Friday, May 22, 2020

Religious Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1041 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/09/11 Category Religion Essay Type Narrative essay Level High school Tags: Christianity Essay Conflict Essay Jesus Christ Essay Did you like this example? Analysis of Jesus Christ Conflicts Introduction Jesus was a Palestinian born in the 29 CE as a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies. His birth revolved around conquest and oppression at a time when religion formed the base of the laws and convictions.   From his birth, his life was faced two different opposing sides with much powerful classes championing his execution (Carter, 2013). From the start of mission in Galilee, Jesus started meeting oppositional challenges many questioning his clams as the son of God. During this time, religion was a strong component of the community with strict principles and laws that those who dared challenge them were punished, rejected and execution. Jesus would become a victim   Ã‚  always in conflict with the religious class of scribes and Pharisees (  Hauer Young, 2012). To begin with, while in Capernaum, Jesus found himself at loggerheads with the scribes after healing a paralyzed man passed through the rooftop. Je sus on seeing the men and the faith they hard, told the paralyzed man, â€Å"Son, you sins are forgiven†. The scribes who teachers of the law were angered of Jesus claims to be forgiving sins in this they questioned Jesus legibility as a Jew and accused him of blasphemy (Mathew 9:2-8) In Mathew 9:10-13 (The Revised Standard Version Bible), Jesus was in another conflict when he requested for a dinner with Zacharias who was a tax collector. In the Jewish religious system by then, it was very unreligious to associate with sinners. Tax collectors then ware among the socially considered sinners. When Zacharias heard about Jesus, Jesus responded by allowing dinner with Zacharias. The Pharisees accused Jesus of relating with sinners (Carter, 2013). However, Jesus was quick to respond to the Pharisees by parable that the sick are the ones who need physician while those who are well do not. In this cases Jesus simply meant that sinners needed him most that n the righteous and that He came to rescue them from their evil loads In Mathew 12:1-8, Jesus was in another conflict with the Pharisees.   Jesus and his disciple were deep in hunger when they past by grain field. His disciples then plucked some of the grain heads to eat. The Pharisees did not accuse Jesus and his disciples for taking another man’s property but for doing it on a Sabbath day. Jesus did not defend his disciple that what they did was not wrong but he went to the bible to show that biblical laws itself can sometimes be set aside. He mentioned an example in which David and his companions fed on consecrated bread, which was considered unlawful. Jesus point was that people should be not be judged by their actions but according to their hearts and that, the letters of the law are not reliable guidelines to holiness (  Hauer Young, 2012). In mathew12:9-13 (The Revised Standard Version Bible), another conflict rose between Jesus and the Pharisees, in His attempt to heal the man w ith withered hands, the Pharisees in their attempts to frame Jesus asked Him if it was lawful to heal man on Sabbath day. However, Jesus issued a logical response to the Pharisees. He asked the Pharisees if any one of them would leave their sheep in ditch on a Sabbath day and when they were not able to answer, Jesus told them that doing, good to fellow man would be better on a Sabbath than to a sheep. Jesus showed that there are more ways of doing good on a Sabbath and that sometimes works of charity are better than just observing Sabbath (Kraybill, 2011). In Mathew15:1-10 (The Revised Standard Version Bible) the Pharisees and the scribes who were on official mission from Jerusalem to spy on Jesus works challenged Jesus as to why the disciples did not wash their hands while eating as command by   the   traditions . Jesus responded to the challenge with an acquisition. He asked the scribes and the Pharisees why they go against God’s commandment by judging people as sinn ers to satisfy their demands. The religious scribes demanded these religious washing based on their own demands not on the scriptures (Kraybill, 2011). In Mathew 22:15-22 (The Revised Standard Version Bible) leaders sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of the then king Herod   to trap Jesus into   saying something of which he could be arrested . They asked him whether it was indeed lawful to pay poll tax to Caesar or not. Jesus on the other hand looked at them and then asked them whose portrait was on the coin. They both agreed that the coin had Caesar’s portrait. Then Jesus told them to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God (  Hauer Young, 2012). Lastly in Mathew 22:23-33 the Sadducees   who did not believe in resurrection challenged Jesus about a   woman married by six brothers   and what will happen on the resurrection day   when all the brothers will be resurrected. Jesus was quick to respond by notifying their litt le understanding of the bible. He told them that on resurrection no marriage is mentioned and that God is God of the living not the dead (Kraybill, 2011). The conflict between Jesus, the scribes Pharisees and the legal authorities was a supremacy battle .the legal authority, the Pharisees and the scribes thought they would lose their positions and popularity as the followers of Jesus continuously grew in number.   