Religious Beliefs essays

What comes to mind when you hear the word 'religion'? I think of a contract with rules and regulations that stipulate the following of these to receive a reward. For many, the rewards are enticing as it gives them hope as to what lies ahead. In my opinion, the negative impact religion has had on society as a whole has deeply outweighed what little charity it has provided, and it should be abolished. I was ushered into religion when I...

Introduction In the seventh century, a profound transformation began in the Arabian Peninsula with the emergence of Islam. This faith would rapidly expand to become one of the world's major religions. This remarkable spread, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad in 610 C.E., captivated and unified vast populations across continents. The speed and extent of Islam's expansion raise intriguing questions about the factors contributing to its rapid growth. This essay explores the multifaceted reasons behind the swift spread of Islam, examining...

Religion Assignment This essay contains various reflections on my personal religious experience here at Marino Institute of Education in my first year of the B. ED course as well as some of my opinions and thoughts on assigned college readings. Through writing this essay, it has allowed me to reflect on my religious education so far in my nineteen years of life and I can now proudly say that I know what sort of religious education teacher that I want...

Throughout the semester I had the opportunity to learn about different religions and the cultures that our society here and around the world experience and live in. Although I do not consider myself a religious person who goes to church every Sunday, reads the bible, or abides by each and every step of my religion I do believe in God and I have a lot of faith in him and many of the aspects that follow the religion I do....

Multiple perspectives create a story. The reader’s ordinary and cognitive perspectives contribute meaning to the text. The thematic panorama shows how the writing itself is a nexus of meaning. The authorial perspective moves beyond the scope of the text, and the reader to show how the text belongs to a larger network of stories that have shaped the author’s literary values. These values explain what the author was trying to accomplish through his text and in what ways he was...

A ubiquitous theme in literature is religion. The Bible is a very popular book, and the first-ever printed, and has many stories of faith. In Life of Pi, Pi is a boy who is Indian and is learning about different types of religion and faith. After the ship sank on the way to Canada, Pi got lost at sea. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Pi was on a lifeboat with a tiger who was called Richard Parker. By...

Would the world be better off with or without religion? For many years this question has been asked with no real answer. Religion brings both good and bad out of people, but would the world be better without the conflict that religious beliefs often fuel, or would it only cause more pain and depression with nothing for people to believe in? A world without religion would rely mainly on technology and science, which would be a good thing as technological...

In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre encounters three different figures in her life: Mr. Brocklehurst, Helen Burns, and St. John. They represent their own established versions of religion that builds upon the foundation of her faith to God. These versions are presented in order to contrast the opinions of Jane which play a central part in her personal character development. It is through these interactions in which she rejects the traditional Christian religion and creates her own personal connection...

Introduction to Magical Realms: Harry Potter vs. The Chronicles of Narnia Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia are arguably among the most entertaining works of fantasy, especially when it comes to magic. The Harry Potter series primarily focuses on Harry’s struggles against Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard with the intention to achieve pure-blood dominance by ridding the wizarding world of Muggle, a world of non-magical beings. On the other side, The Chronicles of Narnia focuses on the adventures of...

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, religion became an important aspect of daily life in Europe, because every person from the King to the peasants was controlled by the church. Religion impacted on the social, economic and political systems of the time and help strong power due to the low education levels of peasants. The Middle Ages is described as a 1,000-year-period. The phrase “Middle Ages” is used to describe Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE...

Historically, humanity never stopped thinking about God, or about the Creator. As a consequence, the disciplines of today are in fact quite new. The responses in doing theology typically acts out of an angry disposition towards the ‘other’. White people going to Americas took Natives on a path of destruction because they had nothing of value to offer to Natives. Their attempts to enculturate Natives and make them embrace Western culture is nothing but an example to this angry disposition...

One of the central themes in a Christian life is “Work” this is a theme we cannot avoid within the community of faith. However there has been a clear tension between faith and works. (Robert Dickie 2015) Since the 1500s Major theologian such as Luther and John Calvin have been responding to this tension in their theology of Vocation. Since reformation other important theologians to date have drawn out of the theology of vocation the Theology of Work. This theology...

The German political atmosphere has changed over the last years. Many people talk about a Rechtsruck - a sudden shift to the right. A new party appeared within some years: Alternative für Deutschland – An alternative for Germany (AfD). It was successful with slogans like those shown above. Yet, the members of the party resist to be classified as xenophobic and right wing. Surprisingly, the party also attracts Christians. Echter published a brochure with empty pages to answer the question...

Introduction God created everything on earth and saw that it was good. My observation from the Bible in the book of Genesis, God created man and God saw that man was lonely therefore he made a woman out of man’s rib. God made a companion for man to be a helper. Man and woman are brought together to become one. Is it rightful for a man to divorce his wife? Since the beginning many things has changed due to man’s...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is recognized as a deeply spiritual man, a Protestant Luteran pastor, a Christian thinker, theologian, and an active oppositionist of Nazism. Due to his devotion to Christian ideas, significant contribution to the modern theology, and bold resistance to the policy of Hitler, Bonhoeffer remains increasingly influential figure in the recent Christian history. Bonhoeffer was all his life consequent and diligent learner of Christian theology. At the age of 14, he announced that wanted to study theology, and at...

