nuclear fuel. There is a large increase in oil use during this period due to the increased use of transportation. (Morris et al, 2003d p 83).

The Tragic Hero and the Tragic Story in William...

The Tragic Hero and the Tragic Story in William Shakespeares Writing Shakespeares tragedies are, for the most part, stories of one person, the hero, or at most two, to include the heroine. Only the Love Tragedies (Romeo and Juliet; Antony and Cleopatra)are exceptions to this pattern. In these plays, the heroine is as much at the center of action as the hero. The rest of the tragedies, including Macbeth, have single stars, so the tragic story is concerned primarily with oneperson. THE TRAGIC HERO ANDTHE TRAGIC STORY * The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero * The suffering and calamity are†¦show more content†¦Such exceptional suffering and calamity, then, affecting the hero, and generally extending far beyond him, so as to make the whole scene a scene of woe, are essential ingredients in tragedy, and the chief sources of the tragic emotions, and especially of pity. ONLY GREAT MEN QUALIFY AS TRAGIC HEROES * Peasants (merely because theyre human beings) do not inspirepity and fear as great men do * A Shakespearean tragedy, then, may be called a story of exceptional calamity leading to the death of a man of high estate! The pangs of despised love and the anguish of remorse, we say, are the same in a peasant and a prince. But not to insist that they cannot be so when the prince is really a prince, when the story of a prince, or the general, has a greatness and dignity of its own is a mistake. His fate affects the welfare of a whole nation or empire; and when he falls suddenly from the height of earthly greatness to the dust, his fall produces a sense of contrast, of the powerlessness of man, and the omnipotence--perhaps the caprice--of Fate or Fortune, which no tale of private life could possibly rival. Such feelings are constantly invoked by Shakespeares tragedies--again, in varying degrees. 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