This story has caused many academic debates due to all the symbolism, both Christian and pagan. The story has many contradicting religious themes in the story. Many scholars maintain the belief that Beowulf was altered in an attempt to help the Christian church spread its beliefs, turning the epic into conversion propaganda. When the Beowulf story was thought to have originated, the Anglo-Saxon culture was still a pagan society. Christianity had yet to grip it's stronghold on the region.
Western European Christianity has followed various paths and influences until developing into the form and structure of the mannerisms of today. Much of the early scriptures of late antiquity feature unrealistic impressions, beliefs or evaluations that portrayed accuracy at the time of application. Initial Christian communities were unique and complex. Commonly practiced (often unique to separate communities) rituals helped maintained these structures and sustained these separate entities of similar faith. Early Christian communities had rituals including the Eucharist, which described consuming the body of Christ (bread) and drinking the blood of Christ (wine) as a ritual and a method of incorporating one into the Christian community.
The same could be said about Christianity for non-believers. But majority of these biblical stories are accounts of important people, events, and concepts of Christian faith. Similarities can begin with creation stories where in both the Christian creation story, Genesis, and in many accounts of the Ancient Greek creation story, “the earth began with darkness and nothingness, or chaos” (Genesis 1:2), as known to the Greeks. Both Heaven and Olympus are believed to have beliefs or prophecies that are very similar to each other. The overthrowing of rulers were frequent events in both Greek mythology and in Biblical stories.
Much of this information came straight from our Christology book, Jesus of History, Christ of Faith. Other points of information used in this essay were found using the Bible. Textual support from the Bible mostly came from passages regarding Jesus’s death, resurrection, and everyday life. However, most of the textual support for this research assignment was found in various websites. These sites compared the plot of The Lord of the Rings to Scripture passages in the Bible.
Critical Paper #2 Ovid’s Metamorphoses Of all the works that we read, researched and discussed in the second portion of this course, I found that Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses stood out above the others. This poem seems to stand out among others due to its exclusion of direct Christian influence. This is a strikingly odd characteristic considering that Greek culture in its time revolved heavily around Christian values and beliefs. Many other works, including our readings from Virgil and Plato, from that era referred heavily to the teachings of the Christian faith. I believe that Ovid’s intention was to parody the genre of the epic poem by repurposing the teachings of Christianity, while at the same time providing an alternative understanding of how human life, society and socially acceptable norms may have come to fruition.
Along with the Gods came tales of their exploits, so the Greeks began constructing patterns and archetypes that were essentially original and organic to the time; stories of creation, conception, and the failings of man. Put together, these formed an extensive mythology that included countless symbols, dates, and accounts, all with significant importance. This ancient Greek religion and the modern Christian church share many important symbols and stories. These similarities are often overlooked, due in part to the fact that the Bible, the Holy text of Christianity, is accepted among many as historical fact. In contrast, numerous tales and characters of classical Greek and Roman mythology are now thought of as merely humorous or outlandish.
In The Epic Beowulf both The idea of God and Fate intertwine into a complex story of heroism. Even though Beowulf was written in an area where Christianity had not yet been accepted, the author brought many Christian Themes and traits into the storyline. Beowulf Says himself, “May the wise God, the holy Lord, assign glory to whichever side seems fitting to him” (Hieatt,p.21), and “He whom death takes there must trust to the judgment of the lord” (Hieatt,p.14).It is clear that Beowulf has a strong believe in God and that God is the judge of all things, mortal or non. In the Bible it says “Many live as enemies in the cross of Christ. Their destiny is Destruction” (Philippians 3:18-19), and “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:30).
Beowulf-Pagon or Christian? Beowulf, a hero epic poem with Anglo-Saxon traditions, yet infused with Christian references and ideals. The identity of writer who wrote Beowulf is unknown, experts are still undecided if the writer was a Christian monk interested in pagan epics, that wanted to intertwine Christian values within the story. Throughout the story there is a constant battle between good and evil, moral virtues, and unselfishness. Which in turn, emulate the same values within the Christian beliefs.
At this time in history Scandinavia (major setting of the poem) is pagan. Literary scholars have been trying to answer the question of why the poem has Christian elements in it. There have been many answers to this question. I believe that the Christian elements found in Beowulf are the result of the writer having to make the characters in the poem and the generality of the poem acceptable to a pagan/Christian society in which he lived and the fact that oral poems can be modified. The story of Beowulf is pagan.
One of the emblems is a small Christian crucifix and the other a model of Thor’s hammer. The territories that the Scandinavians had in Britain and to some extent in France, the duality of beliefs continued. Many people thought that the Christian God was just another deity, which could be evoked in the times of spiritual need. The Scandinavian Churches and the influence of Christianity Tremendous changes in culture,