Publius Vergilius Maro: The Life and Works of Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro: The Life and Works of Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro is one of the greatest Roman writers and poets who ever lived. Vergilius, or better known in English as Virgil, was born on October 1, 70 B.C. He was born in the village of Andes, which was near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. He went from being the son of a farmer to being considered the greatest poet of Rome . He had three major works, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the

A bust of Virgil, from the entrance to his tomb in Naples, Italy.

Aeneid. Also, some minor works are also attributed to him.
In Roman legend, it is said that Virgil began his education at the age of five years old. Later, going to Rome to learn, he studied rhetoric, medicine and astronomy. However, he would abandon these studies to focus completely on philosophy. It was during this period in which he studied under Siro, who was an Epicurean philosopher, and this is also when he began to write poetry.
A group of short poems, dubbed the Appendix Vergiliana, are often attributed to Virgil and would have been written during his period of education. One, which is called the Catalepton, consists of fourteen short poems. Another one of these is called the Culex, which in Latin means “the gnat.” These series of short poems were attributed to Virgil as early as the first part of the First Century A.D.
After Octavian and Mark Antony defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 B.C., they paid their men for their military service by taking lands in Northern Italy and giving it to their men. Virgil, by inference in the Eclogues, seems to claim that one of his estates near Mantua was one of the ones taken and given away. In his Eclogues, Virgil expresses both anger for the loss of land, but also a sense of promise towards the figure of Octavian Caesar.

The Eclogues, From the “Roman Virgil,” Vatican Library, Vatican City

The Eclogues of Virgil consist of ten parts. The Eclogues, also known as the Bucolics, after the Greek term meaning “on the care of cattle, consist of discussions between cattle herdsmen on the revolutionary change occurring in Rome at the time. The First Eclogue focused on Roman power, while the Second and Third focused on love. Both Homosexuality, found in the Second Eclogue, and panerotic in the Third Eclogue, are discussed. Both the Fourth and Fifth Eclogues dealt again with Roman power. In the remaining Eclogues, Virgil seems to gradually create a new myth concerning his own poetry.  He takes

Les Bergers d’Arcadie by Nicolas Poussin.

the home of the god Pan, which is a region in Greece known as Arcadia, and casts it as the birthplace and origin of poetry itself. He continues to write about erotic themes. These include love that is both returned and not, in both heterosexual and homosexual themes. Also, he includes references to elusive women having tragic love and to the “magical powers” of song in getting an elusive boy to return. Virgil then concludes his Eclogues by returning to his theme of Arcadia. He casts Arcadia as the “poetic ideal,” and this idea can still be seen and felt in Western arts and literature.
Though most modern historical and classics scholars refuse to use fictitious works as biographical sources, many people since the writing of the Eclogues have often identified Virgil in some of the characters in the work. These include the old rustic who shows gratitude to a new god in the first Eclogue, the love of a rustic singer for a distant boy in the second Eclogue, and the master singer’s claim in the fifth Eclogue to have written many eclogues. These are all seen by many as reflections by Virgil on himself.
Soon after finishing the Eclogues, It appears that Virgil would join company with Maecenas, who was Octavian’s Agent of Affairs. Through Maecenas, who was attempting to bring literary figures in with Octavian to garner support with the people away from Mark Antony, he also gained connections with other literary figures such as Horace and Varius Rufus. It is most important that he had gained connections with Rufus, for he would later help Virgil with the completion of the Aeneid at the end of his life. It was at this point also, somewhere from 37 – 29 B.C., that Virgil would work on his second great work, the Georgics.
While the Eclogues, also called the Bucolics, were written in homage to the Greek Theocritus, who had been the first poet to write with the theme of herdsmen, the Georgics are so called due to their theme of farming. Georgics is the Greek term for, “On Working the Earth,” and is styled in the tradition of

The Battle of Actium, by Lorenzo A. Castro, 1672.

