Augustine derived from Plato, a perspective that the human self exists as a thinking immaterial soul. Plato stood firm in believing that after dying, the souls with the greatest love for the forms would rise and ponder over eternal truths. This to Plato was a kind of heaven, existing beyond time and space. Augustine interpreted such forms as concepts within the mind of a perfect and eternal God. Augustine said the main requirement was that humans love the eternal, perfect God. Thus, Augustine emphasized the significance of will as well as the ability to choose between evil and good. Loving and serving God was to Augustine, a fundamental religion responsibility. Sticking to this duty, one can succeed in avoiding evil and choosing good.
Part I

Chapter IX of Book Three has Augustine discussing the crimes and vices that plague humanity, even with men who are in the process of working towards the…...

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References

Augustine, & Pine-Coffin, R. (1961). Confessions. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.

King David as Described in 2 Samuel 11
Samuel 11 describes the events surrounding the sin of King David with regard to Uriah, whom he essentially had executed so that David's adultery with Uriah's wife would not be made known to him. This shameful action on the part of David displeased the Lord immensely, which is described in the following chapters. This chapter, however, reveals a side of David's character that prior to this incident had not been explored before. Much of what is known about David's character is celebratory -- from his time as the boy who slays the giant Goliath, to his handling of the Ark of the Covenant. David is described as a man after God's own heart (1 Sam 13:14) and most of his actions support this idea. His "humility and innocence" in his approach to Saul, playing for him on his lyre and soothing the…...

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Bibliography

Bartlett, David; Taylor, Barbara. Feasting on the Word. Louisville, KY: Westminster

John Knox Press, 2009.

Bosworth, David. "Evaluating King David: Old Problems and Recent Scholarship," The

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 2 (April 2006), 191-203.

Bernini's David
The Baroque was a dramatic period in Europe: the religious unity the continent had enjoyed for centuries had come to a crashing halt with the Protestant Reformation. King was turned against King, prince against pontiff. Persecution and war were dominant themes, especially following the excommunication of Henry VIII from the Church. Bernini's David, sculpted between 1623 and 1624, represents the swirling, dramatic, grim activity of the times (Avery). It is indeed a strong manifestation of the Baroque principles and themes: David is reared back, depicted in mid-action, like a lock ready to be sprung on his foe. He is full of conviction, bent on striking, Unlike Michelangelo's Renaissance Era David, which aimed mainly for a frontal view to show off the human form and which conveyed a sense of the confidence, leisure, pride and grandeur of the Renaissance Age, Bernini's David is a figure of determination -- a sculpture…...

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Works Cited

Avery, Charles. Bernini: Genius of the Baroque. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.

Print.

Cunningham, Lawrence; Reich, John. Culture and Values: a Survey of the Humanities.

NY: Cengage, 2014. Print.

Good people do not use their power as belonging to the dominant group in society to make those who are minorities -- because of their race or their gender, their religion or their ethnicity -- feel lesser.
Simple, right? Multiculturalism preaches tolerance, and this is a very good first step. But critical multiculturalism teaches tolerance plus the need to be honest with ourselves and others about who in any relationship or interaction has power. Simple, right? Well, not really. One of the striking things about the responses to Straw was that while many of his critics chastised (or excoriated) him for siding with Western values against the values of his Muslim constituents, some of those who supported him praised him for siding with Western values (such as freedom and self-autonomy) against patriarchy and sexism. When he said that veils were not a good thing for a society that includes Muslim…...

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References

Bennett, D. (Ed.) (1998). Multicultural states. London: Routledge.

Calhoun, C. (Ed.) (1994). Social theory and the politics of identity. Oxford: Blackwell.

