Month: April 2021

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” (Proverbs 28:13). Fyodor Dostoevsky uses symbolism in his characters and elements in his novel, Crime and Punishment, to illustrate the theme of resurrection and revival, therefore creating an allegory for the Christain Bible and highlighting his view on the importance of biblical symbolism which is represented especially in his characters Rodion Raskolnikov and Sonya Marmeladov. Throughout the novel and especially in the precursor to Raskolnikov’s confession, Raskolnikov experiences extreme suffering as a result of his isolation from society and crimes until, with the help of Sonya, accepts his suffering and chooses a life path of redemption. Dostoevsky, a devout Christain, uses biblical symbolism and references in his novels which not only reflect his own views on religion, but also his own life experiences and ruin. Pain and suffering are major themes in the novel and with Dostoevsky’s expertise in the understanding of human pain, readers of Crime and Punishment are able to sympathize with a murderer and a prostitute. 

A major conflict represented throughout the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoesky- and especially in the escalation to the confession- is Rodion Raskolnikov’s underlying battle between the side of reason, selfishness, and pride and that of the acceptance of suffering and love. This conflict extends itself to the battle between Raskolnikov’s former self in which he was able to understand the beauty of earthly elements to the new, rationalistic-self who is responsible for the murder and for his inner degridation. As part of his inner desiccation, Raskolnikov has placed himself outside of society and declared himself as a superior man, thus destroying his soul. This isolation is further explained by the “superman theory” in which Raskolnikov sees himself as extraordinary and therefore above all moral rules that govern humanity. His murders are, in part, a consequence of his belief that he is a “superman” and above the law. This theory can also be used to reason with why Raskolnikov assumed the power of life and death that properly belongs to God. Raskolnikov is only able to escape this conception of himself and his terrible isolation after a long period of suffering that eventually leads to his confession. This rationalistic self, however, also causes him to lose his ability to appreciate and enjoy beauty and the humane influences of life that are symbolized by water, which is a biblical symbol for rebirth and regeneration. For positive characters in the novel, water is an indication of the life-giving forces in the world. On the contrary, for the negative characters, such as Raskolnikov, water may indicate the opposite (cite source). For example, after the murders, Raskolnikov considers discarding the stolen property in the river, but decides against it as the river seems to him as an “improper or impossible place for obliterating the consequences of his crime” (cite source). He is not ready at that point to accept the healing power of water. His deep suffering additionally made him degrade himself so much that he considered death by water: “I went to the Neva many times…I wanted to end it all there, but-I couldn’t make up my mind.” (book citation).  Even right before his confession and his acceptance of suffering, he was still questioning the purpose of life and his reason to live. Moments before his confession at the police station, Raskolnikov is offered a glass of water in which he rejects therefore representing that his true revival and redemption is not yet complete and he can not yet experience the holiness of the redeeming water (page 531). 

Along with Raskolnikov’s displeasure with the earthly and biblical symbol of water, the use of other earth and biblical elements, such as air and sun, were also representative for Raskolnikov’s journey to confession. In an interrogation with the magistrate in charge of the murder investigation, Porfiry Petrovich attempts to convince Raskolnikov to confess to the murder and relieve his own suffering, “So, go and do what justice demands. I know you don’t believe it but, by God, life will carry you. And then you’ll like it. All you need is air now- air, air!” (page 112). Not only is Porfiry telling Raskolnikov that life can be better, but the reference to “air” represents its ability to rejuvenate and to “carry you” to a better life. The lack of air in Raskolnikov’s life is also evident in his apartment which is hidden from the sun and any source of light or air. Darkness and lack of air encapsulates Raskolnikov’s life. Not only is light representative of Jesus, but is also associated with beauty, calm, and religion in general. Sun and light in general is a force that can combat deadly theory, which could be the reason as to why Raskolnikov despises it at this point in his life. Prior to the murder, Raskolnikov is able to face the sun with a sense of calm. After, however, the sun becomes unbearable for the “feverish creature of the dark” that Raskolnikov has transformed into (source citation): “In the street it was again unbearably hot, not a drop of rain all during those days…the sun flashed brightly in this eyes, so that it hurt him to look and his head was spinning round in good earnest- the usual sensation of a man in a fever who comes out in the street on a bright, sunny day.” (book citation). Water and light are representative of positive aspects in Crime and Punishment that are devoid in Raskolnikov’s life. 

