Church Essays

Episcopal Bishop Mark Dyer has observed that the only way to understand what is currently happening to us as twenty-first-century Christians is to realize that the church feels compelled to have a massive shakeup about every five hundred years. He describes this shakeup as a ‘rummage sale’. Five hundred years back from our 21st century places us in the 16th century and what is now being called the Great Reformation. Theologian Tickle names this 21st-century rummage sale as the ‘Great...

On Sunday, the 1st of February, news emerged that a suspected suicide bomber who infiltrated the premises of a Winners’ Chapel branch in Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State was apprehended with explosive devices. Social Media users celebrated his arrest and expected to hear some staggering details about his motivation and sponsors. Many sections linked him to the regular culprits, the Boko Haram sect, although this terrorist group has been relegated to some parts of the Northeastern part of Nigeria. As for...

We see the moon as a beautiful bright light gleaming in the night’s dark abyss. The round wonder that mankind thought to be the end all and be all of measuring time, was eventually proven to be leading them to a dead end. What hunters and farmers truly needed was a calendar to predict when the seasons would change. To them, having such a calendar would be a game changer. The crucial knowledge of when to plant seeds, prepare for...

Boston is still one of the biggest and most influential towns in Lincolnshire today as it was in the medieval period, although interestingly there is no mention of Boston in ‘Domesday Book’ of 1086 (Russell, 2021). By the beginning of the 12th century, however, Boston had developed as an inland port thanks to its position at the head of the tidal River Haven, linking it to the North Sea. By the 13th century, Boston had grown to be one of...

A few years before joining the Church of England, T.S Eliot published The Waste Land. During this time, he contemplated on the idea of joining the church as a way of salvation. His ideas of rebirth and salvation, at this time, resonate through the poem’s lines. The Waste Land, as a whole, is not considered a religious poem; however there are aspects of it that have revealed some religious views. Eliot makes reference to the various images of Christian beliefs,...

Civil liberties in the US revolve around spiritual freedom and freedom of speech among alternative liberties that feature conspicuously within the Bill of Rights. Spiritual freedom, for example, permits Americans to purchase a religion of their selection. The state has no right to impose any faith on its voters (Bardes et al., 2010). The appearance of this document at the separation of church and state and, nevertheless, the establishment clause has an agreement on some highlighted controversial issues. The US...

A big controversial topic that has boomed in the most recent years is abortion. Abortion has become so controversial because of the two set standpoint categories. The standpoints being prochoice and prolife which is also considered antiabortion or antichoice. People might ask, ‘what is abortion?’, an abortion is stopping the pregnancy in the female by terminating the fetus, most happening within the first 28 weeks of being conceived. Abortion is viewed in many ways, yet no matter how many times...

“We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God.” – (Pope Benedict XVI April 2005) this quote expresses the Catholic church’s beliefs of people’s lives and clearly shows an example of where the Catholic Church stood during the Holocaust. Hitler’s way of “purifying Germany” was seen as a horrific and tragic period of time in this worlds history it was also referred to as an “Hour of darkness”,...

The Church played a significant role in the lives of medieval peoples during the Middle Ages. Religion was involved in almost every aspect of daily life, so much so that during this time the laws of Europe were governed by the Church. When the Black Death devastated Europe from 1347 onwards, the damaging consequences meant that the reputation of the Christian church suffered as a result as they were unable to provide any answers or reasoning for the pestilence. The...

Everyone has their own opinion about religion and the church. In various pieces of literature, the author may choose to express their opinion by directly stating it, or they may offer it to the reader between the lines. Geoffrey Chaucer takes the latter approach by showing his view of the church through characterization of the clergy in the Canterbury Tales. The characters of the clergy that Chaucer focuses on to portray his opinions are the Prioress, Monk, and Friar. These...

Introduction The purpose of this research paper will be to investigate the influence and the effect that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has had on the Irish Free State and also on Ireland’s economy, political society, and civil society. The Roman Catholic Church’s influence on public policy has been called into question many a time, especially in the European context. Thus it is only logical that the influence of the church should also be investigated in the context of...

It can be argued that few movements have had as much impact on the world as the Protestant Reformation. Aside from the obvious impact that the Protestant Reformation had on religion and the church, in its aftermath the world changed both politically and culturally. Not only was there an initial impact but there is also a continued impact that is still being felt today. Whether positive or negative, one cannot deny that the impact that the Protestant Reformation has had...

More than 70% of the American population is affiliated to Christianism. Among them, a majority is Protestant. Still, after the 46, 5% Americans that claim to be Protestant, more than ¼ US citizen is a Roman Catholic. It appears that the concentration of Catholics in Rhode Island is above average, with around 40%-50% of Rhode Islanders affiliated to this branch of Christianism, making this state the one with the highest rate of Catholics in the United States. Rhode Island has...

The story of mankind begins with our beliefs, our struggles, and our inspiration to make an impact on the earth that we share. Over the course of time, civilizations have come and gone but one thing is certain, religion has played an important role in shaping cultural traditions and the laws that govern societies across the globe. However, religions across the globe have fought an arduous battle between a society’s civil liberties and the divine entity that they worship. In...

Introduction Catholicism is the largest religion in Spain, with 68% of Spaniards identifying as Catholic (Barómetro). It is deeply rooted in the history of the country, dating back to the first century. However, the long presence of the Catholic Church has also led to a long history of anticlericalism in Spain. From the burning of churches and other religious grounds to the assassinations and murders of religious figures, opposition to the Church has made itself known through various, often extreme,...

