Biblical rationale for koinonia Essay Example for Free

Biblical rationale for koinonia Essay The term ‘Koinonia’, a Greek word, occurs around 20 times in New Testament. Each of these verses give one or more aspects of the Koinonia as implied by the original Greek term. Koinonia is mostly translated in English New Testament as ‘Fellowship’. The meaning of the Greek word takes many forms – Fellowship, close relationship, participation, gift, companion, partner and sharer. 1 Koinonia first occurs in Acts 2: 42. â€Å"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. † 2 Some of the important passages are, â€Å"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. † 3 â€Å"If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. † 4 â€Å"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. † 5 â€Å"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. † 6 â€Å"For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? † 7 â€Å"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy 1. Richard J. Goodrich, Albert L. Lukaszewski, A Reader’s Greek New Testament (Michigan: Zondervan, 2003),375-376. 2. Acts 2:42 3. 1 John 1:3 4. 1 John 1:6 5. 1 John 1:7 6. 2 Corinthians 13:14 7. 2 Corinthians 6:14 1 complete by being like minded, having the same love being one in spirit and purpose. † 8 â€Å"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. † 9 A care full reading of these passages denote Koinonia to mean, fellowship, fellow ship with fellow humans, fellowship with the Triune God – God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, common attribute – holiness, common bond – Love, like minded, one in Spirit and purpose, and the purpose of this fellowship is to become like Christ. This fellowship is possible only with similar characteristics – purity, which is made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Fellowship with Christ means in Pauline thought, being in Christ, in Christ’s words, being in Christ to give fruits. This term is associated with the church. Bible says Church is the body of Christ. 10 Church is not the making of men but it is the creation of our Lord. God is the author of the church. So also Koinonia is not of men but it is the gift of God. It is evident then that the fellowship meant by the term Koinonia denotes the fellowship between the members of the church and that with Christ. Koinonia is brought into the church by the Holy Spirit and with out God the Trinity present in the church, there is no koinonia worth mentioning. It can be said, Koinonia is the God’s plan for the church. God wants fellowship with His created beings and also wants that fellowship to permeate among his created beings. The Koinonia – Fellowship with God has a definite purpose, entails participation in God’s plan and being partner and sharing in his work- his vine yard.   8. Philippians 2:1, 2 9. Philippians 3:10 10. Ephesians 5:24-32 The concept of Missions ensues from the study of Koinonia. We can clearly see this concept through out Bible. Fellowship with God Creation scenario. In Genesis, we see God creates all the universe and Adam. God wanted Adam to have fellowship. God and Adam had fellowship. But when sin entered humanity, effecting the fall of man, Adam wantonly got away from the presence of God and the agony and anguish inflicted on God is reflected by God’s question â€Å"Adam ,where are you? †11 Fall of man. The consequence of sin is the loss of Fellowship with God. The corollary of this is the loss of fellowship among human beings as depicted by the Cain-Abel episode. Instead of loving fellowship- Koinonia, there arose jealousy, hatred, and enmity resulting in murder. When God asked Cain , â€Å"where is your brother, Cain lied, saying I don’t know. He even protested saying, am I his keeper? a reckless answer. Sin breeds lies and recklessness. The scenario was continuing and the mankind was estranging from God’s intended purpose of creation, kindling the indignation of God, resulting in the deluge during Noah’s time. But there are instances of people having fellowship with God like Enoch and Noah. Life of Enoch. It is written in Bible, that Enoch walked with God while living in this world. God took him at his 365th age. Enoch’s life illustrates a life of constant and continuous fellowship with God. Life of Noah. Noah lived a life pleasing to God denoting the fellowship he had with God. God was communicating with Noah and Noah was responding to God’s instructions and doing the work God had given to him. Fellowship entails partnership and participation of the God’s plan. Call of Abraham. God called Abraham to follow him and Abraham faithfully followed him. Godetween God and Abraham seen in this passage is a fine example of Fellowship – close relationship between God and Abraham. God wanted to bless the whole world through Abraham and reestablish the lost fellowship between God and humanity. The chosen tribe of Israel, with whom God wanted to establish fellowship, is the descendant of Abraham. The nation of Israel. The nation of Israel is the chosen one for establishing God’s fellowship with humanity. God wanted to bless the whole nations of the world through Israel. God blessed Egypt through Joseph. He blessed Babylon through Daniel. God planted his presence among Israel during their sojourn in wilderness, all through day and night. God communicated with