Religion and Theology Essays

There are two major interpretative approaches towards analyzing the 'Sermon of the Mount'. There is the structuralist approach that dissociates the work from the immediate socio-economic realities that produced it or to the problems of its application to the socio-economic realities of a different milieu.

The author states that they focus on the Word of God because it allows us to apply Bible passages which would be used in preaching. Another method is through allowing them to do things which they expect to do in the future such as preaching, teaching in Bible studies, and another task. The discipleship is more on theories plus application.

Nawawi is considered among the great Sufi scholar in the Islamic world. According to Nawawi concept of Sufism is about maintaining a close affiliation with God. The Sufis are individuals who have submitted their life towards God and have spent their time, money, intellect and life for maintaining a spiritual bond with the Supreme Lord.

The Just War Theory details conditions in which declaring or fighting in a war is a just and righteous action (Becker, 926). Essentially, proponents for Just Wars often oppose wars for lands, money, or greed reasons; but if the act of war can be justified, they will follow the call to arms.

Gerard Hughes in his The God of Surprises published in 1985, epitomizes the nature of God through the beautiful title. The book is a short work but the penetrating vision of the book, drawn from the pondering of the word of God in the true Jesuit tradition makes it one of the influential documents of our spiritually bankrupt times.

It is essential to state that anyone who would write about the teaching of Jesus first deals with the problem of ascertaining what that teaching was. The Old Testament can be seen and understood in relation to Christ. Jesus found guidance for his ministry and preaching in the Scriptures of his people.

Jesus was the mediator between man and God the father. (I Tim. 2:5) Jesus rescured the world thru his death (Lumen Gentium) Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20) So he was God. St. Paul said that the Godhead lived in him in fullness.

The sanctity of human life and qualitative human existence is in no way mutually exclusive. “Sanctity” is “the condition of being considered sacred or holy, and therefore entitled to respect and reverence” (Encarta Dictionary), or, “sacredness, inviolability” (Oxford Dictionary). In other words, it is the respect of being and infrangibility of right a thing merits by virtue of its sacredness.

Bill McKibben analyzes this phenomenon in his article "The Christian Paradox. How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong". One of the things that unite the most the American people is their religion; if not in practice, at least in aspiration. According to McKibben, America is a place "saturated in Christian identity".

Conversely, if God hadn't been invented, would He have been necessary Professor Davies, a widely-acclaimed authority on Quantum Physics notes that people seek religion, not only for moral guidance, but also for answers to the fundamental questions of existence.

Antiquity had its religions. No period in human history has probably ever witnessed a boom in religions like the modern era. There has been the birth of thousands of religions in the last century, each religion vying for adepts. In an analysis of the number of adherents of the major religions of the contemporary world, the Religious Tolerance website makes allusion to David Barret et al, editors of the "World Christian Encyclopedia".

As the Muslim World enters the twenty-first century, controversies over the meaning of the Quran and the methods for its interpretation grow in intensity. Many have claimed that the Quran needs to be interpreted from a novel, and modern perspective which is more consistent with the structure and pattern of lifestyles in the modern world.  

The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. They often recount the same stories about Jesus of Nazareth, though sometimes with substantial differences, mostly following the same sequence and to a remarkable extent using the same words.

The author states that Catholic Church claims that the character medal was taken from the Scriptures’ character of an Archangel. In there, Archangel Michael is being described as “one of the chief princes”. It is regarded as the leader of the forces of heaven, conquering over the evil force. He must be regarded as the entity.

By definition, Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending life in order to relieve suffering and pain of a human being. It can either be voluntary or non-voluntary. Some argue that euthanasia is good death or when a physician decides to provide assistant to the patient by providing medication to gently end his life.

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught, and instituted a monastic order but all is not steadily accepted in all the details. Rebirth refers to a procedure whereby beings go over a series of lifetimes as single or many probable forms of perceptive life, each consecutively from conception to death.

These apostles were there with Jesus Christ on the mountain when the process of transfiguration took place as explained in the other bibles. The apostles could see Jesus transfigured into another form, a great light which covered Jesus Christ and there was a voice that came from the sky. The apostles could see everything during this process.