Days before Raskolnikov’s confession, he is visited by Porfiry where Porfiry declares that Raskolnikov is in fact the murderer, but he will not make an arrest, instead he will let Raskolnikov confess himself, for “suffering is a good thing, after all.” (book citation). This scene is a parallel of the interrogation in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus is interrogated by Pilate. Unlike Pilate with Jesus, though, Porfiry finds Raskolnikov guilty. Pilate nonetheless however still sentences Jesus to be crucified despite Pilate’s faith in Jesus’s innocence. Author, Distoevsky, contrasts the legal aspect of Raskolnikov’s trial and sentencing to divine judgement and mercy for Raskolnikov. While Jesus is condemned to death that is a necessary precursor for his resurrection, Purifry persuades Raskolnikov to take steps that will allow him a spiritual rebirth. Dostoevsky uses Christ’s crucifiction and resurrection as he views it as the best example for human resurrection into a new life for a man who has lost his life and found it again, or in the case of Raskolnikov, attempting to find it again. 

The lead-up to Raskolnikov’s confession is filled with tension and time and can be paralleled to the same expectation of Jesus’s arrest. Repeated multiple times in the Gospel of John was the line “No man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come” (St. John 8:20) until eventually Jesus spoke “Father, the hour is come” (St. John 17:1). This same expectation of an arrest, or in the case of Crime and Punishment, a confession, is paralleled by Raskolnikov’s mother, Pulcheria Raskolnikov, when he comes to visit her for the final time before his confession: “As I opened the door to you, I looked and thought, well, the fatal hour must be here.” (page 516). 

Another visit that Raskolnikov makes is to Sonya, a prostitute and the only character that Raskolnikov shares a meaningful relationship with. After Raskolnikov confesses to her, her response is “What, what have you done to yourself!” (page 411). Sonya understands that while he is still alive, a part of him is just as dead as the two women that he murdered. While she herself lives a life of suffering, Dostoevsky uses this scene to emphasize that no amount of poverty or physical suffering can compare to the suffering of the soul. Raskolnikov’s confession to Sonya is the first time in the novel that he is able to see himself clearly, which can be noted as the first step of his revival. Also for the first time, when he speaks aloud all of his rationalizations for his crime, he acknowledges them as trite and awful. In acknowledging and sharing in his suffering, Sonya helps Raskolnikov to regain his soul. Sonya also is the one to successfully persuade Raskolnikov to not only confess and wear the cross, but to kiss the earth at the crossroads: “Go at once, this very minute, adn stand at the crossroads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled, and then bow down to the whole world, to all four sides- and then say to all men aloud, I am a murderer! Then God will send you life again.” (page 433). By bowing down and kissing the earth, Raskolnikov is accepting his suffering which is symbolic and a non-rationalist act, thus leading readers to further believe in his path to redemption. This moment marks the beginning of his change into a complete and organic human being who is rejoining other men in the community. As his crime further separated him from his friends, family, and Mother Earth, kissing the Earth re-established his broken ties. This scene also represents the beginning of his search seeking personal regeneration in order to replace his earlier rationalistic ideal. This turning point additionally represents a  “fuse of the Christain symbolism of taking up the cross and New Jerusalem with the primeval symbolism of Mother Earth.” (source citation). 

Raskolnikov’s official confession at the police station and acceptance of his punishment and suffering shows his implied resolve to seek a new life- “This is the symbol of my taking up the cross.” (page 534). Raskolnikov finally escapes his conception of himself as a “superman” and his isolation after his final surrender to his love for Sonya and his realizations of the joys of such a surrender to love and to suffering.

Draft Enthymeme Thesis 

• Fyodor Dostoevsky uses symbolism in his characters and stories in his novel, Crime and Punishment to create an allegory for the Christain Bible, therefore highlighting his view on the importance of biblical symbolism which is represented particularly in characters Sonya and Rodion Raskolnikov. 

