Pope Gregory II – Appeals to Charles Martel

               In my reading of Pope Gregory II – Appeals to Charles Martel, I learned how Pope Gregory II, on behalf of himself and the church, appealed to Frankish ruler, Charles Martel, for protection from the persecution of the Lombards. The church was being persecuted because they sought the protection of Charles Martel in the first place. The pope referred to Charles Martel as a “loving son of St. Peter” in hopes he would feel compelled to help.

               The writing noted that the “papacy remained within the Byzantine political sphere.” This changed, however, when a radical controversy occurred in the East. This sparked a question in my mind regarding the nature of the controversy. I learned the controversy stemmed from church members who believed that they had failed God. The emperor at this time was Leo III (r. 717 – 741) who had challenged the use of “images of God and the saint.” When his order went forth to destroy these images, revolts broke out in Greece and southern Italy.

               Regarding modern parallels I recognize in this reading, I would note the development of numerous denominations in today’s church. The modern church, as with the ancient church, continues to experience disagreements regarding doctrines, creeds, etc. Disagreements continue in the church to this day; however, not to the same magnitude as was the case in of iconoclastic issue. It is also noteworthy that Pope Gregory’s letter to Charles Martel was written during the Byzantine era when Justinian was attempting to once again see the glory of the Roman Empire rise. It was also near this time in history when Islam was about to emerge.

Thucydides: On the Early History of the Hellenes

            As I read, Thucydides: On the Early History of the Hellenes, which was written in395 BCE, I determined the subject or theme to be exactly what the title suggested - the early history of the Hellenes. The piece started by describing the Hellenes as “barbarians” partly due to the fact that during everyday life they bore arms for fear of being invaded.  Because they had no walls to protect them from outside invaders, they lived in constant fear.  The reading also described how the Hellenes developed into a wealthy people as a result of moving from the inland regions of the country to the shores. This action opened to them new sources of commerce and allowed them to more quickly enjoy a richer lifestyle.

While reading my assignment, the phrase, “…fear was quite as strong an element as love…” stood out to me. The reason this stood out to me was because in class we discussed what one would need to instill in people if they intended to rule the world or conqueror a people. The writer obviously believes fear to be just as strong as love as supported by the notion noted in the reading, “The strength of his navy is shown by the fact that his own was the largest contingent.” Simply stated, the people being conquered feared his number of troops.

                Concerning this notion, I wondered, is fear as strong a motivator as love?  Regarding a number of my past experiences, I would answer “yes.”  In some instances, I would go a step further to say fear is even a stronger more motivator than love.  For example, if my mother says, “I want you to clean your room; it’s because she loves me and wants what is best for me.  However, if my mother says, “Boy, if you don’t clean your room, I am gonna whip your behind,” she might possess a greater chance of motivation due to the fear she has caused.  Nevertheless, the more I thought about the concept of fear’s motivation, I thought of two verses of Scripture. The first was 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  The second was 1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails…”  These two verses, I believe, fully support the idea where fear fails, lover never does.

                A modern parallel I noticed in this reading regarded the transition from land to sea.  When the Hellenes moved their culture nearer to the sea, they had less fear of pirates attacking them and their economy began to grow.  Similarly, our modern world has witnessed the same as we’ve transitioned from sea to air.  As our modern world moves into new technologies, our economy seems to mushroom just as it was with the Hellenes.  As the Hellenes moved from prioritizing the land to the sea, their way of life changed.  Just like today, one tends to do much better when they upgrade their business with modern technologies.  It is this parallel I see between the world of the Hellenes and today.

Code of the Assyrians

The theme of my recent reading assignment is related to the Code of the Assura or Assyrians which dates back to 1075 BCE.  The Assyrian Code served as the principles by which the people lived and guided their lives. The greater part of the code describes what punishments were to be exacted on a man or woman who committed infidelity. The primary intent of the code was to put a stop to indecent, sexual acts.  In addition, the code described what is to happen if a woman became a widow and how she was to be cared for.  As seen in the code, the Assyrians placed a great deal of importance on both the protection of woman and the sanctity of marriage.

There are two ideas noted in the code that I believe are pertinent for our culture. These are noted in I.12 and I.18.  The key phrase in I.12 is, “at the word of the woman … the elders shall prosecute him, [and] they shall put him to death…” this pertains to a situation in which a woman claims she was raped by a man.  The main idea in I.18 is if a man says "They have had intercourse with [my] wife; I will prove it," followed by if he “be not able to prove it, and does not prove it, on that man they shall inflict forty blows, a month of days he shall perform the king's work, they shall mutilate him, and one talent of lead he shall pay.”

These two concepts deal with the notion of equal rights for men and woman; however, in most of the laws, women received much more protection.  The Assyrians wrote numerous laws based upon situations where a woman could be harmed.  Further, they noted what course of action should be taken against a man who committed one of these harmful acts.  In the two sections I noted, one should notice the difference between the word of a man and the word of a woman.  This seems unusual to me as it represents something quite different from many other cultures including ours at times.

In considering the parallels between the Code of the Assyrians and our culture today, I immediately note the matter of adultery.  In our culture, the consequences of adulterous behavior are not as serious as they were for the Assyrians.  In other modern cultures, however, those caught in adulterous behavior can still be shunned and even stoned.  As I consider the Assyrian Code I also note the importance of protecting and honoring women.  While this guideline is not held by everyone in our culture it is embraced by the vast majority.  For example, most people are more likely to stop on the side of the road to offer assistance to a woman rather than to a man as it seems people are more conditioned to help a woman than they are a man.

 This relates to the spirit of the Assyrian Code which was written to protect and honor woman. Ironically, this protection didn’t reach into every realm of a woman’s existence.  In many instances women enjoyed fewer rights and were considered and treated as though they were nothing more than trophies or objects.