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This question has puzzled man since his beginning. Philosophers have come up with systems saying that all we can be sure of is the self. Other intellectuals claim that we are gods and are constantly evolving better and better. By bringing religion into the picture, there are stories of demons, angels, monsters, dragons, and God. The universal aspect of belief in the supernatural leads one to consider if there is evidence for other worldly beings. Take a journey through the framework of the Brothers Karamazov to explore proofs for the existence of God and demons and see how much of an influence these beings play on the characters of the novel.
Before proving the thesis of there being other sentient creatures, let us explore the skeptics’ objections. Doubters might say that these are forces that are part of the human psyche and have no existence outside the being of the human. Freud declared that it is the id, ego, and super-ego battling it out.
Possibly, the trials and tribulations a human being experiences are external in the sense that they brought about by societal influences via religion, economics, politics, education, etc. Being raised a Hindu, when would live so as to achieve unity with Brahman. Living in a capitalist economy, one would live so as to make as much money as possible. Being a democrat would lead one to strive for social programs. Going to college, one would have a different view of the universe then an uneducated person.
There are neural-chemical processes that fire randomly in the brain so as to cause meaningless positive and negative emotions that cover and taint the sensual experiences. Dopamine, endorphins, adrenaline, testosterone, estrogen, and a vast array of other hormone/neurotransmitters give people experiences without any choice on their part. You are born with certain genes and chemicals and thus one becomes what the chemicals make them.
Perhaps, other humans ideas and behavior influence our soul. This is a simplified version of a whole society influencing a person. At this level, the influences have greater depth and more effect on the individual. In this case, a family living on an island, would not have a government telling them what to do or a priest telling them what religion to practice, but the members would form opinions and be solely directed by their fellow human beings.
On the other side of the argument, there are people that have testimonies to there being other unseen beings living among us. Science has even come to the point of saying there are other dimensions. Spiritual beings could live in these other dimensions and come down to our dimension to interact with us. Colleges have opened paranormal majors and studies in E.T. intelligence. S.E.T.I. is a well know group that offers distributed computing software so that a network of personal computers can help find other worldly sentient life. Various world religions have a system of other worldly beings including: angels, demons, ancestor spirits, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, anthropomorphic creatures, etc.
Looking at world literature, one must turn to the Bible. This book has especially made a great impression on the western hemisphere. Being proven accurate in areas of archaeology, science, and prophecy, the Bible is like no other text. The Bible records a civilization called the Hittites that the scientific community wildly discredited until remains of the society were found. Medical practices such as washing hands under running water, identifying that the life of the flesh is in the blood (in opposition to the commonly held practice of bleeding sick people), and verses to suggest the earth being circular/ spherical. Around 300 Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in one man named Jesus Christ. The possibility of this being random chance is inconceivable. If this book is accurate in this many fields, it lends credibility to its talk on spiritual topics. The Bible is stock full of angels and demons all under the supreme power of God. This text must be considered, if it is valid in its spiritual teachings on other worldly beings.
Forces outside of people even bother people who do not want to believe in them. This shows that these believers who are conditioned to accept other beings are not the only ones being bothered by them. Atheists have been led to belief after experiencing angelic or demonic presences. Common ordinary people have seen visions of heaven or hell. Maurice Rawlings, in his documentary entitled “To Hell and Back,” contains interviews of people that say they have experience an afterlife with beings they have never seen before.
The processes in the brain, when seen from a close up perspective, may seem random, but there is beautiful harmony when looked at as a whole. Mozart, Abe Lincoln, and other brilliant people who are extremely talented can be bothered by experiences of mania and depression and still retain their brilliance. If the processes are random, where does the intelligence come from? If the processes are ordered, where does the madness come from?  Surely external beings could bare on the case of fully functioning people having occasional torments.
When someone commits a sin, they can attest to being lured and tempted to go deeper into sin by some other being than their own heart.