(Scholarly Source 1) Gibian, George. “Traditional Symbolism in Crime and Punishment.” PMLA, vol. 70, no. 5, 1955, pp. 979–996. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/459881. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021.

• Symbolism of water of rebirth and regeneration 
• After the murder scene in Crime and Punishment when he rinses his hands with water 
• Rebirth with water during baptism in the Bible 

(Scholarly Source 2) Maddison, Bula. “A Bakhtinian Reading of Biblical Allusion in Dostoevsky’s Novel Crime and Punishment.” Perspectives in Religious Studies, vol. 32, no. 3, Fall 2005, pp. 267–279. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001510206&site=ehost-live.

• Sonya as an allegory for Mary Magdalene and the Christ figure 
  • Manifests God’s own power of creation and re-creation
• Sonya as a prostitute of tradition who loves Jesus 
• Sonya as the sister of Martha and Lazarus who attributes the power of life to Jesus 
• Wisdom of Sonya 

(Additional Scholarly Source) McDonough, Richard. “WITTGENSTEIN: FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW?”Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 15, no. 43, 2016, pp. 3-27. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/wittgenstein-religious-point-view/docview/1779191832/se-2?accountid=9784.

The Russian film tells the story of a young girl and her life in an orphanage after her father, a priest, is captured by Soviets, therefore representative of Jesus’ capture and betrayal by Judas in the Gospel of John. The film, Seraphima’s Extraordinary Adventures, features a young Christain girl living in an orphanage in 1943 in a time when communists were oppressing Russia and persecuting Christains. Seraphima is the daughter of a priest who was taken away by Soviets and the church in which they worshiped was blown up and destroyed. During this time, Soviet authorities were brutally suppressing and pursecuting various forms of Christainity with the ultimate goal of eliminating Christain beliefs. The state officially denounced religious beliefs and declared them as superstitious and backward. Despite all of this, Seraphima remained faithful in her beliefs and to God and kept secret her most beloved piece of jewelry given to her by her mother- a cross. The scene where Seraphima’s father is arrested by the Soviets and the church is destroyed reminds me of Chapter 18 in the Gospel of John where Jesus is captured by soldiers. Jesus and his disciples were visiting a garden over the brook Cedron when Judas betrayed Jesus by leading a “band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees” to him (St. John 18:3). The band of men came with lanterns, torches, and weapons to bind Jesus and take him away. The violence and arrest of Jesus is represented in the film’s arrest, violence, and destruction of the Priest and the church. Unlike Judas, Seraphima remained loyal and faithful to God and did not betray Him. Also unlike Seraphima was Peter’s disloyal actions in denying his affiliation with Jesus several times when asked first whether or he was a disciple of Jesus (St. John 18: 25) and second whether or not he was the one who cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest (St. John 18:26). 

In both the film, Seraphima’s Extraordinary Adventures and in Jesus capture in the Gospel of John chapter 18, the religious leaders (Seraphima’s father and Jesus) are regarded as criminals and it is the nonbelievers (the Soviets and the “band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees”) that cause destruction and persecution. Another difference, however, is how Jesus held complete power in his capture and crucifixion. Jesus also knew that this would happen and that his death was inevitable. In the film, even though Seraphima is faithful and her family may have been aware of the suppression of Christains prior to her father’s capture, they did not contain the same power that Jesus had in His situation.