Moses face to face, just like a friend. Moses had good fellowship with God. The nation of Israel was not faith full all the time and sinned against God. Sin estranges God’s people from God and the fellowship is lost. God wanted to reestablish the fellowship and he raised many prophets to give clarion call and to bring back people to his fold. Prophets. The mind of God is clearly depicted in the messages of the prophets. Through Isaiah God laments, â€Å"I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. † 13 Fellowship is lost when there is rebellion, â€Å"The Ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. † 14 Fellowship is lost when there is no understanding, when there is loss of communication. God laments through Prophet Jeremiah, â€Å"†¦what fault did your fathers find in me that 12. Genesis 18: 17-33 13. Isaiah 1: 2 14. Isaiah 1: 3 they strayed so far from me? †15 God anguishes, â€Å"my people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. † 16 God is the living water, but the nation of Israel have opted the worldly things instead of God, showing that the fellowship with God is lost when the close relation ship with him is lost. God says, Israel has forgotten him, â€Å"Does a maiden for get her Jewelry, a bride her wedding? yet my people have forgotten me with out number. † 17 God says, â€Å"My people are fools, they do not know me. They are sense less children; they have no understanding they are skilled in doing evil they know not how to do good. † 18 When the fellowship with God is lost, knowledge of God and understanding of God’s ways are lost, and the ability to perform good works glorifying God is also lost. In all these passages God complains of the loss of fellowship with his chosen people. But God longs to re establish the lost relationship. God says, Return faithless Israel†¦ I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, I will not be angry for ever†¦for I am your husband. I will choose you †¦I will give shepherds after my own heart, who will lead with you with knowledge and understanding †¦Return faithless people, I will cure you of your backsliding. (Jeremiah, 3:12, 14, 15, 22) God expresses his love for his people through the prophets. Through Jeremiah, He says, â€Å"Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. There fore my heart yearns for him, I have great compassion for him†. 19 Here we see the mind of God. Though the chosen nation has sinned and estranged from God, loosing the fellowship, God’s heart yearns for them and God longs to re establish the fellowship– the relationship.   15. Jeremiah, 2:5 16. Jeremiah, 2:13 17. Jeremiah, 2:32 18. Jeremiah, 4:22 19. Jeremiah, 31:20 God’s agony for the estranged people is depicted in the writings of Prophet Hosea, My people are determined to turn from me. †¦ How can I give up you Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? †¦My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man- the Holy one among you. ( Hosea, 11: 7-9) Here we see, God says he is among his people, but his people turn from him; but still God is compassionate and agonized. God promises through Prophet Jeremiah, making new covenant, forgiving their wicked ness and making them His People. â€Å"†¦ I will put my law in their minds and write in their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. †¦ for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. † 20 Here we see fellow ship with God is re established when sins are for given. The new covenant foresees a conversion in the mind of God’s people. The new covenant is best expressed by prophet Isaiah in Chapter 53, which talks of the Redeemer suffering for the sins of his people. Isaiah states, Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows †¦ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him. †¦the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all †¦ he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. (Isaiah, 53: 4-8) The Redeemer took all the iniquities and bore all the punishment to bring forgiveness and restoring the peace and relation ship with the Godhead for his people. Fellowship with God is possible only when the sins are forgiven and when similar characteristics exist among all. The fulfillment of Prophecy and the advent of Jesus. At the appointed time, the eternal Son of God took the form of humanity and was born of Virgin Mary according to the scriptures   20. Jeremiah, 31:33, 34 . and with the fulfillment of prophecy. Gospel according to Mathew records the statement of the angel, She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins†¦. