Reference no: EM132412622 , Length: word count:500
Final Paper Assignment -
The Bible: authorship, authority, authenticity
You have had an opportunity to think about the relationship between the Biblical text and the visual traditions of the Middle Ages in terms of both art and architecture in the first paper assignment and in class. In class we have also had an opportunity to reference the authors of the Bible as they have been identified by tradition. The Bible is considered to be the authentic word of God but it was composed and written by human agents, whose authority derived from the claim made that they worked under the influence of the deity. And many of the books of the Bible bear the name of the authors who composed them: such as the long run of the books of the Prophets -- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and so on - and the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first five books of the Bible are commonly attributed to Moses. The Apocalypse is attributed to John. All of these books bear the stamp of the individual characteristics of their human authors.
Write about one of the books of the Bible from the point of view of the author who wrote it:
How does the author come across in his writing?
How would you describe the author's style?
What are the major subjects and themes that he treats?
How would you describe his point of view?
Check Arstor to see how the author was visualized in the Middle Ages (if there were portraits of him made).
Do these images help characterize the author in any way? For example: Isaiah was carved into the pillar in the middle of the portal at Moissac (which we have looked at in class several times); David was depicted as king in the Paris Psalter (also shown in class); and the four Gospel writers have symbols attached to them (discussed in class). Many of the prophets were portrayed and of course the Gospel writers were shown often and in different contexts, sometimes with the source of divine inspiration depicted above them.
You can do whatever research you want on the author that you select. There are biographies of just about all of them and there is a lot of information.