In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov preforms evil deeds of murder and is immeditely haunted by his actions, therefore relating to John Chapter 3, verse 19-20: “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” Men in this case, like Raskolnikov, love the darkness and are often tempted by evil. Raskolnikov is one of these men and is so drawn to darkness that he commits two murders. One of which is premeditated and planned for Alyona while the other, that of Lizaveta (Alyona’s sister) is an “accident”. Alyona who is mean and wicked was murdered with the blunt in of the axe with much force and many hits. Lizaveta who is king, friendly, and innocent was murdered with one stroke to the skull with the sharp edge of the axe in a quick manner. These two separate murders can be seen as representative of the two different aspects of Raskolnikov’s character. Immediately after the murders, Raskolnikov is struck with horror and fear and is tempted to confess. He is so affected by his murders that he becomes very ill. His dread over the murders almost makes him confess several times. Relating back to verses 19-20 in John 3, Raskolnikov’s “regret” and impulse to confess could be his temptation to step into the light that is Jesus and redeem himself. After committing the murders, Raskolnikov also further destroys his bond with fellow men as well as with God. His relationship with God now can only be repaired through divine power or grace. While his bond to God is not permanent, he will need to reconcile with God and come out of his darkness. The darkness as mentioned in John 3 is representative of that broken or nonexistent bond to God, whereas the light is representative of Jesus and therefore if one chooses light over darkness they are choosing God. This hope of reconciliation with one’s faith and God makes me think about baptism and its cleansing of one’s evils and one’s deliberate decision to choose the light and be redeemed. Redemption for Raskolnikov would be the restoration of his humanity and his demons being left behind and destroyed in the healing water used in a baptism. Raskolnikov’s greatest evil that later spirals him into such a darkness that he commits murder is that of his separation from humanity and his isolation. The question that arises from me for the rest of this story is “how can Raskolnikov change and redeem himself from the evils he has committed- his isolation and of course his murders”?

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, the main character is described to be a lonesome man who has purposefully isolated himself from all of society and is uncomfortable around others. Main character, Raskolnikov, is so consumed with himself and his surroundings and often even counts the steps from his lodgings to another place or analyzes the exact placement of furniture in Alyona Ivanovna’s apartment: “He was so immersed in himself and had isolated himself so much from everyone that he was afraid not only of meeting his landlady but of meeting anyone at all.” (Chapter 1, Section 1). Raskolnikov’s deliberate separation from society reminds me of a verse in Proverbs: “Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.” (Proverbs 18:1). This verse is referring to a man who has also separated himself from the world and seeks selfish gratification and accepts advice from no one. On this note, Raskolnikov is so determined to avoid his landlady in order to avoid being given a lecture or conversation at a minimum: “But to stop on the stairs, to listen to all sorts of nonsense about his commonplace rubbish, which he could not care less about, all this badgering for payment, these threats and complaints, and to have to doge all the while, make excuses, like- oh, no, better to steal catlike down the stairs somehow and slip away unseen by anyone.” (Crime and Punishment Part 1, Section 1). Loners as depicted in Proverbs chapter 18 as well as in Crime and Punishment have no interest in serving others or listening to what others have to say. Proverbs continues to say that those who are not interested in learning are fools and are only interested in their own thoughts (Proverbs 18:2). A wise person would only be interested in pleasing God, which Raskolnikov is surely only trying to please himself. Proverbs 18 verse 3 says “When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.” Knowing that the main character is a murderer, we can conclude that he is an evil person and with evil comes contempt for others. Based on Proverbs chapter 18 and knowing that Raskolnikov is a wicked person, his path of continued isolation can only be leading him to do more harm for himself as well as for others.

The Greatest Sacraments

Abby Harris

Just as Aslan was dragged and bound to the Stone Table in Narnia, Jesus was bound to the cross in Jerusalem. Evil watched and surrounded the scenes as both were crucified as a result of their righteous sacrifice. C.S. Lewis uses symbolism in his characters and stories in his novel, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to create a modern allegory of the Christian Bible, therefore highlighting the Christian tradition of reading the Bible allegorically, as seen in symbolic meanings of the Old and New Testament. Aslan, the creator and one true king of Narnia is a clear symbol of Jesus Christ in his representation as well as his narrative. Along with the allegory that C.S. Lewis installs in his novel, allegory can be seen throughout the Bible, especially in the narrative of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus as a prefiguration of Baptism or a Baptism in itself. 

