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Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From The City of God

  460 Books That Matter: The City of God „Belief in resurrection requires a transformation in our imaginations, a transformation in where we seek the miraculous; it should no longer be sought in extraordinariness, but in the ordinary. Consider the astonishing material fact of the resurrection of Christ and the even more astonishing historical fact of its common belief, beginning as it did with a tiny band of illiterate fishermen. „Augustine uses his perception of the flawed character of the world to argue that those who reject his belief in our bodies’ ultimate sanctification are basing their rejection on the belief that the bodies we have now are the best kind of bodies that we have. But, says Augustine, our bodies are not normative bodies, but corrupted by the fall; hence, he argues that the problem is not with bodies per se, but with our bodies’ corruption. „Augustine affirms that bodies retain their distinct individuality, and their individuality is in part the way they each develop across time, in their own distinct physicality. People will not all be resurrected according to some ideal type of human; the full diversity of humanity will be represented. The blessed will be immediately visually recognizable by others for who they are. „Creation’s diversity is also at times marked in pains on our bodies that make up the world as well. The world is a cycle of violence and turbulence; the question is whether the history of violence, an ingredient of the history of creation can itself be part of what is redeemed. „Augustine extends his aesthetics to show how the Christ’s resurrected body has gone through death and transfiguration and is not undone. Christ’s resurrection completes and transfigures Christ’s death; it is not an undoing of it.

• From The City of God

  470 Books That Matter: The City of God materiality, not for it. But Augustine professed the opposite. And even among Christians, while Augustine affirmed that there will be a bodily resurrection, many of his contemporaries didn’t believe in this. So he spends a fair amount of time in these chapters in the early part of Book 22, arguing with those who find such a belief conceptually implausible or spiritually or morally horrific. In other words, for Augustine, part of what belief in resurrection requires is a transformation in our imaginations, a transformation in where we seek the miraculous. It should no longer be sought in disembodied extraordinariness but in the most ordinary stuff imaginable—the meat and potatoes of our everyday world. Just consider the miracles around us that we accept, he says. Consider the astonishing material fact first, of the resurrection of Christ—and for skeptics, the even more astonishing historical fact of its common belief, especially beginning, as it did, with a tiny band of illiterate fishermen apostles. In some ways, the spread of Christianity is almost as miraculous for Augustine as adorations itself. Now none of this implies that Augustine has an unqualified enthusiasm for our current world. We’ve seen how much he recognizes the suffering that suffuses it. Furthermore, he uses his perception of the flawed character of the world to argue that those who reject his belief in our body’s ultimate sanctification are basing their rejection on the belief that the bodies we have now are the best kind of bodies that we could have. But, Augustine says, our bodies are not now normative bodies, they’re corrupted by the Fall, hence, against those who deny the resurrection of the body, he argues that the problem with bodies is not with bodies per se, but with our bodies’ corruption. Those who reject the idea of bodily resurrection are always forgetting that he says. Now, some pagans do understand this. Plato says the resurrected will return to bodies, while Porphyry says they will not return to

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  That’s the truck that drops off the pornsludge after we’ve let it settle in the settling tanks.” “Where do I drive it to?” “We spread it over fields at the Triple O Raunch, and we grow all kinds of yellow and red and blue cornflowers there. Women walk through the fields after the flowers have bloomed and they get all hot and bothered, and they don’t know that there’s a layer of sanitary pornsludge underneath their feet. It’s a pretty good system. But it depends on how you look naked.” “I see. Well, let me take my clothes off.” Wade handed Crackers his Hawaiian boxers, and she tied his penis back with a rough strip of burlap. “Good, now I’ll weigh your testicles, if you don’t mind,” said Lila. Just then Hax walked in and slapped his head. “Here she goes again, feeling the balls,” he said. “Hax, please be quiet and let me do my job.” Lila cradled Wade’s balls. “Hmm, good temperature,” she said, frowning slightly. “You seem strong and resourceful.” She lifted one ball, let it fall, then lifted the other and let it fall. “They’re heavy, and they’re independent. I believe you’ve got naturopathic potential. Your balls are holistic. You pass the testes.” Wade asked what that meant. “Some men’s come—young men’s come—can develop special healing powers,” Lila answered. “Did you masturbate yet today?” “I haven’t,” said Wade. “I was too busy thinking about calling you up.” “Good,” said Lila. She opened a wooden box on her desk and lifted out the top part, which held old coins and stamps. Underneath was a folded green cloth with ancient symbols on it. “This is the sacred healing cloth of Ka-Chiang,” Lila said. “I’m going to tie it loosely around your balls. If you wear it for twenty-four hours you’ll develop a crop of new sperm—very, very special sperm.” “Special how?” asked Wade. “If the cloth works as it should,” said Lila, “your new sperm will have the power to reattach human limbs or heads.” “That’s interesting,” said Wade. Gently, with her head held slightly to the side, Lila tied the green cloth around Wade’s balls. As she worked its corners into a small knot, the tugging made him smile slightly. His penis grew under the roughness of the burlap and pointed off to the side. “How does the Ka-Chiang cloth feel to you?” Lila asked. “Not bad,” he said. “Not too tight?” she said.

