Religion and Theology Essays

These people were followers and disciples of Jesus himself, who taught them and moved them to proclaim the Word to the rest of the world. These gospels were meant to guide us, teach us, rebuke us, and comfort us whenever we need such. The Word of God is often misunderstood and taken out of context, but it was made to help and change the hearts of men and bring them back to God.

On the other hand, there are things that we would rather keep hidden in our closets. We all conceal things that we consider embarrassing or shameful, such as the game lost by a huge margin, or the exam miserably failed, or that first awkward date you would give your right hand to forget. We do not want to appear at fault because we feel embarrassed and ashamed.

The passage begins with Judas Iscariot offering his services to the chief priest.  He volunteers to identify Jesus so he can be apprehended and brought to trial. Jesus observes the Passover with his apostles, where he teaches them concerning the sacrament of bread and wine.  He said of the bread, “Take, eat; this is my body”. Of the wine, he said, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament”.

This passage is important because it established the fact that Muslims believe in a merciful God, but also a god that can be provoked to wrath. It also establishes the fact that there is only one true god. The section Women deals heavily with providing equal rights to property (dowry) under the law. It is especially beneficial to orphaned girls.

God has made this a must that His people will obey his commands but if they fail to do so, they can always come up and apologize for their sins. However, God will never tolerate the sin of ‘shirk’ or having the belief that there are separate Gods. This is the utmost form of thinking that can literally develop or humiliate a person in its entirety.

Aquinas and Anselm point out that God is the endpoint and the start point of everything. He is the root of everything, of all concepts, values, reason, movement, and existence. This shows that God must be the ultimate start and end of everything. To use this as proof of God’s existence is using human logic and understanding. 

The Muslim world is facing a crisis and Muslims all over the world are frustrated and suffering. There are widespread distrust and misunderstanding. There is a need for Muslims, Muslim organizations, and leaders to promote a better appreciation of Islam. The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy has now been playing a significant role in promoting a better understanding of Islam.

Most people are not aware that formal education started as purely religious education in America. They are used to the idea that formal education naturally consists of a list of academic subjects from preparatory schools to post-graduate studies. Chances are high, that a biographic account of Islamic schools for Islam will give an overview of the general concept of this issue.

The short outline above shows that Muslims were also amongst those transported from Africa to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade beginning in the fifteenth century. However, there is also evidence of even earlier Muslim presence in America. Muslim sailors preceded Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of America by at least 300 years.

The main code of Christianity is the Ten Commandments that every believer has to stick to. “You shall have no other Gods but me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor bow down to it or worship it. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.

Freemasonry has tried to eliminate misconceptions amongst people who do not have sufficient knowledge to directly assess the organization and the teachings themselves. Masonry embraces everyone’s beliefs without being partisan to any religious affiliation, but rather enables men to meet in harmony, promote friendship and allow each member to follow his own faith.

According to the Bible, the human being was living in a perfect world before he committed the sins. Christians believe that the sacrifice of life by Jesus will bring the world to the perfect state as it was before. These are the views held by people belonging to the Christian Faith and they interpret the world through these beliefs.

The answer to this question is yes. The members of God’s head do have different roles at any given time, but the deity remains the same. Scriptures first rule out polytheistic beliefs in God. (Deut, 6:4) known as the ‘schema which makes a clear implication of the monotheism involved in the belief in the Triune God. Monotheism is the foundation of the Trinity doctrine.

When defining the word attribute in relation to God, the attribute can never be described as a part or component of God. Attributes are qualities that are inherent to a subject. Ryrie describes attributes as perfections because God’s attributes are all perfect. An example is “God is Love” and not “Love is God.”

God in the first account is referred to as Elohim, while God in the second account is referred to as Yahweh.  There is also a difference in the styles in which the accounts were written.  The first account may have drawn materials from the ancient Mesopotamian myths that predate it, while the second account emanates from an earlier stage in the development of Judaism.

Analyzing the major points made Murray's article, it becomes lucid that the Mexican clergy supported Iturbide because he was proclaimed Emperor and there was the crucial lack of a strong Mexican church leader when Archbishop Fonte, the titular leader of the Mexican Church, left for Spain and never returned.

