Religion and Theology Essays

Three negative aspects and at least one positive aspect of each religion will be named and explained. Secondly, Christianity which seems the closest to the “truth” for me will be evaluated and five positive aspects and one negative aspect will be stated. In addition, it will be outlined how I am going to deal with the aspect I did not like.

The term "Apocalypse" (Ἀποκάλυψις) originates from a Greek word apocalypse which meant "revelation," "an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling” (Goswiller, 3). Apocalyptic genre of literature was written during a period of unrest and religious persecution, when people believed that their world being completely by evil forces.

Although a wide base of followers exists, Buddhism appears to be a religion of the poor, and of those who are willing to give up all their privileges and walk onto the noble path. The fact that the Buddhists are too absorbed in their own selves, abiding by their religion’s teachings, not much effort is being undertaken to spread this noble religion.

Following in the custom of his antecedents who “often have a Marian conclusion to their major documents seeing in Mary a model or inspiration for the matter treated”. Pope John Paul II always reaffirms his Mariology. In the final section of his would-be last encyclical, Pope John Paul II in Ecclesia de Eucharistia (The Church and the Eucharist) honors Mary with the title ‘Woman of the Eucharist.’

Regardless of whether one is an optimist or a pessimist, God has always been there for all, irrespective of the circumstance, but the question of His ability to eradicate the ever-growing pain and suffering in the world has always remained controversial to believers.  This paper critically examines the concept of pain and suffering in the world, in Christian as well as non-Christian perspectives.

The tradition that has proved important to me is Jihad. This is where Muslims believe that it is right to use force to enter territories occupied by other religions. This is an activity that has been observed in the current world with news of terrorism from one time to another. It is essential for human beings not to be selfish and insensitive on the basis of religious divides.

Though Luca had done other works, the works at Orvieto Cathedral made remarkable appreciation of all the work done by Luca. He worked in Rome from 1478 to 1484; he helped in the painting of the Sistine Chapel. In addition, the testament of Moses can entirely be associated with him.  In his painting, Luca brought out themes clearly.

Tantric teaching basically accepted and followed the Hindu gods and provided for their worship. This similarity of ritual may help account for the introduction of Tantra into Hindu rituals. In The Tantra: Its Origin, Theories, Art, and Diffusion from India to Nepal, Victor Fic postulates that Tantra may have become incorporated into Hinduism in much the same way that Hinduism infiltrated India’s aboriginal tribal cults.

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all use human conduits as teachers for the same God. Manichaeism incorporated the ideas of the Judaism history in order to define a new power balance between God and Satan in which the power of God was diminished to equal that of Satan through whom a balance was created.

It is a critical time in the history of the Church and the passage in Mark 7:1-23 must be seen against this particular historical background. There is one major theme throughout this passage, and that is the difference between purity and defilement, and the key motivation of Jesus appears to be to announce a very significant shift from Jewish to Christian thinking. It is a transitional passage, therefore, and this can be seen in two ways.

The didactic narrative indicates the redemption of the protagonist who is treated unjustly.The narrative is dated in time that would tolerate the simplistic assertion of the patient’s virtues suffering through a morally and innocent upstanding individual who at the end is redeemed by the previously apprehensive, now righteous judge.The book of Job has numerous frames narrative that arises from the shifts in voice, perspective, language and scene.

This is a critical point where the Gospel of Mathew is colliding with that of Gentiles and Samaritans.Where as in the John’s gospel the Jesus is conversing with a Samaritan lady and stayed there for 2 days which is also contradictory with Mathews ‘s Gospel. Here we can see that presentation of the Gospel of Jesus made by Mathew, Luke and John are wrong and not the uttered words of Jesus.

Translation could mean far from word to word technical message correspondence to the target language but also to promote the understanding of the biblical stories (Woodhouselee 13).The role of translation would contain; accurately represent faithfully, the meaning of a given text, helps to communicate to the intended audience the meaning of the given text for them to understand. 

For one to term themselves as falling under a certain element thus defend and look at the world from a chosen view, they need to have supportive evidence as to why they would defend that worldview, why they chose it from the rest, and how it directs and informs  their purpose and way of living.  

The Church’s teaching and law on marriage emphasise on the bond of marriage and even its validity. Throught out the church’s history, marriage has always been viewed as a holy bond that has been blessed by God and hence, it is meant to last till death. Sacramental marriage, which is between baptised persons is considered under the Code of Canon Law.

The passage of The Lord’s Prayer comes in the middle of the chapter devoted by Matthew to the sermons of Jesus Christ on how to make people establish connection with God the Father. These sections of Chapter 6 include giving to the needy which runs from the first verse to the fourth. The next section, from verses 5-15, is devoted to prayer, and this is where The Lord’s Prayer belongs.

