Great Literature – Part 4

The problem of evil in Western thought is a real one. The problem of evil arises (1) from the loss of a sense of God’s presence in the face of evil or suffering and (2) from an apparent conflict between the language used to describe God (e.g., all powerful, all good, and all wise) and that used to describe the world as being characterized by evil and suffering. The solution proffered by the Book of Job is that of evoking such a sense of awe around the created universe that, discovering in this way a renewed sense of God’s omniscience and omnipotence, one accepts both evil and good and contents himself verbally by acknowledging a final incomprehensibility. The issue is God’s omnipotence vs. God’s impotence, God’s sovereignty vs. God’s incompetence. Do Job’s conclusions satisfy you? Why or why not?

This sort of question is at the heart of Shakespeare’s MACBETH.

Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s best tragedies, is the story of how a man’s debility first brought him puissance, and then destruction. We meet one of the greatest heroes in Western literature – Banquoo – and one of the most diabolical villains – Lady Macbeth – whose chicanery would rival the most malevolent Walt Disney miscreant. The story is based on historical fact: Holinshed’s Chronicles recounts a similar story of Scottish treachery.

Here are some of the Bible application questions in my text (J. P. Stobaugh, BRITISH LITERATURE (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2005).

Biblical Application
A. Banquo is one of the most tragic figures in this play. He is loyal, innocent, and loving. But Macbeth and especially Lady Macbeth know that he must die. Why? In a two-page essay, compare and contrast him to Jonathan, son of Saul and good friend to David.

B. Macbeth and his wife weave their evil plots as if there is no judgment for their actions. They are sadly mistaken. William Willimon, Chaplain to Duke University and an ordained Methodist preacher, tells of a congregant who said to him one day,

When I look at the God of Abraham, I feel I’m=2 0near a real God, not the sort of dignified businesslike, Rotary Club God we chatter about here on Sunday mornings. . . . Abraham’s God could blow a man to bits, give and then take a child, ask for everything from a person and then want more. I want to know that God.

Do you live your life as if there are no consequences? Explain.

C. In Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays, Peter J. Leithart says:

Shakespeare shares the opinion, reflected in different ways in both ancient paganism and in Christianity, that one can lead a good life only in a community, only as he shares that life with others. Christianity teaches that God is One and Three, both a Person and a society of Persons. Man, made in God’s image, reflects that image fully only when he lives in close communion with his fellows, for it is not good for man to be alone. . . . Sin separates human beings.

Macbeth powerfully portrays this process. As Macbeth gives in to sin, he becomes increasingly isolated. Give evidence of this process in the text and illustrate its unfolding in a two- or three-page essay.

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