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  “All right,” said Ned. Immediately his head was jerked and stretched and twisted and atomized, and he was sucked powerfully down into the seventh hole. And then, a minute later, he rematerialized on a hillside full of clover and Queen Anne’s lace, still wearing his golf hat, still holding his teryllium putter, but now without any pants on, just his black Eddie Bauer sports briefs. A small discreet sign in the grass said “All Bets Are Off.” In the distance was a yellow Cape house with a wraparound porch, surrounded by softly swaying pale-green trees. Other bulky, oddly shaped buildings were visible behind it—in fact there seemed to be a whole complex of structures, including some sort of amusement park. A ridge of mountains hung smokily in the distance. Ned, standing in the fragrant vetch, heard steps nearby. “Hi, welcome to the House of Holes, I’m Tendresse,” said a pleasant woman with a strong aquiline nose. She had short brown hair pinned with a plain clip, and she wore a white linen skirt tied at her waist with a scarf. She was holding hands with a small, confused-looking bodybuilder carrying a squash racket. She was topless with interesting pointy nipples. “How was your trip?” she asked. “Quick,” said Ned. “I was in the middle of a round of golf and here I am.” “I gather your Bermuda shorts didn’t make it through the First Conundrum. That can happen. Is that your putter, sweet attractive man?” “Yes, it’s new.” “Is it lively?” said Tendresse. “Yes, it’s very lively,” said Ned. “Good. This is Woo Ha—he’s a new arrival, too. He plays squash.” Ned nodded at Woo, and Woo nodded warily back. Woo was also in his underwear. “What do we do here?” asked Ned. “I’m going to sniff your crotches, and then we’re going to go on down the path to the house, where you’ll meet Lila. Lila’s the director. She’ll talk to you, and you can describe your desires to her in detail if you want.” She took Ned’s hand, and they began walking down the stone path. “But I warn you both—this place is very, very costly.” “I own a tire company,” said Woo. Ned gave a short laugh. “I doubt it’s worse than golf—the fees are bleeding me dry.” “Oh, yes it is, darling, much worse. We do have scholarships and work-study programs, though. For instance, if your sperm has magical healing powers, then you get a full scholarship. Does it?” Ned thought. “I don’t know. Maybe.” “Let me check for you. I’ll have to sniff and juggle your balls. It’s just a formality. Takes half a second.” “Okay.” “Woo, I’ll do you first. Do you mind?” “I don’t mind,” said Woo. “Good.” Tendresse knelt and tied her scarf around her eyes. Woo scooted his waistband down and clenched his fists in readiness. “Just hold your penis up out of the way, Woo, please.”

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  PS3552.A4325H68 2011 813'.54—dc22 2010047433 ISBN 978-1-4391-8951-1 ISBN 978-1-4391-8953-5 (ebook) Contents Shandee Finds Dave’s Arm Ned Gets Sniffed Luna Goes to a Concert Pendle Interviews for a Job Shandee Learns How to Wash a Penis Cardell Has a Sherry Cobbler Marcela Admires Koizumi’s Sculpture Shandee Wears the Sponge Gloves Rhumpa Unbuttons Her Shirt Cardell Goes to the Laundromat The Story of Prince Bohuslav’s Beard Rhumpa Makes Her Come Video Wade Learns about the Cloth of Ka-Chiang Cardell Buys a Gel Pen Jessica Has Some Tattoos Removed Wade Presses the Sex Now Button and Koizumi Visits Henriette Surfs the Lake Dennis Explores Mindy’s Purse Polly Visits the Hall of the Penises Pendle Buys a Bathing Suit Henriette Chooses the Cheekpump Dave Trespasses Dune Visits the Midway Chilli Goes to the Porndecahedron with Dave Ned Undergoes a Voluntary Head Detachment Reese Visits a Headless Bedroom Cardell Meets Betsy on the Beach Luna Fucks a Penis Tree Henriette Goes for a Walk Dune Tells Mindy How He Lost His Penis Rhumpa Visits the Pornmonster The Pearloiner Says She’s Sorry Shandee Goes to the Festival Dave Gets His Old Cock Back Lila Says It’s Almost Time to Go The Silver Egg Hatches Shandee Finds Dave’s Ar m S handee’s sister gave her all her makeup because she was going off to Guatemala. That night Shandee spent about two hours trying on lipstick. Then, the next morning, she went to a quarry with her Geology 101 class. The quarry was called the “Rock of Ages.” It was vast and they dug granite there, mostly for tombstones. The tour guide was kind of cute although his hair wasn’t good—he was maybe twenty-seven. Pretty drastically cute, though, she thought. They were standing on the brink of a space that looked like something from another planet, and he said, “There’s enough granite here to last us four thousand five hundred years.” My gracious goodness, thought Shandee, that’s a lot of tombstones. She turned away from the edge, and that’s when she saw a hand poking out from behind a rock. While the others listened to the tour guide, she went over to the hand. The hand was attached to its forearm, and there was a clean torn cloth wrapped around the end that would have been attached to the rest of his arm. There was no blood on the cloth. Shandee picked it up and felt it. It was warm; the fingers moved a little. The hand pointed urgently at her bag, so she stuffed it inside and went back to the group and listened to the rest of the tour. When she got home she pulled the forearm out and laid it on her bed. It was strong, with sensitive fingers and a blue vein traveling up along the muscle on the underside. She lifted it and whispered, “Arm, can you hear me?” In answer the arm caressed her cheek with two fingers.

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  PS3552.A4325H68 2011 813'.54—dc22 2010047433 ISBN 978-1-4391-8951-1 ISBN 978-1-4391-8953-5 (ebook) Contents Shandee Finds Dave’s Arm Ned Gets Sniffed Luna Goes to a Concert Pendle Interviews for a Job Shandee Learns How to Wash a Penis Cardell Has a Sherry Cobbler Marcela Admires Koizumi’s Sculpture Shandee Wears the Sponge Gloves Rhumpa Unbuttons Her Shirt Cardell Goes to the Laundromat The Story of Prince Bohuslav’s Beard Rhumpa Makes Her Come Video Wade Learns about the Cloth of Ka-Chiang Cardell Buys a Gel Pen Jessica Has Some Tattoos Removed Wade Presses the Sex Now Button and Koizumi Visits Henriette Surfs the Lake Dennis Explores Mindy’s Purse Polly Visits the Hall of the Penises Pendle Buys a Bathing Suit Henriette Chooses the Cheekpump Dave Trespasses Dune Visits the Midway Chilli Goes to the Porndecahedron with Dave Ned Undergoes a Voluntary Head Detachment Reese Visits a Headless Bedroom Cardell Meets Betsy on the Beach Luna Fucks a Penis Tree Henriette Goes for a Walk Dune Tells Mindy How He Lost His Penis Rhumpa Visits the Pornmonster The Pearloiner Says She’s Sorry Shandee Goes to the Festival Dave Gets His Old Cock Back Lila Says It’s Almost Time to Go The Silver Egg Hatches Shandee Finds Dave’s Arm Shandee’s sister gave her all her makeup because she was going off to Guatemala. That night Shandee spent about two hours trying on lipstick. Then, the next morning, she went to a quarry with her Geology 101 class. The quarry was called the “Rock of Ages.” It was vast and they dug granite there, mostly for tombstones. The tour guide was kind of cute although his hair wasn’t good—he was maybe twenty-seven. Pretty drastically cute, though, she thought. They were standing on the brink of a space that looked like something from another planet, and he said, “There’s enough granite here to last us four thousand five hundred years.” My gracious goodness, thought Shandee, that’s a lot of tombstones. She turned away from the edge, and that’s when she saw a hand poking out from behind a rock. While the others listened to the tour guide, she went over to the hand. The hand was attached to its forearm, and there was a clean torn cloth wrapped around the end that would have been attached to the rest of his arm. There was no blood on the cloth. Shandee picked it up and felt it. It was warm; the fingers moved a little. The hand pointed urgently at her bag, so she stuffed it inside and went back to the group and listened to the rest of the tour. When she got home she pulled the forearm out and laid it on her bed. It was strong, with sensitive fingers and a blue vein traveling up along the muscle on the underside. She lifted it and whispered, “Arm, can you hear me?” In answer the arm caressed her cheek with two fingers.

