Religion and Theology Essays

During my recent trip, I was in New York with an assignment to document the cultural backgrounds and the heritages of the Hindu temples. It was one of the engrossing and exciting opportunities in my life. Our class trip was scheduled in New York this November 2011, where I had an opportunity to come close to the religion and philosophies of Hinduism.

This kind of religious authority is tradition. Tradition and the Bible do not counter one another. Tradition is how the bible is interpreted and applied to questions concerning faith and practice. One can refer to tradition as the Bible lived out in a community, and most Christians currently see its need, however the problem arises over the level of authority to invest in it.

Religion should bring peace to all people who believe. It should not threaten, belittle, or cause strife. Yet, throughout history, that is exactly what society seems to have done. Wars have been fought over religion and countless millions killed in the name of a person’s God or gods. Religion should not preach hate.

Modern Christians however, have challenged the concept that a man can be born bearing and also responsible for the sins of another. Modern Christians have also questioned whether or not it was fair to expect that a newborn infant, and can be perceived as a sinner based on the doctrine of original sin.

Every individual in the world has a choice to believe what they want with regard to the existence of God. It is the belief of many that a Supreme Being does exist, and rules the destiny of every individual (Adams, 1993). There is the belief that every individual has a purpose in life, and that purpose is to serve the Supreme Being, the maker and creator of all living things.

The resolutions do seem to be a reasonable way of dealing with the problem of unauthorized use of the Lakota peoples’ religious symbols. While the tone of the resolutions seems a little militaristic, it is important to understand that the Lakota are deeply offended by the abuse of their traditions (Mesteth, Elk, and Hawk).

The paper discusses the essence of Religion. While the truth has been contested through science, the story of creation appeals to reality given its explanation of the regeneration of mankind. The Bible tells us that God was pleased with creation. The modern education system has not been able authoritatively refute that.

However, Arius’ notion founded on the human model, should have received recognition as traditional Christian teachings. This is due to the fact that following the human model, the father predates the son and therefore, at some point in time God existed without Jesus Christ. Similarly, it implied that God was the dominant being in the Trinity. 

The words were always peppered with the phrase "The Honorable Prophet Elijah Muhammad teaches us that" In his speeches, Malcolm taught people that Africans were the original humans of the world and that whites were simply a race of evil spirits, whose creator was also an evil scientist referred to as Yakub (Mash, 1996).

He was able to release six singles under his name. But by the 1970s his singing career ended and he was next known as a racecar journalist and, later, a magazine publisher. Throughout his life - except perhaps when he ran away from home when he was 15 - everything was ordinary for Vorilhon. But one day in 1973, he supposedly met an Elohim.

God in all the books is perceived and portrayed in different forms but one thing that stands out from the books is the care and value he has on all humankind. His wisdom and care for us are aimed at having a better and prosperous life and free from the worldly effects that are mainly from the fallen beings.

In the book, “Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema”, Rachel Dwyer has dealt with a specific aspect of Indian films. The author has attempted to describe how Indian cinema has portrayed the Hindu religion on the big screen. India produces the largest number of feature films every year among all the countries of the world.

Poetic expression is an integral part of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism because most of the sacred texts related to Hinduism are composed in lyrical format. The core concept of the Mahabharata, especially the themes discussed in the Bhagavad-Gita, is interconnected with the fundamental teachings of Hinduism.

We have different religions with different systems of their workings. Each culture, has a set of believes and guidelines in which they practice in the daily life. This practices are  referred to as religious traditions. However, as much as the religions differ, every religion composed of; doctrines, rituals, morality rules and prayer practices.

The topics on religion, spirituality and Supreme Being are often confused and during discussions they overlap each other. Supreme Being is such a vast concept, it is impossible to explain its significance within the limitations of words only. Its perfect understanding is through direct experiencing.

The prisons in the American society have become a vital institution. It has integrated itself with the cultural, economic and political sphere of the United States of America (USA). During the period of 1976 to 2000, the USA was engaged in building a new prison every week on average that eventually resulted in a significant rise in the number of imprisonment (Franklin).

Terrorism can be defined as illegal acts of violence that inflict pain on an individual or a group of people. The people involved in terrorism carry out their actions in a bid to manipulate a state or a certain group of people to respond to their demands. Terrorist intentions are either politically or socially triggered (Alien, 2007, 15).

