Religion and Theology Essays

The question that he addresses attempts to reconcile the existence of an omnipotent and loving God with the presence of so much evil in the world. His main line of reasoning is that through God’s gift of free will, we are free to pursue acts that result in evil. Evil is, therefore, inextricably linked to our free will.

Islamophobia is a term that has been coined from two words, Islam and phobia. Islam refers to the monotheistic religion of Muslims (Allen, 2005). Phobia refers to a conditioned state of anxiety characterized by irrational and extreme feelings of fear of situations or things. This paper has focused on Islamophobia as a type of phobia that has recently developed in western societies.

Sufism is known within western languages from the start of the 19th century and is derived from the Arabic word ṣūfī, which also refers to its practitioners. Ṣūfī originates from the word ṣūf, which means wool hence Sufism literary means to dress in wool, referring to the woolen garments worn by the early Islamic ascetics who adhered to abstinence from worldly pleasures.

Hinduism is among the oldest religion in the world. Three lords are believed to rule the world and they include Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (Daniélou, 1991). Their respective consorts are the Goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati. The religion is based on ancient texts referred to as Vedas in addition to animistic religions during the Mohenjo Daro civilization (Fuller, 2004).

Myths have proved to be a rich ground that anthropology researchers can utilize to understand the cultures of different people. An understanding of different cultures is essential to anthropology scholars in their studies about human origin and developments. Studying different myths also enable scholars to establish the relationship between different races and the period of their separation.

In the present paper, religion would be viewed as a phenomenal institution that exists within a particular social, cultural setting and so it is a product of a particular culture and human community. Under such, religion would be viewed in relation to other social institutions, social beliefs and practices. The term ideology would be used as a body of doctrines or a set of thoughts.

By learning the specific characteristics of Islam - submission, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, etc. – and understanding them historically as they relate to the development of unique schools of thought, ritual, and practice, we can understand the religion in a way that truly appreciates it as a cultural value system.

Confucianism teaches that there is a place for all individuals in a society, which seems to accord with both the individualism and humanism of Daoism and Buddhism. While being very different in their treatment of the world and man’s place in it, the philosophic doctrines of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism are in essence quite similar in their conclusions.

Because of globalisation and the economic situation in the modern world, many Muslims have left their home countries, where their religion is dominant, and have spread into traditionally Christian nations in Europe and the Americas. Islam is one of the most diverse religions in the world, being practised in different ways by its adherents. 

Such beliefs have led some modern scholars not to acknowledge the influence of theological concepts on the realities of modern politics. Most western democracies, especially those of Europe, developed as a result of the massive conflict that existed between them and the state, and this concerning where the authority of the Church ended and that of the state begun.

Just as the logic demands, everyone requires proof for his or her ideas. This corroborates McCloskey’s actions and decision to eliminate the existence of God despite the myriad proofs. He selects a topic and believes in the same thereby uses his own imaginary factors that helped convince him to try to convince others oblivious of the fact that he seeks to demean other people’s ethos.

A grounded belief is a practice that people do in their day to day activities. On the other hand, a groundless belief is an unpractical belief as a result of a lack of understanding or as a result of set out high standards. Malcolm starts by arguing that he is not a Christian. However, he states that he might be closer to being Christian than people who say they are Christians. 

Diseases affect all people and do not consider and human or spiritual factors. Thus, all people require effective care and treatment. However, treatment may be hindered by various factors. One of the major factors is religion.

Faith and religion are of extremely great importance in people’s lives, for they provide spiritual support. There are particular differences between religious groups, their fundamentalists have many common key features. The significant rise of New Religious movements since the 1960s accounts for some sociological reasons, political background and cultural aspects.

Job has a flawless character. He is a rich man who lives righteously. When Satan sees this righteousness, he challenges God to test Job. Satan thought that Job lived righteously due to the prosperity that God had bestowed on him. God takes up Satan's challenge, allowing Satan to test Job in any way, except for taking his life.

The entire argument about free will stems from the idea as to whether or not people have the ability to choose to do good or to choose to do evil.  Since good and evil are inherently a part of the idea of free will, the concepts of good and evil should also be analysed.  Let us again take the position that God is omniscient and omnipotent.

Readers would truly appreciate the accounts of the temptations of Jesus and understand its meaning if they have a deep awareness of the parallelism being referenced from the Old Testament. The lessons imparted by Deffinbaugh (2006) are relevant since the time these accounts have been written until contemporary situations of today. 

