Islam, Apostasy and Missions Essay Example for Free

Islam, Apostasy and Missions Essay Sharkey’s Empire and Muslim Conversion: Historical Reflections on Christian Missions in Egypt, Kieser’s Mission as A Factor of Change in Turkey (Nineteenth to first half of Twentieth Century) and Erhan’s Ottoman’s Official Attitude Toward American Missionaries and a chapter from Timothy Marr’s work â€Å"The Cultural Roots of American Islamicism†, are scholarly enterprises that provides a comprehensive details about some historical phenomenon pertaining to Christian Missionaries, Islamic world and American History. All these articles refer to missionaries’ activities in the different geographical region within Islamic world but all these indicate similarities in their social and political orientations, their patterns and procedures and their successes and failures. All the authors have tried to present different aspects of missionary activities in the Islamic world with different approaches of historiography. But mostly all of them have illustrated the Mission’s movements in the Western hemisphere of the Islamic world. Egypt and Ottoman empire during the 19th century and early 20th century with a brief references to other parts of Islamic world (Mostly Sharkey has provided succinct comparisons with Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia etc. ) hither and thither. Their methodology to explore the historical realities, to analyze the issue and to provide judgments remains different. For example, Sharkey like a distinguished historian approaches the question with professional integrity and objectivity and restrains himself from providing sweeping conclusions about the whole scenario that he has analyzed intensively and extensively. He only provides the verified and verifiable arguments in support of his thesis and tries to coverall the aspects of evolution of phenomenon of Mission activity, their triumphs and failures and applies these historical judgments to the contemporary situation and ruling tenet of Clash of Civilization. Whereas Hans-Lucas Kieser arguments lucidly without relying much on primary and secondary sources but sometimes he adopts an authoritative stance over some issue without providing any substantial proof. Although Erhan also mulls over the phenomenon of Missionary activity in the Ottoman Empire but he has considered a specific issue of Ottoman’s official attitudes toward theses Evangelical missions. Other writer like Sharkey and Kieser touch some aspects of Ottoman’s approach and policies toward these missionaries but Erhan discusses these exhaustively along with the diplomatic relations between Ottoman Empire and United States of America in the early 18th century and how these relations affected the American missionaries status in the geographical domain of Ottoman empire. Timothy Marr postulates his theory first and then draws on far-fetched intellectual arguments to support his thesis. He collects all the historical evidences that can support his thesis and arrange them in a way so that they seem converging on a single point i. e. to draw parallels between major tenets of abolitionist spirit with romantic perception of Islamic world. He takes into account the whole Antebellum period. The ultimate purposes of all the articles seem to develop an understanding of the patterns and processes of Evangelical missionaries work in the Muslim world and its implications in the contemporary scenario (except Timothy Marr that analyzes the effect of Ismaicism on antislavery movement in America). Sharkey’s work is of great importance in this regard as its intention is to trace down the roots of Missionary activity in the Anglo-American imperialism and to locate the causes of the origin of post-colonial trend of considering these missionaries as neo-crusaders and proponents of anti-Islamic neo-imperialism by the Muslim masses. Kieser’s article seems to create a justification based on historical facts and figures that Missionaries in the Ottoman empires were â€Å"actors of social and mental change†. He tries to subvert the popular Muslim notion that Christian missionaries were carters of anti-Muslim agenda. Erhan’s â€Å"Ottoman Official Attitudes Toward American Missionaries† give the impression of a complete intellectual exercise to advance some historical findings. All the writers have specified a special period of Evangelical missionary activities in a particular geographical location. Sharkey takes into account the Missionary activities in Egypt but does not bind himself to chronological limits. He covers the colonial and post-colonial eras but pays special attention to the imperialistic moves of Anglo-American nations and their correlation with the missionary activities of the Anglo-American Churches. Kieser consider the activities of ABCFM in the Ottoman Empire especially the Armenian and Assyrian provinces in the 19th century and first half of 20th century. Sharkey, Kieser and Erhan adopts the same argumentative line about the gradual evolution of missionary activity and acknowledged rightfully explained the phenomenon of Missionaries’ premature activities to convert Muslim to the Christianity, their realization of the impossibility of the efforts and diversion to other socio-religious groups and minorities in the same geographical area. Sharkey says that although Ottoman’s political moves of â€Å"liberalism and tolerance† under the Anglo American imperial influence has facilitated the missionary activities but socio-cultural compulsions remained there that hindered the way of missionaries and kept them away from an agenda of conversion. So conversion of majority Muslims was a fruitless effort. So zealous missionaries turned their attention to the Orthodox Christians of the area i. e. to convert native orthodox Coptic Christians to Protestants. Kieser has analyzed the same pattern of diversion among the missionaries of ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) in Ottoman Empire. He illustrates that â€Å"The first Missionaries of ABCFM learnt early on the impossibility of evangelizing the members of Ottoman ummet†¦Their resistance to conversion was partly due the strong legal an social sanctions against conversions, but not only to that. Like the Jews, for deep historical and psychological reasons, the Muslims remained on the whole impermeable to the enthusiastic approach of the Protestants. † (Kieser, p. 392-393) He further asserts that â€Å"therefore the ABCFM concentrated its work on the Assyrians, Armenians and Greek minorities and kept in contact with Muslim marginals. † (p. 393) Erhan takes a different stance and says that the initials efforts of the American missionary were directed toward Jews living at Palestine (p. 316) but soon realized that Jew were â€Å"tight-knit religious community and thus largely immune to Christian evangelical activities† ( Erhan, p. 315) But he further illustrates that Christian missionaries were diverted to their fellow Christian with Eastern version of Christianity. All these writers have assessed the situation precisely as Quranic injunctions and â€Å"Shariah’s† rulings that consider Islam as the final version of divine religions that encompass the teachings and tenets of Christianity and Judaism. These Islamic doctrines further hold that â€Å"Murtid† i. e. convert, has no place in Islamic society. These injunctions are psychologically and emotionally absorbed in the Muslims minds so the ultimate result of apostasy was social outcast and in some cases death penalty.

