last class notes!

Lesson 22: Ottoman Turks: Conquest and Conflict

Janissaries were the elite of the elite of the Ottoman (Muslim) Turks (Turkey was Byzantine). They were the blood taxes capture from Europe at early ages, usually being the firstborns.

There has always been a conflict between Islam and a hope for the future. There was a continued motive and theme throughout the literature; Western Literary Leitmotif from Dante, Milton, Chaucer, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Scott, Bunyan, and Buchan. Those fictions are more true then historical backgrounds of our modern writers. The fiction held through the morals and ethics (including the Chivalric Code). The whole culture becomes one. Examples of fiction then were Chansons de Geste, the Qu'ran, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Song of Roland.

Islamism didn't have to make sense under a microscope as long as you can believe the general idea without digging much deeper. Islamism teaches to not have a care about the present or the future. As such, you can easily strap bombs to yourself and blow other people up too.

Muslim - We are a part of the chain of being. One ontological and continual line of being carried down from Allah. You have a pantheistic type of view there. There is a little bit of "god" in all of us. We must make our way up the chain through revelation to full consciousness.

Christianity - we make the distinction between creature and Creator. We are fallen, dead, hopeless, and without any salvation. There is nothing we can do, no where to advance. God would be the one pushing us up the chain of being through the works of righteousness or Christ's work.

Muslim - God is totally impersonal and aloof. He has no pity, mercy, or affection. You either get what you deserve or you don't. You are judged by how far you get up the chain of being.

Christianity - Love of God is unconditional. Nothing you do will change His love towards you. He can't love you more or less. He loves without condition and not based on our works.

Muslim - Hope is because of meritorious obedience. It fluxuates from one day to the next. It depends on us and our works. The holier you are the better off you are.

Christianity - Hope is by the grace of God. We are gifted it, and we cannot attain it. It is only given through Christ.

Muslim - Works righteousness, good works, and people killed is all what gains you paradise. The better works the better off you are.

Christianity - God gives salvation by grace and you can't keep salvation by works (except works by fear and trembling or gratitude). We do it not to keep salvation, but out of thankfulness.

After Muhammad was exiled, he began to build an army leading to the cleansing: the slaughtering of the Jews.

North Africa (in the whole Middle East) was Christian from the middle of the 2nd century to the 8th century (600 years).

No country ever fell to the Muslims willingly and without a fight.

The Arabs and the Turks (Persian): they were both Muslim, but they were also different ethnicities.

Class notes

Guilds: Calling and Covenant Succession

The purpose of guilds were primarily due to whatever you were called to, and to pass it on to those coming behind you (succession). It was the duty of a father to either teach his son(s) or to apprentice them to someone else to learn a trade well. This was part of their worldview, passing on what you know to the generation after you. It's a very Christian-based idea. It was mainly done within the villages where it was the best place for parish life, trade and commercial centers, and continued traditions. Several important features of a feudal society were agrarianism, practicality, industry, craftsmanship, covenantalism, chivalry, gratitude, rootedness, stability, tradition, legacy and progress. With covenantal calling, we have different jobs and responsibilities. In the family sphere you have the primogenitor (the eldest son inheriting all the money and property when the father dies), the levitate (the practice of marrying the brother's childless widow in order to maintain his line), and courtship (getting to know someone with family interaction more thoroughly before marriage). In the church sphere you have discipleship, community, and gifting. Within the society you have the parish, motherland, and fiefdom; and because of the guilds, you had traditions, rituals, and standards. We can see that due to the guilds we have many important factors that influence us even today.

The guilds weren't about the barrels or the wheels or the candlesticks. They were about covenantal succession. Over time, passing on the passion so that successive generations can surpass past generations, reach higher, do better. That should be the goal for every teacher, every pastor, every businessman, and every mom. It's a part of the reason why this rickety creations, this peculiar notion of medievalism, with all of its faults and all of its flaws and all of its failings, with the corruptions that was rotting from the inside because of the fallenness of man and his institutions - nevertheless became a marvel of culture-building and of enduring impact which we feel to this very day.

A very random and not so great story I wrote during class (I was bored...obviously)

One day, a special day for all bakers of the kingdom of Dumdum, the king arose from his bonny bed eager to taste all the many flavors of rolls to be prepared for him. For nearly 2,167,329 seconds ago, this had been dubbed Make the King a Roll Day. The bakers of the city of Dumdum had created a club called "We Are The Awesome Awesome Bakers" (WATAAB). They were very bright. Their names were Bill Joe, Devin, Tammy, Lexing, and Stan. As they each hurried to prepare each of their unique and distinct rolls, they broke into cheerful chants. Soon, the dogs were howling. Bill Joe's specialty were cinnamon rolls, Devin's were grape rolls, Tammy's chocolate rolls, Lexing's basil rolls, and Stan's were eggplant rolls. Ah, the royal kitchen never smelled so conflicting! A skinny maid named Dedrie skittered through throwing handfuls of peppermints at their faces. This was to happen every seven minutes and thirty-five seconds. It was to be expected. As the peacock clock stuck five, a host of men dressed in black robes began to dance in a solemn manner around the castle while buckets of rice were hurled at their knees. Now, the five baking brothers (born of a man and woman formerly dubbed "the Frog King and Queen) bustled and scurried throughout the stinky kitchen. Stan was lovable, everyone knew it. However, he was the eldest and as so would gain everything once their father kicked the can. Because of this kinda cool fact, the other baker bys despised and abhorred poor, burly, and innocent Stan. His brothers were evil. They were constantly conniving to kick Stan's butt off the WATAAB club. Today would be the day, they chirped! As Devin distracted him with the proper technique of applying powdered lemons, the other wicked schemers placed hot chili peppers and chili powder into his lovely, delicious eggplant rolls. Poor clueless Stan. The king gleefully sucked upon the delicate and delectable munchies...until he came upon lovable Stan's very unique rolls. His face twisted into shapes unknown to anyone. Stan sat and sobbed. "How? How?!" he cried. "Out! Out!!" screamed his brothers. Thus, our dear sad hero was turned away from his frog palace and parents due to his unaccounted shame. He moved on to marry the prettiest and smartest girl in the town of UNoMoreNow and had 15 children. He became extremely famous thanks to his unprecedented eggplant rolls. None were like them within 1,282 kilometers.

The End