Essay Jesus - the Epic Hero

Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

The Bible has been translated into 451 languages, sold over 6 billion times, and depicted in over 40 movies. The Bible and the crucifixion of the Messiah are prominent aspects in cultures all around the world today. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been translated, dramatized, televised, adapted, and cartooned. In “The Dream of the Rood,” translated by R.M. Liuzza, the Biblical cross comes to life to tell its own version of Christ’s death and resurrection. The author recreated the Biblical account to appeal to the Anglo-Saxon warrior group to effectively convert them. However, the story from the cross’s perspective matches the crucial material of the Biblical account of the crucifixion without defaming Christ.

Some scholars argue that evidence of Jesus of Nazareth 's existence can only be found within the writings of the New Testament. They believe that the New Testament is a biased and unreliable source for the existence of Jesus. They therefore claim that Jesus did not exist. The historical existence of Jesus is necessary to demonstrate the truth of Christianity. While Christian scholars do not discount the reliability of the New Testament as a historical document, they are also able to point to other historical documents and consider non-Christian writings which support the existence of Jesus. In this paper I will argue that Jesus the Nazarene was an actual, historical person and that this can be demonstrated through extra-Biblical resources.

The crucifixion of Christ is treated differently within the bodies of Old English and Middle English literature. The values of each era's society are superimposed on the descriptions of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Christ is depicted either as the model of the hero, prevalent in Old English literature, or as the embodiment of love and passion, as found in Showings by Julian of Norwich.

with the corpse in the burial mound overlooking the sea. Including such heathen rites enables the poet to “communicate his Christian vision of pagan heroic life.”(Bloom 2). Additonally, earlier in the poem, the Danes, when under extreme pressure from Grendel, reverted to Satan-worship:

The ominous figure in the centre of the foreground - Jesus Christ hanging lifeless on the cross, in Luca di Tommè’s ‘The Crucifixion’, primarily catches the eye. The symmetrical arrangement of lamenting figures around the cross, as well as the gilded background, highlight him as the focal point of this artwork.

“Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27) is one of the most fundamental questions that Jesus asked his disciples. It is a question, from my personal viewpoint, that has a simple answer. Jesus is Lord! Needless to say, there is more to the identity of Jesus, but it is my belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the second person of the Holy Trinity. He is the promised Savior foretold in the Old Testament by the prophets. There is an endless list that gives Jesus titles such as Ruler and King, Master and Teacher, Savior and Christ, but in Acts 2:36 Luke writes, “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Jesus is the one who went to the Cross to bring humankind forgiveness, redemption, and salvation.

ideas of God the Father, Jesus the Son of God and the Holy Spirit in

The cross, once plain wood, is now “exalted over all forest-tress” (91) and risen to the status of a lord. The Dreamer is seeing for himself the validity of Christ’s claims of rewarding his faithful servants. So the Cross, it seems, is now further gift-giving and reciprocating by telling the Dreamer that he has been given a gift by Christ, who died for his sins. The Dreamer interprets the telling of this story by the Cross as a gift, and so in return for this gift that the Cross has given him, the Dreamer tells the story of his dream to others in order to tell the tale and let others know of this great gift that was given to all of humanity by Christ. Its resplendence in its appearance to the dreamer is testament to the validity of its sacrifice in going against traditional Germanic servitude, which is important to addressing the comingling of cultures in The Dream of the Rood. This is certainly not heroism and faithful retainership as the Anglo-Saxons were used to it, but the Dreamer’s vision of the Cross in all its glory gives credence to Christ as a lord and gift giver.

The poet does not mention that Christ dies to fulfill a prophecy, one that is unavoidable and that he therefore calmly accepts. The notion of letting fate do its work doesn't seem to be on any of the other heroes' agendas, either. Beowulf, for example, suspects that the dragon's laying waste to his kingdom may indeed be divine punishment -- but that doesn't stop him from going to its barrow and stabbing the creature in the belly. In fact, Beowulf clearly states "It is a mystery where a courageous man will meet his fated end. . ." [ll. 3063-4] .

Now-a-days it seems like religion has become somewhat of a taboo. It has fallen on the back burners, pushed behind things such as famous actors that people look up to or things portrayed in the media. The thing is, the most important figure in history is part of religion and should be revered much more than the idolized actors of today. The human population has become blind to spiritual life and has become engulfed by a social lifestyle. If you look around, people have forgotten what it’s like to know Jesus and any aspect of religion. Religion is the biggest part of any person’s life because it is the building block for everything we have.

The film also depicted that crucifixion was typically a form of death that was harsh, violent, and humiliating, which is accurate in comparison to crucifixions in history. In the film, Jesus was spit on, and the Romans mocked him, saying that if were really the king, that he would save himself. This picture of the Jesus’ crucifixion, and the violence that forced upon him, that was displayed in the film, The Passion of the Christ was an accurate description of what actually happened during crucifixions during the ancient times (Religions).

Writers for many centuries have depicted the greatest event of history, Christ's sacrifice in many ways. Fantasy writers, especially, have symbolized it as either the sacrifice of a lion on the Stone Table, a mighty warrior battling a red dragon, or less obviously, the destruction of a ring, and numerous other ways. However once writers chose to directly write about Christ's sacrifice without using symbols. Nonetheless even these writers differed greatly in their portrayal of Christ's sacrifice. Among these, William Langland, who wrote Piers Plowman, and the poet who penned “Dream of the Rood” both discuss Christ's sacrifice vividly and poetically. While Piers Plowman and “Dream of the Rood” share many similarities in their portrayal of Christ

With the knowledge that the human form was fit for Jesus, now the focus can shift to the evidence that he was human and his human form was humanizing. Jesus lived a life on earth and suffered like every other person does. As mentioned previously, Jesus experienced temptation by the Devil as seen in Matthew 4. He experienced hunger as seen in Mark 11:12. He experienced weariness as seen in John 4:6, “So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well” (). He experienced sorrow many times as seen when Lazarus died in John 11 and several other places. He also experience pain and suffering on the cross and he died just as everyone on earth does as well. By every standard Jesus was a human being. He lived and died as everyone else on this planet does. His humanity was humanizing. He was a human being and demonstrated all the characteristics of being one. The only difference is that he was able to live a life without sin. So Jesus’ human nature was in no way dehumanizing; he exhibited every characteristic that humans face and conquered every struggle.