While the core principles of Judaism as set out in the Torah have remained in observance throughout, the later religious texts such as the Talmud have added new interpretations and meanings to the existing texts. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism does not have a single founding document such as the Bible or Koran.

Similar to how he reacted in the myth, Paris may eventually gather enough boldness in him to break his father’s abusive treatment. This may be attributed to a beating that would almost leave him for dead. Consequently, I imagine Paris being able to conquer his fear of his father and come out from under his father’s control.

The latter is fairly regarded as the distinctive feature of Shi’a Islam. Ali’s personality played the dominant role in the division of the Islamic community and the rapid expansion of Shi’a Islam. The belief in Ali’s chosen by the Prophet Muhammad to be his successor is the foundation of Shi’a religion 

According to Al-Sadawi (1982), the Islam religion acknowledges that though there are physical differences between men and women, both are spiritual before God. The Quran clearly states that the issues concerning one's gender do not correlate with the reward or the punishment one will receive in the next life.  

Reformation had a great impact on the conceptual basis of certain terms such as jihad which primarily means to strive in the name of God. The “technical signification occurred only in the post-classical period,” whereby it was understood and transmitted that jihad is not all about fighting or waging war against the non-believers (Aziz 2007).

It is evidently clear from the discussion that religious experiences are unique. People share their experiences, and all cite God’s communication but their form of revelation is different. My spiritual experience was a fulfilling one and helped shape my life and view of Christianity. I have maintained the habit of praying regularly.

Believers can enjoy guidance through the presence of parishes. These play a prominent role in the lives of the community. The parishes help individuals to seek solace and comfort with God by leading a righteous life. My experience with a parish was excellent because I learned about new behaviors and actions, changed my notions and attitudes. 

If one chooses Evangelism Explosion, one experiences the concept of “spiritual multiplication”.  In Evangelism Explosion, people are trained how to share their faith in Christ. This approach uses prayer, actual on-the-job training where the “experienced lead the inexperienced and applies the principle of spiritual multiplication.”

Dabru Emet was based upon eight assertions that highlighted similarities and differences between the two faiths. Dabru Emet was based upon eight assertions that highlighted similarities and differences between the two faiths. Among the eight headlines, the foremost referred to that fact that since both religions are the followers of monotheism and share the same scripture, therefore both must respect each other's claims.

A prayer is a communicative act and a conscious dialogue that is practised based on norms and traditions of belief (Ceruto & Barra, 2008). Prayer is a vital communication with God and the only defence against the devil (White, 1898). Christians know that since the beginning of Christendom, they have been prosecuted because of their belief in God.

Jesus never mentioned the word Messiah and preferred to call himself “The Son of Man” in the Luke-Acts. The Jewish scholarly tradition mentions Jesus to be a sorcerer and an enticer who misled people. The ancient Jewish law, Halakhah Sanh 6:4 required death sentence for Jesus by stoning and hanging because of his preaching. 

A detailed analysis of the Sabbath day according to Biblical Christianity is Saturday, but most Christians observe on Sunday.    According to the research, the Christian Sabbath should be observed on Saturday because of Biblical evidence, early Christian Church teachings, and historical Church rulings. 

Moreover, this research paper presents a discussion of common points between Islamic and Western traditions basing on considerations of Qur’an, the Sunna (in Islamic tradition) and St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and others’ writings (in the Western tradition). Ethics of war…from the first look, this expression sounds crude. 

The Shang Dynasty, placed roughly around 2000 B.C., is the earliest time period that we know much about in the present era. The Dynasty was originally thought to be a myth, a long-term event that many people were unsure about due to the lack of physical evidence that any such time had truly existed.

In case of being of a terrorist or a violent being, he would have slain his enemies without any mercy and with full aggression. Muhammad (PBUH) was such a person that he even ignored and forgave those who tormented him and made him leave his land. He forgave everyone because of his loving and forgiving nature. 

Generally speaking, religion, like any other forms of life has its own internal logic and criteria of rationality. Similarly science is one more form of life. Both of these do not need any justification by the other. Classical foundationalism is the back drop of almost all religious norms and faith systems.

From this paper, it is clear that the scientific study of beliefs is what is called “Neurotheology” which involves 6 different Belief Dimensions. Each and every one of these dimensions involves various disciplines, which combine to make a critical study of the belief and belief systems that are involved in this process.