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  The bartender stood watching him, holding a glass. “What just happened?” Cardell said. “Your lady friend seems to have been sucked into her straw,” the bartender said. “That’s what I think, too,” Cardell said. The bartender shrugged. “It happens, man.” “Well,” Cardell said, “I guess I’ll be heading out.” “Have a good night.” Cardell dropped a twenty in the brandy snifter and waved at the pianist, humming along to Hoagy Carmichael. In the elevator down, Cardell smelled his fingers. Then he felt in his pocket. Yes, the silver egg was still there. Marcela Admires Koizumi’s Sculpture Marcela, an art critic, was in the sculpture garden. Koi-zumi, the well-known Japanese artist, was mounting one of her newest wooden sculptures onto its base. The sculpture was of a woman resting on all fours—large thighed and stylized, with a wide bottom and a moon face. She was carved out of black wood with yellow streaks. Marcela wore a boatneck shirt and white Bermuda shorts. She brushed her hair from her face, watching Koizumi bolt both of the wooden woman’s knees to her pedestal. Then the sculptress pulled out a big manual drill with a kink in it where the handle was. Marcela opened her notebook. “And what are you going to do with that?” she asked. Koizumi, a slight woman with a small mouth, said, “Once I get the sculptures mounted, I do the last step, which is to drill this auger bit into their asses.” “Can I watch?” Koizumi almost said no. She preferred to work in private. But then, struck by Marcela’s fresh, curious face and generous hips, she changed her mind. She took a metal poker and tapped it lightly into the wooden seam of the sculpted woman’s bottom. Then she removed it and fitted the tip of the auger into the tiny guide hole she had made. “Now I will drill her asshole,” Koizumi said simply. She pressed against the handle and began slowly turning the crank of the hand drill. Curls of wood came twirling up off the spirals of the bit. Marcela walked around to look at the wooden woman’s face. “She looks like she’s enjoying that pressure,” she said. “She likes to get her ass drilled,” said Koizumi. “All my women do. It’s the very last thing I do with each sculpture.” Marcela looked around the sculpture garden, and, sure enough, each of the four Koizumi women had a small hole drilled in her bottom. One had a drill bit left in place. Marcela looked from the moon face of the sculpture to the thin, intent face of the sculptress.

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  “Oh, I was at the airport in St. Louis, and they told me my flight was out of a certain gate in Terminal O. I thought, Hm, I don’t think I’ve been to Terminal O before, even though I’d flown through St. Louis a lot. But there was a security line, and the guy checked my ID, wearing the pale blue glove, and I got in line and took my shoes off, took my belt and my necklace off, and my bracelet off, and I put them all in the tray, and I walked to the metal detector, which was like a doorway, and I saw the man on the other side. He had a classy smile and short hair, and he lifted his hand and said, ‘Come on through.’ So I walked through in my stocking feet, and when I did I was fwooshed into a different mind zone, and all the men around me were the same but they were naked from the waist down.” “That’s strange,” said Shandee. “Yeah, isn’t it? They didn’t seem to care that they were naked below, but they definitely were. They looked up and nodded at me, because I like to dress kind of sexy, and I was amazed because I’d never seen so many penises on public display. Cocks were swinging everywhere, every size and shape. Even though I’d been a stripper for a few years, I really hadn’t seen all that much in the way of cock. Then I heard ‘Bag check on three,’ and the nice guy who’d gestured me through started going through my carry-on in extreme detail, and every move he made made his thingy bobble around a little. “He said, ‘We’re professionals. I know it may seem a little strange to you that we don’t have pants on.” “I said, ‘Well, it’s not a bad thing, really.’ Then he said, ‘Uh, we’re going to have to perform a secondary. Would you like it in private or in public?’ “I said, ‘Well, what are you going to do?” “He said, ‘Well, we have to check your tits and your nipples, make sure you’re not concealing anything in your undertit area, and we’re going to have to inspect your mouth with our dicks to be sure you’re not concealing anything in your mouth area.’ ” “Jeez!” said Shandee. “I know, and I said, ‘What the hell?’ And he said, ‘Of course we’ll perform the search very politely, with full consideration of your privacy, blah blah. But we’ll probably have to ask you to ease open your tight crotch hole so we can check what you’ve got down there, too.’ ” “Oh, please,” said Shandee. “And as he said this I looked down, and his cock, which had been uninterested up till then, seemed to be doing a strange loop-the-loopy thing. It had come alive. I said, ‘Give me a break, Mr. Airport Bag Check Man.’

