Hell

Each of the central characters in “Open Secrets” by Alice Munro and “Paradise Lost” by John Milton are driven and sustained by the relationship between the realities of their existence and their personal ideologies. The conflict between ideology and reality is an important theme in the work of Munro and Milton and both the obvious discrepancies and the more subtle references to this define many aspects of the plot and characterisation.

An examination of the reactions of characters to the restrictions placed on them by the reality in which they exist, and their perception of this reality is fundamental to understanding the ideologies which they possess. Their ideologies are the crucial influence on the experiences and eventual fates of each character. Ultimately the question of whether or not these relationships and conflicts are resolved or overcome is the key to gaining a deeper insight into the texts, and simultaneously provides the reader with evidence of the authors’ own beliefs and ideologies.

In Paradise Lost, Milton makes use of the ideas of contrast and opposition in order to create a text which is highly significant of his own personal ideology and, at the same time, a beautiful and intricate piece of epic poetry. The first character which the reader is able to engage with on a relatively profound level is Satan. This is not as ironic as it may seem as the title should ensure that the reader is forewarned of the fact that the main concern of the poem is going to be the story of the brief but significant triumph of evil over good (Satan’s success in the temptation of Eve).

From the outset Milton establishes to his readers that Satan is a colossal antagonist, with the realisation that his potential for evil and his success as a tempter are unquestionable. Milton’s approach in the characterisation of Satan was definitely unorthodox at the time of writing, however, his methods are essential if the plot and characterisation is to be meaningful and believable. By rendering Satan as an attractive and awesome character, he immediately invites his readers to engage with the, as yet, only briefly mentioned characters of Adam and Eve.

If the readers can find themselves taken in by Satan’s attractive and inspiring rhetoric, then the successful temptation of Eve becomes not only more believable to the reader, but an inevitable outcome of the plot. Milton’s characterisation, not only of Satan, but of the characters of Adam and Eve is extremely important and worthy of study. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which is the main source for the poem’s subject matter, is so well known as to be almost indelibly stamped upon the consciousness of Christian and, more importantly, Western Civilisation as a whole.

This added depth of characterisation which permits the readers to engage with the main protagonists is essential to the greatness of this text and without it the poem would not be regarded as such an important milestone in English literature. Desmond M. Hamlet writes that in Paradise Lost “Satan’s sin is terrible because it is a rebellion against God’s love, actualised in the Son who functions in the entire poem as the indispensable creative and restorative agency for the dissemination of that love in practical and exemplary ways. “

In “Sudden Apprehension”, Lee A. Jacobus asserts that one of the driving forces behind Milton’s personal ideology was the importance he placed on having true self knowledge. Satan is known in Christian Mythology as the great deceiver, and as the embodiment of evil in Paradise Lost. Milton ironically undercuts Satan’s seemingly powerful and beautiful speeches but showing undoubtedly that Satan has succeeded unconsciously in deceiving himself.

This contrasts with Adam who was born “self knowing” and whose natural impulse is to give thanks to god: Tell me, how may I know him, how adore, / From whom I have that thus I move and live, / And feel that I am happier than I know” (Book 8, 250-282) The reality of Adam’s existence in Paradise demands obedience to God’s will, however, his behaviour is influenced by his fixation on Eve’s beauty. This flaw in his ideology leads him to permit Eve to work in the garden alone, and also to co-operate with her in what leads to their fall from Paradise.

Her ear leads her to the pool which deceives her on two counts, it is not “a liquid plain” nor “another skie” Aristotle wrote that the ear was the principal source of wisdom so in book 4 the reader is already being warned that eves thirst for knowledge will lead her astray. footnote *sudden apprehension by jacobus chapter 2 pg 33-34* “In Paradise Lost, the reader is repeatedly forced to acknowledge the unworthiness of values and ideals he had previously admired” (Stanley E. Fish in surprised by sin; the reader in paradise lost Berkeley university of California press 1973) In “Poet of Exile”, Louis L. Martz writes that, in the beginning, “Adam and Eve… have all our basic psychological qualities”, in short, they are made frail by their God given right to choose and their possession of free will.

“We – the readers – were made to feel ashamed of our naive affection for the father of lies” (Sharon Achinstein) Satan as representative of the false heroic image that does not stand up against the weapons and strength of true Christianity. od as an allegory for the tyrants which Milton raged against and Satan as an allegorical representation of those who kept the tyrants in power by fighting unsuccessfully against them due to the fact that they wanted only to replace the tyrant not work for a better world. “Open Secrets” the title tale of Alice Munro’s collection recounts the reactions of the local population to the mysterious disappearance of one of a group of local girls, Heather Bell, which took place on a few years prior to the story’s beginning.

One of the first and most poignant facts the reader learns is the lyric to the song sung by the girl hikers: “For the Beauty of the Earth, /For the Beauty of the Skies,? For the Love that from our Birth/ Over and around us lies… ” The ambiguous meaning of the word “lies” is highly significant as in this story the relationships between reality and ideology are extremely difficult to define.

In this short story, Munro never enlightens her readers as to what the actual reality of the situation is. By withholding the crucial details of the events surrounding Heather Bell’s disappearance, Munro manipulates the reader into assuming the position and viewpoint of a character within the text, much like Milton’s seductive characterisation of Satan. The reader is forced to join with the characters in the story by coming up with theories and opinion as to what actually happened.

This fact, when juxtaposed with the lack of concrete evidence or proof, leads the reader to view all the theories as “lies” and the hikers’ optimistic song becomes a symbol of the fact that no matter how innocent or horrible the reality is, its dimensions will never be known. CONCLUSION…. Jackson I. Cope, in his book, “The Metaphoric Structure of Paradise Lost” writes, “The immediate and intuitive language, which frustrates the religious polemicist in discursive argument is precisely the “corporeal” world out of which the poet shapes reality”.

I feel this is an important point when reading the texts of Munro and Milton. In my opinion, as a reader, the ideology of the author is not of supreme importance. Readers are often drawn to attempt to work out the author’s personal ideology through the characterisation, use of metaphor and allegory and other literary devices present in the text, however, this can arguably obscure evidence of the author’s true aim – to create beautiful and engaging works of fiction.

Paradise Lost and Open Secrets are representative of the work of Milton and Munro and are texts peopled with strong engaging characters which demand that the readers examine their own consciences, personal ideologies and perceptions of reality. In this sense, the greatest achievement of Munro is to engage and entertain her readers, without satisfying them with stereotypical and unremarkable romances and mysteries.

Lucy Hughes-Hallett writes about Open Secrets – “In story after story there is an intricate layered richness as one narrative is braided into another, not by dint of coincidences or revelations, but simply by Munro’s insistence that every life is important”. While Munro’s ideology is somewhat revealed through her choice of plots and protagonists, the point which seems to pervade her writing is that the ideologies of the characters are the most important and it is with their personal realities and perceptions with which we should be engaging, and not hers.

Critics have argued for centuries over the significance of Paradise Lost in relation to Milton’s own political and religious ideologies, and while I accept that the poem does reflect Milton’s views of organised religion in general, I think the allegorical function and perceived polemic is less important than his efforts to engage his readers with the characters and moral implications of the text. Milton is similar to Munro in this sense, she deals with ordinary lives and in Paradise Lost Milton deals with a familiar age old tale.