Those able-bodied should help in giving nutrition and hydrating people in a vegetative condition and should continue to do so until they recover from their condition or finally succumb to their illness. The Church believes that an individual has ‘the right to basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth, etc.)’ (‘Life Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State’ no. 4).

The context for karma is not limited to just one lifetime, but is the entire series of lives of a person, so that particular circumstances that may not be obviously due to a set of actions done in this lifetime may be understood in the larger context of actions done in previous lifetimes. 

One may argue that the two vices are directly dependable on one another if a person is to understand them. People have different beliefs and approaches they embrace in terms of practicing religious activities as well as science experiments. However, considering the fact that both are abstract in nature, a person cannot be able to prove the effectiveness or the nature of existence of the two vices.

In fact, earlier caliphates were democracies ruled by either Mohamed’s first cousins or his disciples effectively organized under the leadership of popular institutions of justice, fairness and religious uprightness under the direction of both the Islamic laws and the medina constitution.The Abbasid Caliphate was such rulers in early Islamic societies located in central Middle East. 

The social setting that defines humanity can equally be applied in identifying religion, without the specification of the beliefs, practices, and moral values held by individuals. In seeking to define religion, it is essential to understand the various aspects of different religious denomination that apply to the whole aspect of religion. These can be identified as the governing elements of religion as define the conduct of religious individuals.

As political, social and cultural issues resurface between the contemporary ethnic Russians and the Northern Caucasus-Chechen minority group, this centuries-old-religious and ethnic battles continued in a war over national self-determination and territorial integrity (Murphy 2004). Chechnya has an Islamic origin since the Qadiriya Sufi and Naqshbandi established it. 

Nevertheless, each of these authors was still able to directly quote from Jesus Christ or his disciples. Some were even written much later. However, each of them had their own sources of information. This paper focuses on the sources of information used by these authors in the writing their New Testament books (Dulling, and Perrin 37). The first source of information for the authors of the New Testament came from their own experiences.

Moreover, Chinese culture has been developed into a system by in cooperating 3 religions into one whereas Confucianism has been taken as the pivot supported by Daoism and Buddhism. Buddhism has been with all levels of Chinese culture for the duration of 2000 years (Wertz 1). These include literature architecture philosophy, morality arts and religion.in this case, Buddhism has appropriately been incorporated in the traditional Chinese culture.

The General Synod in the sessions of February 2006 finalized earlier less formal arrangements by passing regulations under Canon B15A (c) (Guild for diocesan board of finance, 2014). The intention of this writing is to reveal how this policy will affect the life of the church as a whole. Also, we are going to look at how this policy is implemented and the process that the child undertakes before being admitted.

In the sense of theology, ecclesiology highly focuses on the Christians’ origins, how it relates with Jesus Christ, church’s salvation role, polity, regulation, vocation, and its management. Although various types of ecclesiology support various institutions such as Catholic Roman Church, ecclesiology refers to a specific church.Dulles used five models to describe the nature of Church, which include institutional model, sacramental model etc.  

Homosexuals do not just want to be heard nowadays – they also want to marry. The Church strictly adheres to the teachings that prohibit same-sex marriage, and a personal evaluation of the matter yields the same conclusions.First of all, based on a recent statement of Pope Benedict XVI in the Sacramentum Caritas’s, “Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of the true nature.

It may be cruel and unfair to say, but most religions, especially those of Abrahamic origin, will treat the woman as an afterthought.  This was evident in the Mishomis book of creation where the literal woman that is supposed to be the partner of man first came as a wolf and only evolved as a woman in her present form when they traveled together. 

For instance the classic great mission passage in Matt 28:19-20 in the book of facts[1]. From the start of the Canon there is a strong emphasis on the notion that the nations of the world would come to believe in the coming of Man of Promise. The specifics of this man have been given as the person coming from the seed passed down through the family of Shem and then passing through the lineage; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David.    

In the start, there is Bia and kratus, both were Zeus servants who were to carry Prometheus to the mountain in Caucasus. There are followed by Hephaestus, whose work is to chain Prometheus to the rock. Kratus says this is a punishment for providing fire to human beings. Though Hephaestus is sympathetic to Prometheus, and lament due to the fact that he must bind him in the rock, the other two urged him to go ahead.

The church became deeply involved in the political life of Western Europe over the centuries.This led to the bankrupting of the church as a result of the intrigues and political manipulations, coupled with the Church’s increasing power and wealth.The 16th century reformation was not unprecedented since reformers within the medieval church such as St Francis of Assisi, Jan Hus.

Thus, one consequence associated with Darwinism is the modernist theology.In Europe, there were massive changes in the Catholic Church whereby it experienced a split leading to the establishment of the Old Catholic churches. This division led to a widespread from religious belief as well as observance in Christian teachings and doctrines in addition to supporting for secularism.