The conflict then were formulated strategies to find basic grounds of eliminating Jesus through on claims that he would have broken the law (Carter, 2013). This shows little understanding about religion and how many people in those ties used religion for personal gains. In conclusion, the knowledge of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees opens a wider understanding of the real missions of Jesus. The gospel of Mathew gives a account the missionary work of Jesus and the challenges His missionary encountered. References Carter, W. (2013). Seven Events that Shaped the New Testament Word. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, (Chapters 3, 4, and 5).    Hauer, C. E. Young W. A. (2012). An Introduction to the Bible: A Journey into Three Worlds, 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall (Introduction and chapters 10, and 11) Kraybill, D. B. (2011). The Upside-Down Kingdom, 5th Edition. Scottdale: Herald Press, (Chapters 5, 8, and 9) The Revised Standard Version Bible. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Religious Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Themes Of A Bible Teacher Essay - 2481 Words

THEMES (Adapted from Doriani) A Bible teacher will often be called on to answer a topical question. The question could relate to a topic in the culture, a topic in the church, or a personal question about life. The Bible is relevant to address the most pressing questions of our day! How do we work toward an understanding of the entire Bible’s teaching on a particular topic? 1. Begin with one central text. Is there a clear and extended passage that addresses the topic? Give preference to a passage that addresses a matter in detail. Homosexuality – Romans 1 2. Distinguish between the concept and the Biblical term(s) that describe it. Consider synonyms. Does Jesus use the word â€Å"homosexuality†? Nowhere in the gospels. But, it would have been included in his understand of â€Å"fornication.† 3. Survey and integrate the Biblical data. Find all the related texts. Use cross-references, Bible dictionaries, concordances, and theological resources. Piece together the information in a way that allows the message of each passage to stand. 4. Consider how the topic relates to the larger themes in Scripture: the nature of God, the nature of man, the hope of the gospel. OBLIGATIONS â€Å"The proper goal of interpretation is application.† (Doriani, p 6) WHICH BIBLICAL COMMANDS APPLY TODAY? (Adapted from Plummer and McCune) 1. Consider whether or not the command is covenant-bound. Many commands contained in the Mosaic law were not inherently moral, but were practical, civil, or ceremonial.Show MoreRelatedEffective Bible Teaching The Authors Discuss The Merits Of A Bible1338 Words   |  6 PagesIn the book Effective Bible Teaching the authors discuss the merits of â€Å"topic and theme† and how we can use this to help prepare a bible lesson verses an essay. In this section the authors argue the universal principles of good writing, speaking and teaching and what the different handbooks say about composing a good essay. There are several different writing options such as picking a topic and then narrowing it to a specific thesis. Or doing the complete oposite and picking a broad subject and thenRead MoreReligion Vs Ramayana1528 Words   |  7 Pages The Ramayana is one of the world’s oldest religious epics, dating back to roughly 7,000 B.C. and only first being written down around 500 B.C. Compare this to the Bible, in which scholars believe tha t writing began for the Old Testament around 5,000 B.C. Both of these texts have been continually updated since their respective creations. Since the Ramayana was first only an oral story, it continually went through progressive changes, with its first written incarnation taking place around 500 B.CRead MoreAugustine s Confessions By John Augustine Essay1721 Words   |  7 PagesIn the book Augustine’s Confessions, there were multiply themes in the story which made the book great. One theme of Augustine’s Confession is the problem which many Americans face today. That is evil. Evil is everywhere in the world. Augustine lost his mistress, mother and even his own son in the book. He had to also figure out why god is punishing people with these action. So found out the answer to the evil, Augustine ask why is God good and still allows suffering to exist. Augustine found outRead MoreBible Study in Public Education Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesIt has long been debated w hether teaching the Bible in public education would improve our educational system or just help the Christians enlist more members into their religion. Since 1962, the Supreme Court has continued to uphold the ban on all religious practices in public education, including teaching the Bible in classrooms. There are some who believe that this removal of a moral education has lead to a deterioration of the behavior among our students, while others use the protection of theRead MorePauls letter to the Galatians Essay1103 Words   |  5 Pagesauthority in the Letter to the Galatians V. The primary themes of the book of Galatians VI. Conclusion Pauls Letter to the Galatians Where, when, why, and by whom Galatians was written as well as the issue, of Pauls authority, addressed by him in his letter and the primary themes are all important in order to understand this book. quot;The Letter of Paul to the Galatiansquot; is the ninth book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is one of the ten Pauline books, and there are threeRead MoreThe Bible Is The World s Most Widely Read Book1590 Words   |  7 PagesThe Bible is the world’s most widely read book. It contains multiple holy books that reveal who God is and account for His many works for humankind. These books describe the story of God from creation, to the fall, to redemption, and lastly to the new creation known as revelation. The big picture of the Bible is to tell the story of God’s works from creation of the world, which was Genesis, to the end, which is revelation. It is important to familiarize oneself with these passages and texts becauseRead MoreBlankets, By Craig Thompson1296 Wor ds   |  6 Pagesand creates his own world within his imagination and art as his way of escaping from the real world, but then during church retreat camp, Craig comes across Raina, who eventually becomes his first love. Thompson wants to live by the teachings of the Bible, but at the same time, he develops a sexual attraction and love for Raina. Even though he follows his religion as a guide for avoiding life’s problems, this route creates his problems. Blankets by Craig Thompson discusses his desired life for socialRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education873 Words   |  4 Pagesthem who are called according to His purpose (Bible Gateway, 2015).