Through use of characterisation and by contrasting reality with ideology, Milton gives the questions and arguments raised by this age old story a personal slant and turns the poem into a voyage of discovery for his readers. Neither Milton nor Munro set out to make their fiction easy or superficially satisfactory to their readers, however, they both deal extensively with the conflict between the realities of existence and false ideologies which is a universal theme and one which each reader can achieve some level of personal identification with. (1677)

Open Secrets – “Carried Away” “… had been in love once, with a doctor she had known in the sanatorium. ” Her love was returned, eventually, costing the doctor his job. There was some harsh doubt in her mind about whether he had been told to leave the sanatorium or had left of his own accord, being weary of the entanglement. He was married, he had children. Letters had played a part that time, too. After he left, they were still writing to one another. And once or twice after she was released. “Then she asked him not to write anymore and he didn’t.

But the failure of his letters to arrive drove her out of Toronto… ” and made her take the travelling job. Then there would be only the one disappointment of the week, when she got back on Friday or Saturday night. Her last letter had been firm and stoical, and some consciousness of herself as a heroine of love’s tragedy went with her around the country as she hauled her display cases up and down the stairs of small hotels and talked about Paris styles and said that her sample hats were bewitching, and drank her solitary glass of wine.

If she’d had anybody to tell, though, she would have laughed at just that notion. She would have said love was all hocus-pocus, a deception, and she believed that. But at the prospect she felt a hush, a flutter along the nerves, a bowing down of sense, a flagrant prostration” “I am glad to hear you do not have a sweetheart though I know that is selfish of me. I do not think you and I will ever meet again. I don’t say that because I’ve had a dream what will happen or am a gloomy person always looking for the worst.

It just seems to me it is the most probable thing to happen, though I don’t dwell on it and go along every day doing the best I can to stay alive. I am not trying to worry you or get your sympathy either but just explain how the idea I won’t ever see Carstairs again makes me think I can say anything I want. I guess it’s like being sick with a fever. So I will say I love you. I think of you up on a stool at the Library reaching to put a book away and I come up and put my hands on your waist and lift you down, and you turning around inside my arms as if we agreed on everything. “

Alice Munro – “What is remembered” It was the women, then, who could slip back–during the daytime hours, and always allowing for the stunning responsibility that had been landed on them, in the matter of the children–into a kind of second adolescence. A lightening of spirits when the husbands departed. Dreamy rebellion, subversive get-togethers, laughing fits that were a throwback to high school, mushrooming between the walls that the husband was paying for, in the hours when he wasn’t there. In a more recent short fiction – “What is remembered”, Munro writes another abortive love story, quite similarly in structure to “Carried Away”.

The protagonist in this story is a young wife named Meriel who has a brief fling with a doctor she meets at a funeral. Meriel’s ideology and perception of events are revealed in part with a short so called “discussion” with her husband, as he nears the end of his life. Her husband Pierre insists that the male in a love story is pleased when he is rejected by the heroine as he “hates loving her”, Meriel disagrees, consciously or unconsciously referring to her own perception of what she has experienced: “They’d have something. Their experience. “

He would pretty well forget it, and she’d die of shame and rejection. She’s intelligent. She knows that. ” “Well,” said Meriel, pausing for a bit, because she felt cornered. “Well, Turgenev doesn’t say that. He says she’s totally taken aback. He says she’s cold. ” “Intelligence makes her cold. Intelligent means cold, for a woman. ” “No. ” “I mean in the nineteenth century. In the nineteenth century it does. ” This exchange is symbolic as it shows that, through her experience, Meriel is able to engage with the heroine in the novel and reject the author’s control of events.

I think this is a pertinent point to take into consideration when searching for the ideological basis of Munro’s work. She writes about normal people, who have strange experiences but react in ways that the reader can empathise with. Louisa in “Carried Away” is described as having a rather nondescript personality and leading a life which is for the most part without high drama. The characterisation is subtle and understated. “The fact that he was dead did not seem to have much effect on Meriel’s daydreams…

They had to wear themselves out in a way she did not control and never understood. ” If she’d had anybody to tell, though, she would have laughed at just that notion. She would have said love was all hocus-pocus, a deception, and she believed that. But at the prospect she felt a hush, a flutter along the nerves, a bowing down of sense, a flagrant prostration” “He wrote that he did not expect to come home… When the war ended, it was a while since she had heard from him. She went on expecting a letter every day and nothing came.

Nothing came. She was afraid that he might have been one of those unluckiest of soldiers in the whole war – one of those killed in the last week, or on the last day, or even in the last hour… When she entered the town hall she always felt he might be there before her, leaning up against the wall awaiting her arrival. Sometimes she felt it so strongly she saw a shadow that she mistook for a man. She understood now how people believed they had seen ghosts. Whenever the door opened she expected to look up into his face.

Sometimes she made a pact with herself not to look up until she had counted to ten… She had to be forgiven, didn’t she, she had to be forgiven for thinking, after such letters, that the one thing that could never happen was that he wouldn’t approach her, wouldn’t get in touch with her at all? Never cross her threshold after such avowals?… She read a short notice of his marriage to a Miss Grace Horne. Not a girl she knew. Not a library user. There was no picture. Brown and cream piping. Such was the end, and had to be, to her romance? “

Throughout “Carried Away” Louisa is unlucky in her pursuit of love. She is not doomed to be a spinster throughout her life, and in fact, marries well, giving her a comfortable lifestyle and a degree of happiness. This occurs despite her previous two encounters with love which left her not overtly broken-hearted but on a subtle level, wounded. The poignant and bittersweet way in which Munro recounts the tale of Louisa’s doomed romance with the Doctor from the sanatorium draws the reader still further in as it mirrors Louisa’s stoical tone in breaking off the romance.

And yet her belief that the mysterious soldier will one day declare his love in person is not inconsistent as despite her previous disappointment, Louisa is still eager to succumb to love: “If she’d had anybody to tell, though, she would have laughed at just that notion. She would have said love was all hocus-pocus, a deception, and she believed that. But at the prospect she felt a hush, a flutter along the nerves, a bowing down of sense, a flagrant prostration” In a sense this is Louisa’s “open secret”, as she informs the soldier, Jack Agnew, early on in their correspondence that she was once in love but that it had to be broken off.

By opening herself up to him (because as the reader knows, Louisa is not generally outgoing with information) she sets herself up for an even deeper wound when she receives both the short note and the returned photograph. This is a truly upsetting moment in this unconventional love story as Louisa’s thoughts, indecisions and insecurities are clearly stated. To have it returned in such a cowardly manner seems to add insult to injury. Louisa, however, remains firm in the face of adversity, even joking with an acquaintance and gently reprimanding herself for daring to believe that the soldier could have loved her :

Ah, that’s so, that’s so! ” Louisa said. “And what was it in my case but vanity, which deserves to get slapped down! ” Her eyes were glassy and her expression roguish. “You don’t think he’d had a good look at me any one time and thought the original was even worse than the poor picture, so he backed off? ” Her gentle self mocking is not meant to induce sympathy from the reader, in the same way that Jack’s belief that he would never see Carstairs again was not an attempt by him “to gain (her) sympathy” instead, just a simple statement of what he perceived to be a fact.