C.S. Lewis, a devout Christian and writer, suffused many of his works with Christian symbolism and biblical references, including his most famous of novels as part of the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. In C.S. Lewis’s fictional world of Narnia, Aslan is the powerful, righteous creator and sovereign who ultimately sacrifices his life to save his people, therefore serving as an allegory for Jesus Christ, the powerful creator of heaven and earth. Throughout the novel, there are many notes of biblical symbolism, but the allegory is most apparent in the death and resurrection of Aslan in the climax of the novel. Aslan sacrifices himself in order to save one of the main characters, Edmund Pevensie (a “Son of Adam” (Lewis)), from the “deep magic” that declares that every traitor belongs to the White Witch for her to kill. In this way, the White Witch is an allegory for Satan, for whom sinners belong to when they are sent to Hell. Despite Edmund having already been forgiven for his sins by his family as well as Aslan, this novel as well as the Bible remind readers that there are consequences for sin. Like Jesus, Aslan himself is sinless, but is willing to sacrifice his own life for those who have sinned. In Jesus’s sacrifice in particular, He saved His people from sin and the detrimental hold that sin had over the world, and Aslan did the same- to save the people of Narnia from sin, the White Witch, and her evil reign. 

When Aslan is brought to the Stone Table, the place of sacrifices in Narnia, he is bound with rope to the table, therefore representative of Jesus being tied to the cross. Furthermore, in both crucifixions, Jesus and Aslan are ridiculed, mocked, and shamed with evil there to witness their death- Aslan’s mane being shaved until he was unrecognizable as a mighty leader (Lewis Chapter 14) and Jesus being publicly mocked, stripped, beaten, spit on, and doubted by priests, scribes, and elders (King James Version with Apocrypha, St. Matthew 27). The Stone Table in Narnia can be seen as a symbol for the stone tablets that bared the Ten Commandments: “And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone, even the tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.” (Deuteronomy 9:10). The Ten Commandments on the stone tablets promised punishment for sin, inspiring C.S. Lewis to create the “deep magic” inscribed on the sides of the Stone Table in which in the end would be the impetus for Aslan’s resurrection: “If a willing Victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the Stone Table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards.” (Lewis Chapter 15). The deep magic, or “law” written on the Stone Table is symbolic of the written code of regulations inscribed on the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments for which the “rules” constitute the essence of religious spirit and tell Christians what God wants from his people and what to do to be a good Christian. Like in the Bible, the “deep magic” is the Emperor’s magic and is written on the Emperor’s scepter as a part of the very foundation of the Narnian creation at the dawn of time. The law of the Ten Commandments and the Stone Table is woven into the very fabric of the created order. The White Witch is ignorant and unaware of the deeper magic that the Emperor of Narnia established before the dawn of time. If the White Witch had known of this deeper magic, she would have known that Aslan’s sacrifice would have ended in his resurrection, as he was without treachery and sin. In the resurrection of Aslan, the Stone Table cracks in two creating a deafening noise, again representative of Jesus’s crucifixion in which “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Mark 15:38). The tearing in two of the temple can represent the barrier between God and his people whom were trapped within the complications of sin that burdened everyone. The bridge to God was the everlasting life in heaven and Jesus was the bridge. In the case of Narnia, the cracking of the Stone Table was also representative of the burden of sin, particularly in the case of Edmund’s treachery as well as the evil burdened by the White Witch to the people of Narnia. While Jesus’s resurrection took three days and Aslan’s was a matter of a few hours, Jesus and Aslan’s sacrifice provided redemption for all who believed and those like Edmund who needed forgiveness and redemption for his sin: “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise form the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (St. Luke 24: 46-47). 

The last notable piece of allegory in the resurrection scene from the novel as well as in the Bible is when Lucy and Susan Pevensie (“Daughters of Eve” (Lewis)) are departing from the Stone Table after sitting with Aslan’s lifeless body for hours when they heard “a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant’s plate” (Lewis Chapter 15). When they turned back around, they saw that the Stone Table had been broken in half and Aslan was no longer lying lifeless on the table. Then suddenly, Aslan appeared “shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane” (Lewis Chapter 15). The imagery created by C.S. Lewis of the shining sunrise surrounding Aslan’s resurrected body is representative of heaven, life, rebirth, and God who is the pillar of light. This scene from C.S. Lewis is representative of St. Mark chapter sixteen when Mary Magdalene and the other women go to visit the tomb of Christ only to find it empty (St. Mark 16:1-6), therefore further emphasizing the allegory established by C.S. Lewis in response to the Bible. Both the women in the Bible and the Pevensie sisters are initially instilled with fear and uncertainty, but the emotion that followed the fright was gladness and amazement. 