The Brothers Karamazov provides literary pictures of this cosmic struggle throughout the text. Father Ferapont, Fyodor, and Evan, can be seen being pulled downward into desperate insanity and a complete disregard for morals. Aloysha and Zossima, and other characters, can be seen being pulled up by a higher force. Dmitri is saved by Grace from killing his father. Aloysha is given a divine revelation. This points to two definite sources of power in this universe, even if one side only has  temporal, miniscule power.
Alyosha plainly states, “I want to live for immortality, and I reject any halfway compromise”(Pg.26). This young man firmly decided the afterlife was his prize. Alyosha’s true dream is that “all will be like children of God, and the true kingdom of Christ will come”(Pg.31). His deep heart desire is for all to know God as a father knows his child. Alyosha’s respect for his elder was extremely high. “His greatest concern was for the elder: he trembled for him, for his glory; he feared any insult to him”(Pg. 33). This young man knew the love of God and the love of man.
Furthermore, Zossima taught that “A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him”(Pg.44) The bible also talks of a man who pretends to love God and is proved wrong in his love of God because he does not love his brother. It is of utmost importance that we above all be true to thyself. The monk also taught that “The more you succeed in loving, the more you’ll be convinced of the existence of God and the immortality of the soul”(Pg. 56). Many characters in BK doubt and then believe in the existence of God. If they all had more active love, this doubt in God would more quickly vanish. These doubts of God could also be caused by demons planting seeds of doubt or more properly stealing the seeds of life. For the devil has come “only to steal, and kill, and destroy”(John 10:10) Zossima was aware of the problem of evil spirits and fully believed that “If demons raise their heads, recite a prayer”(Pg. 77) and they would flee.
An example of demon possession is seen in the story of a woman coming to Zossima.
“One crazy woman was led up to him. As soon as she caught sight of the elder she began     shrieking and writhing as though in the pains of childbirth. Laying the stole on her     forehead, he read a short prayer over her, and she was at once soothed and quieted”
(Pg. 47)
The church also had ceremonies were demons were exorcized. They did this by the body and blood of Christ. “When the sacrament was carried in and they were led up to it, at once the “possession” ceased”(Pg. 47) God’s power was revealed in His sacraments.
The buffon was well filled with nasty spirits.”But the silly devil…snatched up Fyodor Pavlovich”(Pg. 88). Fyodor wondered if he would be dragged down to hell with hooks. He did not seem to care too much about going to hell and was fully expecting to go to gehenna when he died. Demons throughly controlled his life and brought out every imaginable sin–alcoholism, gluttony, lust, adultery, lieing, greed, envy, pride, blasphemy, and numerous others.
Dmitri was torn in different directions by spiritual sources. He prayed “Let me be following the devil at the same time, but still I am also your son, Lord, and I love you, and I feel a joy without which the world cannot stand and be”(Pg. 107) This man was constantly buffeted with devils and lovingly tugged by angels. Silly, but possibly profound thoughts, entered his head. Dmitri wonders, “Can there be beauty in Sodom?”(Pg. 108)
Aloysha felt that in the monastery he was safe. He thought in his heart that “Here was quiet, here was holiness, and there– confusion, and a darkness in which one immediately got lost and went astray…”(Pg. 157). Alyosha thirsted for righteousness and was worried that the world would tarnish his soul. He knew that every evil lurked “out there,” but easily forgot that evil was in every human heart. This blackness was also in the monastery.
When he was feeling run down, Aloysha “thirsted for joyful tenderness, the same tenderness that always visited his soul after praising and glorifying God, of which his prayer before sleep usually consisted”(Pg. 158). Alexi knew that true joy comes from God and that the soul longs for communion with the divine.
Zossima preached a love that did “not hate atheists, teachers of evil, [or] materialists”(Pg 164). His doctrine of active love encompassed care for the whole human race. He constantly prayed for the needs of humans and preached the truth to all seeking for it. He lived a simple live in honor and worship of God. This great man of God led by example, in word and deed.
On the other hand, the mushroom eating Ferapont has a revealing dialogue with another monk:
“[I am] in constant communication with the Holy Spirit. He flies down. He does. How     does he fly down? In what form? As a bird. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove? There     is the Holy Spirit, and there is the Holispirit. The Holispirit is different, he can descend as     some other birds–a swallow, a goldfinch, a tomtit. He speaks. Human language”(Pg. 169)
Ferapont has forgotten to test the spirits to see whether they are of God. Has he ever asked this holispirit if Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? It seems more probable that these could be demons. Ferapont has harbored resentment and hatred in his heart against Zossima. This gives the forces of evil legal right to his life. He also could be seeing illusions from his lack of food or ingestion of psychedelic mushrooms.