His perception however, is utterly wrong, and his false ideology leads him to tell Louisa that he is in love with her. Jack clearly believes in his pessimistic ideology, as the consequences of toying with Louisa’s emotions are brutally cruel otherwise, and Jack is not perceived by the reader as a cruel man. However Munro does avenge her protagonist slightly by serving Jack with one of the most ridiculous deaths and a funeral which was one of the best attended in years, not because he was so popular or well liked but because the people “wished to pay tribute to the sensational and tragic manner of his death” Open Secrets” the title tale of Alice Munro’s collection recounts the reactions of the local population to the mysterious disappearance of one of a group of local girls, Heather Bell, which took place on a hiking trip a few years prior to the story’s beginning. One of the first and most poignant facts the reader learns is the lyric to the song sung by the girl hikers: “For the Beauty of the Earth, /For the Beauty of the Skies,? For the Love that from our Birth/ Over and around us lies… “

The ambiguous meaning of the word “lies” is highly significant as in this story the relationships between reality and ideology are extremely difficult to define. In this short story, Munro never enlightens her readers as to what the actual reality of the situation is. By withholding the crucial details of the events surrounding Heather Bell’s disappearance, Munro manipulates the reader into assuming the position and viewpoint of a character within the text, much like Milton’s seductive characterisation of Satan. The reader is forced to join with the characters in the story by coming up with theories and opinion as to what actually happened.

This fact, when juxtaposed with the lack of concrete evidence or proof, leads the reader to view all the theories as “lies” and the hikers’ optimistic song becomes a symbol of the fact that no matter how innocent or horrible the reality is, its dimensions will never be known. “They will try to make out she was some poor innocent, but the facts are dead different” says one of the schoolgirl acquaintances of Heather Bell. “… the undefined nature of evil should be seen as the ideological context of Satan’s notorious inconsistency as a character” “Satan defines his evil goal… strictly in oppositional terms”

Milton was writing at the time of the emergence of a relatively new ideological situation in which ethical codes of good and evil are being reshuffled and centred, in which evil reappears with revitalised force as a… placeless agent that can find its definition not positively or inherently but only in reacting against some similarly abstract and unified concept or agent of virtue or reason. “On the one hand, Satan is a meta-epic character” “Satan is cast… as a stock figure of evil”

“The dominant form of drama in the Satan figures as the fragmentary subject of constitutively unsatisfied desire” Some versions of Pastoral” William Empson – “Empson argues that there is a coherent Satan, but that this coherence is only an impressive fai??ade upon which two different and quite inconsistent viewpoint are constantly superimposed” Milton characterises Satan as a creature at once attractive and evil, appealing and destructive. Satan has the accoutrements of the great leader, the attractiveness of an epic adventurer. Books 1 and 2 reveal an heroic self assertion, self reliance and self deification that we find not only exciting but with which we identify to varying degrees.

Temptation does not come in an unattractive form. Milton ironically undercuts Satan’s magnificence by linking him repeatedly to tyranny, deceit and destruction. Lucifer’s fall comes because he refuses to accept his subordinate position. Satan’s goal is “to equal God in power” (5. 343) so that in effect he becomes a parody of god and especially of the son to whom he is consistently placed as a foil throughout Paradise Lost. He lies with superb skill and persuasiveness. Impressive and attractive leader. Bold military leader, resolute, resourceful, capable of inspiring a large and devoted following.

Satan represents the style of life which is most attractive to mankind but that was also the root cause of human evil and misery. The magnificent pretence of Satan is both defeated and exposed when he loses the battle on the third day. God and Satan – both references to church and organised religion????? Satan hates God and sunlight (4. 37) and living things (4. 197) and the organisation of the cosmos (2. 938-84) in the garden of Eden he sees “saw undelighted all delight” (4. 286) he is determined to bring man pain instead of joy, woes instead of pleasure (4. 68-9,535) at first he expresses pity for Adam and Eve but soon recovers with a rationalisation, putting the blame on god. “Hell shall unfold/To entertain you two, her widest Gates” (4. 381-3) “… stronger hate,/Hate stronger, under shew of love, well feign’d /The way which to her run now I tend” (9. 491-93) Satan’s approach to Eve is specious and deceptive, but is also moving and persuasive. He leads Eve to accept a flattering view of himself as a serpent and herself as a goddess. Satan urges them to “be as Gods” (9. 708-14) which was the same sin by which he himself had fallen.

Bridge from hell to earth “a passage broad, / Smooth, easie, inoffensive down to hell” (10. 304-5) this fulfils Satan’s plan for “Earth with Hell / To mingle and involve” (2. 383-84) Satan re-enters hell triumphantly with a call to the demonic hosts to rise and enter “into full bliss” (10. 502-3) instead of ascending however they fall and are converted into serpents. This is our last direct vision of Satan in the epic, as the greatest triumph of the great perverter is itself ironically perverted. Satan’s perversion of created god is itself reversed and creation renewed.

Satan declares in book 1 that he intended “out of good still to find means of evil” (1. 165) but in the concluding book the restored and instructed Adam celebrates the providential deliverance to come by the son “That all this good of evil shall produce ? And evil turn to good” (12. 470-471) The degeneration of Satan’s character in paradise lost is brilliantly conceived and executed. Instead of becoming the king of heaven he becomes the king of hell, and on earth he passes through the even lower forms of vulture, cormorant, lion, tiger, toad and serpent.

When he finally enters into the serpent “with bestial slime / This essence to incarnate and imbrute” (9. 165-66) – he stands at the farthest remove from his pretensions and in his harshest parody of god the son whose incarnation was to redeem and not to destroy man. Satan’s revolt against God was freely committed however once in revolt he is no longer free but as the faithful Angel Abdiel taunts him “to thyself enthralled” (6. 181), enslaved to his own identification of himself with an impossible and irrational self image. As a result of this chosen enslavement he finds himself at odds not only with god but with himself and other creatures.

He curse God and himself (4. 69-71) By attempting to exalt himself he repudiates his only viable mode of being, cannot fulfil himself and so “still unfulfilled with pain of longing pines” (4. 511). As he admits, even while he is adored on the throne of infernal divinity “the lower still I fall, only supreme / In misery” (4. 91-92). Seeking power apart from love, he declares that “only in destroying I find ease” and that even from the destruction that he pursues “worse to me redounds” and “torment within me, as from the hateful siege / Of contraries” (9. 128-9, 120-22)

After asserting his hatred of god and himself he recognises that “which way I fly is hell; myself am hell” (4. 75) All good becomes bane to him but he refuse to repudiate his pride and so repentance is out of the question for him (4. 98 – 101). He is entirely consistent in his dedication “to waste (god’s) whole creation or possess” it, and since he cannot possess it, he commits himself to its destruction (2. 365). The one promise he keeps is his bond to sin and death that “all things shall be your prey” (2. 844) “… torment within me, as from the hateful siege / Of contraries”

By his self deification and by his persistent strategy of domination and destruction, Satan creates the essential conditions of hell ; what god provides in hell itself is an abode suitable to Satan’s free choice. It is not a question of real fire but the anguish and torment of a self chosen alienation from god (Calvinist theory) “… from hell / One step no more than from himself” could Satan fly, and that hell “… always in him burnes / Though in mid Heav’n” (4. 21-2, 9. 467-8) “We – the readers – were made to feel ashamed of our naive affection for the father of lies” (Sharon Achinstein)

Satan as complete contradiction in terms. 200 Satan as representative of Milton’s ideology – contrast with the son. 200 Satan as a character is doomed to fail in his quest to become ruler of heaven. On the third day of his battle with The Son, he is defeated. If the reader assumes that Milton was illuminating his own ideology through the character of Satan then there are a few interesting points to note. The Son is willing to sacrifice his life in order to improve the conditions humanity must endure after their fall from grace. This ideology contrasts directly with that of Satan, who states in Book 9 “only in destroying I find ease”.

