How Literature Reflects Society

Popular literature typically reflects the viewpoints of its society. Greek and Roman literature portrayed hundreds of gods who hated mankind and had to be appeased. The Bible depicted one God who controlled everything, was perfect, and who rewards those who served him by doing good. Medieval literature, with its Judeo-Christian basis, depicts God the same way.

An Appearance by Death… Maybe

Is the old man in the Pardoner’s Tale “Death” personified? The Pardoner’s tale is from the Canterbury Tales. In the Pardoner’s Tale, three idiots swear an oath to kill Death.

Useless Literature for 1300’s Christians

The two pieces of late medieval literature, The Song of Roland and Little Flowers, seem to  provide virtually no guidance as to how a typical Christian should live. The Song of Roland fictionalizes a war in Spain against Muslims. Little Flowers tells about St. Francis of Assisi and the orders he founded.

The Afterlife

Did the Little Flowers provide the common man with confidence about his own life beyond the grave?

Little Flowers is about St. Francis of Assisi and the orders he founded. It was written in 1390. Little Flowers gave absolutely no confidence about the afterlife to anyone.

Perfect Suffering

If you had been listening to these stories (from Little Flowers) in 1300, what would you have concluded from them is the way to gain eternal life?

The book Little Flowers is a series of stories following the Friars Minor (an order led by St. Francis of Assisi). Most of these stories focus on suffering and how it’s great.

Martyrdoms

How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs? This question refers to the martyrdom of Polycarp, Perpetua, and Felicity (not martyred at the same time), some of the Christians who were martyred by the Roman Empire. The doctrine of hell, although it may have been important in their conversion, was not very important in their martyrdom

Predestination

Though it is sometimes taken out of context, Paul’s concept of God’s sovereignty in Romans 9:1-23 agrees with Justin’s concept of God’s sovereignty in Chapter XLIII: RESPONSIBILITY ASSERTED.

A Three Step Guide to Taking over Rome

If I had been Catiline, what would I have said to undermine Cicero’s case against me? This question refers to Cicero’s speech against Catiline before the Senate. Catiline had raised an army and planned to attack Rome.