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  Ruzty crossed his hands over his chest and beamed at Shandee. “Can I talk to the man as I’m scrubbing him?” asked Shandee. “Yes,” said Zilka. “Of course you can,” said Lila. “They don’t really know what’s happening yet. They’ve just arrived, and this is the first time that they’ve been naked here. So yes, talk to them if you want. It’s a matter of style. This experience is important, and your job is to make sure that they’re clean and they’re happy. Happy and clean.” “But you can’t take too long,” said Zilka, “because you’re at a spray station and you only have a few minutes, and you have to be sure they’re all rinsed off.” Lila made a conceding nod. “You don’t want to be leaving them soapy,” she said. “And you can scrub them all over, not just their crotches, obviously. But try not to spray directly in their faces, unless they want you to.” “I think I’ve got the basic principle,” said Shandee. “Can I see how the gloves feel?” Zilka handed them to her, and Shandee put them on. She winked at Ruzty and began an aerial simulation. “So I spray him all over, fffffff, and then I suds him up, like this, and I suds around all over his nice chest and his stomach and I suds all around his thighs, and higher up, and I get to his balls, and I suds his cock, like this—” “Look at him,” said Zilka. “And look at his cock, wow.” Ruzty’s cock was leaning dramatically to one side. “Oh my goodness, our boy’s got a banana cock!” said Lila . “That’s why I am shy,” Ruzty said. “When it gets hard it curves sharply to the left. Almost a full ninety degrees when it’s very hard, as it is now. It has been true my whole life. Once I had a girlfriend who said it was my progressive penis. But actually I’m a libertarian.” He lifted it to show them. It was heavy and hard, like a shepherd’s crook. “It can straighten some, you see? I am trying to overcome many years of embarrassment because some women say that they like a strong curve.” “Oh, some women love a curve,” said Lila. “Am I right, Shandee?” “Sure, I guess,” Shandee said. But she was in shock. She hadn’t seen that many penises in her life, and she had never seen one shaped like that. It was extreme, and it was extremely exciting. Also there was something distracting happening low down on her leg. She looked toward the floor. Dave’s arm was gripping her ankle and squeezing it fussily. “Oh, I’m sorry, Davie,” she said, “did you crawl all the way over here from my bag? Oh, my dear. Isn’t that sweet. I’m sorry.” She gave the sponge mittens back to Zilka and lifted Dave’s arm.

• From House of Holes: A Book of Raunch (2011)

  A spume, a trilateral spray of jizm came out like light through a prism. It was a jizm prism, split into three parts, all of them white, and some of it slapped against Polly’s cheek and some against the roof of her mouth. She could feel it running down the back of her throat, and as she was swallowing it she thought with a triumphant inner chuckle, I have just busted this man’s nut. She gave the cock a few last love jerks and then released it with a final full-length squeeze, watching it subside and draw back on itself like an aged parliamentarian. “Bye-bye, Chief,” she said, and then the penis was gone. She turned. Donna was putting on her makeup. Saucie was talking through the hole to her ex. Polly sensed someone else in the room. Jeff, her boyfriend, was standing at the door. He walked up to her and saw the shine of come on her face. He had a fascinated, horrified expression. Unconsciously, he checked his fly. “It’s all over, Jeff,” she said. Cardell Meets Betsy on the Beac h C ardell knelt to study the footprint in the sand. In the air there was a deep-in-the-nose smell of ocean and seaweed and timeless things that have no name. The footprint was light and small—the print of a woman. He pressed his own foot into it and tried to imagine her firm footbone. He started following the footsteps, walking in them as much as he could. The beach curved back into a small bay where the House of Holes condominiums were, and as Cardell turned the corner he saw a distant figure wearing a hat. He increased his pace, still stepping in her footsteps. With each step he took, he learned more about the arch of her foot, the ball of her foot, and her small, strong toes. He was almost loping now. Finally, he caught up to her. She was wearing a loose, faded dress and a hat, and she held her sandals hooked on her fingers. Her hat was woven of pale fine straw and made her face glow like a classy tangerine. He recognized her. “Hi, I bought the pen,” he said. “Oh, good,” said Betsy. “I’ve been walking in your footsteps,” he said. “It was the most intimate experience. Did you feel my feet pressing against your feet?” “I’m not sure,” she said. “Let me try walking in your footsteps, and you can see what you feel.” “Okay.” Cardell walked a few paces ahead and stopped. “Don’t turn around,” she said. He didn’t. She walked up to him. “Did you feel the ball of my foot pressing into your footprint?” she asked. “Some,” he said. “More I felt the arch. But yes, I feel I know you better now.” “And I know you better. We’re old friends, in fact.” Cardell paused, full of indecision. “But we’re very different.” “That’s true.

• From American Religious History (2001)

  America and eventually gave rise to the idea of a “Judeo-Christian tradition.” C. The fissiparous tendencies of Protestantism and the attempt to adjust to new intellectual and economic conditions led to a proliferation of new denominations, most making exclusive claims to religious truth but forced, in practice, to coexist with many rivals. V. In the 20 th century, America retained high levels of religious involvement and religious membership at a time when other Western industrialized nations did not. A. Religion provided a permissible link with a fading ethnic identity as each new immigrant group began to assimilate. B. Their sharp detachment from the state prevented churches from suffering political discredit. C. In a highly mobile, rootless society, religious organizations offered a welcome source of community and identity. D. Religious organizations pioneered important social reforms, notably the civil rights movement. VI. Religiosity persisted despite repeated claims that it was exhausted or intellectually inadequate to meet new challenges. A. The Scopes Monkey Trial did not spell the end of fundamentalism, and it returned to the political forum stronger than ever in the late 1970s. B. The 1960s offered numerous challenges to tradition and authority. The era modified the form of many religious groups but not the religious impulse itself. C. American religion has long operated in the competitive business environment and proved adaptable to commercial society, even while standing in judgment over it. D. The United States remains, accordingly, an unusually religious nation. The situation and its historical background can be explained in great detail, but it remains anomalous and a source of continual surprise. Essential Reading: Catherine Albanese, America: Religions and Religion. ©2001 The Teaching Company. 102 Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware. Mary McCarthy, Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History. Philip Roth, The Conversion of the Jews. Supplementary Reading: Stephen L. Carter, The Culture of Disbelief. David Hackett, ed., Religion and American Culture. Questions to Consider: 1. Why has America resisted the challenge of social, intellectual, and political alternatives to its religious life better than the other advanced Western nations? 2. Which is more striking about America’s hundreds of religions: the similarities or the differences? ©2001 The Teaching Company. 103 Timeline