For all his strength, even Alyosha has his moment of doubt. “Maybe I don’t even believe in God”(Pg. 220). Alyosha confesses this to Lise; He is profoundly saddened by the inevitable death of his elder. Zossima is his life and his love, he has no idea how to carry on in this world without him. The real kicker is that his elder commanded him to leave the comfort of the monastery. Alyosha is stirred to the core about the temporality of life.
Evan declared that “I believe in order, in the meaning of life, I believe in the Word for whom the universe is yearning, and who himself was ‘with God,’ who himself is God, and so on, and so on and so forth, to infinity”(Pg. 235) This “atheist” at times seems to be a full theist. This would be accepted as a full confession of faith in some churches. Evan also spoke that “I have a childlike conviction that the sufferings will be healed and smoothed over, that the whole offensive comedy of human contradiction will disappear like a pitiful mirage”(Pg. 235) It seems that his trouble of reconciling a holy, good, perfect God with the suffering of innocent children has been solved. Evan also makes an insightful statement. “I think that if the devil does not exist, and man has therefore created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness”(Pg. 239). Evan can see the brew of evil in the heart of humankind.
Scholars hold widely varies opinions on whether or not other beings are among us. Looking at the view of internal components battling in the mind, it is interesting to note that Dostoevsky had explored the psychological complexes before Nietzsche.  Janko Lavrin admits how two great minds can come to two entirely different philosophies about life over the same issues. “The fact remains that most of the vital problems which Dostoevsky had projected into the characters of his own novels were also probed by the philosopher Nietzsche, however different his final conclusions may have been”(Lavrin 161). Lavrin also looks into the role that society plays on people. “In short, their[ Dostoevsky's and Nietzsche's] psychological and spiritual findings were due to their personal experience in the world they lived in”(Lavrin 161).
William Hamilton sees “the theme or problem of the novel [being] the existence of God”
(Hamilton 245). Hamilton throughly explores how the character relate to the question of the existence or non-existence of God. ” He takes each character in turn and looks at their relationship with the Divine. He also represents the novel in two main characters. Evan and Aloysha represent the pinnacles of believer and unbeliever; yet they both raise the question of God. Aloysha after a death and Evan about the world. The novel  as a study in Dostoevski’s struggle with God has its focus in the tension between Ivan and Alyosha. But this is not just a tension between Alyosha as believer and Ivan as unbeliever. Each of the brothers is himself a divided man”(Hamilton 246).
Michael Stoeber explains how “Dostoevsky’s exposition of the devil in action has been a focal point for various commentators”(Stoeber 27). Serge V. Gregory relates how “Dostoevsky created a work in which nihilism as a manifestation of the moral cynicism of secular culture would be dramatized as a palpable, believable evil, incarnate”(Gregory 444). Temira Pachmuss undertakes an exploration of “Moral nihilism, with its endeavor to replace traditional beliefs and deities with reason as the supreme guide for human behavior”( Pachmuss 25). Gary L. Browning looks into active love and how “experience teaches that most people cannot accept this heavy and alien responsibility unless they understand clearly why they should”( Browning 516). Richard C. Miller dissects “he large role which literary allusion plays in The Brothers Karamazov”( Miller 653). Richard L. Chapple defines the that “what has been taken from Dostoevsky and perceived as his essence by modern psychologists, religious thinkers,social scientists, and writers too often minimizes the Christian basis of his work”( Chapple 94). Harry Hill Walsh looks into how “Fyodor Dostoevsky suffered more than most”( Walsh 161). Mark G. Pomar  takes a look into how Aloysha’s “spiritual rebirth-appears especially challenging for the literary exegete”( Pomar 47). Carl E. Purinton investigates “that of Christian eschatology,[ and how it] is certainly one of contemporary interest and importance” (Purington 48). R. W. Hepburn extends his knowledge into understanding “evidence and argument for and against God’s existence”( Hepburn 312).
Tons of  brilliant minds believe and debate about the existence of spiritual beings living among us. These scholars all have theories about the unseen and look to logic and personal experience to verify these findings. From levitating objects to monks in super meditation, to moonlight spell castings to sunday church ceremonies, from ignoring God to being fascinated with angels, there are all types of interactions with the divine and demonic. Even Aristotle believed that there most be some type of Unmoved Mover. Aristotle concludes, “We say therefore that God is a living being, eternal, most good, so that life and duration continuous and eternal belong to God; for this is God” (phamen dê ton theon einai zôion aïdion ariston, hôste zôê kai aiôn sunechês) (Metaphysics 12.7; 1072b 28-29).

