Religion

As The Norton Anthology of English Literature says, “By far the larger proportion of surviving literature in Middle as in Old English is religious” (7). This shouldn’t be surprising since we know education had a religious affiliation; men were educated, went to “universities” to become clerics. “The church offered a path for gifted commoners to … Read more

I am hoping I can somehow make this seem like a psychological report without making it lose any of it’s important details. My goal in writing this paper is to hopefully make people understand and agree that Satanism is not a “Devil Worshipping,” animal mutilating, child scarifying cult organization. The psychological thing comes in when … Read more

It has been argued that Judaism can be seen not only as a single religion, but as a group of similar religions. It has also been pointed-out that through all the trials and tribulations that Judaism has suffered through, that there have been common themes that have proven omni-pervasive. Any institution with roots as ancient … Read more

Two Buddhist sects, Tendai and Shingon, dominated religion in the Heian period. The word tendai means heavenly platform, and the word shingon means true word. Both of them belonged to the Mahayana, Great Vehicle, branch of Buddhism originating in India, and both of them were imported from China by the Japanese court at the beginning … Read more

“You will be with me today in paradise,” Jesus Christ told this to the thief on the cross while they were dying. However, can people believe that there is truly life after death? In many different religions there are different perceptions of life after death. For example in the Buddhist religion, the Buddhist people believe … Read more

According to the traditional account the Koran was revealed to Muhammad, usually by an angel, gradually over a period of years until his death in 632 C. E. It is not clear how much of the Koran had been written down by the time of Muhammad’s death, but it seems probable that there was no … Read more

There are many types of cults in the world, cults are everywhere but you just do not see them. Every person in the world has been in contact with them in one way or another in many cases you cannot see them. The closest cult we know of is on Rice Lake called the Moonies … Read more

The controversy surrounding new religious movements seems to be foremost concerned with whether or not the members of these religions come of their own freewill or if they convert as a necessary and inevitable response to advanced “brainwashing” techniques used by the cult leaders. The concept of brainwashing came into popular existence in the 1950’s … Read more

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees , to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people. Making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of the reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom … Read more

The role religion plays in world history is, at best, tremendous. Through the ages, religion has both unified and divided civilizations often bringing extreme human casualty, in the case of division, or creating interesting new cultures, in the case of the latter. In the Ancient civilizations such as the Greek, Kush and Egyptian empires religion … Read more

Like his protagonist, James Joyce was an Irish Catholic. He was also sent to Clongowes Wood College to board and study as a young boy. In effect the story is in part an autobiography of Joyce’s own life up to the age of twenty or so (Kershner 6). In his essay A Portrait as Rebellion … Read more

Organized religion is a duality between the religion and the church which represents it. Sometimes the representation of the religion is marred and flawed to those who view it because of the bureaucracy contained within. Unknown to those who gaze upon the dissolved morals and values of what is perceived to be the contradiction known … Read more

The area of Spiritual gifts is one the holds great interest for me. The thought that The different areas of effectiveness and skills are from God is interesting. I grew up with the teaching that we had God given abilities but never equated these with “spiritual gifts”. They were just skill that we had been … Read more

“Nearly everyone has some conception of religion. In fact, sometimes it appears that there are as many definitions of it as there are people” (Schmidt 9). Not only does each person have his or her own way of defining religion; each person has his or her own way of practicing religion. Studying these different practices … Read more

There is no disputing the fact that differences exist along the lines of different religions and cultures. However, for as many contrasts that can be found, an abundance of similarities can be found as well. There are a multitude of similarities that can be found in the Christian and Islamic beliefs of sin and salvation … Read more

A myriad of mysteries is contained in the pages of the Old Testament. For centuries, scholars of theology, archeology and anthropology have labored to produce some explanation of the contradictions and impossibilities put forth in these texts. The ancient ruins of lost cities reveal evidence that some writings may be incorrectly dated, or even that … Read more

Hinduism is the main religion of India. Honduism has no founder or formal church. This religion’s roots are from ancient Aryan beliefs and practices. It is the way a way of life. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism has somewhat of a founder of the religion. It all started around 600 b. c. The Brahman cast had become … Read more

Today’s religious beliefs, governmental structures, laws and traditions of social behavior find their roots in the development of three main belief systems – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although other religious movements have developed throughout the years, these three belief systems have had the most impact on civilizations of the West. To better understand this impact, … Read more

Fundamentalism: The belief in old and traditional forms of religion, or the belief that what is written in a holy book, such as the Christian Bible, as being completely and literally true. The Cambridge International Dictionary of English Fundamentalism: a: a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as Fundamental to Christian … Read more

“We are a peculiar people,” Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said (McConkie 25). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of a few “odd” Christian religions. Many of its practices have created much persecution and political reaction, polygamy being one of these. It created much social and political persecution of the Mormons. … Read more

At the mention of the word “disciple”, the image most people conjure up is that of a faithful pupil, a person more than willing to follow the teachings of their leader without question. However, the early disciples didnt always conform to this stereotype. In fact, they sometimes showed a complete lack of faith, finding it … Read more

In its simplest form Greek religion means the worship of the Mount Olympian deities (gods or goddess) whose king Zeus resided among the peaks of Mount Olympus. Each deity had several different attributes. Thus Apollo was the god of light and music; Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war, and also patroness of Athens. … Read more

The Shinto religion was started in the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) of Japanese history. The Tokugawa Enlightenment inspired a group of people who studied kokugaku, which roughly translated means nativism, Japanese Studies, or Native Studies. Kokugaku’s intent was to recover Japanese character to what it was before the early influences of foreigners, especially the Chinese. Some … Read more

The section that I have chosen to analyze from the book Hollywood vs. America is “The Attack on Religion. ” In this part of the book, Michael Medved discusses the shift in attitude Hollywood has made toward religion, from acceptable to contemptible. He takes a look at the messages being sent in films, music and … Read more

Throughout history, religion has impacted the lives of millions whether at school, work, with friends, or by some tragedy. Religion can change the way people view their existence. Religion also plays a big role in the infiltration of values into the loves of many young people today. In a recent pole printed in the USA … Read more

The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the first records of history. Religion has served as a pillar of strength to some and binding chains to others. There are vast amounts of information and anthropological studies revealing the interaction of religion and humankind. However, for the purposes of this paper, the … Read more

Jainism is one of the oldest practicing religions, although, today Jainism appears in its present day form in the areas of Northeastern India, just as it did thousands of years ago. It’s a religion composed in arrangement so that it’s characteristic are associated with the religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. In the beginning, however, the … Read more