The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity

The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity During my a yearlong stay in Australia in 2009, once I happened to visit St Marys Cathedral in Sydney and witness Sunday Services, a formalized way of communal worship by the followers of worlds largest and celebrated religion the Christianity. The services involved singing of hymns, reading of verses from the Holy Scriptures and possibly a Psalm, a sermon by the Archbishop and then Baptisms of a few young believers. The services were followed by a very informative guided tour of the Cathedral giving a quick insight into the history of the Christianity in Australia in general and of St Marys Cathedral in particular. Impressed by the enriched history of the Christianity and captivated by this very orderly and benevolent way of offering prayers by the Christians Catholic community, I aimed to study the Christian religion in detail and explore its various aspects. However, the most vital factor which led me to write this paper is my eagerness to understand and analyze a shadowy and controversial yet vital Christians Doctrine of the Trinity, as during my visit to the Cathedral I was amazed to view the sermon and hymns glorifying the God, the Christ and the Holy Spirit while putting them all at equal to one and another, despite of the fact that the Christianity, besides Judaism and Islam, is a Monotheistic religion which believes in only one God. In pursuance to my eagerness to understand and research on the subject matter, I went through a number of books and research articles about Christianity in general and the Doctrine of Trinity in particular written by numerous writers professing differing school of thoughts. Having gone through all these writings, my understanding about the Doctrine of Trinity remained as bewildering as ever before. However, being a student of MPhil in Socio-Cultural Anthropology once I tried to analyse the subject matter in anthropological perspective, my understanding of the issue became much explicit and I could make sense of many underlying facts about this mysterious faith of Christianity. While doing my research work and writing this paper I have used the secondary data. However, I fully acknowledge and thank for the continual assistance provided by my instructors, my class fellows, and the Bahria Universitys library staff during my drawn-out research work. Introduction The most debated mystery of the Christian faith has been the Doctrine of Trinity, which defines God as three divine persons God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons, though distinct from one another, co-exist in unity and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. Most Christians often say they believe in the Trinity, yet they differ in their understanding of it. There are numerous Trinitarian conceptions that exist today, but generally the Trinity belief is that in the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God. Supporters of the Trinity say that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on teachings of the Bible. The Greek Orthodox Church calls the Trinity the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, even saying Christians are those who accept Christ as God. In the book Our Orthodox Christian Faith the same Church declares: God is triune . . . . The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit is totally God. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as the central dogma of Christian theology. On the other hand, the critics of the Doctrine of Trinity say it false and man self-fabricated, as the God Almighty stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being. They argue that Jesus in his prehumen existence was, like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning, i.e. there was a time when he was not. They instill that Jesus has never been Almighty Gods equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is. They also believe that the Holy Ghost is not a person but Gods spirit, his active force. The opponents of the doctrine claim that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring the origin of the Trinity as entirely pagan. Since the inception of doctrine of Trinity into Christianity about fifteen centuries ago, most Christians who believe in this doctrine have never actually checked it out to see why they believe it. They just assume that it must be true because it is what most churches teach. In addition, many people think it is wrong to question doctrines like this. But the reality is that many Christians who accept the doctrine of Trinity, remain confused and even those who have a deeper understanding of it admit that they do not understand it completely and cant defend it when challenged. Once stuck, their eventual response is that the Trinity is hard to understand because God is beyond human thinking. There is another disturbing aspect of this debate that many Christians believe in different Trinity doctrines or at least they understand this doctrine in different ways. Some believe that God is one being that shows himself in three different ways, like water shows itself in the form of ice, steam, and liquid. Others believe that the Trinity is made up of three distinct personalities and these three are in complete unity in love and purpose. Notwithstanding the above, the aim of this paper is to explore and comprehend the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different aspects including the anthropological perspective. In doing so, I will first briefly glance at Christianity as a religion while looking into its origin, brief history and the basic beliefs. Then I will deliberate upon one of Christianitys most controversial yet pivotal teachings, i.e. the Doctrine of Trinity. In this part of the paper, I will address some of vital questions concerning the Doctrine of Trinity and will try to find their answers from the available texts and writings. Thereupon, I will analyse the said doctrine from anthropological perspective while applying a French social theorist Michael Foucaults renowned theory on knowledge is power. I will also highlight perspectives about religion by a few other great philosophers like Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud. At the end I will draw my conclusion. Christianity at a Glance Its Origin, Brief History and Basic Beliefs The Christianity is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of a Jewish preacher named Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus Christ, who lived in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee of Roman province Judaea, about 2,000 years ago. Yeshua was born to a Virgin Mary probably between 7 and 4 BCE, and was executed