the Greek Hesiod. On the completion of the Georgics, Virgil would dedicate the book to Maecenas. Also, on the their return from the Battle of Actium, in 31 B.C., where Octavian and Marcus Agrippa had just defeated Mark Antony and the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, both Virgil and Maecenas took turns reading excerpts from the Georgics to Octavian.
The Georgics, completely published in 29 B.C., are written in the form of what is known a “didactic” poetry. The Georgics are so called due to their being intended for instruction and not entertainment. Its subject is farming and rural life and the Greek writer Hesiod’s Works and Days can be seen as an incredible influence. Also, Hellenistic poets Aratus and Nicander are heavily referenced as well.
Virgil also drew greatly from the work of Lucretius called De Re

Georgics Book III, Shepherd with Flocks, Vatican

Rarum, or, On the Nature of Things. This work by Virgil includes 2,188 hexametrical verses divided up into four books. The first two books consist of instruction in agriculture. This includes topics such as field crops, trees, small animals and legumes. The third book deals primarily with the raising of cattle and other forms of livestock, including rams, boars, and wildebeests. The fourth and final book deals solely with bees and beekeeping. Included in this book are discussions on the lives of bees, wasps and hornets. Though the topics in the Georgics concern the subject of farming and life in the country, today it is believed by some that these topics masked Virgil’s true intentions on writing the Georgics. This debate is fueled by Virgil’s digression form agriculture throughout the work, and still continues today. The entire work is marked by the opening lines:

What makes the cornfield smile; beneath what star,/

From the “Roman Virgil,” Vatican Library, Vatican City

Maecenas, it is meet to turn the sod/
Or marry elm with vine; how tend the steer;/
What pains for cattle-keeping, or what proof/
Of patient trial serves for thrifty bees;-/
Such are my themes. (English Translation from
Project Gutenberg).

In these lines, the subjects contained in the Georgics, as well as Virgil’s dedication of the work to Maecenas, can be seen.
For the final ten years of Virgil’s life, which ended on September 21, 19 B.C., he worked on his greatest and final epic, the Aeneid. The Aeneid consists of twelve books, written in dactylic hexameter, which can be broken down into two distinct parts. The entire epic work is based on the Greek poet Homer. The first six books are based on Homer’s Odyssey, while the last six are the Roman “answer” to his Iliad. Though spending ten years on the work, Virgil never fully completed it, for he died after catching a fever in the harbor of Brundisium. Virgil’s own wish was that the poem be burned, since he was not able to complete is, but Augustus Caesar, formerly Octavian, ordered poets Varius Rufus and Plotius Tucca to publish it, with as little editorial changes as possible.

Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598

The Aeneid tells the legendary story of Aeneas, who was a Trojan prince who traveled to Italy, where Virgil claims he became the ancestor of the Romans. The hero Aeneas was known before Virgil’s Aeneid in both
Greek and Roman mythology, since
he was a character in Homer’s Iliad, and Virgil, taking Aeneas’s slim connection with the founding of Rome, created a massive national epic for the young empire. He used the notion of the piety of Aeneas to glorify the virtues of Rome as well as legitimize the Julio-Claudian dynasty as being direct descendants of the founders of Rome, who, according to Virgil and tradition, were heroes and gods of both Rome and Troy.
The first six books of the Aeneid describe the journey of Aeneas and his followers from Troy to Italy. He begins the epic first with his theme: Arma virumque cano, “I sing of arms and of a man.,” As well as with an invocation to the Muse: Musa, mihi causas memora, “O Muse, recall to me the reasons.” After this he explains the central focus of his plot, which is the hatred of Juno, the goddess wife of Jupiter, towards the Trojans. Aeneas travels from Troy heading to Italy, but he and his followers are thrown of course by Juno, due to the fates have declared that the descendants of Aeneas will destroy her favored people who live in Carthage. Also influencing Juno’s hatred are other facts. First, Ganymede, who was also a Trojan prince, was chosen by Jupiter to be the cup-bearer of the gods, this was done because Jupiter was in love with Ganymede. Juno is also angry because of Paris, yet again another Trojan prince, choose Venus over her and Minerva in the contest over which goddess was the fairest. Because of her anger, Juno is able to

