A Penguin with a Book

Now that I’m almost done with Great Books V, the fact that I’m almost done with the program seems crazy to me. My journey with a program that has shaped my life so much is close to ending. Throughout my time in the program, I’ve learned and grown so much; I can definitely see that I’m not the same person I was when I started taking Great Books almost three years ago. My journey through Great Books has been one of growth spiritually, socially, and academically. Great Books V focuses on spiritual works, which I was ecstatic to read, hoping they would help me with my faith journey. For a while I was craving to dive deep into God’s word in a way that I hadn’t gotten during my high school years. Great Books V satisfied that need. I think I understand God and Christianity on a deeper, more meaningful level now. As Henri Nouwen writes in The Return of the Prodigal Son , “And along this route I will discover the joys of second childhood: comfort, mercy, and an ever clearer vision of God” (...

Throughout The Cost of Discipleship , Bonhoeffer addresses what being a disciple of Jesus truly looks like. This discourse leads to the call to discipleship, for one cannot be a disciple unless they are called, and then briefly to the apostles. The apostles were called by Jesus, which includes Judas Iscariot. The fact that Jesus called Judas presents the question of why He would present the offer of discipleship to him since He would have known what the future held. Additionally, Judas blended right in with the rest of the apostles, none of them ever believing that any of the group would turn on Jesus. Judas’ calling holds many lessons for Christians regarding the nature of the call to discipleship, the people who are at church, and of one’s own calling. Judas is a complex figure in the Bible, being called to discipleship but betraying his master. Bonhoeffer presents an assessment of Judas: “Even Judas went forth to Christ-work, and the fact that he did so will always be a dark rid...

In Dante’s Paradise , the souls in heaven reside on different levels based off of a defining characteristic of their faith. Nuns who did not keep their vows dwell on the moon, since that is the circle for those who neglected them. A few of them describe that they did not keep their vows because they were taken off to be married against their will. Later on in the discourse, Jepthah is mentioned because he made a vow to sacrifice the first living thing that came out his door to greet him if he won the battle. Dante, instead of praising him for keeping his vow, says he did wrong because of the murder involved. The nuns are held accountable for not keeping their vows while Dante condemns Jepthah for upholding his; however, the faith of the latter brings him praise in the Bible, showing that it is a crucial factor in the treatment of each group. Upon hearing a few of the nuns’ stories, Dante is puzzled as to why they are placed in heaven according to someone else’s actions. Beatrice,...

After the fall, humanity entered a state of imperfection. The fact that humans were made in the image of God had been skewed. Athanasius expounds on this subject in On the Incarnation , showing that the fallen state is not one of just corruption, but also of non-being. God, who loves man deeply, chose for mankind not to stay this way forever but to redeem it. Non-being is a state of corruption caused by turning away from God, the source of perfection, and in order to remedy this downfall, Jesus became incarnate. Existing in the state of corruption also means one is non-being. Non-being does not mean that something does not exist or is not real. Instead, non-being means that something is no longer functioning how it should or is not fulfilling its purpose. Non-being is not being what something was created to be. A table is no longer a table if someone uses it as a chair. However, the table is not a chair either because that is not its intended purpose. Since the object is not a table...