The Son is the embodiment of goodness and self-sacrificing virtue in Paradise Lost (Divine compassion, visibly appear’d/ Love without end, and without measure grace”) and his ideology triumphs over the false ideology of Satan. Satan and God are both aspects of the tyrannical power that Milton raged against throughout his lifetime. The false heroism of Satan is seen by some critics as an allegorical representation of the hypocrisy of those who fought against tyranny with no alternative world order in mind, those who wished to depose tyrants in order to assume this position for themselves.

While the Son is unequivocally moral and good, God is depicted in a less human way, as tyrannical though not in an overtly bad way, I think this is symbolic of Milton’s ideology, he did not believe that ideological theory by itself was worthy of praise, but that physical action should accompany any ideology which wished to be taken seriously – “I cannot praise a fugitive and uncloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed” (Milton, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce).

Therefore the Son functions not only as a symbol of divine good, but also as an example that possession of a compassionate and virtuous ideology are only worthy if teamed with real sacrifice and meaningful action. Louisa – the reality of her situation, the reality of Maureen’s situation, the reality or Meriel’s situation. Their perceptions of these realities the significance of these perceptions on their fates and their experiences.

Dante’s Inferno: Sixth Circle of Hell “Every evil deed despised in Heaven has as its end injustice. Each such end harms someone else through either force or fraud” (Alighieri XI 22-24). In his divine comedy, The Inferno, Dante Alighieri cruises around the different circles of hell. Virgil, a poet and a good friend of Dante’s, becomes Dante’s guide in hell. Trough out the poem, the reader encounters certain moments of tension in which he or she is forced to choose a direction to follow. In Canto XI, Virgil and Dante find themselves in the sixth circle of hell: circle of violence.

Virgil then explains to Dante that there are three inner circles: violence against others, violence against self, and fraud. In the second inner circle, the circle of suicide or violence against self, Virgil and Dante find a deserted forest with twisted weird looking trees. These trees are the people who reside in that circle. Here, the reader is presented with people who have committed suicide because of hardships in their lives. The reader is then presented with the opportunity to either feel sorry and justify their suicide or find their placement in hell a just punishment.

In the second inner circle, violence against self, Dante and Virgil meet one of the residents. His name was Pier Delle Vigne, a former minister of Emperor Frederick II. Pier, then, tells Virgil and Dante that reason why he committed suicide was because envious groups schemed him, turned the Emperor against him, destroyed his reputation, and put him in prison; he was too ashamed and decided to take his life. Dante feels sorry for him, because he too understands the importance of a good reputation.

At this point the reader is offered the chance to agree with Dante and feel sorry for Pier, or completely disagree. Life is one of the greatest gifts from God, keeping this in mind; suicide would be denying or not appreciating that gift. Everyone in hell is there because in one way or another they denied and committed a sin against God. Regardless of what others did to him, Pier denied God, so one can come to the conclusion that his positioning in hell is just. In the contrary, life or God does not give you more than you can handle. All the alse accusations made against Pier were obviously more than what he could handle, so one could feel sorry for him and justify his suicide. So it is up to the reader to choose one of the two possible opportunities that Dante the poet presents to us. In Dante’s divine comedy, The inferno, the reader is offered with many occasions where he or she is must choose a direction to follow. In the sixth circle of hell, the circle of violence, Virgil explains that there are three inner circles: circle of violence against others, circle of violence against self, and the circle of fraud.

In the second inner circle Dante and Virgil meet Pier Delle Vigne. After listening to his story and explanation onto why he took his life, the reader had the option of agreeing with Dante and feeling sorry for Pier’s justified action or find Pier’s punishment just. Life is a gift of God, so taking one’s life is committing a sin against God; which will make Pier’s punishment just. This conclusion could be made if the reader believes in God.

Expect No Mercy What goes around comes around. When sinners reach hell they are forced to experience the counter-suffering of contrapasso. For each sin, Dante gives a specific punishment relating to that sin. Some of these sins include violence towards self, violence towards God, sorcery, and hypocrisy. For the despicable lives they lived on earth, they are doomed to suffer relating consequences for all of eternity. “No green leaves, but rather black in color, no smooth branches, but twisted and entangled, no fruit, but thorns of poison bloomed instead. (XIII, 4) No longer humans, but trees, they stand in a fruitless wood, being eaten by half-woman, half-bird creatures called Harpies. These sinners have committed Violence against themselves. They destroyed their bodies on earth so they have been denied any resemblance to a body in hell. Harpies are perched on them, eating their leaves as they scream in pain. When leaves or branches are ripped from them, they bleed and feel as though limbs are being torn from their bodies.

Their wounds heal so as to reoccur, making it so the harpies may eat them eternally. This is not a reasonable form of justice, as once thought in Dante’s time. The Christian church has changed its opinions on suicide since the publishing of Dante’s work. Once not even awarded a Christian burial, people who commit suicide are now considered not in the right state of mind. Since they have suffered in life, they should not be forced to suffer for eternity in death. Despite the undeserving sufferers previously noted, many of the people found in hell deserve to be there.

The blasphemers have committed the sin of violence against God. They have either cursed God or offended God directly during their lifetimes. These sinners lay on their backs in burning sand staring up at the skies as fiery flakes rain down on them. They committed sins against God, therefore they shall spend eternity staring up at him and accepting his wrath. Violence is horrid and the punishments in hell show how it can come back to you in death. But even deeper into hell the sins get worse, as do the punishments. There are things that people are not supposed to see during their lives on earth.

The future is one of these things. The first sinners found in the eighth circle of hell attempted to see the future using forbidden means such as black magic. The punishment that these fortune tellers are forced to endure is they walk around forever with their heads twisted facing backwards, only able to look behind them. Their eyes are filled with tears so anything that they could see is completely blurred. “You see how he has made his back his chest: because he wished to see too far ahead, he sees behind and walks a backward track. (XX, 37) These punishments are perfectly fitting to the sins they have committed. These so-called sorcerers spent their lives in the twisted world of magic, so it is only fitting that they are twisted themselves in hell. This is the torture that awaits them in hell, and they’ve earned every bit of it. Deeper into hell there are sinners who twisted the truth, this is where the hypocrites are found. They deceived people during their lives by pretending to have beliefs or virtues that appealed to others.

Now they slowly trod around wearing cloaks that look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside they are lined with heavy lead, that weighs the sinners down. “’The orange-gilded cloaks are thick with lead so heavy that it makes us, who are the scales it hangs on, creak as we walk. ’” (XXIII, 100) Since they hid their true selves in life they must walk forever, hiding the weight of their deceit which they must carry for all of eternity. If they stop walking, the lead gets hotter and hotter until they start moving again.

Being eaten for all of eternity, staring into the skies as fiery flakes rain down, heads twisted on backwards and hidden weight that must be carried forever are some of the punishments in hell that await sinners. These specific punishments relate or contrast to the sins of those who suffer them. Contrapasso is the passing of just punishment for sins, and punishments that relate to the sins are the most fitting. For the damage they have done on earth, these offenders are fated to suffer the abuse they have earned themselves in hell.