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ which means, ‘God with us. ’ (Mathew, 1: 21-23) Here we see, â€Å"Jesus will save his people from their sins, and â€Å"they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us –God dwells amongst us. The second God head of the Trinity has assumed permanently the human nature so that He will dwell among the humans, and he will forgive their sins and justify them as sinless. This is the essence of the Gospel. Because of the advent of Christ Jesus, fellowship with humans is established. The teachings of Jesus. The Jews- Pharisees taught the Old testament scriptures scrupulously, leaving the essence of the scriptures. Jesus taught the scripture truths effectively using parables driving the central, deep, and spiritual points of the truth. Apart from the ethical teachings contained in the sermon of the mount, Jesus taught his disciples how to do the will of God effectively, â€Å"The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. † 21 In essence believing in the son of God is the work pleasing to God. The Gospel truth is well given in the words of Jesus, â€Å"to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,†22 and â€Å"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. †23 The sole requirement of salvation on the part of men is to believe in the Name (Person) of Jesus and receive him. 1 John 6: 29 22 John 1: 12 23 John 3: 16 Abiding in Christ. Jesus explains the importance of abiding with him in Gospel according to John Chapter, 15. Here we see fellow ship between Jesus and the believer is compared to the vine tree and the branches. Only when the branch remain in the tree it can be alive and give fruits. Apart from the tree the branch itself cannot give fruits. So if we are in fellowship with Jesus and Jesus in us, we will be fruitful. And God will be glorified because of our good fruits. 24 The fellowship entails giving good fruits for the glory of God. We may compare and contrast this with God’s question in the prophecy of Jeremiah, â€Å"I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine? †25 God planted Israel as a good vine tree expecting good fruit, but it turned into a corrupt and wild vine. The reason for this unfruitfulness is the non abiding nature of the nation Israel. What is the fruit Jesus is talking about? Jesus explicitly says to obey his commands, the chief command being the command to love each other as Jesus has loved us, â€Å"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. †26 Jesus has taught that love is the fulfillment of Law and Prophecies. Jesus has summarized the law as, 1). Loving God whole heartedly and 2) loving the neighbor as oneself. 27 Fellow ship and Church assembly. Jesus promises to be with us where ever two or three come together in his name, â€Å"where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. †28 This denotes the fellowship – Koinonia between the believers and the Savior. The criteria required are, 1) gathering in His name, 2) togetherness- oneness of mind. 24 John 15: 1-8. 25 Jeremiah 2: 21 26 John 15: 12 27 Mark 12: 30,31 28 Mathew 18: 20 Fellowship and Missions. Jesus promises to be with us always to the end of the age, â€Å"†¦ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. † 29 This promise is given at the great commission denoting the fellowship of the savior is assured for the carrying out of the great commission. The fellowship has a definite purpose, doing the will of God, partaking in his plan of salvation taking the Gospel message to the un reached. Fellowship- Koinonia has a definite Missionary perspective. Fellowship and interpersonal relationship. Jesus gave importance for both the vertical relation ship- relation ship between the person and God and the horizontal relation ship- the person and his neighbor. We see this concept in many of his parables. A beautiful example of the God’s requirement of fellow ship- Koinonia is given in the parable of prodigal son. 30 Here we see the second son went away from the fellowship of his father and his brother and lived a sinful life, wasting all his resources and finally repented and returned to his father. But the loving father was all along waiting for his return and received him whole heartedly and restored him his son ship, and there was joy and celebration in the house hold. But the elder son could not digest this. He could not forgive his brother and was arguing with his father. The father admonished him and states, â€Å"†¦ we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found. † 31 This parable tells the mind of God. He wants all to be saved and wants his people to cooperate with him in saving people. Thus Koinonia results in gladness. Jesus, in his high priestly prayer prayed to the Father, â€Å"†¦that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know   29 Mathew 28:20 30 Luke 15: 12-32 31 Luke 15: 32 that you send me †¦Ã¢â‚¬ 32 Fellowship – Koinonia as envisaged by Jesus is complete unity, unity in purpose, action, witness, and partnering with Christ in carrying out God’s will of saving people. The birth of the Church is in direct answer to this High priestly prayer of Jesus. The birth of the Church. Church is not a mere organization involving Christians. Church is the mystical body of Christ for carrying out the plan of God in saving the nations. Augustine affirmed that â€Å"Church is the mystical body of Christ whose principle or unity is that it is a fellowship of love. † 33 Church is the body of Christ, in that through the Spirit Christ is ruling inspiring, sustaining and uniting power in the church. †¦ It is the presence and working of the Holy Spirit which makes church the body of Christ. † 34 In Acts, we see â€Å"†¦ the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved. † 35 So it is clear, Church is the making of God. In the spiritual sense there is only one Church – Church Universal, spiritual, and invisible. But practically we see many denominations- big and small. These are all local assemblies, practicing Christians. The one universal, Spiritual, holy, apostolic, and catholic church comprises of members from all local assemblies, big or small, from all parts of the earth, with out any difference of race or culture or language. Fellowship among Christians Christians have fellow ship with the father, Son and Holy Spirit and with one another. Possession of the Spirit is the decisive mark of being a Christian. 