Bibliography

The Biblical Story of Joseph in Dostoevskii’s The Brothers Karamazov
Richard C. Miller
Slavic Review, Vol. 41, No. 4. (Winter, 1982), pp. 653-665.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779%28198224%2941%3A4%3C653%3ATBSOJI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
Slavic Review is currently published by The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

Aleša Karamazov’s Epiphany: A Reading of “Cana of Galilee”
Mark G. Pomar
The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Spring, 1983), pp. 47-56.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6752%28198321%291%3A27%3A1%3C47%3AAKEARO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4
The Slavic and East European Journal is currently published by American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East
European Languages.

Dostoevsky, Eschatology, and the Moral Law
Carl E. Purinton
Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 12, No. 1. (Feb., 1944), pp. 48-50.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0885-2758%28194402%2912%3A1%3C48%3ADEATML%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B
Journal of Bible and Religion is currently published by Oxford University Press.

Zosima’s “Secret of Renewal” in The Brothers Karamazov
Gary L. Browning
The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 33, No. 4. (Winter, 1989), pp. 516-529.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6752%28198924%291%3A33%3A4%3C516%3AZ%22ORIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J
The Slavic and East European Journal is currently published by American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East
European Languages.

The Book of Job and the Dialectic of Theodicy in “The Brothers Karamazov”
Harry Hill Walsh
The South Central Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 4, Studies by Members of the SCMLA. (Winter, 1977),
pp. 161-164.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0038-321X%28197724%2937%3A4%3C161%3ATBOJAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C
The South Central Bulletin is currently published by The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Dostoevsky’s Devil: The Will to Power
Michael Stoeber
The Journal of Religion, Vol. 74, No. 1. (Jan., 1994), pp. 26-44.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199401%2974%3A1%3C26%3ADDTWTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
The Journal of Religion is currently published by The University of Chicago Press.

-A Note on Nietzsche and Dostoevsky
Janko Lavrin
Russian Review, Vol. 28, No. 2. (Apr., 1969), pp. 160-170.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-0341%28196904%2928%3A2%3C160%3AANONAD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X
Russian Review is currently published by The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review.

A Catalogue of Suffering in the Works of Dostoevsky: His Christian Foundation
Richard L. Chapple
The South Central Bulletin, Vol. 43, No. 4, Studies by Members of SCMLA. (Winter, 1983), pp.
94-99.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0038-321X%28198324%2943%3A4%3C94%3AACOSIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
The South Central Bulletin is currently published by The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Prometheus and Job Reincarnated: Melville and Dostoevskij
Temira Pachmuss
The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1. (Spring, 1979), pp. 25-37.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6752%28197921%291%3A23%3A1%3C25%3APAJRMA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
The Slavic and East European Journal is currently published by American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East
European Languages.

Review: [Untitled]
Reviewed Work(s):
Atheism and the Rejection of God: Contemporary Philosophy and The Brothers Karamazov.
by Stewart R. Sutherland
R. W. Hepburn
Mind, New Series, Vol. 88, No. 350. (Apr., 1979), pp. 312-314.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-4423%28197904%292%3A88%3A350%3C312%3AAATROG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W
Mind is currently published by Oxford University Press.

“Banished from the Land of Unity”: A Study of Dostoevski’s Religious Vision
Through the Eyes of Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov
William Hamilton
The Journal of Religion, Vol. 39, No. 4. (Oct., 1959), pp. 245-262.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28195910%2939%3A4%3C245%3A%22FTLOU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U
The Journal of Religion is currently published by The University of Chicago Press.

Dostoevsky’s The Devils and the Antinihilist Novel
Serge V. Gregory
Slavic Review, Vol. 38, No. 3. (Sep., 1979), pp. 444-455.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779%28197909%2938%3A3%3C444%3ADTDATA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
Slavic Review is currently published by The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

St. Matthew’s feast day is September 21.  He is the patron of bankers, accountants, tax-gatherers and security guards.

Matthew was a tax collector, apostle, and an evangelist.  He was the son of    Alphaeus and lived in Capharnaum on Lake Genesareth.  The first Gospel was written by Matthew in which he speaks of his call to be an apostle.  Sitting at his desk one day, he saw Christ come to him.  When the Lord said to him, “Follow Me,” he at once left his work and followed the Master.  The people were surprised to see a Roman tax collector become one of the special friends and disciple of the Master.