Dallmayr, F. (1966) 'Democracy and Multiculturalism' in S. Benhabib (Ed.) Democracy and difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Parekh, B. (2000). Rethinking multiculturalism. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Faustus, as Christopher Marlowe's character, is a German scholar who wants to exceed the limits of traditional logic, medicine, law and religion by practicing black magic. Through this, he calls upon Mephistopheles, a demon, who arranges a deal between Faustus and Lucifer for 24 years of power and glory in exchange for his soul. Despite Mephistopheles' warnings about the horrors of hell and his own doubts about what the deal really means, Faustus persists in the decision to enter into the bargain, which he signs in his own blood. ich gifts and displays of pleasure from Mephistopheles and Lucifer, though, distract his doubts and lull his senses and reason, in addition to Mephistopheles' impressive information about the nature of the universe. The parade of the seven deadly sins particularly wins Faustus' mind and will. In the fulfillment of their end of the bargain, Mephistopheles takes Faustus to ome, the…...

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References

Dyce, Alexander, editor. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. The Quarto of 1616: Blackmask Online, 2001. http://www.blackmask.com/books15c/drfstadex.htm

Finnan, Dennis L. Seven Deadly Sins. The World, the Word and You! Broadcast, 1998. http://www.wwy.org/wwy3398.html

Goldfarb, Russell and Clarke, The Seven Deadly Sins in Doctor Faustus. http://www.industrialdisturbance.com/marlowe/explorer/seven.html

Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus. Etext # 811, February 1997.  http://sailor.gutenbeg.org/etext97/drfsta10.txt

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I was struck by how critical this historical information was to the understanding of the actual church. One critical piece of information is the idea of Jesus as the head of the church, despite him not establishing Christianity as a separate religion. Another critical idea was that prophets could play a continuing role in Christianity, when my traditional understanding had suggested that after Jesus there would be no more Jewish prophets. I also found myself wondering about the very obvious and…...

religion, answering three questions, one page per question.
Martin Luther once said "In order to be truly free, one must be properly enslaved." Evaluate this statement using your knowledge of the Catholic Tradition. 2) hat is the Catholic Tradition view of Original Sin and does this view still have relevance today, why or why not? 3) hy has the Church ruled and maintained the ruling that only men may serve as priests, should this practice continue or change, why? Three sources. MLA.

Religion

Martin Luther, a 15th century monk of the Augustinian order, symbolizes the split within Christianity between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Luther once said "In order to be truly free, one must be properly enslaved." He was referring to his belief that human beings have free will only by the grace of God. Luther believed that without God one would have no free will. According to Luther, a Christian was…...

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Works Cited

Martin Luther: 1483-1546."   02-19-2003).http://www.island-of-freedom.com/LUTHER.HTM .(accessed

Schreck, Alan. Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism. Servant Books. 1987; pp. 18-

Women's Ordination." Catholic Internet Library..  http://www.womenpriests.org .

A accessed 02-19-2003).

Many believe that this judgment takes place within a person's lifetime through sufferings for acts committed, and one does not have to wait for the end of time. The basic belief of Christianity is that there is a Christian God, who is benevolent and giving, but who is also a vengeful God. In fact, a large part of Pilgrim theology was premised on God being vengeful, and that self sacrifices were needed to appease God. Christians also believe that Christ was the son of God, who came to fulfill the Messianic prophecy espoused by sages from the Old Testament. Goodness, kindness, good deeds, generosity, honesty are divinely inspired. Christians keep Christ as a cherished beacon to be emulated every step of the way. Good deeds (which would satisfy uddhists) without true faith is meaningless.
The uddhists have an assigned eight-step path to enlightenment. These are not far removed from any…...

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Bibliography

Bernstein, Alan E. The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.

Bowker, John Westerdale. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Easwaran, Eknath. The Dhammapada. Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1986.

Meeks, Wayne a. The Origins of Christian Morality: The First Two Centuries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.