There was a very sexist differentiation of roles in the Church, and so some women obtained special permission to create their own special communities, where they could establish their own rules. The Beguines are an example of this, but they were ultimately perceived as a danger to the establishment and designated as heretics.

Adoptive parents who are not related to the child by blood may come from various backgrounds, some of which may be inappropriate and may indirectly impact their child-rearing skills. For example, a prospective adoptive parent may have a history of mental illness which may manifest later when the child is already in their custody.

The book of Luke, on the other hand, focused on how the women regarded Jesus in high esteem taking their time to prepare spices and going to the tomb every first day of the week. They changed the simple story of how the women went to the tomb as per their culture, to make it look like a special case, and to show how they regarded Jesus.

Science and religion have been criticized for not providing an explanation to the recent development in cosmology and biology. The conflicting ideologies of science and religion are mystifying the cosmos. As such, this confusion arouses debates on the validity of the teachings of science and religion (Regan, Worthing & Australian Theological Forum, 2001).

The human mind can easily dispel desires if only man can realize that desires are nothing but an illusion and ignorance of the mind through gaining knowledge with the help of ancient hymns and rituals. When one opens his mind and beholds the One Being before them, then a variety of physical objects or social situations can be avoided. 

Mrs. Pamela Miller is the elderly octogenarian whom I have selected for my research regarding the religious and spiritual inclination of this elderly lady in the path of her life; it was my serious effort to read the mind of Mrs. Miller. Before approaching her, I had no idea how she would react to my interviewing sort of initiative, therefore, when I first visited her, I made my purpose clear to her that being a student, I wanted to have a glimpse of the various shades of her life only for my academic interest.

Worshiping is has a long history since the inception of the universe. The angels of heaven gathered before God to worship him and pay reverence to Him who created the earth and everything in it. This worship trend was transmitted to humanity upon creation and consequent location in the Garden of Eden.

He was a star, full of light, being as an angel of God. He was cast down to earth, and his fall was just like a lightening. We infer the fall as Satan’s fall from God’s presence because of the reason mentioned there. The proud heart of Satan made him try to position himself above God, the most High.

There are different reasons why people want a separation of church and state. The first reason is because the rights of the minority will probably be violated by the majority meaning members of a majority religion are favored by the state often while the minority religion are persecuted, harassed and socially shunned.

The Mass is one of the most joyful activities among the Roman Catholics. The Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church is referred to as the Mass. The term Mass colloquially refers to the entire church service that is undertaken by the Catholics. The Roman Catholics celebrate the Mass service every Sunday of the week and during holy days of the year.

Spirituality and religiousness are considered as two sides of the same coins however they present completely different types of discourses. Spirituality is often seen as a by-product of religion since those who practice a certain religion thoroughly are also expected to be spiritual as well.

Personally, I am a Christian, a Catholic to be precise. However, in the interest of knowing more about other religions, I once visited the Islamic Center of America, which is the largest mosque in the U.S., if not in the world. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, the mosque acts as a place of worship for a majority of Muslims living in Michigan and its environs.

The original name of Abraham was Abram, and he is believed to be the father of the Jews. Abram is one of the first three patriarchs of Israel, the other two being Isaac and Jacob. Chapter’s number 11 to 25 of the book of Genesis tells the story of Abraham. God called Abraham to leave the house of his father Terah, a native of Mesopotamia.

The first part of the paper will examine such prayer related themes as meaning of prayer in Islam: calling out of the muezzin: parts of the five time prayer; prayer in the Koran; the Fatiha – the main prayer of the Muslims.

Miracles are circumstances where the laws of nature are defied. And this ultimate display of power is best exemplified by no other than Jesus Christ himself. Among the numerous miracles performed by Jesus Christ, eight (and in some literature, seven) miracles have “stood out” as the most evident of God’s glory. And all these were recorded in the book of John.

He explains that counseling is all about change and urges the counselors first to understand the issue of change, which will enable them to serve their clients in adapting to changes in life. The writer explains that all counselors must build a solid foundation of their work as counselors, to be able to deliver quality guidance to the people.