in Jerusalem in the spring of the year 30 CE on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. After Yeshuas death, his apostles formed the Jewish Christian movement, concentrated in Jerusalem. One of Yeshuas Apostles Simon Peter and then James, who is viewed as either Yeshuas brother or cousin, headed the group. They regarded themselves as a reform movement within Judaism; as they continued to sacrifice at the temple, circumcise their male children, and follow Jewish kosher food laws etc. Around 34 CE, Saul of Tarsus, originally a persecutor of the Jewish Christians, while travelling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to apprehend the Jewish Christians had a vision of the resurrected Jesus in a great light. He converted to Christianity and adopted the new name of Paul the Apostle, and became the greatest theologian of the early Christian movement. His writings, along with those of the author(s) of the Gospel of John, provided much of the theological foundation for what has been called Pauline Christianity, a movement that spread throughout the northern and eastern Mediterranean basin. Paul Christianity, which started around 37 CE, was directed primarily to Gentiles, i.e. non-Jews. The third contesting belief system was Gnostic Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a spirit sent by God to impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the miseries of life on earth. In addition to Jewish, Pauline and Gnostic Christianity, there were many other versions of Christianity being taught. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army in 70 CE, the Jewish Christian movement was largely dissipated which left Pauline and Gnostic Christianity as the dominant Christian groups. Gentiles within the movement took over control of the former movement. As compare to other beliefs systems, the Pauline Christianity grew quickly in size and influence over a few decades, and by 313 CE Roman Empire recognized it was a valid religion and by 387 CE it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, replacing other forms of religions earlier being practiced under the Roman rule. Gnostic Christianity was severely persecuted, both by the Roman Empire and the Pauline Christian churches. During the Middle-Ages, most of the Europe was Christianized. Following the Age of Discovery, through colonization and missionary work, Christianity spread to the American subcontinents, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world. As of today, the Christianity is the most popular and largest religion in the world with around 2.34 billion followers, constituting 33.35 % of worlds total population and growing further at the rate of 1.38 % per annum. It is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa, and, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of several countries. During the 7th century CE, power in the Christian world became polarized in Constantinople and Rome. These two Christian centers gradually grew apart in belief and practice. In 1054 CE, a split was formalized between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Later on, in the 16th century various schisms including the Protestant Reformation led to a fragmentation within the Western Church. The Protestant movement has since splintered into what is now many groups of denominations, and tens of thousands of individual denominations. Consequently, as of today there are three main groups practicing Christianity worldwide; the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Churches. There are other Christian groups as well that do not fit neatly into any one of these primary categories, like Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church. Of all the Christians in the world today about half are Roman Catholic. Though, there are many differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which the Christianity is based, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). The title Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mÄ Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ià ¡Ãƒâ€ž meaning anointed one. Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith. These professions state that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary, was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins. They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God. Christianity has played a pivotal role in shaping of the worlds socio-cultural, political and economic scenario, especially the Western civilization. In words of a renowned American scholar Sam Pascoe, Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. The Doctrine of Trinity Exploring the Doctrine of Trinity The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine, there is only one God in three persons. Each of them is said to be without beginning having existed for eternity. Each is said to be Almighty, neither greater nor lesser than the others. Each is said to be a complete God in every sense of the word which includes Gods attributes and all are equal in time, position, power and knowledge. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God. According this Doctrine, though distinct from one another, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. In other words, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God. The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being un-begotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three persons are each eternal and omnipotent. While distinct in their relations with one another, they are one in all else. This ancient diagram explains the Trinity quite well. According to researchers, the word Trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Scripture, but used by the ancient Christian theologians to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. Some historians are of the view that the English word Trinity is derived from the Greek word trias, meaning a set of three or the number three and its first recorded use in Christian theology was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170 AD. However, some researchers argue that the word Trinity came from the Latin word Trinitas, meaning the number three, a triad, and was first used by a Latin theologian Tertullian in 220 AD to express this doctrine. Development of Trinity into a Christian Doctrine Up until the end of the second century at least, most of the Christians were united in one basic belief; i.e. they all believed in the supremacy of the God Father. They all regarded God the Father Almighty as alone supreme, immutable, ineffable and without beginning. However, with the passing of those second century religious theologians and leaders, the Church found itself slipping slowly but inexorably