• From American Religious History (2001)

  Scope: American religious history is unusual for its diversity and for its sustained vitality, from the colonial period right through to the end of the 20th century. This course begins with my own discovery of American religious diversity and vitality when I came from Britain to live, work, and study in the United States. I summarize the principal theories that have attempted to explain this religious situation and show that a historical approach is the best way to understand it. Next, we compare the situation in Europe with that in America, demonstrating that “secularization” theory makes sense in the interpretation of Europe but not the United States. Finally, we note that “religion” itself has been defined in various ways by different interpreters: as a pattern of beliefs, as a set of activities, or as a badge of identity. The lecture concludes with a warning that religious historians cannot assume divine intervention in history (even when they are studying people who did assume it) and that they must be impartial in their use of evidence. Outline I. Today, the American people appear to be much more religious than those of any other industrialized nation. Public declarations of atheism, common in Europe, are almost unknown here. A. As an immigrant, I was surprised to find churchgoing so common and religion playing such a prominent part in public debates over such issues as abortion. B. Neighbors invited me to join their churches or asked, conversationally, “Have you taken Jesus as your personal savior?” C. Bumper stickers, roadside signs, prayers at sporting events, and “What would Jesus do?” armbands were all outside my previous experience, despite being a former Anglican choirboy. D. Alongside Christian churches from dozens of denominations, I found synagogues, Hindu temples, Moslem mosques, and Zen meditation centers, showing that American religious diversity matched its vitality. ©2001 The Teaching Company. 4

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  A thousand people are reported to have attended. To the horror of the canons of All Saints, many of those who took Communion had not kept the obligatory fast but had eaten and drunk beforehand; some were even said to have consumed brandy. Dressed in lay clothing, Karlstadt officiated at Mass in the parish church, and when the wafers were twice dropped—one falling on a man’s coat, another onto the floor—he simply told the parishioners to pick them up. Yet touching the Host was too great a taboo even for convinced evangelicals, and Karlstadt had to do it himself. At New Year he celebrated Communion in both kinds again, and this time too a thousand people participated. Wittenberg was undergoing an evangelical revival. 20 Just six months after he had written his tract against vows, 21 Karlstadt acted upon his beliefs. A newsletter, which he may not have written himself, included not only the resolutions of the Augustinian order who met in Wittenberg in January, and a Latin prayer in praise of Luther—“We should rather believe one truthful Martin than the whole mob of the papists. We know that Christ was truly reborn through Martin; you, O God, do guard him for us” 22 —but also the announcement that Karlstadt was going to marry. On December 26, 1521, Justus Jonas and Melanchthon, along with two wagons filled with “educated, valiant people” from Wittenberg, traveled to the village of Segrehna, where they witnessed Karlstadt’s engagement to Anna von Mochau. 23 Although it squared with his tract on vows, Karlstadt’s decision sat oddly with his admonitions to Gelassenheit, to leaving all human attachments behind. Anna von Mochau was on the face of it an extraordinary choice as bride. Aged fifteen, she was the daughter of a poor nobleman, chosen neither for her looks—she was “not very pretty,” according to one contemporary—nor her wealth. 24 Interestingly, Luther later made a similar choice, marrying outside the Wittenberg elite, and choosing a former nun who was also from a minor noble family. Status clearly mattered to Karlstadt: his own family claimed nobility, and he used their coat of arms as his “brand.” By marrying such a young woman, he was also following noble conventions. While townswomen were usually ten years older at marriage, young brides were more common in noble circles. Even so, the difference in age was striking: Karlstadt was aged thirty-five, almost a generation older than the bride. It is unclear how they met but she probably had connections to Wittenberg, because Luther said that he “knew the girl,” when he welcomed the news of the engagement from the Wartburg. 25 It was a bold choice on her part, too, for although Karlstadt was not a monk, he was a cleric.

• From Shunned (2018)

  I gathered my thoughts as I led the way up the next driveway. I reached for the brass knocker that hung on the large oak door and gave it a rap. A dog burst into a high-pitched barking frenzy, and I heard paws clicking against a wood floor as it approached the other side of the door. A man’s voice got closer and shushed the dog away. The door opened wide. “Linda!” A shot of adrenaline passed through my chest. I wasn’t expecting to see someone I knew. “Nick! I didn’t know you lived here.” It was Nick Marshall, one of the executives from my office whom I most admired. “You have a beautiful home,” I continued. Until that moment I had seen him only in suits and ties, but now he stood before me, wearing gray sweats, leather slippers, and Ben Franklin reading glasses. As he bent down and forced the dog to sit, I noticed the black curly hairs on his ankles between his sweats and the fleece lining of his slippers. He folded the sports section of the Oregonian underneath one arm. “You look like you’re dressed for the office,” he said. Nick managed a team that worked closely with my boss’s group. My religious affiliation was common knowledge around the office. “Indeed I am, Nick, but engaged in a different kind of work this morning. This is my friend Hannah.” Hannah and Nick nodded at each other; then his eyes shot back to me. The initial shock of seeing someone familiar was wearing off, and my mind was accessing words I had said a million times before. “As you know, Nick, I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On most weekends I volunteer to talk to people about the meaning of world events in light of Bible prophecy. I see you’re reading the paper. I don’t suppose you’re finding much good news in there?” The words felt like wooden alphabet blocks dropping awkwardly from my mouth to the floor. This conversation was very different from our usual water- cooler banter, which ran the gamut from the Portland Trail Blazers to the state of the world to why his teenage daughter hadn’t spoken to him for days. “Good news! Are you kidding?” replied Nick. “The Trail Blazers just gave up their draft pick position. But I suppose that’s not what you meant, is it?” “As disturbing as that is, no—I was thinking bigger picture. We’ve talked many times, but I’ve never asked you what hope you have for things—world conditions—to improve.” “Well, as much as I gripe, I doubt things are any worse today than they were when my parents raised me. Each generation has its ups and downs. Why? Do you guys think you have the answer?” “Well, yes.”