            John Baker had been promoted to a production manager of Keso Mining Corporation which had been announced a month before and now he was making his final preparations to leave the island. Everything had been tidied up except the last interview with his successor, the able young Barracanian, Matthew Rennals. As the successor to the post he was abdicating he wanted to ensure that Rennals would do the same thing he and his ancestors had done in the company for two or three hundred years. However, Baker sensed a problem on how Rennals interacted with the employees and he wanted to settle this down once and for all before he would finally relinquish his post.

            Matthew Rennals as the successor was one of the brightest Barracanian prospects in the staff of Carribean Bauxite. He had taken first-class honors in the B.Sc. Engineering Degree in London University. Added to this fact was he was being the son of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, thus, making his political connections indubitable.

            In his dealings with other employees in the company, he had seemed to lose his temper and manifested rudeness particularly to Europeans in various situations. These small problems that revolved around the company were thought to be caused by Rennals racial prejudice which Baker thought to be the central issue why he was acting this way. The main issue therefore in this case is that it’s Rennals racial consciousness that instigated his misbehavior in dealing with the employees which can be further proven from the article that states, “His four years at London University had accentuated this feeling and made him sensitive to any sign of condescension on the part of expatriates”. (Gareth Evans, “The Road to Hell”. Intercollegiate Case Clearing House.Boston.)

The article supported this assumption by saying that Rennals in order to give expression to this sentiment as soon as he returned home from London threw himself into politics on behalf of the United Action party who were later to win the preindependence elections and provide the country with its first Prime Minister. Racial consciousness as the main issue in this article was rightly supported by objective evidence and Rennals’ actual actuations. It can be assumed therefore that Rennals had been being rude to European employees in the hope of manifesting his feelings of condescension and perhaps get rid of European employees in the company.

            Baker attempted to settle this problem by presenting the “plus and minus” method in order to encourage and inspire the employee to improve. The good thing is that employees would be able to take criticism in a constructive and helpful way. However, this method will not always work considering the different personal perceptions of the individuals. Another technique is to conduct a personnel evaluation which every employee can evaluate the positive and negative traits of the person to be promoted. Nevertheless, this method may append to the racial consciousness of everybody working in the company but would make the evaluation truthful and direct. The last alternative perhaps is to expose the employee to a more diversified working environment before promoting him to a higher position. This will enhance cooperation and familiarity of the other races’ ways of doing things. However, this may not be totally effective but somehow helps in any way.

            Given all the alternatives mentioned, it can be recommended that exposition to a diversified working environment is the best way to ease up racial consciousness and condescension especially for neophytes. Letting them work in an environment that requires cooperation and unity can be of tremendous help to lessen racial prejudice if not to totally eradicate it from the person. This can easily be implemented by assigning the person to a department in which he has to work in a diversified environment.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

 Evans, Gareth. The Road to Hell. Intercollegiate Case Clearing House.Boston.

Myth

Zoroastrianism was founded by Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster) between 8000 and 2500 years ago. He lived in northeast Persian (Iran) near the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and was born on the banks of the Daraja River. He is considered by some to be the world’s First Prophet and is credited with the invention of the concept. Zarathustra faced few difficulties when it came to gaining adherents to his new religion, and quickly amassed a great number of them in the early days.

Zarathusa composed the Zoroastrian holy hymns called the Gathas, seventeen of which remain today. However, scholars believe that many more were written by him that were lost in the ages.

The holy book of Zoroastrianism is the Avesta. When people refer to the Zend Avesta, they mean the Avesta plus the later commentary added during the Sassanian Dynasty of Persia (226 BCE to 651 CE). The Gathas of the Avesta were said to have been divinely inspired, and Zarathustra received a total of seven visions from the Amesha Spentas (“Beneficent Immortals,” or sometimes rendered as ArchAngels).

Ahura Mazda is the supreme god of Zoroastrianism. The god of Goodness and Light, he is mainly symbolised with fire. There exists conflict between him and Angra Maiyu (Ahriman), who is the arch-nemesis “The Lie”.

Zoroastrians believe that every human is born with a Fravahi, a Guardian Spirit, which helps a person distinguish Right from Wrong. However, since humans have Free Will, they have a choice. This means that actively choosing Right is entirely up to each person themselves. Although operating in the same domain, the Fravashi are distinguished as being different from conscience. They both exist in a psychic region that is mysterious and profound, because although the Right and Wrong are learned from the teachings of this religion, big moral decisions such as murder and theft are condemned by religions of all backgrounds and thus are different.

Originally, Ahura Mazda created only a spiritual world, Menog. However, the Fravashis pleaded that Ahura Mazda give the world physicality so that they would become capable of action. Although Ahura Mazda warned them that through the creation of a material world, Evil and Death would enter into Creation, he later relented and altered Menog so that it became Getig, the physical world we live in.

The Amesha Spentas, or Beneficent Immortals, were originally envisioned by Zarathustra as attributes of the supreme god Ahura Mazda, but over time Zoroastrians began imagining these ideas in bodily forms. For example, Kshathra Vairya, the spirit of Strength and Dominion, can also be interpreted as the positive trait of natural leadership able to be inwardly cultivated by humans.

Other attributes-turned-deities include: Conscience, Victory, Wind, Rain, as well as a few local geographical features, like mountains or rivers. The Haoma, a plant sacred to Zoroastrians, is also personified as a deity.

Zoroastrianism incorporated older religions into its belief system. Mithra, an ancient pagan god from the pre-Zarathustra days, became known as the deity of Heavenly Light.

The concept of Good and Evil is debated in the religion. Some say it existed before the beginning of the material world, while others say that it is absent from the rest of Creation, and exists only in the human heart.

The Renewal Of The World is the correct Zoroastrian term for The End Of The World. They believe that at that time, the dead will rise and the wicked shall be purified and all will live in peace and harmony. Before that blessed event can occur, there is to be an end to the battle of Good versus Evil. The Good Forces will be led by three Saviors known as the Sashoyant. During or after battle, the world will be destroyed by fire, and according to Zoroastrian scholars (Sherpa), “molten metal will cover the Earth like water. The Righteous will wade through, but the unrighteous will be consumed by it.” Originally, the Saoshyant was a term that applied only to the followers of Zarathustra who thought this event was at hand; later, the term Saoshyant switched over to the messianic interpretation it has today.

In Zoroastrianism, each person possesses an eternal, individual Soul. Everything they think, say and do over the course of their lifetime comprises their soul. At dawn the third day after death, the Soul will meet the three judges: Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu. The Soul will then pass to the Chinvat Bridge, where it will meet its Daena (personal guide), which represents their conscience. If the person is deemed to have been good, the Deana will be beautiful with sweet breezes caressing the Soul as it crosses the Chinvat, which will remain broad and easy for them to cross. However, if the person is deemed evil, the Deana will be a grotesque, foul-smelling hag and passage over the Chinvat Bridge will be impossible due to its narrowing, causing the unfaithful to fall and plummet into Hell, which is below the Bridge.

Doctrine

Zoroastrianism is a highly ethical religion because of the struggle to choose between good and evil, Ahura Mazda or Angra Mainyu. Zoroastrians are taught that humans are free to choose between Right and Wrong, Truth and Lie, Light and Dark, etc., and that the choices they make would ultimately affect their destiny and their eternal afterlife. In the battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, which has raged for over 12 000 years, Ahura Mazda is said to always have had the upper hand.

