During our most recent class on Friday, we talked a lot about interpretations and meaning. I imagine these ideas were important and controversial during Augustine's time and they are still predominant in today's society.  Most people interpret ideas and concepts differently and the inferences made by different people are never the same.  According to Augustine, there are multiple meanings of scripture, and all of these meanings are valid so long as they don't go against basic christian values, such as "worship God."  There is also note of literal and metaphorical interpretations.  According to Augustine, any ideas that offend morals should be taken as metaphorical instead of literal.  

Say there are two people, for instance, who disagree about some religion because some of that religion's follower's killed some people for land.  One of the two people might say that this religion is evil and immoral because they killed many people, while the other might say that we must investigate the intention and cause before drawing conclusions about those people and the religion.  Augustine would agree with the second person and say that no person has the right to judge an entire religion because of the acts of a few of there followers.  All religions have different interpretations.  Some are positive and some are negative but we can't place a judgement on a religion based on one or a few peoples actions.

To refer that to modern times, we know that the members of Al-Qaeda follow the muslim religion.  There are some citizens in the United States think that muslims are now associated with terrorists, but Augustine and most people would argue that we can't pin that judgement on muslims just because a few of their followers think that terrorism is an acceptable way of life.  Another thing about terrorists is that there are few people who interpret their behavior as just.  This population is slim but this only stresses the fact that there are people who interpret things differently than the majority of humans.

Knowledge

I feel that a point made in Augustine's On Christian Teachings that could be used to interpret the Psalms is found early on, when Augustine talks about the seven stages toward finding wisdom.  The third stage, knowledge, could be used to help us interpret The Book of Psalms.  Being the third stage right after fear and holiness, this stage is reachable by almost every person which makes is relatable because many of the people who read the psalms are average ordinary people looking for guidance.  

In this stage, "every student of divine scripture exerts himself ... and will find that he must love god with his whole heart, his whole soul, and his whole mind, and his neighbor as himself - in other words, his love for his neighbor should be totally related to God." In reference to the Psalms, one has to love god entirely because sometimes God will do things which one may not understand.  "It is at this point that the fear which makes him ponder the judgement of God, and the holiness which makes it impossible for him not to admit and submit to the authority of the holy books, compel him to deplore his own condition." In reference to this are the psalms of supplication, where it seems God has left and one must ask him to return and give help.  In order for God to return and offer aid, one must leave fear behind and continue to believe in God or he may be lost forever. 

Also, there are many psalms which include violence.  This could be read as the violence occurring when the love for neighbors is broken and is no longer related to God.  If one loves his neighbor just like his own self-love, then there would be no violence or bloodshed, but rather knowledge and love for one another.  The third stage of knowledge is applicable to all, and is also has connections to many of the Psalms, thus making the third stage of knowledge very useful when interpreting the Psalms. 

Nature

In our last class meeting we discussed how the psalms are connected to nature.  We made some interesting inferences and conclusions which help us understand some of the ideas expressed in the Book of Psalms.  One of these ideas was how god is a creator.  Nature is referred to as "The work of God's hands."  Whoever wrote the initial version of these psalms could have used the word "nature" but instead used a phrase which seems to make nature seem sacred, and a blessing to have.  Psalm 104 quotes, "All the earth is filled with Your riches." This once again stresses the important and sacred qualities that are believed to be in the world that we live in. There are also moments in the psalms which seem to give humans a sort of responsibility to take care of nature.  We take nature for granted and sometimes don't realize that God does not only give, but is also capable and willing to take away. 

Psalm 104 makes our ties to nature even stronger by quoting, "You withdraw their breath and they perish, and to dust they return.  When you send for Your breath, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth."  This line is a literal translation of the circle of life.  As interpreted by the Catholics, we all began as dust, and then we were created by god, and one day we will return to dust and be one with the earth.

Being a roman catholic, I think that the human connection with nature and the earth is important.  One of the important times of the catholic year is lent, which all begins with ash Wednesday.  On this day we receive ashes on our forehead, not only to begin lent, but to also remember that, metaphorically, we are all dust, one day we will all return to dust and be one with the earth.  That is one example in roman catholic belief, but even if it is not religious, I still believe that we are strongly connected to nature and that many people take it for granted. 

Ethics

I believe that the Book of Psalms shows the reader a kind of grey area about ethics.  I don't think it tackles ethics right on, but rather gives people guidelines and "words of wisdom" about how to live their lives.  As seen in every Psalm reading, the main idea is to worship god.  If you worship god, and believe and honor his moral and ethical guidelines, then you will live a healthy and full life.  There are many ethical stances reflected in this book, and one of them is that one should not steal.

In Psalm 50, lines 8-9 the text reads, "I shall not take from your house a bull, nor goats from your pens."  This is referring to how the main character in this psalm will not steal from any other man.  This is interesting because it corresponds directly to one of Moses' Ten Commandments, "Thou shall not steal."  This guideline relates directly to Christianity because it comes right from one of the foundations of Christian belief.