Chinese society possesses unique cultural characteristics because it evolved independently by excluding itself from other societies. But the mainstream society in China accepted the influence of Buddhism because the same shared some similar characteristics with the main religious beliefs in China.

Significance, what is it? Significance according to dictionary.com is “the quality of being significant or having a meaning” (dictionary.com). In the book, “The Dynamics of Meaning,” Fadida describes it, as the search for significance in being human is ultimately a search for a nourishing truth about our condition.

Magic is disregarded in the Muslim community and the reason for this is that it may lead to death. This is in a situation where a person ailing may opt to go to a magician rather than going to a hospital. When the person goes to the magician who carries out acts of sorcery he may create an illusion in the mind of the sick person and make him or her think that he will get well.

Magic is a concept that started very many years ago and has been practiced in many societies. In the contemporary world, magic has continued to be performed and the reason for this is that people have made a source of income. This is a source of income for people that do not intend on carrying out serious work.

There are three contemporary positions of the eschatology, called millennialism, the Historic Premillennialism, Post-Millennialism, and the Amillennialism. According to the “Historic Premillennialism”, the First Advent Christ’s purpose was to die for the sake of humanity’s sins and not to let the kingdom of the Jews get established.

Those who seek power even in the modern world have been attracted to the magical pursuit, seeking monetary excellence, glory earning, or life-giving ends. From the ancient and modern magic, the lures of wealth, eternal life, and health have charmed several an alchemist to madness, poorhouse, or to ultimate deaths.

St. Paul is important in the studies of the New Testament, many theologians and even Scholars agree that Paul was a great and influential person in the history of Christianity. Paul's theology and his eschatology are linked. This makes it very hard for an individual to understand his theology without comprehending his eschatology.

Miracles supernatural powers and it does not happen under any given predictable circumstance. The fact that 4000 are fed and left over-realized is a unique fact in itself. In all the instances, scholars believe the leftovers are symbolic: the 12 baskets left over when he fed 5000 people symbolized the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament and the 12 disciples in the New Testament.

As the need to make their readers fully understand the concepts covered in their publications increases, authors use different concepts. Besides making their books interesting, authors are supposed to ensure that the information they cover in their books is useful to other scholars and researchers who may need the book in their studies.

Developing a paradigm for God’s ministry is important since it will serve as a guide on how each Christian should manage and govern the churches of God. To be able to effectively construct and discuss the foundational paradigm of a church ministry, it is best to read through the book of Acts.   

How to Read the Qur’an by Mona Siddiqui and Following Muhammad by Carl W. Ernest; are the two books written on the beliefs of Islam. Both the books were written to provide completely diverse alternative to previously available books on Islam. Both the books contain

The recent book of Ernst, Following Muhammad, has received global acclamation for outstanding achievement in the cultural background. The prime book presents a sympathetic approach to look at mainstream Islam. On the other hand, Mona Siddiqui is a professor of Interreligious and Islamic Studies and a British Muslim academic.

Many authors have focused on the Islamic religion because the Islamic religion has had a remarkable share of negative criticism because of blames related to terrorism. Across the globe, terror attacks have been associated with Muslims, and many people highlighting that the Islam religion supports terrorism has exhibited that common perception.

Religions of the world have had a significant influence on all aspects of human society ranging from politics, warfare, academics, philosophy, social systems, class divisions, geographic conquests to economic growth and development as far as human history can recall.

Indeed, any kind of advantageous experience is likely to reinforce the belief of a person in the presence of the higher powers. However, if there is a trauma or any other experience that brings negative consequences, the probability that a person will behave a decrease in the necessity to adhere to religious practices is higher high.

In Japan, this is quite evident in the way Shinto through embracing its varied practices ended up being a state of one religion before emerging of other minor creeds like Christianity (Ravitch 505). This is despite Ravitch (505) claiming initial and modern Shinto differs significantly, as the latter has somehow presently embraced globalization. 

By this time, Ibn was only twenty one years but he rose to the challenge of performing the Islamic obligatory act of visiting Mecca and making pilgrimage (Gosch & Stearns, 2007, pp. 121-123). It is also believed that religion was not the only reason as to why Ibn decided to leave his home place. He was also in search of a higher Islamic law institution, which was not found in Morocco during those days.This great Islamic traveler came back home after spending almost twenty four years travelling in search of knowledge, employment and pleasure. He is believed to have died in Morocco around the year 1369, though no one knows the location of his grave.

The exhortation explains that the mission of the church is to pronounce the good news of the gospel. The church therefore acts as a messenger of God. It was written around the 10th anniversary of the second Vatican council closing and a year after the third general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Deliberation of the clergy came to the conclusion that time for a new period of evangelism had arrived.