36 The fellowship with God leads one to fellowship with fellow believers, because â€Å"God has poured out his love into our hearts by 32 John 17: 22-23 33 Owen C. Thomas p 233 34 Owen C. Thomas p 231 35 Acts 2: 47 , 36 Owen C. Thomas p 231 the Holy Spirit. † 37 A. Nygren argues in his book Agape and Eros â€Å"The fundamental theme of Christian faith and life is Agape, God’s love for humanity in Christ and in response humanity’s love for their neighbors. † 38 Surely there exists Koinonia between true believers, what ever be the denominational difference among them. The one sign of the universal Koinonia is the existence of un explainable love towards the fellow Christian of any denomination. The absence of this love is a clear proof of heretical leanings. Koinonia – Fellow ship is the mark of any Christian assembly. The fellowship characteristics expected out of any Christian assembly as listed out in Unger’s Bible dictionary, â€Å"Confession of faults to one another with prayer, James 5:16 . Assembly with exhortation and provoking to love and good works. Hebrews 10: 24, 25. Partaking of Lord’s supper. I. Corinthians11:24, 25. Ministering to the Saints: Acts11:29, Romans 12:13, 15: 25, I Cor. 16:1, 2. II Cor. 8:4, Heb: 13:16. Bearing infirmities of the week and edification, Rom: 15:1. Love for and fellowship with one another is necessary as an evidence to love of God. I John 4:12. Christ prayed that his people might have fellow ship with each other. Fellowship with God is essential to fruitfulness. Jn15:4†. (Unger’s Bible Dictionary 1983, 349) On a look of the early Christian Church, one can easily find the marks of Koinonia among Believers. We see in Acts 2:42, â€Å"They devoted themselves to Apostolic teaching, Breaking of bread- meaning partaking in Lord’s supper, Prayer, being together, had every thing in common, selling their possessions and giving to the needy, glad and sincere, and praising God†. The immediate effect of the Koinonia among the early Christians was that the other people came to know of this and filled with awe favoring the believers and the Church began to grow as God was adding the new converts. 37 Romans 5:5 38 Owen C. Thomas p 265 It is not out of context to quote a famous Tamil Evangelist, N. Jeevanandam regarding the Christian fellowship. While he was giving a message on Christian unity and love, narrated a vision that he had. While he was praying, he in his vision, was taken to Hell by an angel. There he saw all in pandemonium. There was a dining table and there were food available on it. People surrounded the dining table and were very hungry and desirous of eating. But they were unable to eat as their hands were stiff and they could not take the food to their mouth. After struggling for some time they got restless and started cursing each other for their plight, accusing one another and were hitting each other. There was utter pandemonium. At the next vision, the angel took him to Heaven. He was taken to a dining room, and the dining table was full of eatables. People came to the dining table and they were all in joy full mood, and started praising God. On closely looking on them, the evangelist found out that these people also could not bend their elbow. But they all started to eat, praising God. They started feeding one another with their stiff hands with out any difficulty, patting each other. They all cooperated with each other, there was happiness and praising. The message is simple- by helping others one fulfills the Royal law, ‘love your neighbor as your self’ 39. The new law of love cares for one another, honors, accepts, serves, and encourages others. God, as a father wants His children to live at peace and harmony with each other. St Paul Teaches in his epistles, If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:1-5) __________________ 39 James 2: 8 Biblical rationale for small groups We have seen the Church is a Spiritual entity and God is the author of it, it is catholic-means universal, and invisible. The local Christian assemblies, big or small, are all part of the Spiritual Church. God only knows who all part of the Church are. The one and only qualification needed on the part of the believer to be a part of this Church is faith in Jesus – the shed blood of Jesus Christ effecting â€Å"Justification by faith†. Salvation is free and is of the Grace of God. Having justified freely, the believer gratefully obeys the Lord, and is in spiritual union with the Savior, participating with Christ and fellow believers in carrying out the will of God, with the ultimate goal of glorifying God. The chief end of Koinonia is the glorification God, through worship acceptable and work fruitful. As long as these criteria are met, there is no problem with the size of the congregation, whether big or small. There is often difficulty on the part of one Church group in practicing Koinonia with another group, because of doctrinal differences. It is human to cast doubt about other side. It takes maturity to understand and acknowledge other groups. We