Freaks and Greeks
- Posted by on May 31st, 2017 filed in Uncategorized
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A rainy morning gave way to a beautiful day as we explored the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes.
It was interesting to see the Gothic architecture of the castle which is drastically different than what we have seen so far in our travels of Greece. The symbolism of the crossed archways and the detailed tile flooring took our breath away.
The magnificent artwork contrasts with the history of violence that followed the Knights Hospitaller. Hunter and I thought this juxtaposition between beauty and tragedy was a pungent reminder of humanities ability for both great good and evil. We are spending a lot of time in Greece around a philosophy (whether Christian or not) that differs vastly from our own. Dr. Putt talks a lot about in our lecture about the interpretation of the scriptures which is called hermeneutics. The word hermeneutics is actually derived from the Greek word “hermeneuein” meaning to interpret or to translate. The questions they were asking in the 14th century are the same questions we are asking today, “how should we interpret these scriptures?”
One hotly contested issues that we learned about yesterday was the use of icons in the church. When the church supported the icons many were made to help with the worship of God. But there was those who saw the icons as idols and when they came to power destroyed the existing icons. The scriptures do not explicitly give a straight answer on the use of icons so peoples hermeneutics disagree. As seen throughout history and explicitly here in Rhodes this disagreement of scriptures can lead to a fracturing of the church and even violent conduct. We are lucky to be able to attend a Christian college that celebrates discussion and discourse of the Bible, and attend such a lovely trip that will broaden our earthly and spiritual horizons.
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