This course explores the founding and re-founding of the American Republic. Consideration is also given to the divergent European visions that have challenged the Republic up to the present time. There will be directed readings of The Federalist Papers of Madison, Hamilton, and Jay; the speeches of…
Dr. Warren Gage and Steve Jeck
Often the truncated souls that some protestants have has to do with Romans 7. Explore that Puritanism failed because it did not have the proper orientation of the soul. If faith becomes legalism, it will be overthrown by the people. Our struggle with sin is an indication that the old Adam has not been completely mortified. Micah 7 shows us a glimpse of the comedic vision and the hope it delivers.
Explore the realm of tragedy in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound. Prometheus brings a knowledge that is forbidden just as in Genesis 3 there is knowledge that God does not want man to have. The theme of Prometheus Bound is the gift of fire given to man that is the basis of civilization. In tragedy, the protagonist becomes more isolated and alienated. Tragedy also provokes fear and pity. Prometheus was a benefactor to man knowing man could do nothing in return. Tragedy purges fear and pity which hinder proper judgment in political decisions.
Politics occurs in community where we can persuade one another. Reformed Theology emphasizes Epic and Tragic including the vision of God the Father and his decrees, order of creation and salvation and tragic nature of man but God is also a Bridegroom, Lamb, and Dove. Explore that the trajectory of the Old and New Testaments is comic.
Explore the mundis imaginalis or the world of the imagination. This lecture defines the tragic, lyric, epic, and comedic imaginations. Tragic includes fall, suffering, and reconciliation. Lyric includes anticipation, consummation, and lamentation. Epic always has the battle, the founding, and the ruling. Comedy is the realm of faith, hope, and love. Explore how tragic, lyric, epic, and comedic are applied to Genesis. Dante's Divine Comedy of Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso is introduced. Come to understand that the comedic imagination enables us to persevere through life.
Western philosophy is determined by a hermeneutical quarrel between poetry and philosophy. The philosophy and poetry quarrel determines western literary criticism and biblical hermeneutics. How do we know truth? For the philosopher, we know truth only by reason. For the poet, we recognize truth by reflecting on the images of the beautiful. Explore the background to Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Virtues are excellent responses to the stimulus of passion. Moderation has to do with the passion of the bed and table. Virtues of the community are justice, generosity, and mercy. Realize Aristotle's Politics cannot be fully understood unless we have an understanding of his Ethics. Ethics tells us how man is sick and Politics tells us how we can get better.