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How is Christianity shown within different works of literature?

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How is Christianity shown within different works of literature?

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Christianity, or the belief of God and Jesus in the Bible, was very prevalent in English literature across time. Most works that referenced Christianity mostly did so in their themes, although there are instances where writers were more upfront in some situations by bringing God into their work in name, or by bringing in Christian principles. At other times Christianity may not be very apparent in the story, but may have had some influence on the writer's life or is merely mentioned in the stories themselves.

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This article by Tatiana Byelkina addressed how Christianity spread throughout Britain, and changed the culture greatly. This was important because it brought about the popularity of Christianity to English Literature, despite Christians being executed in the beginning. Without the introduction of Christianity, it is unknown how different many of the works would have been, as it seemed to have been a major theme in many of the stories, as well as played a part in the writer's lives.

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The culture of the early Britons changed greatly under the influence of Christianity, which penetrated into the British Isles in the 3Britain rd century. This was the time when many Christians escaped from Roman persecution to and Gaul ( France ), which were colonies of Rome at that period.

When the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain , most of the British Christians were put to death or driven away to Wales and Ireland . They told stories of Christian martyrs and saints. Such stories were typical of the literature of that time.

At the end of the 6 th century (597) monks came from Rome to Britain again. Pope Gregory the Great wanted to spread his influence over England , so he sent monks to the island. They landed in Kent and built the first church in the town of Canterbury . Up to this day the Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the English Church .

Roman monks brought many books to Britain . Most of them were religious books and they were all written in Latin.Latin was the language of the Church all over Europe . The monasteries, where reading and writing were practised, became the centres of learning and education in the country. No wonder poets and writers imitated those Latin books about early Christians, and also made up stories of their own about saints. The names of only two of those early poets have reached our days: Caedmon and Cynewulf.

The first English Christian poet known by name is [´kædmən] who lived in the 7. He was no longer young when the gift of song came to him. One day he woke up after having a dream and was able to write religious poetry. He composed in his native language (the Northumbrian dialect of Anglo-Saxon).The monks took him to the abbey and he spent the rest of his life in making up religious poetry. He composed hymns and a poem, the th century. He was a shepherd at Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire "Paraphrase" . It retells fragments from the Bible in alliterative verse. Only a small part of Caedmon's work survived.

Memorial to Caedmon, St Mary's Churchyard, Whitby , North Yorkshire , Great Britain . Fell asleep hard [near] by, 680"
The inscription reads, "To the glory of God and in memory of Caedmon the father of English Sacred Song.

Image of copy (c800) Cædmon's Hymn in the " Moore" manuscript (737), Cambridge, written in Northumbrian. This is the earliest known version of this work.

[´kiniwulf]was a monk who lived at the end of the 8i:n]and th century. His name was not as he signed his name in runes in the last line of his works. Two of his poe ms, "Elen i:´l e " [ introduce women characters. "Juliana" [´ʤu:li´a:nə], are notable because they are the first Anglo-Saxon works to

Along with religious poetry, folk-tales were written down at the monasteries and put into verse by poets. These were wedding-songs, feast-songs, war-songs, death-songs, etc.

The greatest writer of the time was where he received the best education of the time. He wrote mostly in Latin. His most important book, the Venerable Bede [bi:d] (673-735). He was brought up in the monasteries of Northumbria "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" was written in 731. It was the first serious work of English history.

The beginning of the 9. It was begun in the 9 th century was a troubled time for England . Danish pirates, called Norsemen or Vikings, kept coming from overseas for plunder. When Alfred was made king in 871, England 's danger was the greatest. King Alfred the Great managed to raise an army and to stop the offensive of the Danes. He is famous not only for having built the first navy, but for encouraging education and the use of the English language. He translated the Church history of Bede from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, and a portion of the Bible as well. He drew up a code of laws. To him the English owe the famous "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" , a record of current events in England th century and continued for 250 years after the death of Alfred.

http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/asintro2.html

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The Spread of Christianity - English Literature at School

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The culture of the early Britons changed greatly under the influence of Christianity, which penetrated into the British Isles in the 3Britain rd century. This was the time when many Christians escaped from Roman persecution to and Gaul ( France ), which were colonies of Rome at that period.