Matthew also tells us of the banquet he gave that Christ attended.  It was a public farewell to his former friends.  Many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.  Jesus said, “I have come not to call the just, but sinners.”  Matthew wrote his Gospel to convince the Jews that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus Christ.

Matthew’s symbol is a young man because he begins his Gospel with Christ’s earthly ancestry and stresses His human character.

Matthew preached the Gospel among the Hebrews for fifteen years. He is also called the Apostle of Ethiopia.  His shrine is at Salerno in Southern Italy.  He died a martyr for Jesus in Ethiopia.

Let not the religions of old remain a mystery. O, Greece and Egypt, give up the secrets of your faiths. [Summoning]

The conglomeration of ancient religions deserves to be sorted out, and the ancient faiths remain to be examined in the light of modern day science. The remains of idols and sacred texts, the stories passed down through generations of families, and the landscape designs of the temples are waiting to be understood and appreciated.

“The Mysteries of Eleusis…were connected not only with Athenian and Greek existence but with human existence in general” 1 Religion is the blood of humanity. Humans come out of the cradle exploring the world and eventually begin to ask the questions that plague humanity daily. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? These questions have been in the heart of men since creation. Philosophy’s diverse branches lend man many different answers. Human kind has looked for truth and found answers ranging from “there is no meaning” to “find your own meaning” to “what this holy book says is meaning.” Humanity’s reaching for the stars in search of answers is reflected in her many religions.

“The name of Eleusis appealed to the throngs of those who strove for a happy arrival [in the afterlife] and gave itself to be recognized as the goal of human life” 2  People revered the diety, Eleusis, so much that they sought for happiness and meaning within her personality. Her followers formed a secret society to guard Eleusis’s secrets. The story of her life was kept within the walls of the temple. “Thus an inequality was created between the initiate and the profane, a division here and now, by virtue of which one group is blessed while the others go to their death in imperfection and uncertainty” 3 Those on the outside had no hope, but, on the other hand, what did it matter if they had no idea of what they would be missing in the afterlife?

1 C. Kerenyi. Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Page 12
2 Kerenyi, 23.
3 Kerenyi, 14.

Sophokles, in Triptolemos, went so far as to say this about the Eleusinian mysteries, “Thrice blessed are those men who, after beholding these rites, go down to Hades. Only for them is there life; all the rest will suffer an evil lot”

This sentiment resounds in the doctrines of Christianity in regards to some going up to heaven and others down to hell. “Beyond a doubt the “Greeks” are here contrasted with the Christians” 4  An interesting side note is that, from people’s desire to know more about the underworld, there came about secret ways to contact it. “The tubular clay idols, or sacrificial tubes, assuredly served for communication with the subterranean realm” 5

The beliefs about the creation of the universe also affected how people felt about their diety. The question of whether the diety was benevolent or malevolent arose. “Among archaic peoples there are myths and rites based on the belief that plant nourishment and procreation first came into being through the violent death of a divine being” 6 It can be thought that a being that gave its life and offers food and reproduction to its subjects is worthy to be worshiped. But one must beware.”No field of human experience is excluded from scientific investigation, and this also goes for religious experience” 7 If the world is accurately explained with no need for a god, we must not multiply our entities.

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.

The feeling of belonging to a group has long provided comfort to lonely humans. This happiness can be attributed to the joy of the diety, the cathartic release of emotion in the sacrifice, or simply the congeniality shared amongst initiates.

4 Kerenyi, 12.
5 Kerenyi, xx.
6 Kerenyi, xxv.
7 Kerenyi, xxii.
8 Georege Converse Fiske, “Review,” Classical Philology, Vol. 9, No. 3 (July, 1914): 337

“It has long been known that cult played a crucial within women’s lives in ancient Greece” 9 Men were involved in some of these cults as high priest or servant to the high priestess.

Arguements have been made that Athens and Egypt had completely distinct faith systems.