• From A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell-Scott) (1957)

  Eevifw, Ion. and Ep. ξεινίζω, fut. iow, Ep. ioow, Att. τῶ: Ep. aor. ἐξείνισσα or ξείνισσα : (ξένος). To receive or entertain strangers, to receive as a guest, Lat. hospitio excipere, Hom., Hdt., etc.; τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ... εὖ ἐξείνισσα Od. 19. 194; ἐννῆμαρ ξείνισσε 1]. 6.174; ἐείνισ᾽ ἐνὲ μεγάροισι Ib. 217; ξείνους ξεινίζειν Od. 3. 355; £. τινὰ ἐν δόμοις Eur. Alc. 1013, etc.; ἔ. τινὰ σίτοισι Soph. Fr. 579; £. τινὰ πολλοῖς ἀγαθοῖς to present with hospitable gifts, Xen. Cyr. 5. 3,2; ὑμᾶς ἐν πόλει feviowpey ὧν .. εἴχομεν with or on what we had, Ar. Lys. 1184: metaph., ὃν ..”Apys οὐκ ἐξένισεν, i.e. who fell not in battle, Soph. El. 96 :—Pass. to be entertained as a guest, Lat. hospitari, Ar. Ach. 73; ὑπό τινος Hdt. 1. 30, Xen. Hell. 3. 1, 24, etc.; παρά τινι Diod. 14. 30, N.T.; πρός τινα Philem. Incert. 17; metaph., λαχάνοισιν, ὥσπερ χῆνες, ἐξενισμένοι Theopomp. Com. ‘Hiv. 1. IL. to surprise, astonish by some strange sight, ξενίζουσαν καὶ καταπληκτικὴν πρόσοψιν Polyb. 3. 114, 4; ἑ. τὴν ἀκοήν, of strange words, Heliod. 6.14; μὴ fevion σε ἡ φαντασία cov Basil., etc. :—Pass. to be astonished, Polyb. 1. 23, 5.» 3. 68, 9, etc. 2. to make strange, of plants and animals, ¢o stunt their growth and distort them, Geop. 9. 5, 3 (in Pass.), Hip- piatr. III. intr. to be a stranger, speak with a foreign accent, Dem. 1304. 6, 11; τὸ ξενίζον τῆς λέξεως Diod. 12. 53, cf. Luc. Hist. Conscr. 45 and sq. fin. 2. to be strange or unusual, ἔξ. τῷ σχήματι Luc. Anach. 6; τῷ τρίβωνι Id. Merc. Cond. 24; θάνατος .. τῇ τόλμῃ ἐενίζων Id. Hist. Conscr. 25.

• From Shunned (2018)

  What you don’t know is that ever since you brought it up, I, too, have been soul searching, checking the teachings, reviewing where I stand.” “I didn’t know that.” I was genuinely surprised, touched, even. “I can honestly say, unlike you, I don’t have any doubts. None at all.” He continued to hold my hand as he spoke, and his palms were getting hot. “You’ve never said it out loud, but I suspect you’ve thought about becoming completely inactive. That’s the direction you’re headed, anyway.” “Yes,” I said. “I love you so much, I even thought about whether or not I could become inactive, too. But I know in my heart that this is The Truth, and I’m sticking with it. I empathize with your predicament. I really do. And I know that putting up with me hasn’t made it any easier. And I want you to know”—he paused and took a deep breath—“that I have struggled a lot with how to help you. And it seems to me that you don’t really want my help, or anyone else’s, for that matter. That fierce, independent streak of yours has gotten the better of you.” For the first time in months, I felt as if he acknowledged the depths of my desperation, even if he didn’t fully understand it. As he faced his limits and admitted them aloud for the first time, his demeanor was one of surrender, shoulders rolled down, head hanging. And for several moments we sat together in the muck of it all. “And I’m wondering,” he continued, “if you wouldn’t be better off, happier, with some space between us.” I pulled my hand away. “What are you suggesting?” “Divorce.” Saying the word out loud opened up a black hole we would never emerge from. “Are you serious?” “You tell me,” Ross answered. “We’re going in two different directions. I hate it. If we carry on this way, we’re just going to make each other miserable.” His frankness was mystifying. Witnesses sanction divorce only if one party has committed adultery. Since unfaithfulness was not the issue, Ross’s suggestion was completely out of the blue, particularly coming from someone who had just declared his commitment to the teachings. The radio alarm clicked on in the bedroom, my six o’clock wake-up call. I couldn’t think of a more absurd way to start the day. “It’s been a tough night, and I need to go to work,” I said, cupping his face in both of my hands. “We can talk about this later.” One hour later, dressed for work, I bolted through heavy rain toward my wrecked car. The driver’s door opened after a stiff tug on the handle. The car was drivable but lacked its previous luster. As I backed out of the driveway, the tire rubbed the wheel well at the sharpest part of the turn.

• From A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell-Scott) (1957)

