PAPER Topics

... confrontation between these two cosmic powers is the universe itself. Ahura Mazda created the world as a trap for Ahriman. Human beings draw him into this world creating a chance for him to cause others to do evil. As he enters the world he is now on Ahura Mazda’s battle ground. As the people from the world choose good over evil voluntarily, Ahriman is continually weakened until he reaches the point where Ahura Mazda will destroy him. The battle is said to rage on for 12,000 years until finally Ahriman will fall to Ahura Mazda. The claim has been made that Zoroastrianism is monotheistic. It is also alleged that the opposing forces in the world, good and evil, are represented by ...

... a problem there is bound to be suffering, unsatisfactoriness, or conflict- conflict between our desires and the state of reality. Dissatisfaction is the most difficult characteristic of existence to apply to one's life, as it involves not only the acceptance of this state, but also outlines one on how to treat and cure this state. The notion that the world is an ever-changing environment on all levels of existence is not a radical idea. In fact, those that have not yet accepted change as a natural state of nature is denying the reality of life. A being and the empirical world are both constantly changing. They come into being and pass away. All is in a whirl, nothing escapes this ...

... Shoshu Buddhism. Nichiren sects include the politically powerful Soka Gakkai Lay religious organization, but they have a much smaller following than that of the true land sects, which across with Nichiren as pat of the popular Faith movement of the Kamakura era. The people of this religion believe that chanting of Mantra, a Japanese phrase of devotion from the law of Karma or the law of the Lotus Sutra. Many Buddhist consider this Religion to be a cult because the principle of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is fulfilling all of ones desires while the traditional sects of Buddhism believe in desirelessness. Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is a large sect of Japanese Buddhism; in fact it is the lar ...

... Messiah is an Aramaic word which means "anointed king or deliverer." The name Christ is the Greek equivalent of Messiah. Jesus called Peter, James, John, and other disciples to assist him with his ministry. He taught his disciples that he was sent by God to do the work of the Father. The disciples testified that Jesus was the Christ. On one occasion, Peter replied to Jesus, "And we believe and are sure that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." (John 6:69) Jesus performed many miracles among the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding communities. He healed the sick, restored the sight of the blind, and raised the dead. Pharisees, priests, and other Jewish lea ...

... human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it was natural to their lifestyle --I'm sure that the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws scared gentiles from Christianity! It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preachings of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to "pervert" the Galatians, and change their beliefs away from Paul's preachings (Gal 1:7). Paul is so angered that the Galatians are so easily conv ...

... reasonable to believe they existed. No one really disputes such common sense, until it is applied to religion. I've never seen or talked to a god, or seen a god do anything unmistakably godlike. People insist they know one exists, but most of them really say they only feel it, and don't offer any other proof. Indeed, it is odd that those few who honestly offer the more genuine proof of actually hearing god talk are branded insane even by the believers. Believers are probably right about that, but their own "feeling" that a god exists isn't any more convincing to me. Anyone might "feel" that fish could talk, but that wouldn't mean it was so, nor would that be a very reliable way to know it ...

... lives. Zeus was the life giver to the people. He was the father of both Gods and men, although did not create either. He was a father in the sense of being the protector and ruler of both the Olympian family and of the human race. He preserved and ruled the world. Zeus was believed by the people to posses of almost every form of power and endued with great wisdom. Zeus observed attentively the general intercourse and dealing of people-everywhere demanding and rewarding uprightness, truth, faithfulness, and kindness; everywhere punishing wrong, falseness, faithlessness, and cruelty. As the eternal father of man, Zeus was believed to be benevolently at the call of the poorest and most forsake ...

... in which a Taoist knows the word Tao is in the sense of a method and a course of conduct. Taoist writings are wise and mystical. They are written in a poetic form. The Taoist bible is 1,120 volumes long. The Chuang Tzu is a compilation of Taoist writings from the time period around 300B.C. Some think it is the finest writing of Taoist thought. It is a very interesting book filled with Taoist ideas and beliefs. The Chuang Tzu says “While the Tao always seems to be in flux, the balance of its forces is forever the same, so that in a larger sense it is unchanging, and it is absolutely indivisible”(Creel 1970pg.2). (Which I see as if a person wishes to be one with the Tao you must f ...

... wars, and religious beliefs of a group of people who migrated from Jerusalem to America. Smith attracted a small group of followers who settled in Kirtland, Ohio, and Jackson County, Missouri. Because of persecution, the church moved to northern Missouri, then to Nauvoo, Illinois. The people of Illinois welcomed the persecuted Mormons, and Smith began to construct a temple and a hotel there. In 1843, Smith secretly instituted the practice of plural marriage among a group of his followers. This could be because he himself had 50 wives. The Mormons lived in relative peace until 1844 when a group became mad about Smith's practices. They started a newspaper called the "Nauvoo Expositor" ...

... it has as it relates to our own lives, we can hopefully derive some deeper meaning which God working through the author intends. On the surface, we see a story of rivalry that is typical even in modern times, yet we can also look to some valuable truths that are revealed about how God sees our personal motives and actions through the characters of Jacob and Esau. Gaining an understanding of the characters, their motives and the overall big picture of God's plan, we can better find some spiritual lessons of our own life. Jacob was the third link in God's plan of the patriarchs. In Gn 25:23, the Lord tells Jacob's mother, Rebekah, that she has twins. The Lord tells her ...