Heimburger - Davis: Ch. 1-2


"The Codex and the Canon Consciousness"
  • http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Christianity/Canon

Chapter 1 offers an interesting commentary on the nature of Christian doctrine that was apparent from its inception. The true effects and impact that invention of written communication sometimes goes unnoticed. In theory, writing created the ability for individuals to communicate more complex thoughts to each other through a systematic series of symbols, and to extent, this was true. However, writing also gave way to the inner voice that many people held in their minds that was opened when thought had to be processed internally and visually rather than through external and oral senses. The idea that writing was invented to replace primitive aspects of oral communication seems contradictory since the advent of writing lead to reading, which in turn relied upon the newly unheard voice within the mind. The creation of writing as a form of visual communication simply lead back to the hard-wired human behavior of processing sound. In this way, I would think that many religious texts make use of the inner voice, perhaps by attributing it the role of the conscious or of a greater higher being such as God. After all, the tone of much of Christian and Biblical text can be seen as culturally authoritarian due to the numerous lines of commands found throughout. This idea is supported by Davis when he describes how the portability and simple, list-like layout of the codex lead to Christianity spreading rapidly and becoming more authoritative over the mind. In fact, Davis states that binding Paul’s correspondence in one volume lead to an early version of the “broadcast” format.

            

 While chapter 1 discusses how the interpretation of different forms of text had an impact on how an ideology was formed, Chapter 2 focuses more on modernity, animism and the “spirit” of electricity. Right around the period of its discovery, new usages of electricity sprung up, and the new form of energy seemed to be tied to the spark as a religious biblical symbol of initiating life. Davis points out that the philosophical principles focusing nature as a gateway to transcendence in romanticism began to shift towards electricity and technology. At the same time, however, Frankenstein acted as a cautionary tale for what Davis sees as a new hubris in people.Frankenstein is one of my all-time favorite books, and I think it perfectly illustrates the traditional Romanticist perspective prior to it developing a fascination with technology and electricity. It presents of fundamental schism in belief that still remains timeless today.

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