  παραπιεσμός, 6, pressure from one side, Oribas. 101 Cocch. παραπικράζω, to exasperate a little, c. acc., Jo. Clim. 637 C (ed. Migne). παραπικραίνω, to embitter, provoke, in LXx ὁ. acc., Ezek. 20. 21; in N. T. absol., Ep. Hebr. 3. 16. παραπικρασμός, 6, provocation, Lxx (Ps. 94. 8), Ep. Hebr. 3. 8, 15. παράπικρος, ov, somewhat bitter, Schol. Ar. Vesp. 8 παραπίμπραμαι, Pass. to be inflamed, Xen. Eq. 1, 4, Theophr. Sud. 15. παραπίπτω, fut. -πεσοῦμαι, to fall beside, ἐγγὺς τῶν τειχῶν π. Plut. Lysand. 29: to come side to side, Arist. G. A. 1. 6, I, αἱ. II. to fall in one’s way, κατὰ τύχην παραπεσοῦσα νηῦς Hat. 8. 87, cf. Lys. 179. 9. etc.; θηρίον m. Xen, Cyr. 1. 2,10; 7. κατὰ βοήθειαν to come in time to aid, Polyb. 31.17, 2, etc.:—naipds παραπίπτει an opportunity offers, Thuc. 4. 23, Xen. Eq. Mag. 7, 4; οὐ δεῖ τοιοῦτον παραπεπτωκότα καιρὸν ἀφεῖναι Dem. 11.83 so, εἴ ποθεν ἀέλπτως παραπέσοι σωτηρία Eur. Or. 1173 :—6 παραπεσών, like 6 παρατυχών, the first that comes, ἡ παραπίπτουσα ἀεὶ ἡδονή Plat. Rep. 561 B; 6 παραπεπτωκὼς λόγος that happened to ar rise, Id. Legg. 832 B, cf. Phileb. 14 C; πᾶν τὸ mapa- πίπτον or παραπεσόν all that befalls, Polyb. 3. 51, 5.. 11.5, 5. 2. c. dat. to befall, θαυμαστὸν κτῆμα παραπεσεῖν τοῖς Ἕλλησι befel, happened to them, Plat. Legg. 686D; π. τῇ πόλει νομοθέτης falls to their Jot, comes to their aid Ib. 709 Ὁ :—c. inf., παραπέπτωκέ τινι ava- κτᾶσθαι Xen. Vect. 5, 8 III. ¢o fall or rush in, εἰς τόπον Polyb. 4. 80, 9, etc. IV. to fall aside or away from, c. gen., τῆς ὁδοῦ Id. 3. 54, 53 τῆς ἀληθείας Id. 12. 7, 2, cf. 8. 13, 8:—to mis- take, err, ἔν τινι Xen. Hell. τ. 6, 4:—absol. to fall away, Ep. Hebr. 6. 6. V. to fail down before, cringe, flatter, παραπεπτωκώς Dem. 1127.3: cf. ὑποπίπτω 1. 2. παραπιστεύω, -- πιστεύω, Heliod. 6.8: Coraés katan-. παραπλᾶγιάζω, to go obliquely, LXx (1 Regg. 23. 26):—Med., π. ταῖς πληγαῖς to present oneself obliquely to .. , Schol. Od. 5. 440. παραπλάγιος [a], ov, sidelong, oblique, Theophr. H. P. 4. 12, 2. παραπλάζω, fut. -πλάγέω ; used by Hom. in aor. act. and pass. To make to wander from the right way, of seamen, to drive out of their course, ἀλλά pe.. Βορέης παρέπλαγξε Κυθήρων Od. g. 81, cf. 19. 187 :—metaph. to lead astray, perplex, παρέπλαγξεν δὲ νόημα 20. 346; ai φρενῶν ταραχαὶ παρέπλαγξαν καὶ σοφόν Pind. O. 7. 56:—Pass., παρεπλάγχθη δέ οἱ ἄλλῃ ids χαλκοβαρής the arrow went aside, Il. 15. 4604; ποῖ παρεπλάγχθην γνώμας ἀγαθᾶς ; Eur. Hipp. 240; absol. to err, be wrong, Pind. N. το. 10.—The Act. also occurs in intr. sense, to go astray, Nic. Th. 757, etc. παραπλανάομαι, Pass. =foreg., Schol. Aesch. Eum. 104; intr. in Act., Schol. Ar. Eq. 806.

• From A Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell-Scott) (1957)

  ἀ-προσδόκητος, ov, unexpected, unlooked for, Aesch. Pr. 680, Soph. El. ro17, Thuc. 3. 39, etc; πρᾶγμ᾽ ἡμῖν ἰδεῖν amp. Ar. Lys. 352; κακοπάθεια Antipho 122. 19; τύχη Plat. Legg. 920 Ὁ ; damp. [ὁδὸν] πορευθείς Xen. Hell. 6. 4, 2---ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτου, Lat. necopinato, Hdt. τ. 129., 7. 204; so Adv. —rws, Thuc. 4. 29, Lys. 92. 35, etc. 11. act. not expecting, unaware, ἐπιθέσθαι τισὶ ἀπροσδοκήτοις Thuc. 2. 23% ἢ 7. 39; amp. εἶναι Id. 6. 69; ἀπρ. μὴ ἄν ποτέ τινα σφίσιν ἐπιθέσθαι . 7. 29. ἀπροσδοκία, ἡ, non-expectation, Def. Plat. 412 Ὁ. ἀ-προσέγγιστος, ov, unapproachable, Hesych. ἀ-πρόσειλος, wrsunned, Eur. Incert. 203. ἀπροσεκτέω, to be heedless, inattentive, cited from Eust. ἀ-πρόσεκτος, ov, heediless, careless, Tzetz. Lyc. 314. Adv. -Tws, Porph, ap. Stob. 24. 33.—Also ἀ-προσεχήξς, és, Ephraem. Syr. ἀ-προσέλευστος, ov, inaccessible, Hesych. a-mpooctia, 77, want of attention, Arr. Epict. 4. 12, 5, Origen., etc. ἀ-προσηγορία, 7, want of intercourse by speech, Arist. Eth. N. 8.5, 1. ἀ-προσήγοροϑβ, ον, not to be accosted, of a man, Soph. O. C. 1277; of a lion, Id. Tr. 1093. II. act. not accosting, Plut. 2.679 A. G-mpooyvis, és, wgentle, harsh, Schol. Pind. ἀ-προσθετέω, not to assent, Diog. L. 9. 76. ἀ-πρόσθετος, ov, not added to, Theol. Ar. 30 Ὁ. ἀ-πρόσθικτος, ov, untouched, not to be touched, Hesych. ἀ-πρόσικτος, ov, not to be attained, ἔρωτες Pind. N. 11. fin. G-mpécitos, ov, unapproachable, inaccessible, ὄρη Polyb. 3. 49, 7; καταφυγή Diod. το. 96: metaph., παρρησία Plut. Alc. 4. Adv. -τῶως, Plut. 2.45 F. ἀ-πρόσκεπτος, ov, unforeseen, not thought of, Xen. Lac. 13, 7. 11. act. zmprovident, Dem. 1232. 18 :—Adv. - τως, Antipho ΠρογΎον. 1. 9. ἀ-πρόσκλητος, ov, without summons to attend the trial, amp. δίκη a prosecution iz support of which no πρόσκλησις has been issued, Dem. 1251.12; so, amp. γνῶσις Id. 544. 3. ἀ-προσκλὶνήϑ, és, without bias, Cyrill. Adv. -@s, Clem. Al. 169. ἀ-πρόσκλϊτος, ov, unbending, firm, Theod. Stud. Adv. -τως, Basil. ἀ-προσκόλλητος, ov, not adhering, τινί Eust. 1940. 20. ἀπροσκοπέω. to be ἀπρόσκοπος, Hesych. ἀ-πρόσκοπος, ον, not stumbling, void of offence, Ep. Phil. 1. 10; συνεί- δησις Act. Ap. 24. 16 :—Adv. -πως, Eccl. II. giving no offence, τινι Sext. Emp. M. 1. 195, 1 Ep. Cor. 10. 32, Clem. Al. 525. ἀ-πρό-σκοπος, ov, -- ἀπρόσκεπτος, Aesch. Eum. 105. ἀπρόσκοπτος, ov, without offence, Ο.1. 5625. Adv. -τως, Byz. a-mpockopys, és, not satiating or disgusting, Heliod. 1.6, Clem. Al. 170. ἀ-πρόσκρουστος, ov, not taking offence at others, Procl. ad Hes. ἀ-προσκύνητος, ov, not worshipped, Athanas. ἀ-πρόσληπτος, ov, not assumed, Eccl. assuming, Twos Apollon. de Pron. 16 C. ἀ-προσλόγιστος, ov, xot to be reckoned in, Eust. Opusc. 65. 43. ἀ-πρόσλογος, ov, not to the point, Origen. Adv. —yws, Polyb. 9. 36, 6. ἀ-πρόσμαστος, ov, v. sub ἀπροτίμαστος. ἀ-προσμάχητος, ov, --ἀπρόσμαχος, Eccl. ἀ-πρόσμᾶἄᾶχος, ov, irresistible, Soph. Tr. 1098; τινι Luc. Tox. 48. ἀ-προσμηχάνητος, ov, against whom no device avails, Schol. Il. 16. 29. —Also, -μήχανος, ov, Schol. Ap. Rh. 1. 1053.