A second reference comes from the Commandment, "Thou shall not bear false witness." This is of course talking about lying.  There are many Psalms which discuss this but one in particular is Psalm 5, "You destroy the pronouncers of lies, a man of blood and deceit the Lord loathes."  This stresses the ethics of telling truths, and not lying.  Just as the first guideline I found, this guideline refers back to the Ten Commandments, in a very catholic manner.  

Another reference to the Ten Commandments comes from Psalm 79. On lines 3-4, the psalm reads "They have spilled their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is none to bury them.  We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, scorn and contempt to all around us."  I interpret this as the Commandment "Thou shall not kill."  This quote says that by spilling the blood of Jerusalem, we have become a disgrace and scorn will come to us.  This is also noting of how god will punish us if we don't follow his laws of life.  I see many ethical stances coming from these psalms, many of them related to the teachings and interpretations of god, through other humans, such as Moses.

David

Many of  the Psalms that we have been reading have been a "David Psalm."  David was an interesting person and it is interesting to investigate the man who is behind many of the Psalms.  David was a king from about 1000 B.C.  We have seen through all many of the readings that David was strongly connected to music.  In the beginning of a large percentage of the Psalms, David's name is preceded by some musical commands, such as "To the lead player on the eight-stringed lyre."  This is significant because David become known partly due to the fact that he restored Saul's spirit by playing the Lyre.  In the Psalm Samuel 16.14-23, the lord departs from Saul and he begins to be tormented by an evil spirit.  Saul needs a good musician to rid him of the evil spirits and David rises to the occasion, ridding Saul of his tormentors by playing the Lyre.

This musical aspect of healing is very important to the Psalms.  As with any religion there is always some sort of individual connection with the divine, but group interaction and worship is key to any religion.  Music allows this to happen.  It is much easier to get a group of people involved with worship though song than it would be with only one person speaking to a crowd of followers.  David is directly connected to this because he was actually the first person to implement group worship for god outside of the temple.  I cannot be positive, but I could make a very good hypothesis that in David's sermons and teachings, song was used frequently to get the congregation involved.

Another interesting note about David is that he is a sinner, just like every mortal.  He committed adultery, one of the most look-downed upon sins.  David being a role model gives these mortals some sense of reassurance when they sin because they can think that they will be forgiven just as David will be.  All of David's Psalms reflect what people see in David, from his pre-temple worship, to music, and finally to his sinning, and how to be forgiven. 

Psalm #2

For this post I think that I am going to start at the beginning of the Psalm and work my way toward the end.  The Psalm starts off with a question, "Why rage the heathen furiously?" I interpret this as the author doubting the human race, possibly asking the nobility why are they enraging the lord.  Even though the author doesn't directly it,  I am assuming that that the people of royalty are sinning because they are "with one consent against the Lord."  Because these people are sinning and conspiring against the Lord, they will be forever punished when they reach heaven.  The first half of the Psalm seems like a warning to those people of nobility who are sinning.  The author is saying that if you do not follow the Lord's way, then you will have an eternity of misery in the afterlife.

The author goes on to mention the kings as the "judges" of the world.  This has some irony because in actuality, the Lord is the judge of the world, and the kings are only the judges of the land.  The kings may decide what happens in their kingdom and in their lands, but if they sin at all, the Lord will have revenge in the afterlife.  The Lord is so much more powerful than these kings, that they kings have to "serve the lord with reverence, rejoyce in him with fear."  This is interesting because it is almost as if the author is making out the Lord as something to be frightened of.  I have always seen God as forgiving and merciful, yet this author is making him out as more of a punishing wrathful Lord.

Overall I find this Psalm somewhat aggressive and making the Lord out to be more evil then is intended.  There are many lines where the author talks about the Lord mocking those of nobility as well as the nobles rejoicing in fear.  There is also a recurring theme reminding the sinners that God will have his vengeance in the afterlife.  This seems like a very negative Psalm and I don't particularly like it.

Oneota Pottery

In chapter seven in the Indian Mounds Book, Birmingham talks about the pottery of the Oneota tribe.  As noted in the novel, these vessels were thin-walled and decorated with patterns using some sort of blunt object.  I find it very interesting how these patterns and designs changed of the years based on other people who inhabited the area with the Oneota.  The patterns were first based after the Mississippians and contained such designs as interlocking scrolls, curved lines, chevrons, and geometric figures.  After the decline of the Mississippians, the Oneota's decorations dealt with the upperworld and lowerworld themes very similar to the effigy mounds.

I think that the mirroring between the effigy mounds and the Oneota Pottery is very interesting.  The effigy mounds were constructed starting in about 700 a.d. and the Oneota Pottery did not commence until around 1000 a.d. This connection shows some sort of bridge in the time periods based on what native american tribes thought as possibly sacred but undoubtedly important.  Located in western Wisconsin were mostly upperworld designs, such as hawks, falcons, and other powerful birds.  In the east were predominately lowerworld symbols like the lizard or water spirit.

Another very important connection between the mounds and the pottery is that the Ho-Chunk and the Oneota are believed to be related.  The similarities between the effigy mounds and the pottery designs make more sense now because related tribes usually have the save values and symbols of importance.  I thought the parallels between the mounds and the pottery were too striking to go unnoticed and I think that this is another clue to a possible ancient religion of the native americans who once roamed this land.