Following the period of the Enlightenment, it was believed that religion would eventually fade away due to the rise of new ways of rationalizing the world in which we live, specifically religion was thought to be in its last phase before obsoleteness because of science (Newberg & d’Aquili, 2008). It has been over two-hundred years since the end of the Enlightenment and religion is not fading away, to the contrary, it is on the rise (Lipka & Hackett, 2015). However,...

From my previous courses at Liberty I know theo means god, and the suffix ology refers to a field of study. Therefore, when I hear the word theology I know that it suggests the study of God. I believe this “study of God” is the structure or support of Christianity. Growing up in a two parent home where only one was Christian (my mom), I have had Jesus as my friend and savior for as long as I can remember...

INTRODUCTION Oppression used as a tool of religion, society uses religion as a form of social control, people behave well not only out of fear of their friends and families disapproving but also out of the desire to remain in their god’s good graces. Durkheim explains that sacred does not mean good and profane does not mean bad. Christianity and Judaism, for example, have ten commandments as a set of rules for behavior that they believe we’re sent directly from...

Biblical theology seeks to make sense of God’s Word by studying biblical text, content and structure to form a biblical theological perspective. It is a useful tool when interpreting biblical events and perspective. Biblical theology “examines the big story and pays attention to how each book of the Bible contributes to it” . Biblical theology brings together the study of scripture to investigate, understand and guide Christian living. Authorities of scripture, marriage, family, gender, and sexuality are fiercely debated topics...

What is Narrative? The word narrative is synonymous with a story, which is an account of events that can be actual or reported, this account can be used to help us understand better our experiences in the world, and they form us. Professor Jerome T. Walsh, a professor of the Old Testament at the University of Botswana and Dallas, describes narrative as a storytelling which is a ‘human universe and that stories help us to preserve the past, explore the...

“To sing about freedom and to pray for its coming is not enough. Freedom must be actualized in history by oppressed who accept the intellectual challenge to analyze the world for the purpose of changing it” mentioned James Cone. This paper looks at one of the prominent figures of Black Theology, James Cone and explores Black Liberation Theology. Black Theology is an off shout of Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology and Black Theology were mainly a response to the socio-political realities...

James Cone, an American theologian, is best known for his advocacy of black theology, which focuses on the lives and experiences of black people. Throughout God of the Oppressed and Bill Moyers interview, Cone uses symbols to narrate black theology. The symbols he uses are the lynching tree, Jesus, the Israelites, and folk stories. The lynching tree symbolizes the reflection of the reality of black people, Jesus and the Israelites function as a symbol of hope, and folk stories round...

For many years, the South African people have lived under the bondage of various past events that left the people broken and in need of liberation. One of the most commonly known issues that plagued the country for many years was apartheid, a period during which black people were not allowed to mingle with the whites. Logically, it is impossible for a purely white theology to liberate a people that are naturally and exclusively black in their culture and all...

Scientific Explanations for Religion According to the Hypersensitive Agency-Detecting Device (HADD) mechanism, it allows humans to “perceive that many things have agency or the ability to act of their own accord” (Palermo, 2015). This mechanism was developed as based on survivability of humans, who did not try to think too much about the causality of natural events and believed that things could happen due to their own agencies, who subsequently passed this mechanism to subsequent generations through reproduction. This mechanism...

Theology since ancient times is a mysterious topic. There are two kinds of typical branch of theology, Greek theology and Buddhism theology. They are more popular than many other theologies. People may think that they are so similar in many aspects that they can’t be distinguished very clearly. As a matter of fact, they are different in some ways. This essay will show 3 similarity and 3 differences between Buddhism theology and Greek theology. Admittedly, there are many similarities between...

Introduction In this essay, I will be discussing the value of theology widely based on the article “Introduction to Theology” by Kevin Smith. I will focus on Smith’s view on the nature, goal, task, and methods of theology. Through interactions from the articles; “Sceptics on the Value of Theology” also by Kevin Smith and “You Cannot Serve Both God and Theology” by Marshall Segal. I will review the visions and implications of Smith’s view on the value of theology and...

Theology and religion are two very closely related and easily confused disciplines. The confusion arises because both of them revolve around a supreme power, God. If you carefully examine each subject, you will realize that, while they have a few aspects in common, they are also two completely different things. Theology mostly focuses on studying about God and faith. It is only concerned with particular beliefs and religious views. Religion, on the other hand, covers a broader scope as it...

Minjung theology deals with the central theme of theology, i.e. there are two separate opinions it is based off. According to Suh Namdong, minjung is the centre of focus rather than Jesus, whereas Ahn Byungmu claims that it focuses on both minjung and Jesus, as they are inseparable. The reasoning given was that Jesus was the medium used to understand the oppressed (Ochlos) rather than the oppressed used to explain Jesus instead. Jesus represented the oppressed and his priority was...

Introduction For many Century, there are more and more people formed different peace organisations to create peace for the world. Buddhist Peace Fellowship also known as BPF, is one of the many peace organisations mainly based on Buddhism. BPF was first found in 1978. The reason why that this Buddhist peace organisations is selected is because they demonstrated their actions through the perspective of Buddhism and this would be the main difference compare to other peace organisations. Theological/Philosophical Background The...

Located in Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum is a Buddhist figural sculpture titled Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara). The sculpture is on display in a room filled with Buddhist relics which have survived from China’s past. Guanyin, a bodhisattva (Buddha to be) is displayed next to Dashizhi, another bodhisattva type which shares the same wood carving and polychrome composition and rests on the same display plinth. In the gallery space, as in the religion itself, these two sculptures are aspects of the larger narrative...