Witnessing Acts of God in Genesis, Daniel, and Margaret

  By Faryn Thomas, Jennifer Morse, Joseph Marques, and Robert Carhuayo How is witnessing acts of God treated across Genesis, Daniel, and Margaret? In Margaret, page 131,  a huge crowd of people witness Margaret pray to God for salvation at the end, before her feet and hands are to be burned. God hears her and there is an earthquake, after which God speaks directly to her from the heavens. As…

“What is the Role of Beauty in Genesis?

By Faryn Thomas, Jennifer Morse, Joseph Marques, and Robert Carhuayo           God’s divine goodness and beauty are often mentioned in the same breath. But there are other things that are somewhat surprisingly portrayed as beautiful, for example, Sodom. “The people’s settlements there were beautiful — the men without honor, hateful to their creator” (137) The Sodomites are obviously without any sort of goodness or grace, and…

The Religious Context for Psychomachia’s Feminine Virtues and Vices

By Faryn Thomas, Jennifer Morse, Joseph Marques, and Robert Carhuayo One of the aspects of the Psychomachia that our group found particularly interesting was the fact that the virtues and vices are all presented as women. This is an initially surprising choice, as the virtues and vices are all warriors engaging in battle, and this is obviously not a role traditionally inhabited by women. This choice isn’t merely accidental, as…

Boethius and Human Nature

By Faryn Thomas, Jennifer Morse, Joseph Marques, and Robert Carhuayo If evil men have lost their human nature (118), do they still have a will in them left that drives them towards the good (110)? Lady Philosophy explains to Boethius that “any human action presupposes two things: will and ability” (109). She then goes on to say “that the whole effort of man’s will, which is vital in his activities,…