find a beautiful example in the life of Moses. The people of Israel were murmuring and complaining against God and Moses. Moses was much grieved and he prayed to God that he can not take the burden of leading the people single handed and wanted God to take him away. But God told Moses to gather 70 elders so that he will put the Spirit on them and so did Moses. God sent the Spirit to all the seventy elders and when the Spirit came, all of them prophesied. But of the seventy, two elders – Eldad and Medad were not in the company of Moses but were in the camp and they had also prophesied. Coming to know of this, Joshua asked Moses to stop them. Moses replied, â€Å"Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORDs people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them! † 40 Here we see a beautiful example of leadership, magnanimity and tolerance on the part of Moses. Joshua, out of loyalty towards Moses, wanted others, who are not in the company of Moses, to be derecognized. But Moses wants all the people to be prophets like him whether they are in his company or not. We see another similar instance in New Testament. John tried to stop another man who was driving out demons in the Name of Jesus, reasoning that he is not of their company. But Jesus said, â€Å"Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you†. 42 Group loyalties should give way to loyalty towards God. Koinonia should be manifested universally, with out any local loyalty. Heresy and Cults. Another aspect we have to consider regarding small groups is the Doctrinal Purity. Through out the church history, one can find heretical movements. There is a danger of development of heretical tendencies in small groups. , distorting the Gospel message as taught by Christ and Apostles. The leaders of the small groups may introduce novel doctrines by giving false interpretations of the Bible passages, even to the extent of denying the Lord who has bought them with his blood. The modus operandi of these leaders is to introduce novelty to attract more people. Their motive is aggrandizing themselves. This problem is existing even from N. T. period. Jesus and the Apostles have warned of these people. 43 Numbers 11:29 42 Luke 9:49,50 43 Mt 24:5, 11,24; Acts 20:40; Rom 16: 17,18; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 Tim 6:3-5 Examples of heretics of early Church are, Montanists, Arians, and Gnostics. Modern day heresy is Jehovah Witness. Cults. Small groups may initially exhibit much cohesiveness and have very close knit fellowship, attracting it’s members to its fold. The members will be totally loyal to the group leader even surpassing loyalty to Christ. These small groups, if with out communion with other Christian communities, may develop into a close circuit community with secret doctrines and dealings. The leader of the cult will exert out right control over the members of the group, almost enslaving them, indoctrinating them, and leading them astray- away from the true doctrine. The leader may even assume superhuman postures, demanding and accepting allegiance more than that is given to Christ who has shed his blood, bought and redeemed them. Then the group will lose its Christian character and outlook, the members will backslide, losing the grace and Joy of Salvation and get separated from the fold of Christ. A few examples of the past decades are, 1). Sun Moon group of South Korea, 2). Jim Jones group of United States of America, and 3) Paul Asir Laurie group of India. So it is always safe and advisable for the small groups to have some form of communion with the established major Church groups. Summary Koinonia – fellowship is a divine attribute, a divine creation, and it is alien to carnal human mind. Koinonia is possible only with the participation of Godhead- the Triune God- God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and any show of fellow ship with out God’s presence is only hypocritical exhibit, concealing the selfish human attribute. Koinonia as manifested in the early church is God’s plan for carrying out his will – taking the message of Salvation to all mankind. Koinonia exists in the Church and God is present among his people in the Church- The Church Universal, mystic, spiritual – the body of Christ. The prerequisites of membership in the universal Church for humans are; Justification by faith in Jesus, cleansing of sins by the blood of Christ, and sanctification by Holy Spirit. The love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of members by Holy Spirit and this is the bond of fellowship- Koinonia. The local church groups, big or small, are all part of the universal church. The visible signs of Koinonia in Church groups are: the joyful worship of the Triune God and fellowship with partaking of Holy Eucharist, love and concern for one another, Joy of sharing and caring, helping and lifting the weak, honest and transparent dealing with one another, partaking in the joys and tribulations of one another, taking care of other’s needs, encouraging one another, and considering others better than oneself. BIBLIOGRAPHY Thomas, Owen C. Introduction to Christian Theology. Delhi: ISPCK, 2000. The NIV Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, 1985 Unger, Merrill F. Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Chicago: Moody press, 1983,

