PAPER Topics

... symbolizes the people who do good deeds, but are not educated. The Aravah, or willow, stands for the people who have no good deeds and no education. These plants are carried around the synagogue in a procession while prayers are recited for blessings on the land and fruit of Israel. In biblical times, the willow, the palm, and the Etrog were used in decorating the Succot. At the end of the Autum harvest, on the fifteenth day of Tishri (September-October) Succot is celebrated. It is believed that the festival originated with the ancient Canaanite celebration after the grape harvest at the end of the annual dry season. During this time rites were performed to incourage the rains. Boug ...

... the German Enlightenment that the seeds of the biblical revolution were being sown. Under the influence of Deism, radical criticism of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity as enshrined in the gospel story of Jesus formed. Many theories arose pertaining to the belief of Jesus. Apparently, the first scholar to question whether Jesus actually existed was C. F. Dupuis in 1791. The origin of Jesus in a spontaneous, myth making process was asserted by A. Drews. For P. Alfani, Jesus is a projection originating in a social movement of slaves and poor on their way to liberation and in the process of developing a consciousness of their alienation. A Hamburg language professor by the name of Herm ...

... Many people who had learned about it through missionaries were following this religion. The missionaries spent long hours and put forth much effort in their attempt to spread Christianity. This would take a while because of the broad size of the Roman Empire and the so little few of the missionaries. However, there were many conversions to Christianity within short period so this religion dominated. In the Western Civilization Society, the Hebrews were a culture that kept their maintenance in effect. In the Book of Exodus, Yahweh chose Moses to guide the slaved people in Egypt to Palestine. Yahweh destroyed the pursuing Egyptian army, a sign of his great presence. Moses was al ...

... of the Renaissance started to take hold, and the church's power gradually began to dwindle. The monarchies of Europe also began to grow replacing the church's power. Monarchies, at the close of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the Renaissance, did not so much seek the guidance of the church as much as it sought their approval. However, the Church during the Age of Discovery was still a major influence. The discovery of the New World and its previously unknown inhabitants presented new problems in the Catholic Church in the late 14th and early 15th century. When Spain's rulers and emissaries decided to physically conquer and populate the New World, and not just trade with it, the transplan ...

... indefinite notions are transformed into a distinct conception of a higher order than human beings, and yet somehow resembling them. As it may seem, humans have a metaphysical (speculative) need for a Supreme Being. God, as we call him. He is the eternal and infinite Spirit, Creator of the Universe, and the ultimate power. We present him with human characteristics in all concepts of God, which has led me to believe that it is not God who created man in His image, but man who creates God in his. Religion is one such need based on myth and spiritualism. People are taught about their religion at a young age, and when they grow up they attempt to account for things using the notion of thei ...

... desired the right to hunt and fish as they had been able to in the past, and disapproved of the rising taxes being imposed on them by their landlords. The common people were also unhappy with the church, feeling that the clergy were greedy and more interested in acquiring wealth than being the spiritual leaders they were appointed to be. Landlords were forced to sit idly by as the prices of manufactured goods rose rapidly, and blamed merchants and bankers-also affected by a greedy atmosphere. Those who owned small plots of land were in even worse shape and were often forced to sell their land, especially free imperial knights. These knights owed allegiance to the emperor, but often only h ...

... would have documented this miraculous event. Yet nowhere have such works been found. In the instance of the resurrection of the saints, Matthew is the only person to mention this occurence in the Bible. Surely other first-century Christians would have used this as further proof of Jesus' divinty. It would fall to reason that Paul and the gospels would have mentioned it. This is not, however, the case. Nowhere else in the Bible is this mentioned or even hinted at. These events are then, at best, highly unlikely to have occured. The fact that Matthew is alone in writing of the resurrection of the saints leads us to believe that certain writers of the Bible had differing views on chris ...

... in common. In both instances, there were references to secret societies, a religious belief that deviated from the accepted norm, and a strong authority figure at the head. All this has seemed strange to some people, but this type of situation has been going on since before the inception of this country. Today's modern cults have simply borrowed some of their ideas from the past. Society has tended to forget the past, and has oftentimes labeled these "cultists" insane. Webster's dictionary defines the word cult as, "A formal religious variation, a religious system, a faddist devotion; a group of persons showing such devotion." In many ways, this description is an accurate one, but ...

... non- denominational Christianity. Though both groups believe in one God, the same God, growing up in the midst of the bickering of the two groups can confuse a child and bring bitterness toward this God that Christians believe is all-loving. School is an area where temptations are thrown in people's faces each day. Many people are challenged each day in these situations; children may be challenged in their home or in school because of the issue of salvation and trying to maintain a strong-willed mind as a young Christian. Catholic children are taught their religion in CCD classes, and the result is the children learning to be good in order to go to heaven. Many of the the things they ...

... is unfair, divisive, or just plain dumb, but it is not unconstitutional, and apparently it will take an amendment to make that clear. Finally, there is the issue of church and state. Some people feel that religious beliefs have flourished in this country, not in spite of, but because of the constitutional separation of church and state. The first amendment does not separate God and government, but actually encourages religion. It reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof". It says nothing about "separation of church and state". In conclusion, whether you are pro or con school prayer, the debates are endless. ...