Aeolus, King of the Winds

convince the King of the Winds, Aeolus, to cause a storm. However, Neptune eventually finds out and calms the storm due to his unhappiness with Juno meddling in his territory, the sea. Ironically, once the storm settles, Aeneas and his ships land on the Northern coast of Africa, near Carthage. Venus, told to be the mother of Aeneas, convinces him to seek out the city, which he does, and there he finds favor with the Queen of Carthage, Dido. During a banquet, held by Dido in honor of the wayward Trojans, Aeneas recounts what had happened in Troy, concerning the Trojan War. These events described by Aeneas would have happened after the ones told in Homer’s Iliad. Venus sends Cupid, disguised as the son of Aeneas, to cause Dido to fall in love with Aeneas, and he is successful. Although Dido has sworn her fidelity to her fallen husband, she yields, and during a hunting trip in which she and Aeneas find themselves taking shelter together in a cave from a storm, she offers her love to him. Aeneas gladly accepts, and once they have had sexual relations in the cave, Dido presumes that the two are married. However, Jupiter sends the winged messenger Mercury to remind Aeneas of his duty, which is to continue on to Italy, and he realizes that he must leave Dido and travel on. Upon realizing that she is being left, her heart is broken and Dido commits suicide. Aeneas looks back

Aeneas Bearing Anchises from Troy, by Carle van Loo, 1729

and sees the funeral pyre of Dido and is saddened, but he continues on to Italy. Once they leave, they stop on Sicily, where Aeneas had quickly buried his father Anchises before they had landed near Carthage. Once they land there, they hold funeral games in his honor. Once Aeneas and his fleet reach the mainland of Italy, Aeneas, with the help of the Cumaean Sibyl, descends into the underworld. Once there, he both sees the spirit of his father, as well has a vision of destiny of Rome. Once he has left the underworld, Aeneas leads his people to Latium, and there they settle, and it is here also where he courts Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus.
The final six books of the Aeneid  tells of the war that ensued once Aeneas and his people settle in Latium. The war, which Aeneas wished to avoid, is attributed greatly to the scheming of Juno. She is able to convince the wife of Latinus, Amata, that their daughter Lavinia should be married, not to Aeneas, but to Turnus, who is the king of the Rutuli people. To ensure that war breaks out, Juno even summons the Fury Alecto. Seeing the massive army that Turnus has raised against him, Aeneas seeks help from the Tuscans, where he meets Evander who is their king. Pallas, who is the son of Evander, agrees to help Aeneas in the fight, but when they return to where

Nisus and Euryalus (1827) by Jean-Baptist Roman

Aeneas’s people are, they are being besieged by Turnus and his armies. Although the city held until Aeneas was able to return, both Nisus and his lover Eurylasus tragically lose their lives.  As the fighting continues, many great heroes are killed, including Pallas who is slain by both Turnus and his close associate Menzentius, who also died when he challenged Aeneas to single combat. Also, Camilla, who was a virgin devoted to the goddess Diana, was also slain in battle. Eventually, Aeneas and Turnus also face off in single combat. Turnus’ strength fades from him, and he soon begs Aeneas for mercy. Aeneas is actually inclined to show mercy, but in the end he sees the belt of Pallas on Turnus’ person and he is overcome by rage and he kills him.
With the death of Turnus at the hand of Aeneas, the Aeneid ends. Though it is known that the epic work was left unfinished by the death of Virgil, it is unknown if the story itself was complete or not. Many have argued that Virgil would have continued and ended the epic with the marriage of Aeneas to Lavinia, others contend that by ending with the execution of Turnus, that Virgil ends the poem with his view of the darker, more vengeful side of humanity.
Even after his death in 19 B.C., Virgil remained, and still remains one of the most influential of the writers of Rome. Eventually, Virgil was even “Christianized,” which would make his works more palatable for the religious. Reasons for this were that, in the Aeneid, he describes the founding of Rome, which was considered to be the Holy City, and in which Vatican City, the spiritual home for the Roman Catholic Church, remains to this day. Also, an important point in his Christianization was his seemingly prophetic vision of the coming of Christ in his Fourth Eclogue. In this Eclogue, Virgil writes:

…justice returns, returns old Saturn’s reign,
with a new breed of men sent down from heaven.
Only do thou, at the boy’s birth in whom
the iron shall cease, the golden race arise,…
(Fourth Eclogue, translation by the Perseus Project)

