Heretics!

The title says it all: today's post is about heretics. What's a heretic? Who is a heretic? How do I go about choosing my favorite heretic (for your homework assignment)? Hopefully this post will provide some answers.

First: definitions, specifically of "heretic" and "heresy." Your homework page from the CnC book defines a heretic in this way:

"A heretic is someone who holds a controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine, as in religion, politics, philosophy, or science. A heretic believes something that the authorities--religious, political, social--do not believe. Heretics are often considered to be very dangerous people, becuase they want to change the way things are done or what people believe. Heretics make people uncomfortable. In many times and places, heretics have been shunned or even killed for their beliefs. Heretics may or may not be right. Soemtimes it takes many years or even centuries before their ideas are shown to be either wise or foolish."

Heresy, then, would be the "controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine."

So who are heretics? Again, your homework page lists some examples, both from the classical and medieval church as well as from modern and contemporary society. My suggestion for getting started on your homework would be to start by looking up a few of the people listed--Google search the names and see what you can find on the particular figure. Also, don't limit yourself to the contemporary figures or those whose names you recognize! Some of these guys from the early church are really out there and interesting. Take a chance and read up on them-you may find out something pretty cool. Wikipedia has a list of people burned as heretics, if you're looking for a starting place for the medieval set (a starting place other than the list in your homework, that is!)

And remember, this is about who is YOUR favorite heretic. It could be someone not on the list at all-someone YOU think has challenged accepted opinions or beliefs. What we want to hear in your presentations (and in your homework) is why they're your favorite, and how they've challenged beliefs. You may think that Carl Sagan or Steven Hawking is a heretic, but you will need to explain why (don't know those names? Look them up!!!)

And don't forget to bring magazines this week...we'll need them for the collages you're going to be making.

Stay warm!

* About the picture: this is a picture from an illuminated (highly decorated, in other words) 13th century manuscript of St. Augustine of Hippo refuting the heretic. St. Augustine is one of the Church's most important theologians (someone who writes and thinks about God). One of the major issues in his time was the Donatist controversy. I'm not going to explain it here, though. It's a heresy-it might be your favorite-so look it up! Oh and Augustine is perhaps best known for his work Confessions. It's awesome. You should read it.

Don't take the idea from this picture, though, that heretics are people we should necessarily chop down with swords (or anyone, for that matter). I just couldn't find a picture of just a heretic, and St. Augustine rocks so...there we go. It's a picture about heresy, so I thought it might work.

OK that's all for now!

The Red Pill/Blue Pill Debate

Yesterday we spent a good deal of time talking about the Red Pill/Blue Pill question after watching this clip from The Matrix. I've given you a clip that will show what pill Neo chooses, but yesterday I didn't want his choice influencing your own (no peer pressure, in other words!). Here's the clip again, if you want to watch it in light of yesterday's discussion.



To re-cap what we went over yesterday, here are the arguments in favor or against each choice:
Red Pill Pro
-Awesome adventure awaits!
-It could be fun
-The risk
-You find out the truth
-You can remove the splinter from your mind

Red Pill Con
-Don't want to miss out on your life as it is
-Kind of like a suicide of sorts
-Many lead great lives without knowing the truth
-You get more splinters from removing the one in your mind

Blue Pill Pro
-The benefit outweighs the risk
-You know what is going to happen: there's no uncertainty
-You can't dedal with knowing you might not see people again
-It's "comfortably numb", to quote Pink Floyd
-the Truth hurts
-If you take the blue pill you can just forget about the whole thing

Blue Pill Con
-You don't get to find out the truth
-You still have the splinter in your head

Obviously just listing the pros and cons doesn't catch the nuance of our discussion, but maybe this will jog your memory a bit. The next question we looked at was: Which pill would Jesus take? There was debate on this one, although the answer (and like I said, this is one of the few times in the class there is a right and wrong answer) is that Jesus would take the red pill.

If you watched the clip above, you may notice that Morpheus says to Neo "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." This truth, or maybe we should call it Truth, is about the reality of our existence-what this world around us really is. I think one could argue pretty soundly that it's similar to the Truth Jesus is about-the Truth that God really does love us, but also the Truth of our own lives. This can be painful (hence the argument against the red pill "the truth hurts"). But as I said yesterday, Jesus was all about showing this truth.

There are two examples from John 8 that speak to this. The first is really just a quote. Jesus tells those who believed in him that if they continued to follow him, "you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). In other words, Jesus shows us the truth-and only when we see this can we be set free. The second passage from John 8 is from the beginning of the chapter. One of the ways we defined the red pill yesterday was "shaking things up," whereas the blue pill was kind of maintaining the status quo-staying with life the way it was and not changing things up. Jesus was all about changing things up. Just read this passage from the beginning of John 8:

"Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’" (John 8:1-11).

That's shaking things up, if you ask me.

And finally, I leave you with this video. The song was originally done by the oh so awesome 70s band The Who. However, this particular version from Geoff Moore and the Distance is a little more upbeat. And there's a more Christian angle to the lyrcis (they added the part about "You who the Son sets free, is free indeed") The video isn't all that great, but at least give it a try. I'm posting the lyrics below the video as well. They sum up the red-pill argument, I think. Pay particular attention to the idea that "you've been told many times before Messiahs pointing to the door but no one had the guts to leave the temple." Jesus shows us the way into the world, and part of the journey of this class is to head into the light and see what we find...



"I'm Free"
I'm Free, I'm Free
I'm Free, I'm Free
And Freedom Tastes Of Reality
I'm Free, I'm Free
And I'm Waiting For You To Follow Me

If I Told You What It Takes To Reach The Highest High
You'd Laugh And Say "Nothing's That Simple"
But You've Been Told Many Times Before
Messiah's Pointing To The Door
And No One's Had The Guts To Leave The Temple

I'm Free, I'm Free
And Freedom Tastes Of Reality
And I'm Waiting For You To Follow Me

You Who The Son Sets Free Is Free Indeed
You Who The Son Sets Free Is Free

I'm Free, I'm Free
I'm Free, I'm Free
And Freedom Tastes Of Reality
And I'm Waiting For You To Follow Me.

How Can We Follow? How Can We Follow?


Tomorrow's Blog Entry: HERETICS!!!!