• From The Things They Carried (1990)

  Shrugging, Kiowa pulled off his boots. He wanted to say more, just to lighten up his sleep, but instead he opened his New Testament and arranged it beneath his head as a pillow. The fog made things seem hollow and unattached. He tried not to think about Ted Lavender, but then he was thinking how fast it was, no drama, down and dead, and how it was hard to feel anything except surprise. It seemed unchristian. He wished he could find some great sadness, or even anger, but the emotion wasn't there and he couldn't make it happen. Mostly he felt pleased to be alive. He liked the smell of the New Testament under his cheek, the leather and ink and paper and glue, whatever the chemicals were. He liked hearing the sounds of night. Even his fatigue, it felt fine, the stiff muscles and the prickly awareness of his own body, a floating feeling. He enjoyed not being dead. Lying there, Kiowa admired Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's capacity for grief. He wanted to share the man's pain, he wanted to care as Jimmy Cross cared. And yet when he closed his eyes, all he could think was Boom-down, and all he could feel was the pleasure of having his boots off and the fog curling in around him and the damp soil and the Bible smells and the plush comfort of night. After a moment Norman Bowker sat up in the dark. What the hell, he said. You want to talk, talk. Tell it to me. Forget it. No, man, go on. One thing I hate, it's a silent Indian. For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity. Now and then, however, there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but couldn't, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and to God and to their mothers and fathers, hoping not to die. In different ways, it happened to all of them. Afterward, when the firing

• From The Historical Jesus (2000)

  Whisenant pointed out that in the Bible, the “fig tree” is often used of the nation of Israel. The fig tree “putting forth its leaves” is a reference to Israel’s coming back to life after a long hiatus. 2. Because the modem state of Israel was established in 1948 and because a generation in the Bible is forty years — voila\ — 1988 must be the year of the end time. F. Whisenant claimed that many other biblical predictions, most of them highly complex, pointed to exactly the same time. One of the simpler examples was in Leviticus 26:28. God tells the people of Israel that if they are disobedient, they will be punished “sevenfold” for their sins. 1. Whisenant takes this to mean a punishment lasting seven “years,” and he notes that in the Jewish lunar calendar, a year consists of 360 days. Moreover, in a number of biblical texts (for example, Numbers 14:34), God reckons one day as a year. This means that the punishment was to last 7 x 360 years, or 2,520 years in all. 3. According to the book of Daniel, Israel’s punishment was to begin with the seventy-year oppression of Israel by the Babylonians, which started, according to Whisenant, with the reign of the monarch Nebuchadnezzar in 602 BC and ended in 532 BC. 4. If the time of Israel’s punishment is to last an additional 2,520 years, that happens to bring us up to ... surprise! — 1988. G. When 1988 came and went, Whisenant did not retract his views, but simply argued that he had made a slight miscalculation. In a second book published soon after his predictions had failed, he urged that 1989 would be the year! III. The end never did come, of course. But the constant and inevitable failure of such projects to materialize has never seemed to have the slightest effect on their popularity. A clear case in point comes from one of the best-selling authors of the modem period, an evangelical Christian named Hal Lindsay. A. Lindsay may well be the most read author of the twentieth century. His most famous book. The Late Great Planet Earth , was the best-selling work of nonfiction of the 1970s, with over 28 million copies in print. B. Lindsay was a savvy observer of the times with a knack for relating to, even mesmerizing, the average mildly interested reader — especially college students. 1. His book reads like a detective novel and is packed with anecdotes, plausible historical scenarios, and predictions of mass destruction. 2. Writing in 1970, Lindsay saw the world as the stage of God’s historical activities and the Bible as the blueprint. 3. Lindsay calculated that a world war would break out in the Middle East in 1989, leading to an invasion of the oil-thirsty Soviet Union, a nuclear counterattack of a ten-nation European commonwealth, and the invasion of an army of 200 million Chinese. ©2000 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 59