† God has a plan and meaning for us to strength and grow under care of His love. It is our purpose to follow Him and glorify Him in all we do. Teachers are essential spiritual role models for children. Teachers must model and teach Christian themes in their classroom, to guide children to develop strong faith in the Lord. To develop a child’s morals, a teacher can introduce themes and expectation into the classroom in a non-offenseRead MoreTeaching Biblical Based Values And Helping Students Develop Their Characters As Christian Young Men And Women980 Words   |  4 PagesWhile this list is far from exhaustive, it is a good base to show how easily values can be integrated into English instruction. The first value that teachers can integrate into English instruction is integrity. Merriam-Webster defines integrity as â€Å"the quality of being honest and fair† or â€Å"the state of being complete or whole† (Devotion). The Bible also has much to say about integrity. One example is found in Proverbs 10:9, which says, â€Å"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takesRead MoreThe Literary Genre Of 2 Peter996 Words   |  4 Pageswrote out of love to defend and protect the immutable word of God. The letters main purpose was to warn fellow devotees about false teachers that would try to enter their churches and mislead them in their faith. Peter goes on to explain the false teachers can be recognized by their prideful behavior, their love of money, and disrespect to God. (Life Application Study Bible 1507,1918) Peter uses instances from the past, such as Sodom and Gomorrah and the great flood to stress the judgment and punishment

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

People’s Attitude Towards Abortion in Australia Free Essays

string(19) " change of life 2\." People’s attitude towards abortion in Australia Abstract: The hypothesis, â€Å"It is apparent that in Australia people are not supportive of abortion. † would be tested in the report. The aim of it was to reveal the current views of people in Australia towards abortion, under the circumstances of different age and cultural background. We will write a custom essay sample on People’s Attitude Towards Abortion in Australia or any similar topic only for you Order Now A questionnaire about justified reasons, legalization and values on abortion was constructed and the target group would be 20 international students and 20 local Australians. The international students were mainly Chinese, and a few from South-East Asia. Though most participants did not have a really strong stance of supporting abortion or not, when there were further questions about Pro-choice behaviour and legalization of abortion, it was discovered that participants were actually in respect of freedom of choice, and agreed that abortion should be legalized. Therefore it could be said that comparing the 2 sides, participants were rather supportive to abortion. Based on the results, extended researches covering a larger target group which could mostly represent different cultural groups could be conducted to test whether abortion was really generally acceptable or not or could it be legalized under all cases. Introduction Abortion had been a controversial issue for hundreds of years, discussions and debates were always held to argue whether it should or should not be declared legal. This issue was crucial at all time because the attitude towards it were mainly influenced by various important values of life like morality, human rights and freedom of choice, adding that they were the key factors to determine whether it should be declared legal. â€Å"Abortion can be defined as the expulsion or removal of an embryo or foetus from the uterus of the pregnant mother† (Blade, 2008). It could be divided into two types. First, the â€Å"spontaneous abortion† occurs when the mother’s body ejects the foetus due to different reasons, usually natural ones (without human effort). This report focused on another type of abortion, â€Å"induced abortion†. This was what people usually mean when they use the word abortion. In other words, it was the â€Å"termination of pregnancy†. After the Federation in 1901, abortion was handled by the British Offences Against the Person Act of 1861. In the act, abortion was illegal , no matter under what circumstances. However, since then, abortion would be legal in some cases under the law. For instance, Natasha,(1998), suggested that under the McGuire ruling (1986) in Queensland, abortion could only be legalized when the mother was in threat that abortion could preserve her life or health. Another case that abortion could be legalized was that if the newborn baby would die immediately or within a short period. For the current legislation about it in Queensland under the Queensland Criminal Code, the viewpoint remained similar that the court would prohibit abortion unless the mothers life or health is in danger. Though, it did not reveal any response on the change of attitudes of people towards abortion. The aim of the report was to reveal the current views of people in Australia