Mythology cannot be easily answered as it entails poetry and music in it. A person can only answer it once he has the complete feeling of it. Understanding is synonymous with experience with nature and emotions that the realm of science cannot grasp. Today some people say myth is untrue or not factual, but it is attractive.

A close examination on the Pentateuch, which includes the Genesis by scholars begun in the Eighteenth Century which led them to conclude that the Pentateuch, including the Genesis, is not written by a single author, or by Moses alone as the traditional thinking suggests, but rather by an anthology of diverse materials.

Mcminn’s book Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling targets individual involved in counseling or offer counseling services and tries to bring a relation between these three aspects Psychology, Theology and Spiritualism. McMinn emphasizes the importance of always having to consider spiritual combination into our daily activities in this case counseling.

Religion and healing have a deep relation. It can be said in the way, any religion is incomplete without adopting the techniques to maintain health. The spiritual and ritual prayers in most of the religion help in maintaining the metal as well as physical health of the believers.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matt. 16:24). These were the words that Jesus told his disciples when they expressed their longing to come with him. These are the very same words that the Jesuit missionaries demonstrate in the movie, “The Mission.”

Catholic sacrament is a Christian ritual meant to mark God’s grace or purification. Christians from different denominations and beliefs do take the sacrament as a form of asking God’s forgiveness and grace. Catholics take the sacraments to mark the basic stages of Christian life and these are baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, marriage, reconciliation, holy orders and anointing the sick. 

Verses 24-27 of chapter nine document the most remarkable prophecies regarding the coming of Christ and his salvation. It also indicates the fact that the Jews are considered guilty because they do not believe in Christ and accepted some other Messiah. Verse 24 is the summary of the following three verses which further illustrate its detailed meaning.

Generally speaking, karma and rebirth are integral concepts in the Buddhist tradition that define and invaluably determine the conduct of people. These notions generally entail a consequence that results as a consequence of one’s actions and manifests at a future time or successively within one’s present life.

In accordance to the books of Numbers, Exodus, and the Book of Joshua, the prophet is described as the leader of the Israelites after the demise of Moses. Prophet Joshua was born in Egypt within Ephraim, one of the tribes of the Israelite people. The father of Prophet Joshua is said to be Nun, who named the prophet as Hoshea when he was born.

Mosaic Law has been an issue of contention between scholars in relation to its role in Christian life. Some speak of Mosaic Law as irrelevant to the Christian life, while others speak of the difference between moral law and ritualistic law and how it relates to Christian living. The discussion of law seems confused and subject to speculation by modern scholars.

The power of thought enables a man to differentiate between right and wrong. The power of will is the freedom to do anything and the power of love is what keeps the human beings from killing each other. If a man has these three powers to an absolute degree, he is thought to be perfect.

The goal of NE was to incorporate some of the ideas of the growing Evangelical movement in Christianity and to widen the appeal of the Church as a consequence. The NE calls for a new and more immediate relationship with the teachings of Jesus, but also the idea that a renewed sense of promoting this among Catholics ought to be one of the agendas for the coming age.

Jesus Christ is one of the most influential personalities in the world for his overall influence on the way the world is shaped now. A closer look at the history of Christianity would suggest that one of the dominating themes of Christianity is concerned with whether Jesus is a God or claimed himself to be God. There are different Biblical references that clearly establish Jesus as God.

The world of letters would have been denied a masterpiece if these lectures had not been preserved in book form in1875, on the unrelenting insistence of the friends, well-wishers and students of C. H. Spurgeon. These lectures are full of historical data, including references from the Bible, proverbs, maxims, adages and anecdotes from the personal life of Charles Spurgeon.

The author of the book Nehemiah in the Bible is probably Ezra. Until 200 BC, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were combined into one book. There are some traditions in the Jewish culture that say Nehemiah is the actual author but was forbidden from taking credit because he wrote disparagingly of other people and prophets.

We disobey God's one and only order of compliance to stay in His favor. We exhibit this unfaithfulness right in the face of His expectations that we will love Him in return and recognize how much He cares for us. We continue to be sinful and disobedient to the point of abandoning Him and paying homage to other gods which earn His displeasure. 

Most people believe in superstitions as a harbinger of either good or bad luck. As per family tradition, my relatives believe in Feng Shui. It has been regarded that if we purchase a house and it is facing a T-junction, then it will bring bad luck to the home and the people living in it.