These lines were seen by some of the Fathers the Christian Church, especially in the Middle Ages, of speaking prophetically of the coming of Christ.
The tomb of Virgil is found in Naples, Italy, at the entrance of the tunnel in the Parco di Virgilio. Though it is believed that a church was built on the site to “Christianize” the location, a tripod burner, originally dedicated to the god Apollo, still stands. Though he may have been “Christianized” by those who came after him, this burner is a sure sign of the beliefs that Virgil held.
Though Virgil died just over two-thousand years ago, his writings and his life, still hold power and sway today. His legacy is that his greatest epic, the Aeneid, has almost as many different translations of it as the Bible. All of his works have been passed down through the centuries, and they have been read, studied, and cherished by many. Though not all would call Virgil the greatest Roman poet, it can be denied by no one how great his influence has been. From Octavian and Maecenas, to Dante, who claims in his Divine Comedy Virgil himself gave him the tour of Hell. To painters and sculptors, and now to school children and college students, his influence and his works continue to hold sway.

A stamp featuring a mosaic of Virgil which was discovered in a Tunisian villa from the 3rd century CE.

Bibliography

Boardman, John, Griffin, Jasper, & Murray, Oswyn. The Oxford History of the Roman World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Ferry, David, translator. The Eclogues of Virgil: Bilingual Edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999

Ferry, David, translator. The Georgics of Virgil: Bilingual Edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006

Kebric, Robert B. The Roman People, 4^th Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2005.

Levi, Peter. Virgil: His Life and Times. London: Duckworth Publishing, 2001

Mandelbaum, Allen, translator. The Aeneid of Virgil. New York: Bantam Classic, 1971.

Suetonius. The Life of Virgil (Loeb Translation). http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/suet-vergil.html. December 3, 2008

Virgil. Wikipedia Article with References. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil. December 4, 2008

Take Joy In Trials And Tribulations? – Father Michael Birdsong

This is an article written by Father Michael Birdsong. It was posted on http://www.midsouthdiocese.org/ as well as sent out by email. This article is posted by request of the author who is a regular contributor on this blog. JZ Holloway

Over the past few months I have been trying my best to rationalize why we go through some of the things we as Christians do. We all love those times of refreshing but what about the hard times? The world will tell us at times that the things that don’t kill us will make us stronger. Well, it really doesn’t make it easier does it? During these times I try and remember an olive, yep an olive. Such a little fruit but so many uses, yet the process that the olive goes through for a greater good reminds me of the things we endure at times. This is also when I remember the word, “Gethsemane.”

Gethsemene

Christians are familiar with the word “Gethsemene” because it is the name of the garden where Jesus was taken into custody the night before His Crucifixion.

In Hebrew, the word Gethsemene means “olive press.”

In its natural state the olive is good for food but, its purpose could be so much more. For that purpose to come to pass the oil of the olive has to be extracted and a time of crushing has to take place. The olives oil in Biblical times was burned in lamps, served as a preserving agent, healing agent, as well for cooking. It had great value in daily life.

The process used to extract olive oil was a laborious one. Whole olives were put into a circular stone basin in which a millstone sat. A donkey or other animal was then harnessed to the millstone and walked in a circle, rolling the stone over the olives and crushing them.

The cracked olives were scooped up into burlap bags, which were then stacked beneath a large stone column–a Gethsemene. The enormous weight forced the precious oil to drip from the fruit into a groove and on into a pit at the base of the gethsemene, from which it was collected.

We must receive the picture here that the olive while in natural form is good for food it must be crushed for the better good. Many people in the body of Christ have gone through, or are going through times of crushing. It is through these times that the will of the Father can be performed and revealed in our lives so the better good can be performed in our lives. This is why St. Paul tells us to take joy in our trials and tribulations, knowing that it produces patience, patience character and character hope.

We can see in Matthew’s account of the Gospel a glimpse into the last night before the crucifixion of Christ.