“There is far more evidence in Hellenistic Athens for, say, the (obligatory) devotion of ephebes to traditional cults than for the worship of Isis, which simply cannot bear the necessary weight of comparison” 10 And yet others say that because of the work required to find out about the period, we must make conclusions without haste. For “Greek inscriptions are difficult to deal with for many reasons, not the least of which is that the places in which inscriptions are published can be as difficult to find (more so in some cases) as the stones themselves were when they were in the ground, or wherever else they might have been” 11  It takes the work of men of old, men of renown to clear up the confusion. “contributions made by Homer, Hesiod, the Orphics, Plato, and the rest, [contributed] to the slowly advancing and gradually purified stream of religious thought and experience” 12

Looking back into history, one finds interesting correlations. Ideas such as that of “the whole course of Greek religion appears as a sort of paratio evangelica, and the           author well emphasizes the fact that the fundamental beliefs of early Christianity -revelation, faith, mystic union with the divine,and salvation -were presented to a Graeco- Roman world to which, partly through Greek religion and partly through Oriental cults established in the West, these ideas were already familiar and welcome” 13  It seems that all the philosophy, knowledge, and faith had to be brought together.

9  Richard Hawley. “Review,” Folklore, Vol. 108. (1997): 127.
10 R.C.T. Parker. “Review,” The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 48, No. 2. (1998): 511.
11 Linda Collins Reilly. “Review,” The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 103, No. 4. (Winter, 1982): 457.
12 Arthur Stanley Pease. “Review,” The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 11, No. 4. (Oct., 1918): 437.
13 Ibid.

“The final step was for the new religion to be embodied in the garb of Greek philosophical thought, and thus Christianity was not merely the death, but in a

larger sense the consummation, of Greek paganism” 14 A historical overview would be recognized in the following:

“For more than six centuries, during the last 300 years before the turn of the millennium and for some 300 years after, Egypt was ruled by foreigners-first by the Greeks after the conquest of Alexander the Great, then by the Romans. Graeco- Roman culture mixed with that of ancient Egypt and even supplanted it. Pagan themes derived from long exposure to Greek education predominated over Christian ones and continued in ever more abstract form even after the Arab conquest of Egypt” 15

This process was in no way immediate. Only gradually did Christian themes appear in Coptic art. At first a Christian could be identified by the ancient Egyptian ankh sign, the earliest form of cross used in Egypt. Later, Christians were shown carrying more traditional crosses, while small pendantcrosses were made to be worn, and cross motifs were woven into ecclesiastical cloths” 16 Evidences include “Papyrus leaves of Biblical and hagiographic texts [that]represented the earliest type of Coptic writing” 17 In regards to the gradual decline of the faiths into another system, “We have a good deal of information on more or less minor rearrangements of the administration of old festivals such as the Dionysia and Panathenaia, but see no diminishing in their actual practice”18

The focus on Egypt must be readjusted. Scientists and historians claim that

“Although we admit the reality of the supernatural, we must be careful not to place all unexplained phenomena into the supernatural category” 19 These intellectuals realize that

” There is a certain mystery about the occult which appeals to our curiosity” 20

14 Ibid.
15 Susan Auth. “Myth and Gospel: Art of Coptic Egypt,” African Arts, Vol. 11, No. 3. (April, 1978): 82.
16 Ibid.
17 Auth, 83.
18 Emma J. Stafford. “Review,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 120 (2000): 183.
19 Josh McDowell and Don Stewart. Understanding the Occult (San Bernardino: Here’s Life, INC., 1982):12.
20 McDowell and Stewart, 20.

The religious practices of the Egyptians were intricate and complex:

“The rituals for installing the storm god’s high priestess. When a former high priestess died, the daughter of a local family was chosen by lot to replace her. This young woman       was anointed with sacred oil and, on the next day, followed festive singers and sacrificial      animals to the storm god’s temple. At the entrance to the temple courtyard her head was shaved and all of the city’s numerous gods reconsecrated” 21

The use of animal images to centralize their worship of the god was used. Certain animals came to represent certain attributes of the god.

“Several religious cults in Egypt (that of  Apis being the most prominent) worshiped the bull and the calf. Deification of a live, “sacred” bull was initiated during the First         Egyptian Dynasty and continued throughout ancient Egypt’s long history. Bull cults of the Nile delta, which existed at the same time and location as the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt, were dedicated to Horus, ‘the god of heaven’” 22

Back in the area of the middle east are the Canaanites who also held in esteem gods turned into representable objects.

