Senior Quote

"Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they are. It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not."
William Barclay

Christian Tragedies

In exploring the genre of tragedy from a Christian perspective, I found it very thought-provoking to ponder the darkest truths about Christianity. The first things that came to my mind were topics such as: man is sinful and that separates him from God and Hell is a real place where some people go. But as our group began working on the tragedy, I realized that there are other aspects of Christianity that are hard to accept as well. Our group based our tragedy on the tragic flaw of self-righteousness, exploring the theme of how Christians can be so caught up in themselves that they hinder other people from coming to salvation. In working on this plot, I realized how often I am just like the tragic hero in our play, how I think that my way is the right way, and furthermore, it is the best way. I think, how much more of an effective witness I could be if I just relaxed a little bit and humbled myself. After all, intellectually, I realize that so many other things are so much more important than the things I concern myself with and that in some areas there are multiple good ways of doing things. Moreover, I really don't have the right to make those types of judgements and that I am just as imperfect, if not more so, than the next person. Thus, in constructing a tragic play around the idea of self-righteousness, I came to recognize all the more, my own tragic shortcomings and how I often need to change my attitude toward myself and towards others.

"Evangelizing" Oedipus Rex

Oedipus has the common hamartia of hubris. This is a sin, as is evident as he lashes out in anger toward Laius and kills him. In bowing to his pride, he sets himself up for the most shameful humility. His pride and subsequent anger further prevent him from listening to advice or truth given by Tiresias, and this is contrary to the Biblical Proverb which says "listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise". Furthermore, we see, just as the Bible teaches, that sins have very real consequences. However, when Oedipus finally sees the sins he has committed, he choses rightly to accept the consequences.

In Oedipus Rex, the characters are frequently guilty of attempting to take matters into their own hands, not acknowledging that they are not in possession of that type of power. In Christianity, it is evident that when humans rely on their own strength, things go awry and life is meaningless--just as Oedipus realizes at the end that his glory as king and champion (those things that were achieved by his own work as well) were meaningless in light of the bigger picture which he was unable to see before.

Also, Oedipus Rex explores the theme of truth and searching it out. Oedipus commits to finding the truth at the beginning of the play, then he searches for it, finds it, and finally accepts it and responds to it. Biblically "the truth will set you free", and though it seems like as if the opposite occurs in Oedipus' case, in reality, it did function to "set free". First of all, it set Oedipus free from his life of unconscious sin and secondly, it set the people free from the plague. In order for the truth to have this freeing quality, it was necessary for Oedipus to accept the truth and act on it. If he had not, the truth would have bound him more--in that he would then be living in a life of conscious sin with the guilt of knowing he was the cause of the people's suffering. Similarly, when non-believers hear the truth that Christ offers and don't respond, they are held even more accountable when the time comes to be judged. Also, while they are living, their knowledge of the sins they commit bind them in guilt even more.