towards abortion, under the circumstances of different age and cultural background(international students versus local Australians). It appeared that nowadays more and more people were supportive to abortion. This view would be supported by the results from survey and then a discussion part of it would be included and at last the conclusion and recommendation would be formulated. Methodology: Questionnaires about the attitudes of abortion of people were used to collect data for the report. A qualitative methodology was used. The reason for choosing it was because the report focused more on depth, rather than quantity. According to the Family Health International (2005), a qualitative research provided information about the â€Å"human† side of an issue, which was often contradictory. It could also interpret the complex reality or create a better understanding to a specific situation and the implications of the qualitative data. Another important point was that it could help identify intangible factors (age, gender, nationality, religion, etc) in the report. These factors were the keys that influence a person’s attitude toward the issue. The emphasis of the questionnaire was to understand participant’s standpoints for or against abortion, therefore 10 out of 14 questions were about their opinion, the rest were 3 attribute questions and 1 knowledge question. The total number of participants was 40. There were altogether 20 international students studying in Australia and 20 local Australians completed the questionnaire. Among the participants, 23 of them were female and 17 were male. In the student group, 2 of them were under or below 18 and 18 were at the age of 19 to 30. Among the local Australians, 6 of them were between 31-45 and another 14 were 45 or above. A point to note was that for the international students, 15 of them were Chinese. To make sure the information would be kept secret, no questions were about identity or other private information. The questionnaires were given out in two ways. The first way was to distribute them at school and at homes, and another way was to distribute them through the internet. Participants were quite interested to the questionnaire as they thought that it was a controversial issue. However in the process, participants found confused with the last open-ended question about the relationship between culture, age and abortion as it was not required to state reasons but lines were given. Moreover, due to a lack of time in completing the questionnaire, i. e. in 5 or 10 minutes, the data collected might be distorted. Results: The purpose of the questionnaire was to find out the attitudes of people in Australia towards abortion. Questions were divided into 3 main categories: justified reasons for abortion, legalization of abortion and viewpoints and value towards abortion. For the justified reasons for abortion, a total of 8 choices were given to participants and they could choose more than one answers, including: 1. psychological reasons e. g. resisting abrupt change of life 2. You read "People’s Attitude Towards Abortion in Australia" in category "Papers" economic reasons e. g. financial burden of raising children 3. unwanted babies e. g. pregnant in mistake 4. caused by rapes 5. unready for responsibility 6. as problems with relationship or wants to avoid single parenthood 7. mother has health problems 8. has already all the children she wanted or all children are grown From the questionnaire, participants thought that the most justified reasons for abortion were â€Å"economic reasons† and â€Å"pregnancies caused by rapes†, both of them make 62. 5% of the total. The next would be â €Å"unready for responsibility† (35%), â€Å"unwanted babies† (32. 5%), â€Å"mother has health problems† (30%), â€Å"problem for relationship or wants to avoid single parenthood† (22. 5%), â€Å"psychological reasons† (12. %) and the least justified reason would be â€Å"has already children she wanted or all children are grown† (10%). For another category, legalization of abortion, there was an open-ended question asking the participants about one pros and cons of abortion. For the pros, there were several main ideas. First, people thought that after legalization of abortion, risks could be reduced as people no longer find doctors with no license to abort. Secondly, it would a respect to freedom of choice of people. Thirdly, there would be fewer children grown up in an unstable environment. For the cons, people also got similar ideas, for instance, abortion was against the respect of life, i. e. killing innocent life. Also, people could be more irresponsible as they could abort legally. For the last category, viewpoints and values towards abortion, 6 questions were raised. Majorities believed that abortion was becoming common nowadays (25% strongly agree, 50% agree). For the question about whether the people’s views towards abortion was changing, bigger part of them agree with the statement (20%strongly agree, 40% agree) buy quite a number of people maintained neutral (32. %). For the question â€Å" it is inhuman and should be banned†, the 2 sides were almost balanced (5% strongly agree, 32. 5% agree versus 7. 5%strongly disagree and 37. 5% disagree), about 17. 5% people chose to be neutral. In the question of freedom of choice, it was quite one-sided that it should be highly respected (40% for both strongly agree or agree, adding up to 80%). Asking about if it was acceptable in all cases, disagreement (20% strongly disagree, 42. 5% disagree) was more than agreement (32. 5% agree). Though, quite a lot of people thought that they would have different views upon abortion in different cases (35% strongly agree, 32. 