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Maris Tiller
FSEM – Forbidden Texts
09/02/2021
I found this text very confusing. It was hard to read not just because of the fact that most of it is missing, but also because I personally have difficulty reading theological and philosophical language. The ideas expressed in this particular text were confusing mostly because most of it is missing, however.
What surprised me about this text was how close Jesus and Judas were. Based on what I learned, my impression of Judas was simply a traitor. I never fully understood his role in the story of Jesus Christ because 1. I am not religious and 2. Even when I technically was, I was a child and hardly paid attention in church so I have retained little religious knowledge. My most recent impression of Judas comes from Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, but even then Judas plays a relatively small role. That subplot is mostly dedicated to the relationship between Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ. So this was an entirely different portrait of Judas for me, which might have also contributed to my general confusion.
But I think the main reason I was so confused was because so much of the text is missing. The Gospel of Judas is a fragmentary text that is so separate from the New Testament that it is hard to even put it in context with the larger Christian doctrine. When I was reading, it felt like I had missed something, which I had, but it could not be helped. This was a very difficult text for me to understand.
Maris Tiller
FSEM – Forbidden Texts
09/02/2021
I find the topic of “lost texts” very interesting. The fact that an entire record of something can just be entirely lost due to negligence or lack of ability to preserve it is just endlessly interesting to me. I find it even more intriguing when we have bits and pieces of the lost work and most of what we “know” is just speculation. This is the case for The Gospel of Mary Magdala, the text of which we only have parts of. The speculation on this particular text is mostly on how/why it was lost. Really, we will never know what was the reason for losing this particular text for so many years. In fact, we do not even know if the text we have now is even real. The man who found it could have made the thing up entirely. I, personally, believe in the authenticity of the text purely because of how it was found.
I also found it interesting how this text reflects the nature of early Christianity. It’s difficult for us in the modern day to imagine religions as anything but complete doctrines which were always agreed upon. But this text shows us that is not true. There was controversy; there were debates. And that is very interesting to me, that there were pieces of the Christian doctrine left out for one reason or another from the main thing. There was, at one point in time, a group of people who sat down and decided which were the important bits. And how does one even decide which pieces are important and which are not? We can’t, really. I have no doubt this was a difficult task, but the question has to be raised: Who gets to decide what is and what needs to be important?
Maris Tiller
FSEM – Forbidden Texts
08/31/2021
The article itself, in my opinion, is a bit unfocused. Blasi could have benefited from editing his work some more. There was much more time spent on historical context and Milton’s work than there was on Blasi’s own point about the work and what it can teach us about how we view the First Amendment. When the reader gets to the end of the article, it feels almost unfinished. Of course, context is very important in writing, especially in analysis. The reader may not have consumed (as I, and I’m assuming many of my fellow classmates have not read or really even heard of Areopagitica) the piece being discussed and therefore need it summarized for them. However, I think Blasi takes this too far, plying the reader with too much information that is not very necessary. Something that struck me was the fact that he spent nearly four pages explaining Milton’s religious beliefs and how one cannot separate the author from his religious convictions, something that could have been accomplished in perhaps a few paragraphs. Of course, this is important context to the piece as well as to Milton, but by spending so much time on it, Blasi draws away from his main point, that being that Milton’s writing can be applied very well to the modern day. The reason he addresses Milton’s religious convictions is to point out how the article might be considered dated to modern readers, which is important to address, but personally I think he could have addressed this without taking time away from his own arguments.
That being said, I find the points about censorship raised by Milton as well as Blasi in this piece interesting, because broadly, I agree. I believe, personally, that all information, no matter how controversial, should not ever be outright banned. To read these texts, to learn of them, and discuss them is how one becomes informed. Attempts to censor will only lead to ignorance and frustration. Besides that, controversial opinions can serve to critique corrupt power and can be used to seek out social change. While Areopatica might be dated in some aspects, as Blasi points out, I think that essential message is timeless: that the freedom to spread ideas and discuss them is essential in a society that calls itself free.
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!