Belief in the afterlife is taught, and it is determined by the balance of Good and Evil deeds, words, and thoughts. If Good outweighs the Evil, the afterlife achieved is heaven. If the Evil outweighs the Good, then that soul is sent to hell. Hell has different levels dependent on the severity of the person’s actions. When the person dies, the soul goes on a journey on the Chinvat Bridge, along with the guardian spirit. The bridge will widen if the person has done righteous deeds, and goes to heaven. If it narrows, then the person committed evil deeds, and they fall down into Hell below. They also believe in angels/demons, resurrection of the body, and a messiah figure.

The Zoroastrian creed is “Good Words, Good Thoughts, and Good Deeds.” They recite this creed while tying their kutsi around the sudreh three times, one for each statement. This ritual is practised several times a day with prayer.

Ritual

The sacrality of fire is one of the most noticeable features of Zoroastrianism. Mnay of their tmples have fires that have been burning continuously for hundreds of years. These consecrated fires often contain fires from as many as sixteen different sources. Of the sources, one has to be lightning, which is seen as fire sent directly from the supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, god of Goodness and Light.

Similar to Muslims, Zoroastrians divide their day into five periods; at the end of each period a Zoroastrian will pause to recite the appropriate prayer from their holy book, the Avesta.

Divining the future is a Zoroastrian practice that is ritually performed by a early priests who would imbibe the juices of the sacred Haoma plant mixed with milk to obtain visions.

In the Avesta, the priestly codes, the prayers, and the teachings of Zoroastrianism (the story of how the early Iranians, an Aryan people, came down out of Southern Russia in search of grazing lands and settled the Iranian plateau) are found. Also listed in the Avesta are “the 72 Names Of Ahura Mazda” which include: The Sustainer, The Maintainer, The Creator, and The Nourisher. These are ritually memorised and committed to memory by many of the adherents.

Traditionally, Zoroastrians follow a holy calender. However, as the few remaining practitioners have become dispersed (most now live in India as the Parsis), there exists three Zoroastrian calenders. This means that their Holy Days fall on different days of the year dependant on which calender is used. There are seven main festivals, with the most important being Navruz, the celebration of fire and Truth. The other six festivals are the Gahambars, which are linked to the agricultural cycle.
There is also a movable ceremony, Jashan, that can be used any time of the year to commemorate weddings, house-warmings, or other times of gratitude and happiness.

In the past, some ceremonies of Zoroastrianism called for imbibing bull’s urine. Currently, pomegranate juice is substituted.

In Zoroastrianism, where there is belief in free will, the Navjote ceremony is held when a child becomes old enough to begin taking responsibility for their own actions. The age for this varies by region, and is held when the child is between the ages of seven and fifteen, dependant on region.

All Zoroastrians are required to wear a ceremonial thread around their body, the Kusti, at all times. Special knots on the thread are tied and untied during certain prayers.

The Dakhma, or the Tower Of Silence, is one important aspect of traditional Zoroastrianism. This is a building constructed without a roof to which the dead are taken to be devoured by vultures. Since early Zoroastrians viewed death as the most unclean thing imaginable, they abhorred the idea of burying bodies, and because fire was considered holy, they refused cremation as well. Hence, the Dakhma was created. Inside a Dakhma, males corpses are separated from female ones, and bodies of children from those of adults. Another aspect of the death ritual in traditional Zoroastrianism is that a dog is brought to the dead body to look upon the face of the corpse. This is done to verify death and also to drive away evil spirits.

Ethics

The Zoroastrian religion lays tremendous emphasis on morals and ethics. A Zoroastrian is expected to make a conscious effort every moment of his or her life, to reject all forms of evil and the lie – in thought, word and deed and endeavour at all times to walk on the path of Asha (truth and righteousness).

Asha is the Law Immutable, the Law Eternal, the Cosmic Law of Order and Harmony on which the entire Universe is based. It is through Asha that Ahura Mazda created the universe and it is through Asha that mankind will attain perfection and be one with Ahura Mazda. In the Hoshbam prayer we aspire, “Through the best Asha, through the highest Asha, may we catch sight of Thee (Ahura Mazda), may we approach Thee, pay we be in perfect union with Thee”.

It is only by walking on the path of Asha that man can attain union with his maker. The colophon to the Yasna is quite explicit on this point, “There is but one path, that of Asha, all other paths are false paths”.

According to Zoroastrianism, it is the sum total of a man’s thoughts, words and deeds which will determine the fate of his soul in the other world – it is these thoughts, words and deeds, good or bad, which will lead his soul either to he gates of heaven or to the pathway of hell.

The Zoroastrian scriptures enumerate a number of virtues, which a Zoroastrian should aspire and endeavour to cultivate and imbibe, and a number of vices from which he should guard himself and struggle to keep away.

Some of the virtues (not necessarily in the order of importance) are as follows:

• Unflinching faith, devotion and love for Ahura Mazda and His prophet, Zarathushtra;
• Offering the Faraziyat (obligatory) prayers and thanking Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas and Yazatas for Their Grace and Bounty;
• Observing and upholding all the tenets and traditions of the religion and community,
• Speaking the Truth always. According to Herodotus, the Persians laid great stress on speaking the truth, riding a horse and archery and this formed the basic education for all Persian children. According to Yasna 31.19 “A truth-speaker receives honour and is a master without fear”, while according to the Sarosh Yasht Hadokht, “By speaking true words we receive many victories;
• Moderation in matters of food, drink and other worldly pleasures. Neither fasting nor gluttony and neither celibacy nor lechery is desirable;
• Charity and love for all human beings. Zoroastrianism does not look down upon acquisition of wealth. In fact, wealth is seen to be fundamentally positive, provided it is put to judicious use and used for the well being of others. According to Yasna 43.1 “He is a good man through whom goodness reaches other persons in all places. God gives such persons greatness;
• Industry and honest toil. According to Yasna 46.12 “those who make the world prosperous through good thoughts and honest endeavours are those who live a virtuous life in good thoughts. The Visperad (7.1) also praises, “industry and courage.” Conversely according to the Visperad (18.2), “a man who is idle is worthy of hell”;
• Keep a promise at all cost. In fact Yasna 61.3 strongly advises, “keep away from a covenant breaker and from one who tampers,”
• Aspire for higher knowledge and acquire wisdom under a proficient teacher;
• Respect ones elders and superiors. “He who does not show respect to an elder will never receive honour” (Yasna 29.6);
• Honesty and integrity in ones dealings in this world;
• Forgiveness, mercy and tolerance- According to the Denkard, a good Zoroastrian must strive to make enemies his friends; purify the sinful and make the ignorant well-informed;
• Sincerely atone for ones sins (committed knowingly or unknowingly) by doing patet.

And now for the vices from which a Zoroastrian should guard himself and struggle to keep away:

• Anger and jealousy- According to the Yasna 49.4 “Those who promote wrath and jealousy are of evil intellect;”
• Greed and idleness- Yasna 16.8 warns “Keep away from the greed of a wicked man”,
• Arrogance-Little knowledge, power and wealth could makes a man arrogant. Arrogance leads to other vices and the road of ruin. The Ardibehest Yasht warns us to “keep away from these who have arrogant thoughts”;
• Sloth – In the Atash Niyayesh 5.11, we pray “I sleep for the third part of a whole day (i.e. eight hours). May God give me no more sleep so that I can wake up on time.”;
• Foul language – The Denkard consider use of foul or abusive language as a sin equal to telling lies;
• Petty and unwarranted quarrels, arguments and violence;
• Bad company and literature;
• Malice and vengefulness;

Zoroastrians believe that everyone is equal: “Men and women, rich and poor, and young and old are all seen as equal” (BBC).