toward trinity. Most of the researchers are of the view that the origin of the trinity doctrine is linked to a controversy, often known as the Arian controversy, that occurred in the city of Alexandria in the early part of the fourth century. A certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt who attempted to explain the unity of the Holy Trinity that whether the Son of God, is of the same substance, or only of like substance, with the Father. Alexander professed that The Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient and perfect, like the Father, differing only in this one respect that the Father is un-begotten and the Son was begotten. In explaining how the Son was begotten, Alexander quoted Jesus saying that He proceeded from the Father. Arius, who was a presbyter in charge of a parish church in the same city, dissented from the views set forth by Alexander. This disagreement reached the level of confrontation between Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and his presbyter Arius. So at a synod held at Alexandria in 321 C.E., in which Arius was deposed and excommunicated. However, Arius still had much support outside Egypt. Many of the important bishops theologically agree with Arius: Jesus Christ is not God. The sustained controversy caused unrest in the whole Roman Empire and Constantine the Great, in order to resolve the issue invited all bishops of the Christian Church (around 300 at that time) to Nicaea (which is now in modern Turkey) in May 325 C.E. Consequently, the creed of Nicaea was signed by 218 bishops who endorsed the Son as co-equal to God. However, the controversy over the nature of Jesus continued for next more than sixty years and gradually involved every conceivable authority; general councils, Popes, Emperors, bishops alone or in parties, and the faithful at large. A second ecumenical council met in Constantinople in the year 381 CE. This Council gave the finishing touch to the doctrine of three persons in one God stating that Jesus and God were co-equal, co-eternal and the deity of the Holy Spirit. From that time the Roman Emperors resolved and proclaimed they would punish all Christians who would not believe in and worship three persons in one God. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity came to be formally established as the basic foundation of Christian faith for the next fifteen centuries. Subsequently, the doctrine of the veneration of Mary as the mother of God and bearer of God was also formulated at the Second Council of Constantinople (553 C.E.) and the title of Eternal Virgin was added. In the prayers and hymns of the Orthodox Church the name of the mother of God is invoked as often as in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In the Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary, the mother of God, was identified with the figure of the divine Wisdom. The process of deifying the mother of God went a step further here, in that Mary is treated like a divine hypostasis (substance), the figure of heavenly Wisdom. All through this period of development there had been protests made by those who wished to preserve the truth of the Gospel from the innovations; but they were gradually overborne, until at length, when the innovators were strong enough, they called other Christians Heretics, and persecuted them. Factors that Influenced the Doctrine of Trinity According to most of the researchers the prime factor that influenced the doctrine of Trinity to formulate into a fundamental belief of Christianity has been its connections with the paganism. Throughout the ancient world, as far back as Babylon, it was common for pagans to worship triad gods. This practice was also prevalent before, during and after Christ in Egypt (Horus, Osiris Isis), India (Siva, Brahma Vishnu), and Babylon (Ishtar, Sin Shamash). With the spread of Christianity especially the Paulines ministry during the first two centuries CE, most of the pagans in the Mediterranean basin converted to Christianity. They brought with them their centuries old socio-cultural traditions and religious beliefs. After the death of the Apostles, such pagan beliefs began to creep in Christianity. One may think that Paganism was dominated by Christianity, but it is perhaps more accurate to say that Christianity adapted it. Even the fact that Christians worship on Sunday was the adoptio n of a Pagan festival, because the Jews used to worship on Saturday. Some researchers are also of the view that one of the factor behind formulation of doctrine of Trinity as Christians fundamental faith had been the personal interest of the Roman emperors to wield maximum powers over masses by exploiting religion through the use of Church as a tool. It was in this context that the Constantine the Great, after coming into power in 312 CE, ended the persecution of the Christians and the suppression of the early Church which were continuing since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through conversion to Christianity special favors were offered to the people in the form of political, military and social gains. As a result, thousands of non-Christians joined the Church and enabled Constantine to exercise great power over the Church affairs. Constantines involvement in religious affairs was to such an extent that he himself presided over the proceedings of the Council of Nicaea and exercised his political power to bring to bear the bishops to accept his theo logical position. The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the proceedings of the Council of Niacea as follows: The Council of Niacea met on May 20, 325. Constantine himself presiding, actively guiding the discussion, and personally proposed (no doubt on Ossius prompting) the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, of one substance with the Father. Over-awed by the emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them against their inclination. Justifications by the Trinitarians about the Doctrine of Trinity The people who support the Doctrine of Trinity, commonly known as the Trinitarians, justify it on the basis that some verses in the Holy Bible, of which a few mentioned below, have specific reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct entities in a single narrative. As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! The Trinitarians interpret these verses as support for the doctrine of Trinity, because these verses speak of distinct entities mentioned by name in a single nerative. They argue, though the New Testament does not use the word ÃŽÂ ¤Ãƒ Ã‚ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it, yet it provides the referencing material upon which the doctrine of the Trinity could be formulated. In addition, the