Matthew 26

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Here in this chapter Jesus is celebrating the feast of Passover with his disciples, instituting his own Passover feast and telling them that the time has come and his heart is feeling heavy of the sacrifice that he is about to face. Right away Judas leaves to betray him, Peter is about to deny him after boldly stating that he would die first he is now about to find himself totally alone.

It is now that Jesus finds himself as we would see it a dreadful place called Gethsemene, the oil press. Everything that could stand in the way of the will of the Father is about to be removed from the life of Christ. It is in this place that we can almost hear the words of Christ as he prays.

38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Jesus is speaking here of the Suffering that was about to take place. He would partake of the cup of wrath and suffering for all mankind. That we may inherit eternal life and once more have right standing with the Father.

42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, *if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

We must understand that Christ while fully God made flesh, he also was fully man. He wept, cried, mourned, laughed, danced and loved. Jesus knew that this suffering would be tremendous. That is why he asked if there be any other way. But his love for the Father, his love for the world, he remembered his words there is no other way to the Father except through me that strengthened him for this suffering. The greater good for all mankind.

Saints, we are no different. We mourn, cry, laugh, dance sing just as everyone else and just as everyone else we go through times of the oil press. But remember we have the same strength that caused Christ to say, “Nevertheless.” We have the very presence of God the Father living in us.

The Apostle Paul viewed our life as a great race that we all must finish. We have a choice in that race, to quit or finish. I challenge you today to face these times of pressing and know that he who has began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. St. Paul wrote to Timothy the following:

2 Timothy 4

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

I have finished the race St. Paul stated. I have stayed the course. I have kept the faith knowing that it is Christ in me that is the hope of glory. Through shipwrecks, beatings, left for dead, being in prison and betrayals it was Christ in him that sustained him.

I leave you with these words and may we finish well.

Romans 8

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”* 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Seven Deadly Sins – Part 4, Anger – Rev. Canon Robert Wills, Th.D.

This is the fourth of a multi-part series on the Seven Deadly Sins written by Father Robert Wills, Canon Theologian of the Mid-South Diocese, ICCEC. A new part will be posted on a regular basis. As a note, Canon Wills notes these are the Seven Deadly Sins recognized by a group of monks in the 5th Century.

JZ Holloway.

4.  ANGER—Emotionally intense Personal Irritation and Wrath

WHAT IS ANGER?

We  all know the person who stands at the elevator door and  jabs  at the button repeatedly when the car fails to promptly arrive. In  conversation, this individual finishes your sentences for you or glances constantly at the time.  You are very cautious about what you do or say to people like this because the can ignite suddenly into anger.

These  people  are exhibiting what scientists call  TYPE-A  BEHAVIOR.  Such people are motivated by either the desire for gain or by anger.   They are  always  impatient,  highly motivated to achievement, and  of  a  quick temper. Anger or greed seems to be the primary motivations of type-A people.

TYPE-B  BEHAVIOR, on the other hand is laid back, calm, slow to anger,  and less  concerned about time.  Type-B people are motivated by either fear  of loss or general anxiety, and are perceived by type-A people to be lazy  and slow.  Satan can use both of these personality types against each other, by accentuating the negative attributes of each one.

Sometimes Satan can actually kill a person by causing that individual to  become stressed out to the point where anger or fear can  effect  organ failure and chronic diseases.  Doctors have found that type-A people have a greater  risk of heart attacks and strokes because hostility  provokes  the body  to  create unhealthy doses of chemicals which can  damage  the  heart, blood vessels, and stomach.  For hostile people anger can be a poison.

This emotion is rich in Hebrew terminology, being represented by seven words, but by only two in Greek. Because the nose was prominent in the hard breathing accompanying an increase in blood adrenalin, anger was         commonly rendered by “nose,” The intensity of anger was expressed by such words as “fury,” “heat,” “rage,” “burn with

anger” or “be irritated,” “be grieved” The NT employed thymos to describe emotionally intense wrath and orge as the consequence of a moral judgment.

The anger of God is a deliberate reaction to all that violates his holy nature. His covenant people were commanded to imitate God’s holiness (Lev. 11:44), and when they failed to do so, they felt his anger, whether through natural circumstances (Num. 21:6) or other nations (Isa. 10:5). Even God’s chosen servants experienced God’s         punishing wrath, as with Moses (Exod. 4:14), Miriam (Num. 12:9), Jonah (Jonah 1:4), and others. All violations of the covenant agreement exposed the Israelites to God’s anger, which could only be averted by true repentance.