Introduction Homosexuality within the church has always been the greatest issue in any religion. However it does stop people from acting in such harmful and mischievous ways. The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views...

The altar symbolized Christ. An altar is a table or structure used for offering sacrifice. For Catholics, it is the place for the central sacrifice where the Eucharistic enacted. The altar is central to the liturgical celebration and should be the cynosure of all eyes during Eucharistic celebrations. The altar too should clearly take its place above everything else in the sanctuary. This is so clearly explained in the rubrics that it is a great mystery. The altar should always...

The modern pentecostal movement is considered by many scholars the most revolutionary phenomenon in the history of Christianity in the 20th century, and perhaps one of the most striking of the whole history of the church. In relatively few decades, the Pentecostal churches gathered a huge amount of people in virtually all continental tes, totaling today, according to calculations by experts, about half a billion adherents around the mun. More than this, Pentecostalism has brought profound changes to the Christian...

In spite of the fact that the standard perspective on The Prince is that it advances a hypothetically unscrupulous belief system for political pioneers to embrace, this is doubtlessly by all account not the only reason the religious specialists prohibited the book and reproached Machiavelli after its distribution in 1559. This article will give a couple of the reasons and venture into their subtleties with respect to why Machiavelli was acknowledged and after that denounced by the Catholic Church. The...

Introduction Nazarene Church is a well-known Church which started in Kansas City, United States of America. It talks about holiness without compromising sin. It addresses only rightness to influence people who commits sin in their lives to change and focus kingdom in life. This church rapidly spread all over the World and many souls have been saved. So, how did the first Missionaries bring it into this Pacific Island country called Papua New Guinea? They faced challenges or committed themselves...

“Still Falls the Rain” by Dame Edith Sitwell and Philip Larkin’s “Church Going” are two poems that, when analyzed, reveal different versification, themes, and poetic devices. The works are written fourteen years apart; however, the avant-garde poetess and the movement poet still manage to put across their personal attitudes towards religion. Sitwell’s 1941 poem commences with a reference to the German raids on London during the Second World War, thus the titular rain symbolizes the bombs still falling upon England....

The concept of what a real follower is must be created before the topic of creating disciples can be thorough. To do this, one must glance specifically at the scriptures in the Luke Gospel. Jesus begins by saying, ‘If anyone comes to me and doesn’t hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, and even his own life, he can’t be my follower.’ While this phrase utilizes a robust vocabulary, it portrays the passion of a follower for Christ...

Prior to explaining the qualifications of a church leader, we should first consider what their roles are. In 1 Timothy 3:1 we see that Peter calls the leaders “overseers”. In various denominations, pastors, elders, and bishops carry different responsibilities or roles. In certain regions or cities, bishops oversee pastors, and pastors oversee elders in a church. But we read in scripture that these titles refer to the same thing. When we see the word, “Deacon” it is referred to as...

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines corruption as “dishonest or illegal behaviour especially by powerful people such as government officials or police” or “inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means such as bribery”. Religious institutions have it that corruption is “a state of spiritual decay and moral dishonesty, arising from the effects of sin, which expresses itself in disobedience towards God”. Corruption is a social ill that has existed for as long as cannot be dated to a particular period and...

Introduction The issue of doctrinal correctness and the confusions generated by it, is one that is as old as the church. Right since the inception and birth of the church till now, there has been numerous issues as regards doctrinal correctness and what practices that one must have to belong to the church of God or the body of Christ. It is nearly impossible – if not entirely – to look upon the history of the church and not be...

There is a widespread misconception that material culture is not valued by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its members. However, since the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley, there has been an emphasis on aestheticism; handicrafts, architecture, and art served not only the moral of displaced immigrants, but also proved to those critical of the Mormons that they could establish a material culture with goods tantamount to those being made in the...

Although Inferno is written through the eyes of a zealous Catholic, a large part of Dante’s journey through hell is spent criticizing the current Catholic establishment and exposing the corruption that has infected the Papal office. Throughout the poem, Dante continually points out former high ranking church officials in Hell, of whom even include Popes. Inferno makes Dante’s views about the relationship between Faith and Institution known. He believes that Faith is the key to salvation, however it is not...

The future of religion is one that includes an ever growing number of female leaders. Being deeply grounded in traditional beliefs and practices, it is difficult for one to consider that leadership roles within certain religions will also grow to have more representation of females. But, that is not to say it hasn’t already happened. Females within the religion of Catholicism have already begun to defy traditional norms. There has been multiple instances where women have obtained leadership status. But,...

In the 1800s, there were many reform movements in the United States. One of the major reform movements was the religious reform movement. One of the major parts of that movement was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon church. This church was started by Joseph Smith Jr., and is still around and is still a popular religion. This religion attracted many members and appealed to many people during the reform movements. Joseph Smith Jr. was...

Before 1381, the English governing classes had encountered heretics but had never had to deal with them on a ‘large or concerted scale’. Heresy was counted as an occult or hidden crime, and so it’s detection was far from simple, there are doubts about the significance of heresy in late medieval English society, which stem from the ‘rediscovery of popular religion’. Some may even go to the extent of questioning ‘why should we bother with Lollards at all?’. The extent...