Old Testament has also been interpreted as foreshadowing the Trinity, by referring to Gods word, his spirit, and Wisdom, as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham, which the Trinitarians view as support of a Trinity. Rejection of Doctrine of Trinity by the Non-Trinitarians Many groups in Christianity, commonly known as non-Trinitarians, do not believe in the Doctrine of Trinity or the way the God is described in the Trinity and His relation with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Non-Trinitarian groups also differ from one another in their views about the nature of Jesus Christ, depicting him variously as a divine being second only to God the Father, as God but not eternally God, as Son of God but inferior to the Father (versus co-equal), as a prophet, or simply as a holy man. The non-Trinitarians reject the Doctrine of Trinity on the basis that the expression God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were not known or advocated by Jesus or the early Christians. They argue that the Apostolic Fathers and those of the succeeding generations up to the last quarter of the 4th century CE never have thought of a triune God. They believed in One Omnificent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Transcendent Creator Who alone is to be worshipped. Some Christian history researchers and scholars also dispute the authenticity of the Trinity and argue that the doctrine is the result of later theological interpretations of Christs nature and function. In their view, the doctrine of the Trinity was coined by the Christians about three hundred years after Jesus. The four Canonical Gospels, written between 70 and 115 CE, contain no reference to the Trinity. Even Saint Paul, who imported many foreign ideas into Christianity, knew nothing of the Triune God. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to the early Christians and that it was formulated in the last quarter of the 4th century. At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings. The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the (Trinity) idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognized the Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One. Denouncement of Doctrine of Trinity by the Holy Quran Islams holy book the Quran denounces the concept of Trinity as an over-reverence by Christians of Gods Word, the prophet and Messiah Jesus Christ son of the Virgin Mary. The Quran declares Jesus as one of the most important and respected prophets and Messengers of God, primarily sent to prevent the Jews from changing the Torah, and to refresh and reaffirm his original message as revealed to Moses and earlier prophets. The Quran reveals that the creation of Jesus is framed similar to the creation of Adam out of dust, but with Jesus birth meaning his creation excludes male human intervention rather than creation completely without human participation. According to Quran teachings belief in Jesus as a prophet, as well as belief in the original Gospel and Torah and belief in Jesus virgin birth are core criterion of being a Muslim and Quranic criterion for salvation in the hereafter along with belief in the Prophet Muhammad and all the prior prophets. In short, in Quran the God is seen as being both perfect and indivisible. He can therefore have no peer or equal. Jesus, being Gods creation, can never be considered to be equal with God or a part of God. So, any believe in the concept of Trinity is considered as blasphemy in Islam. Anthropological Perspective about the Doctrine of Trinity In the preceding paragraphs I have tried to explore the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different historians and researchers point of view. The study confirmed that this doctrine had no roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ, his Apostles or the early Christian theologians. It was gradually evolved and formulated after at least three hundred years of Christ resurrection. No doubt, this doctrine has been in hot discussion in the Christian world for centuries and has retained the central most space in Christian theology. Though, tons of literature has been written down to analyse this Trinitarian doctrine, but its understanding remains as bewildering as ever before. Now, in order to comprehend this doctrine from anthropological perspective I will try to deconstruct it by going through its contents and by discourse analyses while applying Michael Foucaults theory on knowledge is power. In order to do that I will apply his structural theory to deconstruct this doctrine as power is employed to analyse knowledge, i.e. the concept of discursive formations. Foucault has a unique lens to see the world, societies, and its different institutions, and to use his own perspective about the knowledge and power. His philosophical theories addressed what power is and how it works, the manner in which it controls knowledge and vice versa, and how it is used as a form of social control. His first argument is that all relationships are the relationships of power which are diffused in the fabric of society ontologically, and its intrinsic urge to control others, everyone, and everything. He argues that in the human cultural history irrespective of time and space as a major rule human wants to control human by nature. Foucault divides all human history in three episteme; pre-historic, religious and scientific episteme respectively. He describes religion as a tool to control people. I n his view, knowledge such as scriptures, symbols, myths and rituals play a pivotal role to prove legitimacy of any religion. Knowledge is information and skills acquired through experience and education. Foucault describes four types of contesting knowledge that exist at parallel in a society; i.e. dominant, subordinate, marginalized and muted knowledge. According to Foucault, knowledge as power is used very carefully and politically by the knowledge creators to control human mind. Dominant knowledge creators are the drivers of the society as an elite class in the Marxist paradigm. Dominant knowledge producers create knowledge as discourse which elect some people, and give them the gaze to judge masses in the society, which means society is panoptical and individuals are under constant surveillance that they are doing their jobs properly. If some deviate from their role then the system declare them unfit and put them into asylum. In Foucaults perspective the society is held up in illusion and false consciousness. He annihilates all beliefs, norms, traditions and rules as discourse created by the dominant knowledge producers which are overwhelmingly imposed on the society. He proclaims that no knowledge is authentic, all are socially constructed. In