5% agree). For the last open-ended question about the relationship between age, culture and views towards abortion, the main ideas of the participants were that aged people, i. e. age group of 45 or above, would be more conservative and therefore have a negative view upon abortion. Moreover, they thought that people with different culture, particularly â€Å"westerners† in the Chinese’s eyes, would be more open and accept the idea of abortion. Discussion and conclusion: The aim of the report was to reveal the current views of people in Australia towards abortion, under the circumstances of different age and cultural background (international students versus local Australians). From the results, we could see that many participants did not have a really strong stance of supporting abortion or not, only a few do. For instance, about 70% of the participants agreed that they would have different views upon abortion in different cases. The most â€Å"justified† cases would be pregnancies by rapes and economic reasons (It was logical that according to Thomson Reuters (2009), an income group of US$39,100 – $65,800 would need a total of $170,460 a year to raise up a children form 0 to 17 year old). Yet, there were enough data to test the hypothesis. There were data supporting the hypothesis. From the results, participants who did not fully support abortion were mainly female or Chinese, whom thought that abortion was inhuman and should be banned. The number made up 32. 5% of the total participants. The reason behind was that female themselves would have real experiences in giving birth so they would have deeper thoughts than male. For Chinese participants, they were young but at the same time they were also deeply influenced by a traditional style of education. The curriculum focused on teaching people to have right values stated by the Confucius and other great figures. According to Vivien (2006), the vice president for education at the Asia Society, china should move away from the traditional forms of practices and adopt a broader curriculum to achieve the goal of becoming a real modern society. Despite there were data supporting the hypothesis, it was in a small proportion. We could find more data that was contrary to it. It also proved that people at older ages might not be conservative. Participants, mostly Australians (mostly aged 45 or above), were rather Pro-Choice. It was because of the trend of abortion. It was becoming more and more common. According to a table drawn by Wm Robert Johnson (2008), the abortion percentage rose from 15. 6% in 1984 to 21. 5% in 2006 in Australia. It might also be because of the cultural background. Comparing to country like China, westernized countries emphasized more on freedom of people. From the results, there were 32. 5% of the total participants who thought abortion was acceptable at all cases. Most importantly, over 80% of them agreed that people should respect the mother’s decision. The data was supported by a report by Monash University (2002). It included a survey on AES voters and candidates (about 2000 people are surveyed a year) about their attitudes towards abortion, from 1987 to 2001. The percentage of people choosing the criteria â€Å" Woman should be able to obtain an abortion readily when they want one† rose from 38% to 59% from 1987 to 2001. On the other hand, the percentage of people choosing the criteria â€Å"abortion should not be allowed under any circumstances† dropped from 6% to 3% in that period. Another evidence was that when participants were asked about whether abortion should be legalized, 65% of them thought that it should be legalized. From the above, we could understand the current views of people in Australia towards abortion, at different ages and cultural background. Though people did not have a strong stance of supporting abortion or not, we could find more evidence showing that people were actually more Pro-Choice than Pro-Life, in other words they would be more supportive to abortion, especially in recent years where abortion was more commonly found. Recommendations: Concerning the implications of the report findings, it was quite obvious that more people in Australia were actually supportive to abortion, based on their Pro-Choice attitude and the agreement of legalizing abortion. The scale and the target groups of the report were small that might distort the real opinion throughout the country. However, based on the report findings, extended researches could be done in examining whether abortion was generally acceptable or not and the possibility to further legalize abortion, as participants of the questionnaire could already clearly state some pros and cons of legalizing abortion. The research should cover a larger target group as Australia was rather multi-cultural. People in different culture could have their views in according to the religion, which was also important in this issue and not discussed in this report. To conclude, though the report did not represent most age and cultural groups in Australia, it could be the basis of further research in testing whether legalizing abortion was possible. References: Blade 2001, â€Å"Should abortion be legalized in Queensland, Australia? †, Available at http://www. bladesplace. id. au/abortion-law-queensland. html C. Natasha 1998, â€Å"Abortion law in Australia†, Law and Bills Digest Group Family Health International 2005, â€Å"Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide†, p. 1-2 â€Å"People and Place† 2004, Monash University, vol 12, no. 4 , p. 25 S. Vivien, E. Owens 2006, â€Å"Education Abroad: The China Syndrome†, Edutopia magazine Thomson Reuters 2009, â€Å"The cost of raising children†, available at: http://moneycentral. msn. com/articles/family/kids/tlkidscost. asp Wm. Robert Johnson 2008, â€Å"Historical abortion statistics† available at: http://www. johnstonsarchive. net/policy/abortion/australia/ab-aust-qld. html How to cite People’s Attitude Towards Abortion in Australia, Papers