It is evidently clear from the discussion that Jesus chooses twelve men who left their homes, jobs, families, to follow Him, not knowing from day to day whether they would be fed or sheltered.  The lives of these men testify to the fact that an apostle needs the following characteristics: tenacity; dedication; and dependability.

According to McDermott, there is a difference between paranormal phenomena and religious experiences. Religious experiences are extraordinary. However, paranormal phenomena are attributed to poltergeists or ghosts while religious experiences are attributed to God’s act. Often the religious experience can be achieved through prayers or mediation. 

The Methodist had deep faith in the conviction that God the Father sent his Son into the world in order to save sinners. They also hold a strong conviction that the main work of the triune God was justification in every walk of life. The main basis or foundation for this justification is the death, resurrection, and incarnation of Christ 

The author states that Sufism is a slippery concept because it is actually hard to define. In essence, Sufism is the path through which the Sufi seeker will detach from the gravity of his/her lower self and reach the state wherein the Vision of God is presented to him/her. Sufism’s meanings have been derived from the famous Prophetic Tradition.

The author states that the difficulty with pluralism in religion occurs when one specific tradition governs society, refuting the authenticity of other traditions and demoting them as sectarian occurrences. Pluralism does not relativize Truth. It relativizes different responses to Truth which are conditioned by history and culture.

Credibility is an important factor of preacher’s personality and it takes a long time for a preacher to get into hearts of people so no one can take his integrity unless he himself is the one to choose it as (SULLIVAN, 2005 ) says, “preaching is not communication but commission; not organization but ordinance; not delivery but divine utterance.

The author states that religion and politics are two of the most significant factors that shape a nation’s social, cultural and political life. In the United States of America, Congress never passed a law implementing the separation of the church and the state. There is nothing clear up to the present time regarding the separation of church and state.

Though long associated with Islam, the precise origin, function, and legitimacy of the veil have generated a substantial amount of debate. On the one hand, there are those that argue that the veil is the sixth pillar of Islam and should therefore be treated as a religious feature of vital importance 

The author states that Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion that is based on the beliefs and traditions of the Yoruba people and on some Native American traditions, though it later incorporated elements of Catholicism. Santeria dates back to 1515, being brought to the New World on the tongues of African men.

In this chapter, Oswalt offers a sermonic ending explaining how the downturn in morality in the West is a result of the embrace of the worldview of continuity and an abandonment of biblical transcendence. His cultural critique highlights some useful differences between mythological thinking and that of popular thought today.

The purpose of this essay is to tease out what is generally regarded as science and compare and contrast it with what is universally recognized as an established religion. Some characteristics can be attributed from the essay topic itself where science is associated with ‘proof’ and religion is associated with ‘belief’.

Worship is paying homage to a superior being and involves specific attitudes and activities that are designed to recognize and describe the worth of the entity being addressed. The spirit of God and Jesus Christ in Exodus 20v1-5 and St. John 4v24 made commanding statements regarding the importance of worship to past worshippers.

From this paper, it is clear that relevant to discuss exceptions for when abortion is considered to be an appropriate measure such as in cases of rape or incest. The genesis of procreation takes place of course when 2 gametes (sperm in males, ovum in females) combine within a woman’s body, in order to form a zygote.

The author states that the aspect of science in this novel is anti-matter. The symbol of religion is the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican City) and the symbol of science is Illuminati. However, the author tries to plot the Illuminati, which tries to use the science to destroy the Vatican City as evil.

The Muslim woman, as seen by the world, is a meek, submissive, silent person, hidden behind a veil, looking at the world through narrowed eyes, much like how she is viewed by people around her. This is a stereotyped portrayal of women in Islam, used to club together women of the faith from nations as diverse as Arabia and Australia.

Islam is being interpreted in a very negative fashion throughout the world. There are a number of reasons for this anomaly. First and foremost is the manner in which Muslims do not obey their own principles and do not follow the injunctions of the religion. There is disharmony amongst the Muslims when it comes to unity.

Today, we do not have priests or prophets to interpret our dreams; therefore we have to rely upon the traditional dream interpretations which have acquired universal themes. Some dreams might not be remembered at all; while others cannot be interpreted according to the cultural beliefs because people often have hi-tech dreams