line with many other postmodernists, Foucault argues that the reason to contest between knowledge is that there is a gap between the surface knowledge and living knowledge. Through discourse analysis, power structures may be uncovered and questioned by way of analyzing the corresponding fields of knowledge through which they are legitimized. This is one of the ways that Foucaults work is linked to critical theory. The corollary of the concepts of Foucault is ruling under the rubric of knowledge as power to dominate the thoughts of society. Now applying Foucaults theory on to the Doctrine of Trinity, we would evaluate its legitimacy as divine revelation or socially constructed theology. As we explored earlier, the doctrine of Trinity came into existence through a gradual evolution that took over two centuries. The Christianity that started its career as a pure monotheistic religion drifted slowly but inexorably toward polytheistic beliefs under the influence of pagan traditions and the dominant class of that time, i.e. the Roman emperors. The earlier Christian theologians and council of Bishops like Gnostic (50 CE), Justin Martyr (150 CE), Theophilus (169 CE), Irenaeus (177 CE), Tertullian (192 CE), Clement (215 CE), Hippolytus (220 CE), Origen (230 CE), Sibellius (255 CE), Arius (320 CE), Council of Nicaea (325 CE), Council of Constantinople (381 CE), Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) played their role in the formulation of doctrine of Trinity by continuously defining and re-defining the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and th e Holy Spirit and their relations to one another. Throughout this process the dominant class of that time used its political muscles to keep the doctrine in line with the state mechanism. In short, the knowledge created by the religious theologians and scholars in collaboration with the ruling class was employed to wield maximum power, and that power was used to control the masses. Now we will exchange the lens of Michael Foucault with other great philosophers of nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to analyze this doctrine in their own conceptions and perceptions. One of the great figure the social philosopher and the most influential political atheist Karl Marx has a very unique materialistic world view to see the processes in the society. He proclaims a conflict view of religion as the sigh of the oppressed creature, the illusory happiness of men, the reflex of real world, the opium of

The Controversy Over Internet Censorship Essay example -- Television M

The Controversy Over Internet Censorship   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For many people, using the Internet has become practically a new way of life, especially for college students and the like.   Various types of information can be accessed at the touch of a button: anything from encyclopedias, to surveys and essays, to articles from magazines, and adult sites.   Anyone who pays for their Internet service is usually offered space for his or her own web page, and even many free services provide space for personal web pages.   All of this available space can be used for any number of reasons: posting newsletters for community groups, advertising for businesses, or just voicing one’s opinion.   For those of us who know how to use this information, or at least how to find what we need out of it, it’s a very good thing. But what about children?   If adults can access this information with such ease, what’s stopping kids from checking it out too?   Who decides what’s appropriate for kids and whatâ€⠄¢s not when their parents aren’t constantly leaning over their shoulders?   And what about posting things that may be offensive to other people, no matter what age they might be?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With easy access to the Internet and the multitude of Internet services providing all this free web space, many people decide to take advantage.   A person may have a very strong opinion about a subject and feel the need to voice that opinion on a personal web site, whether it is for the purpose of talking about his or her self, or informing others of a particular issue.   What happens when it’s an opinion that some think is funny, yet others find hurtful and offensive?   Can sites like this be censored in order not to offend people?   But what about the people who find it amusing?   Isn’t t... ...hould take in to consideration the thoughts and feelings of others who may be offended, and should also be aware of the influence their information can have on children and others.  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Works Cited Legislation to Repeal the Internet Censorship Provisions of the Communications Decency Act.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Electronic Privacy Information Center.   19 Jan. 1997. Is There a Right to Speech that Advocates Illegal Acts or Violence?   Electronic Frontier  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Foundation.   Racist Speech on College Campuses.   Electronic Frontier Foundation.   Marriott, Michel.   "Rising Tide: Sites Born of Hate."   New York Times.   18 Mar 1999.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     

The United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (

The United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) Program Introduction The United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program was introduced on January 5th, 2004 at all air and sea ports of the United States of America. This program, as outlined by the Department of Homeland Security, aims to increase the level of security in the U.S. while allowing it to remain a multicultural land with people from all parts of the world. Specifically, the US-VISIT programs goals are to:  ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"Enhance the security of United States Citizens, permanent residents and visitors†[1]  ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"Facilitate legitimate travel and trade†[1]  ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ensure the integrity of the immigration system†[1]  ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"Safeguard the personal privacy of visitors† [1] US-VISIT utilizes biometric technology[i] to digitally photograph and scan the two index fingers of all non-immigrant visa holders entering and exiting the United States. This means that U.S. citizens, most Canadians, and citizens of the 27 countries[ii] whose people are not required to have a visa, if staying for 90 days or less, are exempt from this program. Using this technology the government hopes to create a database to monitor the travel of foreign citizens, assuring that they do not overstay their visas, and to protect citizens and visitors by refusing entry to known or suspected criminals.[2] The US-VISIT program raises the ethical issue of how much intrusion on the personal privacy of select individuals the world is willing to allow in hopes of combating terrorism and making our daily lives more secure. Collecting and storing information about a person and their movements infringes upon their rights to move freely. It also c... ...s Arab Groups, 2002, 10 February 2004, [11] Fox News, U.S. Begins Foreign Visitor-Tracking Program, 2004, 10 February 2004, [12] Associated Press, Fast Facts: Countries Exempt From US-VISIT, 2004, 10 February 2004, [13] Associated Press, Visitors Reactions Vary on New Tracking Program, 2004, 10 February 2004, [14] Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2003?, 10 February 2004, [15] MichNews.com, Sartre, Do Foreigners Have the Right to Enter the United States?, 2004, 10 February 2004,