Jesus became angry with his disciples when they forbade children to be brought to him (Mark 10:14) and with the hardhearted members of the Capernaum synagogue (Mark 3:5). Similar expressions of anger were directed at the Sadducees (Mark 12:24-27), the scribes and Pharisees        (Matt. 23:13-36), and Peter (Matt. 16:23), and on each occasion represented his rejection of unrighteousness. Human anger could be selfish (Gen. 4:5; Num. 24:10), righteous (Exod. 16:20; II Sam. 12:5), or a combination of both (Gen. 34:7; II Sam. 13:21). In the NT anger is usually condemned (Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:8).

When does anger become sin?

Sinful anger is a destructive movement against another person for one’s own purposes and apart from God. It may take the following seven forms:

1.        Violent thought or wishing of harm to someone.

2.        Verbally lashing out at someone.

3.        Backbiting: Talking against a person behind his or her back.

4.        Murder or violent action.

5.        Enjoying the destruction of someone that you don’t like.

6.        Hatred and/or the desire for revenge at any cost.

7.        Prejudice and racism.

In sinful anger the irritable response turns around a basically selfish set of assumptions about reality, so that what we perceive may not be what is really taking place. We may imagine hurts or become paranoid, becoming even more angry for no valid reason. The person with whom we are angry may have no idea why we are angry and may have done nothing to deserve our anger, which has become irrational.

Intense striving toward poorly defined goals, obsession with the  way in which things are done, free-floating hostility toward other people, or a general  fear of circumstances can exacerbate whatever dominant  motivation is  present, causing potential long-term problems.  Free-floating anger  or

free-floating  fear  seems to be the single greatest cause of  pysical  and psychological problems.  Free-floating anger is a general hostility that is looking for someone to become the object of that anger.  Free-floating fear is  a general fear or anxiety that is looking for a circumstance or  situa­tion in order to manifest itself.  Anger is usually directed toward  people and fear is usually directed toward circumstances.

There  are several stages that can lead to the development  of  free-floating anger.

Stage one: distrust of others– expecting someone to take advantage of you or expecting an adverse situation to arise. In other words, look for an excuse to be angry.

Stage two: feeling a general anger toward a person or fearful of the circumstances. Let things get you upset.

Stage  three: Showing anger by lashing out verbally or physically or showing fear by withdrawing from the situation, while blaming and having anger toward those who we think caused the situation to develop.

Stage four: blame a person or group for your hurts and for your problems and imagine how your life would have been different if they had not done something bad to you.

Stage five: becoming irrational in our hatred and desire for revenge, the destruction of our perceived enemy, and a blaming of a person or group for our problems.

The Examples of the Anger of Cain and King Saul

Gen 4:5  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Gen 4:6  So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

Gen 4:7  “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Gen 4:8  Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

1 Sam 18:8  Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”

1 Sam 18:9  So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

1 Sam 18:10  And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand.

1 Sam 18:11  And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

1 Sam 18:12  Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.

1 Sam 18:13  Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

What Does God’s Word Say About Anger?

Psa 4:4  Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

Psa 4:5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.

Prov 21:19  Better to dwell in the wilderness, Than with a contentious and angry woman.

Prov 22:24  Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go,

Prov 22:25  Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.

Prov 25:23  The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.

Prov 29:22  An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.

Eccl 7:9  Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Mat 5:22  “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:23  “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

Mat 5:24  “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Mat 5:25  “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Eph 4:26  “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Eph 4:27  nor give place to the devil.

Eph 4:28  Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Eph 4:30  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Eph 4:32  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

How Can Anger Be Overcome?

1. Confess our anger as sin.

2. Forgive the person or group with whom we are angry.

3. Seek reconciliation with those who were the object of our anger.

4. Stop any overt actions such as snide remarks, backstabbing, discrimination, or other expressions of anger.

5. Discipline ourselves to see the world from God’s perspective, seeing those with whom we are angry the way God views them.