Nussbaum’s “balancing approach” regarding religious rights and the women’s rights may lead to more complicated situations, particularly for women. When the women’s rights are not strengthened because of the fear that it might impinge on the religious rights and traditions, then the struggling group of women will be let down.

People also believe that the spirits of the dead do not go anywhere rather they remain in the land where their dead bodies are present. Belief in different levels of God is another belief of the people. Some people believe that there is a High God, who created the world and is presently detached from it. Native Americans sometimes sacrifice plants and animals in order to please the spirits.

Over the course of three decades, Hubbard developed his self-help ideas into the wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals that became the core of the new religion which today claims worldwide membership with figures impossible to confirm. Hubbard in his lifetime and beyond was and still is a highly controversial figure.

The Virgin Mary is a highly revered figure among Catholics worldwide and such representations in the public are not right because they undermine her status. Depictions of the Virgin Mary as essentially a skeleton go against the religious tenets of not only the Catholic but Orthodox faiths as well.

Moving beyond its theological underpinnings, Genesis 1-11 gives us stories that are “best read as presenting an alternative world-view to those generally accepted in the Near East.” The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest known works of literary fiction, shows a commendable similarity in terms of themes with that of Genesis 1-11.

Christianity is a major religion of the world with the largest number of adherents. A set of common beliefs, rituals, and rites unite the various believers. However, a number of schisms have erupted that has split the Church into different denominations. The historical schisms of Christianity have had a deleterious impact on the morale of the true believers.

These two Gospels both have similarities and differences on the account of the Passion. Furthermore, a number of these similarities and differences may have profound theological implications.

The goal of this paper is to show a more rounded Martin Luther King Jr. that many do not know about.  It is also the goal of this paper to show King's contribution to the Baptist movement.  Some believe that King's legacy is what it is because of his dedicated widow: Coretta Scott King. This will be explored as well.  

As Austin Farrer briefly put it in his Images and Inspiration, “The great images interpreted the events of Christ’s ministry, death, and resurrection, and the events interpreted the images; the interplay between the two is a revelation” (Farrer 1948, 43). Evidently, there is no visual truth that independently would reveal its Christian message.

Every human being, at some time or the other in life, contemplates the nature, the creation, on the Creator, on human life, and on his or her own existence. We all wonder why we are here on this earth, who has created us, who is the creator, is there a creator of the creator, is there another universe similar to ours? Most importantly, we wonder who are human beings in the scheme of things.

The evolution of the Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the modern world can be easily studied by examining its current political, social and religious agendas in those areas of the world where Christianity has maintained its hold; that is, the United Kingdom, United States, and Latin America.

The chosen Biblical text for examination is Mark 4:1-9.  This text will be examined by using literary criticism.  The reason for this choice is the parable chosen.  Mark 4:1-9 relates the story of Jesus telling to the story of the sower that went out to sow.  Traditional, redaction, and form criticism would not do this parable justice. 

The Muslims need to obey this Shariah in order to spend their lives and in accordance with the same, they carry out clean activities and good deeds to please the Lord Almighty Allah. Hence the opinion put forth by the Holy Book Koran is that women within Islam or even outside it, should not be oppressed under any circumstances.

The connection between spiritualism and economic activities came into the picture, but with the advent of call of socialism from Russia the entire fantasy tumbled down as if the war is over. It might not be able to improve the social condition with the help of spirituality, but the presence of a Protestant State, which does not see Capitalism as an evil.

Religious pluralism is a modern position born not out of the openness of one religious tradition to another; but rather, out of a philosophical attempt to confront the confluence of cultural boundaries and the growth of relativism. The question that relativism proposes, however, is whether faith is based on the relativity to culture.

Islam is one of the primary great religions of the world and Muslims roughly constitute more than twenty percent of the total population. Even though the Muslim population is more concentrated in the Middle-East, some part of Asia, and Africa, followers are now spread out and found in all parts of the world. The growth is this religion is also great and it is no understatement to say that its influence in social and political spheres is enormous. This great religion has clearly laid out laws and edicts that are based on love, caring, morality and what is right and wrong for a true and devout Muslim.

One of the greatest scholars of this religion Israel Abrahams is of opinion that the Graeco-Jewish literature is perhaps the first socio-historical document that bears the term Judaism during 100 B.C. He has also found that the reference of Judaism as the religion for Jews can be found in the Book II of Maccabees. It also exists in sharp contrast with the Hellenism or the Greek religious discipline.

