<p>A promise is split into a dichotomy of two categories: the divine versus man and man versus man. The latters kind of promise is easily susceptible to change because of our human nature. As a human being, we do not meet our verbal promises or a promise of any kind with obligation. This promise is met only if it gives us mutual benefits in return. As crude as it seems, we are innately driven by desire to act out of our own self interest. We not have a sense of duty to be actuated to fulfill our obligation unless we have a motive to do so. We break promises with extenuating circumstances. According to the definition of promise, a promise is a declaration that something will or will not be done. We have made up the word promise to a situation where we feel we have a moral obligation to fulfill an action. According to The Book of Luke and The Lais of Marie De France are two literary paradigms that exemplify the idea that our human nature is incapable of performing the promise unless there are strings attached to our words.</p>
<p>In the Lais of Marie De France, Bisclavret tells his wife, I love you more than the whole world, a promise that his wife eventually betrays. It is the human nature that makes the substance of the promise tentative; we are constantly susceptible to a sudden change of desire straying us from the promise we make, somewhat like the biblical Adam and Eve whose desire to eat the fruit of knowledge of evil blinded them from making the promise that they initially swore with complete devotion. In this poem, Bisclavret would come home absent for three days every week. His worried wife questions him and promises on pg. 69,</p>
<p> I love you more than the whole world. You must not hide anything from me or doubt me in any way. That would not seem not like true love. What have I done wrong?.. </p>
<p>; she foolishly makes an extreme promise as she is comforted by his affection towards her. As she is reassured she makes a promise of her love towards Bisclavret out of a whim not because of love. To her horror, Bisclavret discloses his identity that he is a werewolf at nighttime feeding off the prey he captures. The text says that She no longer wished to lie with him. Her fickle promise is dependent upon her own self interest, the drive to fulfill this promise. To the readers condescension, she summons a knight who she had never loved him or promised him her affection. (69) She is bent towards her own desires and takes extreme measures to break the promise she made as she snatches Bisclavrets clothes from its hiding place to trap Bisclavret in his wolf form. For her security and a better future, the shattered promise is catalyzed by her selfish desires. If there is utility in it we seize to fulfill the promise, however when we realize that there isnt much for us we do not go abide our promises. That is the human faculty with our promises. If we see great desire in something, humans are prone to making the most ignorant decisions bringing unwarranted consequences, which in this case, noseless offspring of the wife.</p>
<pre><code>In the Bible, God promises mankind that everyone who believes in [Him] may not perish but may have eternal life.(John 3:16) In the book of John, the fishermen, Simon Peter, James, and John leave their nets as they see Jesus miraculously multiplying the fish caught in their nets. Crowds would gather around him as they hear the miracles he does with lepers, the paralyzed, and the devil driven men. The zeal and devotion expressed by his disciples are innately driven by their self interests; although, they may keep the promise to believe in God, this promise is unknowingly propelled by their greed. The outcomes of the promise between God and man outweigh the trouble of keeping their promise to spread the word. Salvation. Eternal life. They may think that believing is the benefit for mankind, but rather this promise they are fulfilling is for their own satisfaction. No action can be required of us as our duty, unless there is actuating motive in our human nature to propel us to do the action.
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<p>But how is this promise kept or maintained? Because everyone is self interested, no promise would be kept unless it is in the individuals self interest. In order for this agreement to work, there must be something or someone that enforces this promise that is we need someone who will punish anyone who breaks this promise, who is the sovereign. Promises are more trustworthy as we have an adequate reason to behave justly. We know that the sovereign will ensure that the promise is kept. This is the case as we compare the promise between man and man and the promise between man and divine. The levels of trust differ between man and man and man and divine. This also plays into factor with the promise held between two individuals.</p>
<pre><code>The promise between a human and a human is more tentative than a promise between man and the divine. We see in the Marie Bisclavret where the promise between the king and Bisclavret is kept. The king promises the wolf to offer him protection and provide him plenty of food promising that no harm will be inflicted upon him. The king asserts the dual role of the divine and human, the dual role of the public and private role. As the king, he is obligated to maintain the internal disorder of his kingdom and also is seen as the omnipotent, someone who can see the inner soul of mankind. Unlike the man and man relationship with the wife and Bisclavret, his wife fails to see the soul as the human transformed into a wolf. The king, however, sees the soul inside of Bisclavret,and saw the nobility and the gentility of the beast. Likewise,
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<p>God sees the good inside, and therefore we see the strong relationship he holds among his disciples and the ills. Its this faith we hold with the divine that makes the promise differ from the promise we make with people in mankind. </p>
<p>Human nature tends to make promises are without ever remaining stable and unwavering… As time fleets, the promise between God and human is immobile and is not subject to change; however, a promise made by man with another is tentative and shakeable. From Bisclavret, human nature to keep promises differs from the divine and human. It is the vile and abject condition of humanity as we consider Bisclavrets relationship as the wife abandons her promise that she once professed with love.</p>