“The Canaanites  also venerated bulls. El, the chief god of the Canaanites pantheon, was referred to as “the heavenly bull.” Baal, the storm god, was likewise associated with the bull on account of that animal’s fertility. Artistic traditions from Canaan depict gods as riding on bulls, which had become living pedestals emblematic of kingship and power over nature” 23

Tieing up all the loose ends about Egypt, the following is conclusive:

“Egypt was a land of many gods and religious concepts. Each locality seems to have emphasized  its local diety. Over the centuries, several emerged as primary gods: Re, the sun god; Ptah the patron of craftsmen; Osiris, god of the underworld; and his wife, Isis. Yet there were dozens of others, representing the powers of nature, such as fertility, illness, the rise and fall of Egypt.”

Often the gods of Egypt were represented as half-human, half-beast, such as Anubis, who had the head of a jackal, and Sobek, with that of a crocodile.

21  Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION â.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.

The pantheon of Egypt was further confused by the fact that over the centuries the gods and goddesses traded attributes and functions, making a religion so complex that no one today really understands ancient Egypt’s faith. Worship of the gods of Egypt was actually conducted by the priests. They alone, with royalty, had access to temples. There the idols representing Egypt’s gods were awakened in the morning, bathed and dressed, fed their morning sacrifice, consulted, fed again, and finally put to bed. 25

The consummation of all religions might bring about a final answer to the questions of existence, unless only one religion contained the truth. It seems that to discover reality in religion, one must sort and sift slowly and logically through the pile. It seems evident that a “god” that a person has to take care of can by no means take care of that person. This is common-sense, yet many are lured into having religious statues of such entities as saints or angels or their conception of God. It should be thought that God is beyond physical representation. Many religions have practices that try to contact the dead to find out about the after life. It is interesting that Christianity prohibits this sort of action. Maybe, the answers will only come once the door of death has been stepped through.

24  Richards, Lawrence O. Richards Complete Bible Dictionary. Iowa Falls: World Bible INC., 1973. 328.
25 Ibid.

Bibliography

Auth, Susan.  “Myth and Gospel: Art of Coptic Egypt.”  African Arts, Vol. 11, No. 3 (April     1978): 82-83.

Drummond, A.  “Review of The Worship of the Goddess Roma in the Greek World by Ronald Mellor.”  The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 28, No. 1 (1978): 93-94.

Fisher, N. R. E.  “Review of Womanhood. The Feminine in Ancient Hellenism, Gnosticism, Christianity and Islam by Raoul Mortley.”  The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1984): 343.

Fiske, George Converse.  “Review of The Cults of Ostia by Lily Ross Taylor and Cretan Elements in the Cults and Ritual of Apollo by Mary Hamilton Swindler.”  Classical Philology, Vol. 9, No. 3 (July, 1914): 335-337.

Hawley, Richard.  “Review of Greek Heroine Cults by Jennifer Larson.”  Folklore, Vol. 108 (1997): 127.

McDowell, Josh, and Don Stewart. Understanding the Occult. San Bernardino: Here’s Life, INC., 1982.

Parker, R. C. T.  “Review of Interpreting Early Hellenistic Religion: A Study Based on the Mystery Cult of Demeter and the Cult of Isis by P. Pakkanen.”  The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 48, No. 2 (1998): 511-512.

Pease, Arthur Stanley.  “Review of The Religious Thought of the Greeks from Homer to the Triumph of Christianity by Clifford Herschel Moore.”  The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct., 1918): 436-437.

Reilly, Linda Collins.  “Review of Cults of Boiotia by Albert Schachter.”  The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 103, No. 4 (Winter, 1982): 457-458.

Shimkin, D. B.  “Review of Cults and Creeds in Graeco-Roman Egypt by H. Idris Bell.”  American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 57, No. 1, Part 1 (Feb., 1955): 152.

Stafford, Emma J.  “Review of Religion in Hellenistic Athens by J. D. Mikalson.”  The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 120 (2000): 183.

[I] Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ‚. Copyright „ 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Archaeological Study Bible Edition

[J] Richards, Lawrence O. Richards Complete Bible Dictionary. Iowa Falls: World Bible INC., 1973. 328.