Gospel: Gospel is a message that has contents on Jesus, God, salvation, the Kingdom of God, and everything that is done to reach out this message to the believers. Gospel is also one of the books in the New Testament talking about the life, death, resurrection, and the works of Jesus Christ.
• Original sin: Original sin refers to the tendency and deprivation to the evil that is seen as innate in all humankind and it is passed from Adam to all human beings, resulting from the sin engaged by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sin is naturally adapted to every born human being, born of Adam being the initial sinner.

• Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism is a 20th-century religious movement emphasizing on a strict belief in the literal understanding and interpretation of the religious texts.

• Heresy: Heresy is a theory that is developed to be at strong variance…...

" Therefore, the Second Coming and the Rapture are coincidental events, both of which have to do with Christ returning to Earth. The Rapture specifically refers to what happens to human beings. Once Christ returns, the "thousand-year reign" on Earth begins. According to the FFM website, "Jesus Christ will one day return to bring believers home to Heaven and will reign with them over the Earth for 1,000 years." The thousand-year reign has scriptural origin, and is also called the Millennial Reign of Jesus. A "new heaven and earth," ostensibly a holier and happier one, will result from the Second Coming.
Speaking in tongues is a phenomenon that occasionally accompanies the baptism rite. Many Protestant and evangelical groups encourage speaking in tongues as proof of one's salvation during baptism (Robinson 2005). More formally known as "glossolalia," speaking in tongues is considered to be a supernatural manifestation of the glory of God…...

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Works Cited

'History." Faith Fellowship Ministries.org.< http://www.faithfellowshipministries.org/history.html>.

Interview material.

"Our Beliefs." < http://www.ffmwoc.org/FFM3/Beliefs.html>.

Robinson, B.A. (2005). "Comparing the Beliefs of Roman Catholics and Conservative Protestants." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance: Religious Tolerance.org.<  http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_capr.htm >.

Islam
Select a eligion

eligion is considered to be belief and acts of worship, which concentrates on worshiping a deity and gives a detailed and comprehensive outline for the way of living. It teaches the difference between good and evil, right and wrong and morality and immorality. This paper has selected Islam as the religion to be discussed.

Analysis of Christianity

Analysis of Christianity

Analysis of Islam

eligion plays an essential role in providing spiritual, moral and ethical guidelines to individuals in order to apply it into their daily lives (Fisher, 2005). eligion is considered to be belief and acts of worship, which concentrates on worshiping a deity and gives a detailed and comprehensive outline for the way of living. It teaches the difference between good and evil, right and wrong and morality and immorality. There are several religions in the world, which includes Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. Each religion has its own…...

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References:

Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living religions (6th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

McInerney, W. (2003). Instructor's manual with tests: Living religions (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Religion of Islam.(2009). Minnesota State University. Retrieved from http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/beliefs.html

Universally accepted as one of the world's foremost epics, John Milton's Paradise Lost traces the history of the world from a Christian perspective. (Milton, 1667) The narrative of the poem largely deals with falling and how desires -- God, Satan, Jesus, Adam and Eve's -- lead to it. The book is about mankind's fall -- Original Sin -- Adam and Eve's disobedience of God. There are other instances of falling in the plot too. First, Satan's fall from God's graces, as related to Adam and Eve by the angel Raphael, represents the past in the Universe's creation. The second instance -- the present (in the narrative) -- is the Adam and Eve's eating of the Forbidden Fruit. The third instance represents the future. Michael, as he readies to escort Adam and Eve out of Paradise, presents to them the various falls of man until Jesus comes to rescue by dying…...

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Bibliography

Bendz, Fredrik. Proof That There Is No God. 1998. Fredrik Bendz. Available. December 27, 2002.  http://www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/nogod/no_god.htm 

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. The Poetical Works of John Milton. Vol. I and II. Boston R.H. Hinkley Company, 1667.

Wigglesworth, Michael. Day of Doom. The Poems of Michael Wigglesworth. Ed. Roland Basco. New York: University Press of America, 1662.