The Shakuntala is generally taken to be the finest example of a rasa drama in Classical Sanskrit literature. Here the relation of plot-structure to rasa is explored, and an attempt is made to show that the Indian theory of plot, often overlooked or regarded as a mechanical formula, is a carefully crafted complement to the rasa theory, of great help in the interpretation of dramatic works.

The discovery of the Nag Hammadi scrolls sent the calendar rolling back to the earliest struggles of Christianity, the struggles between the various sects to unify into one vision and one voice. The victory of what would become the orthodox Catholic Church over the so-called heretics and the successful eradication of most of the so-called heretical texts.

With the foundation of Hinduism laid in Brahmanism, the Hindu religion was strong enough to continue developing and endure throughout the millenniums. Hindus have developed six “Schools of Thought.” These six schools include Purva Mimamsa, Yoga, Uttara Mimamsa, Pure Monism, Qualified Monism and Dualism.

The author states that the New Testament means no other than human teaching: for as to the former, who would have it that there were no other elders or public ministers than prophets, even after the term above expressed, do not take the same to be concluded from what is said, that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers.

This researcher believes that there is an urgent need for research that highlights the positive aspects of the social behavior of today’s generation of African-Americans. It is hoped that such an investigation of an important and growing sector of contemporary American society would contribute to the knowledge of African-American culture.

The author states that the contributions of the various monastic traditions to the development of the religious life within the Catholic Church cannot be ignored at large. In the beginning, monasticism was controlled by different religious rules such as the Rule of St Basil and the Rule of St Benedict.

The young Inigo who was the youngest of the thirteen children of the Loyola household was into gambling and riots together with his brother and some relatives. Inigo was acquitted of the troubles that he encountered in his early life because of the influence of the Loyola's in society (O’Neal). According to O’Neal, a priest wrote the life of St. Ignatius.

The Nicene Creed is the one that declares the church to be; One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. The four marks are inseparable and are linked to each other as qualities of Christ’s church. The Lord himself, in founding the Church marked it with this distinctiveness, which reflects the vital features and work of the Church of Christ.

Owing to the number of incidences that the church is facing today, many actions done by worshipers are subject to questions. However, the most valuable thing is that the Holy Scriptures are available for relevant guidance. They act as a source of accurate and believable information that everyone with doubts needs. The Catholic Mass, for instance, is indeed all Jesus and all Biblical.

In both the mythologies it was the male who first created. Adam and Ra were both representatives of the male. In both cases, there is the event of sibling murder. In Egyptian mythology, Set killed his brother Osiris while in the Genesis Cain killed his brother and in both cases the reason was jealousy.

An Exegesis of Luke 7:36-50 The story documented in Luke 7:36-8:3 is arguably one of the commonest gospel stories today. Maybe the popularity of the story could be based on the fact that the story is recorded by all the four gospels.1 However, the fact that this story depicts the son of God as one that accepts worship from even the sinful people could be another contributing factor to its widespread popularity.

The roots of Baptism can be found in 16th-century Holland. The central beliefs of Baptists were as follows: "The Bible is the only guide in solving different problems and issues of faith. Believers should only join the church and not visit it because of their local dwellings near it. Only believers and not bishops should rule in the Church".

What will happen ultimately to the multitude of people who have never been evangelized? Will they be eternally damned, or will they be saved since it wasn’t their fault that they have not been evangelized? Christian theologians are divided in answering this question. The issue of the fate of the unevangelized is one of the most controversial issues.

The Cycladic art is divided into three periods in which it developed to be an attractive and fine art globally. The first period is traced at around 2800 to 2500 BCE, followed by 2500 to 2200 BCE and lastly, 2200 to 200 BCE. Every period was well-presented in this essay, the researcher also discussed the art pieces, that were found recently.

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Why Science and Theologians Should Work Together Introduction Science refers to a logical enterprise that establishes and systematizes knowledge in a variety of testable justifications and forecasts about the world (Hairston 1).

In order to give an objective and unbiased answer to this question, we first need to analyze the meanings of the concepts of democracy and Islamic political thought. After the analysis, we then compare whether the fundamental tenets of democracy and the Islamic political thought are reconcilable or not, and to what extent can they be reconciled if any.

Human nature is such that it always refuses to learn from the past mistakes that it had committed. Since the discovery of America, the orientation of the nation towards a Christianity culture is irrefutable. As syncretism came into the picture, it left legacies that have changed the mindset of people radically.