It is clear from C.S. Lewis’s novel, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, that Aslan is an allegorical representation of Jesus Christ because they are both powerful yet gentle, righteously angry yet compassionate, inspiring yet frightening, and are as beautiful as they are good. 

Remarked as the greatest act of salvation in the Old Testament is God’s parting of the Red Sea, just as the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament can be noted as its greatest salvation. The crossing of the Red Sea as told in Exodus is often referred to by Christian commentators as an allegory for Baptism because of its purification, deliverance from evil, and a creation of a new existence for the Israelites. The redeeming action of sacrament is accomplished on different levels in Christian history- in the crossing of the Red Sea, in the death and resurrection of Christ, and in Baptism. While Baptism first originated on Easter night or the day of Jesus’s resurrection, it is often said that the crossing of the Red Sea was a “prophecy in action of the sacrament of Baptism” (DANIÉLOU 90). The deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt by Moses was an act of redemption and true “deliverance” from God is accomplished through Baptism. Redemption in Christianity is the “victory of Christ over the demon, the victory by which humanity is set free.” (DANIÉLOU 89). In the case of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus, the demon is Pharoah, and the Israelites are the servants of God who are victorious in crossing the sea without harm, while Pharaoh and his army are destroyed by the water. The Exodus from Egypt can also be seen as a Baptism because it marked “the end of slavery to sin and the entrance into a new existence” for the Hebrews (DANIÉLOU 88). The Israelites did not fear the Red Sea because it delivered them from the evils of the Egyptians. Another major allegory of the crossing of the Red Sea as a Baptism is the simple fact that Baptism is accomplish by the sign of water where sin is drowned, and innocence is saved which is exactly represented in the Exodus. When a person is Baptized with saving water, the devil is destroyed, and man is freed by divine grace (DANIÉLOU 98). In a moral reading of the passage in Exodus of the crossing of the Red Sea, as they were freed by divine grace, readers can have confidence that wickedness within loses all its harmfulness and poison after a Baptism. Pharoah, while being struck down many times, remained obstinate in his wickedness until he came to the waters and was destroyed. The Red Sea when analyzed as an allegory to Baptism can be seen as a baptismal sea.

God is often regarded as the pillar of light, and Baptism as an illumination. Like the symbol of light for God, in the crossing of the Red Sea, the visible symbol of God’s presence was the cloud that followed the Hebrews on their passage through the sea: “all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). The cloud designates the Holy Spirit which prefigures the union of water and the Holy Spirit as the elements of Baptism (DANIÉLOU 91). 

Moses in the crossing of the Red Sea can be seen as a figure of Christ for he was the one to strike the waters with his staff to divide the sea, to enter the waters first without danger, and with God’s command, enable Pharoah and his army to be engulfed by the water (Exodus 14:21-28). Just as Christ was sent into the world by the Father to rescue the people from sin, Moses was sent into Egypt by God to rescue the oppressed people from Pharaoh. What God did through Christ was provide spiritual salvation from spiritual slavery while what God did through Moses was provide physical salvation from physical slavery. The difference was being a slave in Egypt and being a slave to sin, for God freed his people from sin just as he freed his people from slavery: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” (Deuteronomy 5:6). The parting of the Red Sea not only finalized God’s redemption of His people from slavery, but also prefigured God’s redemption of His people from the slavery to sin. 

Bibliography

Carroll, Robert P, and Stephen Prickett. The Bible: Authorized King James Version. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Antiquarius, 2021. 

“Types of Baptism: The Crossing of the Red Sea.” The Bible and the Liturgy, by JEAN DANIÉLOU, University of Notre Dame Press, NOTRE DAME, INDIANA, 1956, pp. 86–98. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvpj7fjn.8. Accessed 30 Mar. 2021.