Religion As The Total Framework In the time of the Medieval world, there were a few common beliefs that shaped the society they lived in. One of those was that religion was the total framework for understanding the human condition. This meant that everything that happened to these people, was seen through the Christian lens, and everyone accepted the fact that there was supernatural forces at work (such as demons, angels, God etc.). The book Year of Wonders as well as the film The Return of Martin Guerre, both example how life was like with the general consensus that there was supernatural activity at play in the human world. This belief affected how they responded to personal and health issues, as well as how they sought out treatments
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Throughout the whole book the plague kills off many people, and they spend most of their time trying to prevent it from spreading. But the most important question that they must ask is, how did the plague travel from a larger city such as London, to their smaller more removed town? In the book the first case of a plague happens shortly after Mr. Viccars receives a roll of cloth from London. Of course, the reader will automatically assume that the disease was transported in the roll of cloth, which is scientifically correct. But the people within Anna’s village would disagree with this statement, but why? In modern day, knowing about germ theory and how they can travel from place to place, this makes perfect sense. In order to understand the beliefs of Anna’s town, the reader must remember that everything is understood through the Christian lens. So taking that in mind, the plague was not brought by a roll of cloth, but it was given to this town by …show more content…
In the first book of the Bible the original sin was committed. This happened when Eve, the first women, was tempted by Satan to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. She then tempted Adam to also eat from the fruit, and thus sin was brought into the world. The people in Year of Wonders believed that we are all sinful because of this original sin, and there’s not much we can do to improve from our sinful state. Because they believed that humanity was so sinful, they also believed that God sometimes punished them for their sin. In this case many believed that God was punishing their village by sending the plague to them. During a church service the Pastor Michael Mompellion addresses the villagers thoughts by saying, “There are some who would say that God sends us this thing not in love, but in rage. They will say Plague is here because we have earned it in our sinning” (Brooks 2001, 100). But Michael goes on to say, that God did not send this as a punishment, but as a trial for the villagers. He encourages the congregation to rise up to God’s challenge, and draw nearer to him than ever before (Brooks 2001, 101). This seems to comfort some, including Anna, because instead of telling the people they are doomed by their sin, he inspired hope, preaching that God will make them even stronger after persevering through this trial
Throughout the whole book the plague kills off many people, and they spend most of their time trying to prevent it from spreading. But the most important question that they must ask is, how did the plague travel from a larger city such as London, to their smaller more removed town? In the book the first case of a plague happens shortly after Mr. Viccars receives a roll of cloth from London. Of course, the reader will automatically assume that the disease was transported in the roll of cloth, which is scientifically correct. But the people within Anna’s village would disagree with this statement, but why? In modern day, knowing about germ theory and how they can travel from place to place, this makes perfect sense. In order to understand the beliefs of Anna’s town, the reader must remember that everything is understood through the Christian lens. So taking that in mind, the plague was not brought by a roll of cloth, but it was given to this town by …show more content…
In the first book of the Bible the original sin was committed. This happened when Eve, the first women, was tempted by Satan to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. She then tempted Adam to also eat from the fruit, and thus sin was brought into the world. The people in Year of Wonders believed that we are all sinful because of this original sin, and there’s not much we can do to improve from our sinful state. Because they believed that humanity was so sinful, they also believed that God sometimes punished them for their sin. In this case many believed that God was punishing their village by sending the plague to them. During a church service the Pastor Michael Mompellion addresses the villagers thoughts by saying, “There are some who would say that God sends us this thing not in love, but in rage. They will say Plague is here because we have earned it in our sinning” (Brooks 2001, 100). But Michael goes on to say, that God did not send this as a punishment, but as a trial for the villagers. He encourages the congregation to rise up to God’s challenge, and draw nearer to him than ever before (Brooks 2001, 101). This seems to comfort some, including Anna, because instead of telling the people they are doomed by their sin, he inspired hope, preaching that God will make them even stronger after persevering through this trial