Heroes and Heroines take on many different personas in different literary works. Some of the characters can start out weak and make their way up the mountain to courage. Others can be overly brave in the beginning and end up falling off the cliff to cowardice. In Nathaniel Hawthorn’s work, The Scarlet Letter, we see heroes of sorts. I consider the strong-willed Hester, timid Dimmesdale and feisty Pearl to be the heroes.
1. An allegory of a hero can be seen in the introduction of the Scarlet Letter. The following is a description of the land around the prison:
“much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. …on the [other] side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom”(Scarlet Letter Chapter 1).
I interpret this description to mean how one person can be beautiful and strong in the midst of ugliness and weakness. Among the weeds of society there can be those that are beautiful and innocent. Hester would undoubtedly be the mightiest character, for her strength gives her the energy to live on in her pain and suffering. The townspeople, “said that it [The Scarlet Letter] meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength”(Chapter 13).
Little Pearl is definitely the one with the most enthusiasm and zest for life for she has a fountain of youth and little demon powers. Her youth contributes to her desire to play in tide pools and dance around with out a care in the world. Her little monster demons make her naughty, mischievous, and careless. She walks on a grave and talks when she should not. Even though there are these negative qualities, I still consider her soul to be the most innocent and pure of all the characters. As a child, she has not really sinned. In contrast, all the adults have hidden immoralities. Interestingly enough the public sinner, Hester, has the ability to see the private sins of the people around her. Master Dimmesdale fights his own private battle with sin in total isolation from the public eye and also endures the guilt that comes from being the towns moral leader. I see Dimmesdale as a hero for his strong intellect and the larege amount of purity shining forth in his blackened heart. His actions of constantly touching his heart and wincing under the pain of his sin can only slightly undermine his being a hero. A powerful description of his weakness is understood in the following quote:
Confronting the emaciated and white-cheeked minister, with his low, dark, and misshapen figure, — “a sickness, a sore place, if we may so call it, in your spirit, hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in your bodily frame. Would you, therefore, that your physician heal the bodily evil? How may this be, unless you first lay open to him the wound or trouble in your soul?” “Not to thee! But, if it be the soul’s disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul! He, If it stand with His good pleasure, can cure; or He can kill!”
In contrast to the minister’s failing health, his religious convictions are as healthy and strong as ever. This is his hero-hood.

    The North West Indians lived from Alaska to California. In that area they had thick forests that rose sharply from the beaches. There are giant pine, redwood, and Douglas fir trees. There are also are berry bushes, good natural resources and a mild humid climate.
Their food consisted of whale, salmon, seals sea otters, and sea lions.  They used sixty feet long cedar dugout canoes, which held up to sixty men. They would spear the animals out at sea and tow the animals back with the rope that was attached to the spear. They also hunted bear, caribou, deer, elk, and moose on land for food.  They gathered things like nuts and berries also.
Their houses were built of large post for a frame and then covered with planked sides and roof. Several families lived in one house.
They made their clothes from skins and bark, woven together with dog or goat hair.
One of the special things the Northwest Indians had was a potlatch. During potlatch, the host would give away or destroy valued things to show how rich they are. Some of the things he would give away would be canoes, blankets, boxes, masks, slaves and more. The most valued thing was a copper sheet hammered into a shield. If he wanted a rival to try and outdo them in a potlatch he would destroy his shield. The totem pole was also special to them, it was common to show pictures or faces painted or carved on.
Orangutan means “person of the forest” or “wild man”. They are very intelligent, in fact scientists believe that they are the smartest land animal. In the forest they use sticks to get at their food and eat with, so they can also use a fork and a spoon .If they wear clothes they can learn to wash them. If they want something they can learn to use sign language. In zoos they are know as “escape artists” with using clever ways to get out.
They eat 300 different kinds of food, so here are a few, nuts, berries, young shots of Mangosteen, bananas, jackfruit, grapes, climbing bamboo, carrots, Rambutan, peas, potatoes, and breadfruit. With all that food whenever they’re awake, they’re eating.
The Borneo orangutans are heavy-set with coarse orange-red hair and gray skin. Their hair is more than a foot long hair on their shoulders and back. They have huge cheek flaps, and as they get older they get pebbly skin on their chest. This makes them look like a big, old, boxer.
The Sumatra orangutans are narrower faced, taller and lighter colored. The males often have long flowing mustaches and beards. Which make them look like an old wise man.
They both types mate once a year and nurses for four years.
Orangutans live in the islands of Indonesia, Sumatra, and Borneo. They make a bed in the trees by pulling branches together. They live for about forty years in the wild, but with medical help they have lived for fifty-five years.  Less than 4500 are alive today. Scientists believe they are slowly dying out because their forests are getting smaller.