Morality in O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato Essay -- Going After Caccia

Morality in O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Going After Cacciato, by Tim O'Brien, is a book that presents many problems in understanding. Simply trying to figure out what is real and what is fantasy and where they combine can be quite a strain on the reader. Yet even more clouded and ambiguous are the larger moral questions raised in this book. There are many so-called "war crimes" or atrocities in this book, ranging from killing a water buffalo to fragging the commanding officer. Yet they are dealt with in an almost offhanded way. They seem to become simply the moral landscape upon which a greater drama is played-- i.e. the drama of running away from war, seeking peace in Paris. This journey after Cacciato turns into a morality play, the road Westward metaphor. As Dennis Vannatta explains, "The desire to flee may have begun as a reaction to fear, but by the time the squad has reached Paris, Paul has nurtured and cultivated it until it has become a political, moral, and philosophical statement" (245). But what abo ut the atrocities going on all the time? How could they be ignored in the face of this larger drama? As Milton J. Bates puts it, although Going After Cacciato is "not atrocity-based in the manner of much Vietnam War autobiography and fiction, [it does] record incidents in which Vietnamese civilians are beaten or killed and have their livestock and homes destroyed" (270). This book has an almost offhanded-like way of dealing with these My Lai-like atrocities. Why? What's going on here? Well, one thing that one must take into consideration is the author's aim. As quoted by Timothy J. Lomperis at a conference, O'Brien has said, "'For me, the purpose of writing fiction is to explore moral quandaries. The... ...ving dreamed a marvelous dream, I urge you to step boldly into it, to join your dream and to live it" (O'Brien 284). Thoughts lead to actions. But dreaming is also doing. The act of imagination can sometimes have more power than any technological weapon. It is imaginations that stop wars. It is art fulfilling its role in society. It is art that brings the moral issues. It is art that makes us human.    Works Cited Bates, Milton J. "Tim O'Brien's Myth of Courage." Modern Fiction Studies 33.2 (Summer 1987): 263-279. Lomperis, Timothy J. "Down the Slippery Slope: Tensions Between Fact and Fiction." Interpretive Critique. O'Brien, Tim. Going After Cacciato. New York: Dell, 1978. Vannatta, Dennis. "Theme and Structure in Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato." Modern Fiction Studies 28.2 (Summer 1982): 242-246.                  

911 and Pearl Harbor

Two Dark Days Pearl Harbor changed the lives of Americans; decades later 9/11 affected a new generation of Americans. Comparing Pearl Harbor and 9/11, written by Fred L. Borch points out inaccuracies of the comparisons that numerous individuals have made between 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. The author gives a unique perspective that has partial inaccuracies under the topics; whether or not 9/11 was an intelligence failure, was American unprepared, and military responsibilities. The author uses various facts and statics to support his cause, some creditable, some not.December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 are two of the darkest days in American History essay writer dubai. The attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 a. m. when 353 Japanese aircrafts dropped bombs on the U. S pacific fleets (Borch 846). With 2, 403 dead, 1,178 wounded, and eight battle ships sunk or damaged and 165 aircraft destroyed, the Japanese had succeeded on their attack. With their success the Japanese only lost a few sh ips and aircraft, and only 185 were killed or wounded. On December 16, 1941 the joint congressional committee declared that Admural E. Kimmel and Lieutenant general Walter c. hort failed to prepare Americans at Pearl Harbor for the attack of the Japanese. On September 11, 2001 most of us were sitting in class while 19 members of Al Quida boarded four commercial airlines, intending to take over and crash all four planes into traditional American landscapes. The first plane to crash, crashed into the north tower of the world trade center. Shortly after a second plane crashed into the south tower of the world trade center. An hour later a third plane struck the pentagon, destroying a portion of the building (Borch 847). The fourth plane crashed into a ruel area of southeast Pittsburgh (Borch 847).By 12:00 p. m. there were 2,823 killed in Manhattan and 189 in Washington, D. C. Days after the attack the U. s government identified Osama bin laden and his Al Queda as responsible for the at tacks. All 19 Al queda high jackers had entered the United States legally. They had student and tourist visas’. They tried to blend into American life; they took flying training at civilian pilot schools (Borch 847). This helped them pilot the planes after they killed commercial pilots. As we continue to blame bin laden for the attacks, he has never claimed responsibility for it, but has released video tapes praising the 9/11 high jackers.He has also threatened more attacks against America. The author raises the question â€Å"was intelligence failure