The manner in which Muslims have been tainted for all the wrong reasons throughout the world is a very worrying fact and one that shall be taken care of by the people who are responsible for upholding its sanctity and image. This is an important aspect as it deserves attention from everyone who calls him/herself a Muslim.

In the choice of the hymn, 'Holy God, We Praise thy Name' the song functions to establish the overarching purpose of the ceremony, namely the praise of God, in effect, this sets the tone of the rest of the service. Another purpose for the incorporation of the hymn in this context seems to be that it immediately involves the audience in the ceremony. While large portions consist of elements where the audience are observers.

Poverty is the root cause of instability, insecurity, and public anger in most of the third world Muslim societies. It instigates intolerance and extremism which has manifested itself in various forms of violence. More often than not, poverty is attributed to mismanagement and misconduct in economic policies.

The influence of the so-called Holy Communion or Eucharist and partaken by the Christians today has its origin from the last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples. The taking of wine and bread elements in a belief that their conversion would take place to the body of Christ and blood on drinking reflects the words of Jesus to his disciples during the last supper session.

Apart from Sharia, there are also hadiths of Prophet Mohammed which are considered as religious doctrines by the Muslims. These Hadiths also have guidelines on how Muslims are to act towards others.    

Showing love by spending time together with family and friends or giving hand-made Christmas cards would suffice. This kind of teaching, if internalized and applied, would definitely be posting a challenge during this time. Thus, this paper investigates the threat of this Christian teaching mentioned in the context of gift-giving.

The theory of knowledge contends that we gain truth through perception, emotion, reason, and language. These ways of knowing are applied to our areas of learning in mathematics, science, and the arts. Though we may fall short of absolute certainty, by evaluating our ways of knowing we can help to become more certain of our beliefs.

Jesus was righteous and wants his followers to be like him and therefore today Christians must be like Jesus in every way whereby they should rejoice when prosecuted because of the Father in Heaven, Anna Wierzbicka states that the prosecuted are those who will experience bad things because of speaking the word of God.

Salvation is about the greatest love of God for His people by sending Jesus to tell the good news for humanity (John 3: 16). God does not want His people to be delivered to hell with Satan that is why He offered salvation and it is free for all. He had chosen people to spread it over the world and not only Jesus.

Applicable to any form of suffering or grief, Psalm 137 and Psalm 22 have been instrumental in helping those individuals dealing with such disasters as the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina, as well as the innumerable personal losses these events brought about just as they were instrumental in assisting the ancient Israelites in their exile and David and later Jesus in their times of darkness.

Supersessionism is a hotly debated topic amongst scholars, theologians, and devout religious organizations alike, thus it is was the intention of this author not to dismiss Israel's contribution to the development of Christianity, but to offer solid substantiation to adopting modern Christian beliefs as being more central to obtaining the divine designation as that of God's chosen.   

Gandhi also emphasized to undertake penance, Tapasya, which enables a person to stay away from criminal and bad activities. According to Gandhi through penance, people can make themselves enlightened like Buddha and can see the light in their hearts. He thought that Buddha moved away from worsened traditions and conventions. 

Religion has been used by the heads of the nation or by the religious heads to influence the minds of the people as in the case of suicide terrorists who are promised eternal heaven. Nations identify themselves as a Christian nation or a Muslim nation. There are many like Osma Bin Laden who wants to unite the entire Muslim world under one banner.

Viewed from this perspective, brainwashing oneself to believe in God is thus seen as an exercise in responsibility to try to change one’s perspective and thus gain a clearer view of what is truly important leading to a natural and fully emotional religious conviction. This conviction is then necessary to sustain these changes to reap the benefits of this labor.

The question of whether or not Christianity is a religion for women requires answers that are given on at least two levels. From a sociological and anthropological point of view, the society of the Christian religion has sufficient male domination to not be considered an ideal environment for women. Throughout history, women have been persecuted by those who would persecute Christians and by Christian men.

The earliest manuscripts of the Greek New Testament have for the heading simply “To the Hebrews.” That is the accurate title. Actually the book is anonymous. When it was written? The answer to this question is not quite as completely uncertain as that relating to authorship. There is also uncertainty as to the exact date of the writing of Hebrews.