Abstract
This paper offers a literary analysis of one of the 20th century's greatest comic and satirical masterpieces, Jaroslan Hasek's novel, "The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War". The book details the life of a soldier facing the massive bureaucracy, terror, and absurdity of World War One. As the novel's hero, Svejk presents an intriguing and humorous character who manages to make the events of the novel human, which is quite an accomplishment given the terrible events that took place in Europe in World War One.

From the Paper
"The Novel is indisputably a comic masterpiece that interlaces wit and humor into a chilling account of the atrocities of World WAR One, while commenting on both the absurd bureaucracy that marked the war and the terrible atrocities that were inflicted upon both military personnel and the general public. In this account of the Ausro-Hungarian Empire, perhaps only Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities can be considered a similarly detailed portrayal of the Hapsburg rule, but nonetheless The Good Soldier Svejk remains unique because of its inimitable humor and hysterical moment."

Tags:world, war, one, horror, trench, survival, europe

Abstract
This paper discusses how Jaroslav Pelikan, in his book, "Jesus through the Centuries", investigates the enormous impact Jesus has had on the evolution of Western culture. The paper notes that, although Pelikan never manages to break free from the Christian worldview, his book does offer a rich and scholastic chronology of the role Jesus played in Western social, political, economic, philosophic, and artistic histories. The paper describes "Jesus through the Centuries" as an ambitious undertaking which treats Jesus as a symbolic figure and historical force, and which mentions theology only when necessary to substantiate Pelikan's main ideas.

From the Paper
"The introduction to Jesus through the Centuries describes the conceptual framework for the book as evoking "The Good, the True, and the Beautiful." Chapter One, "The Rabbi," elucidates some of the problems with literal interpretations of the New Testament in understanding Jesus' life and times. Here Pelikan emphasizes the time lag between the actual birth and life of Jesus and the historical legacy he left. The New Testament, according to Pelikan, "resembles a set of paintings more closely than it does a photograph," (p. 9). The author therefore differentiates between early Christian tradition and the Christian scriptures which evolved later. Similarly, Pelikan notes how different and sometimes conflicting translations of scripture affected the titles given to Jesus of Nazareth. "

Tags:nazareth, judaism, christianity, prophet

Abstract
This paper explains that Roland H. Bainton's in "The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century" examines the conditions which caused the irrevocable contravene between Luther and the Church and its consequence for 16th century Europe. The author points out the exceptional value of the forward section by Jaroslav Pelikan. The paper states that the book is well written, easy to understand and has many historical facts such as specific details about the Diet of Worms, the institution of the Holy Commonwealth of Geneva, Henry VIII's break with Rome and William the Silent's great effort for Dutch Freedom.

From the Paper
"The medieval church entered into a different phase and experienced a lot of changes in the 16th century. This change was due since the 15th century. The Pentecostal church is said to have been responsible to conserve the three great spiritual reforms, Lutheran, Wesleyan and Pentecostal. All these revival movements were helpful to bring back to light the various Christian experiences that had disappeared since the early times of the church. This reformation started with the Lutheran Reformation of the sixteenth century. Martin Luther became one of the most famous German Augustinians. In 1506, he joined the Augustinian community in the German town of Erfurt and he also took his first vows there."

Tags:medieval, luther, christian, calvin, zwingli