the reason for these attacks. He states that they knew a war with Japan was highly likely. This fact was backed up by a message received saying â€Å"this dispatch is to be considered a warning, negotiation with Japan†¦. have ceased and an aggressive move by Japan is expected with the next few days. † Also after taking command Kimmel and Short were informed that if an attack occurred it would most likely be an air b ombing attack.Borch states that if the Japanese diplomatic messages would have been decrypted, it would have shown there was going to be an attack occurring on December 7, 1941. He also says there was a lack of strategic intelligence. There was a 75 minute tactical warning, when the sinking of Ward, at the mouth of the harbor. Borch said could have made a difference, if Kimmel and Short would have acted upon that warning. Also at 7:02 a. m. radar detected a large number of aircraft approaching Oahu. Both of these warnings were missed.He says that Kimmel and his staff were still arguing about the significance of the wards attack, when the first bombs were dropped on Oahu. As for 9/11 they could have seen it coming because of the previous attacks of the world trade center in 1993, the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, in 2000, and other events. The federal Bureau of investigation and others knew there was going to be an attack on an U. S target. But says no information had been collec ted that could directly point to the Al Queda attacking the world trade center. Both events were said to have no information that existed that a terrorist attack was about to happen.The closest thing that could have helped was the message sent to Pearl Harbor, which was not decrypted. And although there was no imminent proof of both attacks, Kimmel and Short had more information available to them than those of 9/11. With 9/11 no one knew the terrorist themselves learned how to pilot a commercial aircraft there was no tactical warning of the Al Queda attacking. When the first plane crashed into the world trade center, many thought it was an accident. No one knew that terrorist had taken over American and United Airline flights until their suicide mission was too far along to stop (Borch 851).To me there are some difficulties with some of the evidence the author uses, mainly because he uses his opinions. For instance when he says that no one had any evidence about 9/11, false! The 9/1 1 commission report is the official report of the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks. One of the things the commission reported states is that they had evidence that several of the 9/11 hijackers passed through Iran, and indicates that officials in Iran did not place entry stamps in their passports. This and other evidence told there was going to be an attack on the United States.So we did have the intelligence to prevent it, we just didn’t have to funding or resources. Borch says that we couldn’t have collected more information about the attacks and we didn’t have that much information in the first place. But with my prior knowledge and after reading his opinion, it raises the question on how much did they really know? I mean just a few days after the attack they already had suspects! This brings my attention to how secretive the government really is. Granted, they can’t release a lot of information in the fact that half America would go into panic.But as for 9/11 being intelligence failure I would have to disagree. True we didn’t know what day it would happen or how. But with the evidence we did have and the conspiracies, we could have better prepared for it. On the other hand we has Americans have a certain way we do things, and the American way is we can’t do anything till something happens. This brings up the authors next topic which is â€Å"was American unprepared? † Borch states that if Kimmel and Short could have prepared their troops better for this kind of attack.And in turn, might have prevented the attack from happening. Now the unpreparedness regarding 9/11 concerns only what could have been done to prevent a terrorist attack. The unpreparedness of Pearl Harbor existed because of Kimmel and Short. Some reasons would be they were not conducting long-range reconnaissance with the ships and aircrafts, had not integrated their command and control structures, failed to take passive defe nsive measures, and last has not instilled in their commands a sense of urgency or realization that war was upon them (Borch 855).Kimmel had forgotten to order the placement of torpedo netting around the ships and short rejected the use of barrage balloons over the harbor. They say both these measures would have decreased the damage caused by the Japanese. What we could have done to prevent 9/11 was to increase security at U. s airports, place â€Å"sky marshals† on all airline flights, train pilots and aircrews to resist rather than cooperate with high jackers and last infiltrate terrorist cells (Botch 856). Borch makes a very bold argument here.I do agree with him and in what they could have done to prevented these events from happening. But as I said before we are Americans’ and our way is we can’t do anything till something happens. Now, Borch says that attack on Pearl Harbor was because of Kimmel and Short had not taken adequate measures to prevent the atta ck. Just the