Impressionism: Art and Literature Essay

Impressionism, the history started in the 19th century. A group of French artists has rebelled in their work of art by painting the things around them. Among them are Berthe Morisot, Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir. The term ‘impressionism’ was coined by an art critic named Louis Leroy regarding a painting from Monet in 1873, the ‘Impression: Sunrise (‘Impression, Soleil Levant’). According to Louis Leroy the paintings from the group lacked details, unfinished and did not show the hard works that were exerted in traditional arts. Impression I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it — and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this seascape. (Leroy, 1874) However, other critics were more sympathetic of the Impressionism art of the group describing them to stamp on the senses. Impressionism art spread on other western countries fast. The Impressionism was adopted in literature. The incorporation of impressionism in poems, prose and other literary works were applied whereas the literary appeals on the feelings, thoughts, impressions, emotions, sensations and impressions of the character. Impressionist literatures are characterized when actions, scenes or characters are portrayed to view reality subjectively. The characteristic of such works are subsumed in some categories including Symbolism. Among the writers who adapted such style are Baudelaire, Laforgue, Mallarme, Rimbaud and Verlaine. Novels like The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad and Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf are great examples of this genre since the comprehension of their novels are not easy. Conclusion The connection of both arts and literatures under the Impressionism genre is the way the works are conveyed to the viewers or readers. The way the Impressionism literatures allow the readers to use their senses allows stimulating different intellectual interpretation from one person to the other rather than conveying in plain words the character or scenes detailed in the written works. The same were applied to the early work of arts of Impressionism. Therefore, I disagree on the description of the unfriendly critic Louis Leroy when he said that the early work of arts do not have the hard work in traditional artworks because to stimulate the thinking and emotions through artworks and literary is a challenge for every artist and writer into Impressionism.

Continuing academic success Essay

Continuing academic success may seem like a distant dream that will never come true. In reality, it is possible to achieve academic success with hard work and persistence. The mind is a very powerful thing, if you set your mind to being successful you can be successful, that is one of the reasons why it is important to set goals and act with integrity in every aspect of your life. There are many factors that contribute to academic success such as knowing your learning style, learning the writing process, and taking advantage of the resources available. One of the things I have learned to use to help me learn and comprehend information is my personal learning style. â€Å"Learning styles are referred to as the characteristic ways in which a person gathers, identify, and process information.† (Alec, 2011 P. 1096) I believe that in life you cannot guess the outcome. So I use my learning style as a guide to further my education and knowledge in my everyday life. My learning style is doing; I like to try things out for myself and see if I get my desired results, I like to be involved in my own experiments. When being taught with a different learning style I make activities that I know will help me process the information in a way that I understand. Another aspect is my educational goals I want to get my bachelors in psychology. During school my target is to become more experienced, I would love to graduate with at least a 3.5 GPA. My career goal is to become a Suboxone counselor. Life has so much more to offer if you are mentally and physically present in your life to enjoy it. Writing was never my best subject in school; I went through many exams confused, after two failed reviews I decided to invest in my future. I asked a few professors, and I took a short course online. Soon I was able to past almost all my essays with flying colors. During 10th grade I begin losing interest, so I decided to do something about it. I joined a poetry club a few of the other students were putting together voluntary. I became more and more familiar with the writing technique I begin using it as an outlet, a personal sounding board to get my point across. Being successful whether in college or your career depends upon your writing and thinking skills. â€Å"The writing process is a chain of steps to follow as you take an idea and create a completed piece of writing.