Persian kings were not interested in the restoration of local kings but were interested in controlling the masses by the use of religious authority, they alleged that “the God of Heaven had his reign on earth in the person of the king of the kings-the Persian king.” So chances are the Deuteronomic Historian could have a certain agenda.

Louis says that his family wanted to leave their home in Vietnam because of Communism. They felt that there would be less opportunity for thefewer opportunitiesnext generations because of this political system. They were afraid that they would loose all of their property and possessions and that their children would be very poor under Communism. 

The author in his thinking assumes the following. The author takes a world of Christians only that is the reason he does not mention any other religion in his book. He believes that politics have a substantial impact on the actions of Christians. This is explained by the fact that after his sermon thousands of Christians in his church left.

Apart from the widely-practiced Abrahamic religions, there are many forms of paganisms prevalent around the world. The term paganism is used to describe all the religious practices that are polytheistic and associate nature with divinity. Paganism is one of the fastest growing practices around the world especially in the United States and Africa; however it is difficult to obtain exact figures as many of its followers are either sole practitioners or do not believe in preaching their religion (Higginbotham 1-2).

This paper explores the intricate issue of the housing sector and in particular the social housing. With housing being a necessity, it observes with a keenness that there has been a downward trend in many countries regarding people who own homes or have decent housing. It probes the root cause of the problem with the different scholars offering different views on the subject.

Christianity is an umbrella religion, referring to many denominations and religious organizations which, according to the three ecumenical creeds primarily have in common their basic beliefs in one omnipotent, omniscient and eternal God, creator of the universe; in Jesus Christ, the foretold messiah, Son of God; the Holy Spirit’s role in the lives of Christians; the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God; and the power of redemption.

We all believe in this reality in one way or another; even for reincarnation or resurrection, your existing self has to die (Antony, 2007). Sometimes death seems like a very cruel and harsh reality; especially when it is perceived to have come before time. What mortals we humans are; working all our lives to reach our ultimate goal: death.

There is a long and thorny path to faith and devotion paid to Allah, still modern Muslims try to find out the essence of this Holy Book otherwise it is hard to serve God. The Sunnah or interpretation of the Qur’an by the prophet Muhammad is a perfect opportunity to penetrate into the religious depth of Islam.

According to Boff traditional Christianity is the enemy of true Christianity, as perceived from the point of view of the liberation movement. Faith shouldn't be used as the tool to exploit the psyche of the gullible. The common people often believe in miracles, and the traditional preachers use faith to further their vested interests.

Religion is also defined as a personal belief and/or opinions towards the existence of nature and worship of a particular deity. In addition, religion includes the divine involvement of supernatural beings in human life and the entire universe. Several religions exist depending on how an individual is swayed by different religious principles.

It has been the tradition of all churches that Gospel’s reading is performed while standing, though the homily related to the Bible is exercised in sitting position. It not only affirms the role of the Gospel as the most sacred part of the Scripture but validates the very point that Jesus’ account should always be made in a most respectful manner. 

Although much focus is rightly given to Christ’s role as the author and perfector of the Christian faith; perhaps the most important phase of actual church history, as a function of early evangelism and the spread of Christianity within the early church, relates to the apostolic age.

The Religious Teachings of Gandhi Name University Professor Date The Religious teachings of Gandhi Introduction: This research paper shall focus on Gandhi’s teachings of religion and the influence Jainism had on his life. As a young boy Gandhi was not much into religious practices but it was only after he embarked to England for his education did he started getting inspired by the ideas of Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.

Merton analyzes the war issue from a Christian perspective where a Christian individual is caught at crossroads not knowing what exactly to do. A Christian does not know whether to practically join the war or not. He suggests that Christians should join the war and fight aggressively only that this war should not be a physical war but a spiritual battle.

Born in 1628, John Bunyan was a unique man and for several years, he lived in a state of mental conflict (Bunyan, 23). For quite a long period, he had to cope with fear, desperation and guilt. John was born in a poor family and, therefore, he had to follow his father’s footsteps in the evil but lucrative business as a brazier.

One of the common principles that one can find in most religions is that mankind has a responsibility to take care of the Earth and to protect the resources that can be found within it. Women have found that the principles of female interests and the needs of the world run together towards the goal of a peaceful, ecologically balanced Earth.