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Beowulf, the epic poem about the hero Beowulf, was written in the Medieval times. Within the poem, there are biblical references, as well as themes. One of the more obvious Christian refences being Grendel, who was a descendant of Abel, from the story of Cain and Abel. For the biblical themes, Beowulf was the hero, essentially the chosen one supported by God, who succeeded in destroying the villain, Grendel. However, once his goals did not align with God's, he was killed by the dragon. By this point, his friend who supported him in the fight with the dragon was rewarded in the end. This showed that the one true friend could have been equated to a Christian who continued to follow God even in hardships, and how those followers would be rewarded for their perseverance.

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Judith, an epic poem of Medieval times, told the story of the cunning woman Judith, and how she was empowered by God. The biblical references in Judith re quite apparent, and  might even imply that the warriors on the opposite side of Judith would be destined for Hell. "And gnash with their teeth,-afar from God" (Part 12). This is quite parallel to "They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Alone the "gnashing of teeth" might seem like a far stretch, but the part in the poem that says "afar from God" sounds like a place where God is not present, and as he is omnipotent, the only place this could be possible sounds like Hell.

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Written in the Tudor age, the Everyman was a poem which addressed how to get into heaven, as the everyman was greeted by death. The poem was heavily followed Christian principles, in which even goods could tarnish one's soul. Most worldly ideals typically have no place in the kingdom of heaven, as seen with "The Everyman," where out of Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Good Deeds, Knowledge, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits, only Good Deeds was the one to stay with him. He couldn't rely on himself, but only the good he has done.

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In "The Introduction" by Anne Finch in the 17th century, she told of how a poet is one after God's heart, which based on all the other scriptural references, wouldn't be a bad thing. She likely prefers this over being seen as a woman who is simply there as a fashion statement.  "Lo! the young Poet, after God’s own heart, / By Him inspired, and taught the Muses’ art,"

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Paradise Lost, written in the 17th century, or the age of revolution, expanded upon the classic story of Satan, Adam, and Eve within the Garden of Eden. While the classic story in itself was clearly from Christianity, John Milton took a few creative liberties of his own. The original work in the Bible only took place in a small section of Genesis, whereas Milton's work spanned across twelve books, some of which focused on Satan more so than Adam and Eve. Milton seemed to place more blame upon Eve, instead of Adam, and focused on how they blamed one another after their sin.

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Oroonoko, written in the Neoclassism of the 18th century, told the story of a distinguished African prince, Oroonoko. He was sold into slavery and witnessed terrible acts of Europeans who said they were Christian, but did not uphold Christian values. One instance included a European saying that they would not lie because they were Christian, however they went ahead broke their promise to Oroonoko anyways. The Christians who were in the story were portrayed in a negative light, perhaps showing the contradictory statements of the Europeans from Oroonoko's perspective, and in turn bringing understanding to his more brutal actions.

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The Rape of Lock, by Alexander Pope, had a Christian background. It was written in Neoclassism in the 18th century. Since the story was satire, it innately makes fun of the drama within, as well as certain events and themes hinted within. The Rape of Lock referred to how a lock of hair had been taken away from the beautiful and vain Belinda, while simultaneously making fun of the event as she blew the instance out of proportion. Thus it was called a "rape" for the Latin word "rapere."

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Commodity and Religion in Pope's Rape of Lock

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Commodity and Religion in Pope's Rape of Lock

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In fact, an article by Alex Eric Hernandez even noted that "Nowhere does it seem more pertinent, I suggest, than in episodes that conflate religious iconography with capitalist mercantilism" (572). Where Hernandez noticed Pope's use of having vain things amongst a Bible upon Belinda's toilette, which due to the nature of satire, could have been Pope mocking how the upper class are so focused upon their vanity, that their Bible's become nothing more than something sitting upon a toilette. This could also be implied due to Pope's Christian background, as he had probably seen his fair share of people who were Christian in name alone.

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JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.

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After seeing the works of several writers in different periods of English Literature, it is clear that Christianity played a role in many of their stories; either in theme, the writer's background, or in a negative light for the characters. Without the introduction of Christianity to Britain, who knows how different the literature of the Medieval times, the Tudor age, the 17th century, the 18th century, as well as how the other works would have turned out?