fact that they were not ready because â€Å"had not taken prudent defensive measures either to repel an attack or to mitigate its effects on their commands† (Borch 858). Personal responsibility is said to be the failure at Pearl Harbor, 9/11 was said to be systemic.Rather a lack of preparedness of September 11, 2001 by the commercial airline security. They did not take the adequate steps to prevent a terrorist attack. Again the author actually has a very bold and logical argument on this topic. He uses logically reasoning in what Pearl Harbor and 9/11 could have done to better prepared, and in turn might have prevented, the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the world trade center. Military responsibility may have been a factor in these two events. With Pearl Harbor Kimmel and Short were to blame.Though they couldn’t have prevented the attack, their failure to prepare an adequate defense makes them-at least partly responsible for what happened (Borch 858). As for 9/11 the men and woman running the FFA and the airlines knew that commercial aircraft were vulnerable to domestic hijacking (Borch 857). They could have expanded security. But that would have cost a lot of money. And as I said before, Americans knew we needed the increased security, but weren’t willing to spend that kind of money. Some thought if they increased security, business would go down.As mentioned before we could have done some things that might have prevented an terrorist attack, but as for 9/11 it was an highly unfortunate event for American, that was conducted carefully and quite brightly by 9 Al Queda. The article as a whole was interesting to read. I don’t agree with everything he mentions because of the fact that it is his opinion, not facts. He gives a few bold statements, as I mentioned before. Borch could have improved this article by organizing it better and make it easier to follow. Instead of jumping from 9/11 to Pearl Harbor over and over, he cou ld have found a better way to do that.Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are both unfortunate events that is a big a part of our history. As my generation experienced 9/11 and our great grandparents and maybe grandparents experienced Pearl Harbor, there are questions that will forever go unanswered. A lot of questions I now have arose after reading this article. Will American learn from their mistakes? Will we think about the blood of innocent lives that was shed in a terrorist attack that may could have been prevented, but we as American’s were too greedy to spend money on increased security.Basically I believe the whole topic of this is that we has American’s have the intelligence but don’t have the funding or resources. And we don’t want to do anything till something happens. But the question is how many more times are we going to have to sit back and watch our fellow Americans bury their sons and daughters, and watch as what was once a famous landscape come fallin g to the ground 100 ft. in front of us, before we do something logical and not do something that is not out of our budget.

An Examination Of The Newtonian Method - 1116 Words

Connor McCourt Mr. Fisher Junior Mathematics November 15, 2015 An Examination of The Newtonian Method The aim of Isaac Newton’s Principia is explicitly stated in his preface to the reader: His desire is to reestablish natural philosophy; to show how philosophers can employ various mathematical and experimental methods to phenomena in order to reach conclusions about nature, particularly about the motions of solid bodies. Through the utilization of geometry to describe celestial firmament, he wishes to accurately demonstrate mechanics with a direction guided by the foundations of geometry. In his analysis, the purpose of geometry is to teach the solutions of practical mechanics upon mechanical procedures, thus he constitutes†¦show more content†¦This preliminary framework expresses that forces are proportional to mass and to acceleration. Since mass—or the quantity of matter—and acceleration are both quantities that can be measured, it seems Newton gives the reader a means of measuring the forces that are to governed the natural world. If one begins to tr eat forces as measurable quantities, then one can endeavor to identify two ostensibly discordant forces as a single, compounded force through thinking of them as measurements. It is this move by Newton that appears to be revolutionary in a world that solely treated material bodies with properties like size, shape, mobility and solidness. For example in proposition one of book one, gravity presents itself as a kind of centripetal force, or impressed force on a material body. Thus the body moving in a straight line will continue to do so until it experiences a gravitational pull (seen in the body’s movement from point B to C, C to D etc.) in which case it will diverge from a straight line motion produced by its inherent force. (B to c) Indeed, the gravitational pull might originate with various masses in various circumstances, manifest as various entities and the forces present-at-hand may be different with movement to movement of the body. As long as one is measuring these f orces by looking at the relationships of same kinds that exist in the phenomenon examined, the geometry utilized for describing the proportionality between