Paintings:

Mattew Fox: Te Man, Te Controversy
Mattew Fox: Ten and Now Mattew Fox is a literary groundbreaker in te world of teology, in particular te doctrines of te Catolic Curc. His 1983 first-book, Original Blessing is a solid look at te blessings of life rater tan te concept of original sin. Te notion of Original sin is a central tenet to te Catolic Doctrine, and in 1989 te Vatican silenced Fox for one full year because of is teacings from Original Blessings.

In Original Blessings, Fox divides is book into four sections, befriending creation (te via positiva); befriending darkness, letting go, and letting be (te via negativa); befriending creativity, befriending our divinity (via creativa); and befriending new creation: compassion, celebration, and erotic justice (te via transformativa). He states tat awe and goodness will be te greatest counters to our society's predominantly pessimistic and fearful mood.

Fox believes tat Jesus teaces us to live…...

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Nurriestearns, Mary. "Beyond a Job: Doing the Great Work. An Interview With Matthew Fox." Personal Transformation.http://www.personaltransformation.com/Fox.html .

Fox, Matthew. "Right Livelihood." Yes Magazine. Spring 2001.

Pacwa, Mitchell S.J. "Catholicism for the New Age: Matthew Fox and Creation-Centered Spirituality." Christian Research Institute. Report DF105.  http://www.equip.org/free/DF105.htm

" When these words of mine were repeated in Pelagius' presence at ome by a certain brother of mine (an Episcopal colleague), he could not bear them and contradicted him so excitedly that they nearly came to a quarrel. Now what, indeed, does God command, first and foremost, except that we believe in him? This faith, therefore, he himself gives; so that it is well said to him, "Give what thou commandest." Moreover, in those same books, concerning my account of my conversion when God turned me to that faith which I was laying waste with a very wretched and wild verbal assault, do you not remember how the narration shows that I was given as a gift to the faithful and daily tears of my mother, who had been promised that I should not perish? I certainly declared there that God by his grace turns men's wills to the…...

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References

Charles Eadward Pratt., A Reviewed: The Quaker Doctrine of the Inward Light Vindicated.

John Tulloch., the Christian Doctrine of Sin

Augustine, Edward Bouverier Pusey., Confessions of S. Augustine: Revised from a Former Translation by E.B. Pusey: with illustrations.

Edward Bouverie., The Doctrine of the Real Presence: As Contained in the Fathers from the Death of S. John.

McGrath's comments above suggest periods of conceptual adjustment as observers of the Christian faith worked to make explanations for the presence, even the commonality, of sin as it exists in spite of God's innate goodness.
So again, to the idea that Christianity's incredible facets couldn't rationally be reached by outsiders to the faith with some guesswork does not hold up against the process by which we know Christianity came to be. McGrath points out that in this discussion on how best to reconcile sin with God's innate goodness, Christianity was in a place of coming into its own identity. Answering questions such as this quandary on the dualism of good and evil would be very much a part of 'guessing' the structure of Christian faith as it were, but directly within the framework allowed by the basic tenets relating to God, man and the universe.

The text by Lewis demonstrates this…...

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References:

Lewis, C.S., Mere Christianity. Harper San Francisco, 2001.

McGrath, A.E., Theology: The Basics, Wiley-Blackewell; 1st edition, 2004.

Polkinghorne, J., Belief in God in an Age of Science. Yale University Press, 2003.

1. The Imago Dei: Exploring the Image of God in Humanity

2. The Fall from Grace: Understanding Original Sin and its Consequences

3. Christ as the Redeemer: Examining the Role of Jesus in Salvation History

4. New Creation in Christ: Embracing the Hope of Renewal and Restoration

5. The Image of God in a Fallen World: Navigating the Tension Between Goodness and Sin

6. Redemption through Christ: Unpacking the Theological Significance of Jesus' Sacrifice

7. Imago Dei and the Fall: Reflecting on the Human Experience of Brokenness and Redemption

8. Christ as the Image of God: Revealing the Divine in the Person of Jesus

9. The New Creation....