Abortion- They believe that a soul has been formed when a women is four months and ten days pregnant and believe that abortion is murder.

Reincarnation- it is not believed in Zoroastrianism and is foreign/unknown to them.

Homosexuality- There is a line in the Vendidad that states that homosexuality is sinful/devil worshipping: “The man that lies with mankind as man lies with womankind, or as woman lies with mankind, is the man that is a Daeva [demon]; this one is the man that is a worshipper of the Daevas, that is a male paramour of the Daevas.” This means that they would be against it.

FUN FACT– they have major beliefs in the Humata Hukhta Hvarshta, which is “good thoughts, good words, good deeds.”

Could not find any reliable sources that talked about alcohol/drug use or suicide and capital abuse and the Zoroastrian view.

Personal experience

Material Culture

The main symbol in Zoroastrianism is the sacred fire. It must burn continually at the fire temple, and needs to be fed at least 5 times a day, along with the 5 prayers a day. Zoroastrians believe that fire purifies and also represents the presence of Ahura Mazda.

The Faravahar is the most common symbol in the Zoroastrianism. It reminds the adherents of their purpose in life and to live in the ways of Ahura Mazda.

(insert a pic of the faravahar)

The imagery of a disc with wings likely originated as a sun with wings. Later, a human torso was added to the symbol. The archer in a feathered robe represents Ashur, an Assryian god. Over time the image became a symbol of the Zoroastrian religion. Presently, the symbol is often used to depict a guardian angel, who would guide dead souls into the afterlife.

Social Organisation

The Zoroastrian community is divided into two groups: the hereditary priests and the laity. The influential families are those that have members strategically distributed throughout the most important sectors of society, each prepared to support the other in order to ensure family prestige and status.

Politically, there is no supreme head of the Zoroastrians in Iran, which had Zoroastrianism as a state religion in the past. In each city, there is a Zoroastrian association known as the “Anjoman Zardoshtian.” Its governing members are elected by the community. Today the anjoman in Tehran, owing to its location, has developed a position of leadership; however, local affairs are handled by the local anjoman. In addition to these associations, each city has a youth club, which is mainly involved with sports and cultural activities. In Tehran, a Zoroastrian Women’s Association has also been established.

Government officials do recognize minority groups such as the Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. They are permitted to sustain organizations, elect a representative to the Majlis (lower house of Parliament), maintain religious schools, and publish periodicals; however, they are restricted in political activities. Non-Muslims cannot reach command positions in the armed forces and cannot achieve policy-making positions in government.

The Zoroastrian community was formerly organized through priest rotation; now it is through appointments and by the influence of the anjoman structure. Formerly there was a katkhoda, a local political leader, and, at the highest level, the kalantar (magistrate) of the entire Zoroastrian community.

Social Control. Of concern to the Zoroastrian community are the ritual calendar, the upkeep of the priesthood, and conversion. There is also a conflict between the younger generation and the older one, which is more orthodox. The community is in transition, and the population is attempting to become Westernized.

Conflict. Boundaries have always been maintained between the various religious groups such as the Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Baha’is, especially under the Islamic government. One of the ways to alleviate intercommunal tension is to allow non-Zoroastrians to enter the fire temples. Muslims have been seen participating in the funerals of Zoroastrian friends.

In the past, because of strict Zoroastrian observance of the laws of purity, this was not permitted. Until 1885, the Zoroastrians were subject to various forms of persecution. They were not allowed to wear rings, and their girdles were made of rough canvas. Until 1895, they were not permitted to carry umbrellas or wear glasses or spectacles. Until 1896, they were forced to twist their turbans instead of folding them (Malcolm 1905, 45).

These five stages are a spiritually dead, spiritual infant, spiritual child, young adult, and parent. [1] In addition, will also discuss what is called the Four Spheres of discipleship.[2]

Spiritually Dead

The Apostle Paul described in Ephesians 2: 15 Those who were dead in their sins and transgressions. These are people who have not accepted Christ as Savior, insist dead reject His sacrifice on the Cross. They sometimes claim to seek a God or Higher Power but there is no evidence of any relationship with God whatsoever. These people are what the authors call Spiritually Dead. [3] In fact the author compares these people to dead men in a casket just waiting to decompose.

When speaking to the “walking dead” the authors teach how to identify the common “phrase from the stage”[4] in order to assess where a person is in their walk with God.

These typical phrases are usually:

• I don’t believe in God.
• The bible is just a myth.
• Religion is a crutch for the weak.
• Christians are intolerant and homophobic.
• There are many paths to God. (Opera Winfred Olsten) [5]
• I don’t believe in hell. Or hell is on Earth.
• My good deeds will save me from hell.
• There is no right or wrong, ‘do what thou will’ [6].

Once a person is identified as spiritually dead, this should determine how to approach them with a spirit Of understanding without a judgmental or condemning ATT etude.

Spiritual Infant

The second stage is called to describe believers who are like newborn babes craving milk instead of the meat of the Word. This comes from the scrim future: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow… (1 peter 2:23 KAVA).

Christians at this stage are alive yet they refuse to grow. This can include new converts as well as long time Christians who are stagnant in their growth process with God. [7] Spiritual infant TTS were described in the Book of Hebrews as those living on the milk of the Word who should be teaching: ” For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have a need that one teach you… ” (Web. 5:1214 KAVA).

Spiritual Children

The next stage is described as the Stage which characterizes Christians who are growing in their walk with God and growing in their relationships with other fellow believers-8 The Apostle John referred to early followers as his children. (1 John 2:12 KAVA) Also in 1 Thessalonians 2:101 2, the apostle Paul refers to himself as a “spiritual faith ” who had to encourage, comfort and urge the Church of Thessalonians to live holy lives.

These spiritual children have learned the church “lingo” or language and are able to function in a growing church body as believers, but they are selflessness with much of their spiritual life involving themselves. [9] These individuals can be new con arts as well as old converts who have attended church for decades. They can be identified by the Eire “phrase from the stage” which are:

• I don’t know if this church meets my needs.
• The church is getting too big.
• Why do we have to learn new songs?
• No one speaks to me at church. [10]

The length of time a person has attended church has nothing to do with their level of growth.

They need to surround themselves around mature Christians in order to go from dependency to self-sufficient. [11]

Spiritual Young

John 2:1314 describes Spiritual Young Adults as Christians who have overcome the Evil One and the Word of God abides in them. [12] These individuals are striving to become more concerned about others rather than themselves. They are more students of the Word of God and the Great Commission. They are givers instead of takers. [13]

You can identify a Spiritual Young Adult by these phrases from the stage:

• In my devotion…
• I will like to go to Uganda for a mission…;
• I love being a worship leader because…;
• I have three friends that I witness to…

These young adults need mentoring and a place to utilize their spiritual gifts.

Spiritual Parent

Spiritual Parents are considered spiritually mature people who make disciples and have grown strong in the Lord. These are reliable disciples who are qualified to tea chi others. [14] 2 Timothy 2:12 describes them as those who have grown strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. They can also determine where a person is in their walk with the Lord and often can mentor these young adults.