† (Anonymous, 2008, p. 18) The writing process is a guide that leads you through the different writing stages. First you  must choose your topic, recognizing the audience, references, and word count. Then it goes into making an outline, your thesis statement and writing a rough draft, and finally polishing it into the finished paper. It breaks your paper into smaller more manageable pieces that are easier to accomplish. I believe the writing process will help me in college a lot, because it not only helps you write papers, but it also gives you a guide to go by with any assignment. The writing process is a learning tool, it teaches you to set timelines, know what is being asked of you, and to gather correct and reliable information whether in college or on the job. I believe it will help me to reach my dream of becoming a Suboxone counselor. The writing process is one way I can improve my critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is when you look at every side of a problem or situation and come up with the best solution. The writing process is already helping me with that because it makes me look and find reliable sources which are one way I can improve my critical thinking. The ethical lens is another way that I can improve my critical thinking. My lens is reputation lens which means I look for the best solution that fits the community. By knowing my lens I can explore other lenses which will help me develop better critical thinking skills. By looking at everyone that your problem and solution will effect, it makes you think from each person’s perspective to see how each solution will affect them, which in the end improves your critical thinking skills. By learning to look at everyone involved, and how your decision can affect them you learn to make better decisions that will help the majority of the people involved. There are a lot of resources available to help college students succeed and reach their career goals. My main personal goal is to become a Suboxone counselor so that I can help people better their lives and families reunite. The university of phoenix is a resource in itself that I plan on using to further my education and learn the necessary learning materials I need to learn to be a counselor. Another resource is the phoenix career services which helps me know what education I need to reach my career goal, as well as aiding in resumes and job searches to get me started in my desired career. The university has so many resources to help students be successful inside or outside of the classroom such as the syllabus which puts your  learning activities and assignments for the current week and upcoming weeks on one page; so you always know what assignments and learning activities you need to complete and by when. I have started implementing this in my life so I always know when to do h omework, my work schedule, upcoming appointments, and free time that I can spend with my children. Another source is the life resource center. It teaches you how to balance life, work, and college. They have an assortment of online and telephone counselors, life coaches, and career coaches that are there to support you anytime you need them. One of my fears was balancing work, school, and my children, but this resource has articles, tips, and counselors that help me find a schedule that works for me. Another resource is the university library. The library has so many tools available whenever we need them. All of these resources are a great setup that I believe will help me be successful because I know that no matter what course I am in, there is an assortment of resources available, such as spelling and grammar checks, plagiarism checkers, math reviews and tutors. I feel like no matter what I will always have the help I need. Another big part of academic success is writing in almost every class there are essays involved, and a majority of the time you are required to have references. A big part of research is finding credible sources. Outside sources can be a lot of help; the internet has so much information from the present to the old days. You can find information on just about any topic you could ever want. However, the challenge of outside sources is digging into the information and making sure the information are facts and not a biased opinion. You have to make sure not only that the site you are on is credible but that the author and their information are reliable. In life and college it is important to have academic integrity. â€Å"Academic integrity is the set of core values and principles that underwrites the very mission of the university itself: integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to translate personal and professional principles into behaviors† (What is Academic Integrity-office of student Rights and Responsibilities, â€Å"2013). Integrity is a big part of college and writing papers, whenever you use sources you have to give credit where credit is due. Finally in all reality anyone can continue academic success. By setting goals and using your learning styles to learn and figure out how you comprehend information. You will be able to  learn any material given to you. Learning the writing process and your ethical lens to succeed in life, college, and your career while improving your critical thinking skills to help you balance and improve your life to make your dreams come true. Dreams can become reality with the right mindset and determination to reach them. Reference page Alecu, Irena. (2011, march)., Management, and Financial Markets, 6 (1), 1096-1103 Personality and Learning Styles. Economics. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/869529857?accountid=458 Anonymous. (2008, October 16). Go Get a Book in your Hands: The writing process and some great New York stories. New York Amsterdam News. Office of Student Rights and Responsibility. (2013). Retrieved from http://osrr.Missouri.edu/facutly/

Protect Children on the Internet Essay

As technology and the internet continue to make advancements and are more commonly available to children in school classrooms and public libraries for educational purposes, the need to protect and monitor our children online has also advanced. Congress has continued to pass such laws as COPPA, CIPA, SOX, and FERPA as an attempt to filter obscene and violent content while protecting children’s personally identifiable information. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 6501-6505 imposes certain restrictions and requirements on operators of websites or any online services directed to children under 13 years old without the parents’ consent. The Children’s Internet Protection Act CIPA was enacted by congress in 2000 to formally address any concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content on the internet. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed by Congress on July 30, 2002; it was designed to oversee the fina ncial reporting and auditing for financial professionals and pursues legislative auditing requirements to improve accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law that is administered by the Family Policy Compliance Office in the US Department of Education and was designed to give parents certain rights with respect to children’s educational records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. As the need continues to grow for more protection of our children on the internet, the need for ongoing monitoring and auditing programs continues to grow with it. Content filtering and the protection of personally identifiable information of our children are only the first steps in protecting our children on the internet.