God is a Spiritual Parent who nurtures and fights for His s virtual children as His own. [15]

The four spheres of discipleship describe how a disciple grows in four stages: The sphere with God and disciple, the church sphere, the sphere of family and the world The spheres help the disciple understand the head, heart, and hands of God, family y, church, and the world. [16] The sphere is designed to help a disciple balance family life and minister y life. It also shows them how to integrate the four spheres within the five stages of discipleship. Below will detail each sphere.

Sphere One: The Centrality of Christ

In the book Discipleship, by Dietrich Bondholder, the author conveys that through simple obedience does one really understand the meaning of being a disciple. [17] Who en referring to the dead or God’s authority, true submission is evident. When dealing with the heart of the relationship between God and the disciple, there are visible changes in the pee arson’s life called transformation.

With the hands, the disciple ventures outside the walls of the church through evangelism. [18]

Sphere Two: Relationship With the Family of God (Church)

The second sphere of relationship is where we grow as Christians within the body of Christ. Scripture points out that we are in the family of God with brothers and sisters in Christ. [19] As a church family, the church works to nourish relationships among believers sometimes converted from broken families. Some Of the broken families were from the d splices’ choice to follow Christ. [20]

A third sphere is addressed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5 & 6 involves the home. Paul discusses how the husband should lead the household and love his wife. Also how the wife should love her husband. The responsibility of fathers and mothers in easing children and responsibility of children to respect their parents.

Sphere Four: Relationship With the World

Finally, the Apostle Paul moves toward chapter 6 of Ephesians, where he addresses a final sphere of relationships with the world.

Notes:

1 Putnam, Jim, Bobby Harrington, and Robert Emerson Coleman. Discipleship: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. (Grand Rapids, MI: Sanderson, 2013). 60.

2 Ibid. , 77.

3 Ibid. , 61.

4 Ibid. , 62.

5 “Pastor Joel Olsten Discusses Sin And The Path To God,” Opera’s Next Chapter, accessed February 1, 201 5, http://WV. Opera. Com/own-operas-next- heaper/Pastor-Joke-Steen-Discusses-Sin-and-the-Path-to-God

6 Crowley, Leister. The Book of the Law:(technically Called Libber AY Vela Legs Sub Figure COX as D levered by XIII. Red Wheel/wiser, 1938.

7 Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman, 63. Spiritual Child

8 Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman, 65. Ibid. , 65.

10 Ibid. , 66.

11 Ibid. , 66

9 Spiritual Young Adult 1

12 Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman, 67. Ibid. , 67.

14 Ibid. , 68.

15 Adams, Vincent. Imitating the Fatherhood of God: A Single Dad’s Guide to Spiritual Parenting. S. L.: Solaris, 2012. 17

13 6 The Four Spheres of Discipleship

16 Ibid. , 77 Bondholder, Dietrich. Dietrich Bondholder Works. Volume 4: Discipleship. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996. ) 77.

18 Putnam, Harrington, and Coleman, 86.

19 Ibid.

20 Sphere Three: Relationship At Home

Michael Sharp British Literature I 09/26/07 Angelina Jolie has a place in Hell According to Dante, Hell is broken down into nine circles. Each circle would represent a punishment according to their sin and would be more evil as you draw near towards the last circle. If Dante were to travel in Hell again, he would most likely encounter Angelina Jolie. Although she is looked upon as a celebrity with a humanitarian heart, the sins that she have committed would not be acceptable in God’s eyes. Despite her humanitarian heart, she is likely to go to hell. Despite Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian heart, she is a non-Christian.

Non-Christians are automatically condemned to hell. It is stated in the bible, “”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The bible strictly states that if you do not believe in Jesus Christ, you will not go to heaven. It is through God’s grace that we are entitled to enter heaven. When Dante traveled through the first circle of hell, he noted that it housed all the pagans. Great writers and poets were condemned in the first circle because they had died not knowing Christ. You don’t ask,” my good Teacher said to me, “who are these souls you look upon? Before you go on in your journey, you must know they did not sin. If they had bad merits, these were not enough- baptism they did not have, the one gate to the faith which you believe” (35). Although those people did not commit a serious sin, they did not believe in Christ. Therefore they were condemned to the first circle of hell. This is one of the few circles in Hell, where should would be condemned. Lust is one of the many sins people struggle with and it often leads to committing adultery.

Angelina Jolie is one of the many who had committed adultery. She seduced Brad Pitt away from his wife Jennifer Aniston and later marries him. In the bible it quotes, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery. And whosoever marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery” (Matthew 5:32). The bible also states clearly that this sin is not looked upon lightly. In fact in Ephesians 5:5 reads, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person such a man is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Marriage is highly regarded in the Christian faith; it is a sacred covenant that is established between the man and his wife. Committing adultery would be a violation of that sacred covenant that was established between husband and wife. In Dante Inferno, Dante describes how he and Virgil pass into the second circle. It was illustrated as a dark area where the rain would continuously fall and the wind would blow constantly. The condemned would helplessly swirl in the wind and be swept through the storm. One of the characters that Dante pointed out was Semiramis. She was allegedly an Assyrian queen who created incest a legal practice.

Angelina Jolie did not only commit adultery but she also had an incestuous relationship with her brother. According to the bible it states, “Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere” (Leviticus 18:9). The bible strictly forbids any family members to have a sexual relationship with one another. According to the laws from the Old Testament they would execute those who were guilty from committing this sin. In the New Testament, the local church would be given the authority to outcast the guilty for the offence.

In the Second Zone of the Seventh Circle’s Third Ring, Dante encounters Bruetto Latini. This is where the Sodomites must walk continuously under the rain of fire. Bruetto Latini was noted for providing Dante with kindness and counsel, yet he accuses him for being a homosexual. During this time period, homosexuality was evident but not acceptable to the society. However in today’s society homosexuality is acceptable. Angelina Jolie publicly admitted that she had feelings for woman and would consider dating some of either gender. Her guilty pleasure in the same sex would earn her a spot in the third ring.

Although Angelina Jolie has committed more than one serious sin, she would be condemned into the second circle of Hell. Lust has overwhelmingly affected her life and to God’s eyes it looked down upon with disgrace. She has violated the sacred commitment between husband and wife by sleeping with another wife’s husband. She has been divorced and became pregnant before marriage. All of these factors are more than enough reasons as to why she should be condemned to Hell.

Bibliography Alighieri, Dante. Dante Inferno. New York: Esolen, 2003. Angelina Jolie. Ed. Mai Dinh, Janet Murphy. 25 September 2007. http://www. people. om/people/angelina_jolie/biography/0,,20004347_0,00. html Adultery. www. biblegateway. com. Ed. Nick Hengeveld. 25 September 2007. http://www. biblegateway. com/quicksearch/? quicksearch=adultery&x=0&y=0 John 3:16. www. biblegateway. com. Ed. Nick Hengeveld. 25 September 2007. http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? search=john%203:16&version=31 Incest. www. biblegateway. com. Ed. Nick Hengeveld. 25 September 2007. http://www. biblegateway. com/quicksearch/? quicksearch=incest&x=0&y=0 homosexual. www. biblegateway. com. Ed. Nick Hengeveld. 25 September 2007. http://www. biblegateway. com/quicksearch/? quicksearch=homosexual&x=0&y=0