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Research studies investigating the effects of meditation have found the following results
Essay On The Effects Of Meditation
Essay On The Effects Of Meditation
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As they were two influential beliefs around the same centuries in the medieval era, both Christocentric/affective spirituality and Albigensianism can find common ground and as well as polar opposition between each other. If there was one thing both views encouraged, it was the practice of asceticism. Both beliefs practiced rigorous discipline, but the practices were often self-harming and unsafe. For Albigensians, practices included starvation and abstinence (Weber) and the encouragement and carrying out of suicide (CP1 16), while those who followed Christocentric/affective spirituality would "[join] with the crucifix through physical suffering both involuntary and voluntary -- that is, through illness and through self-mortification," through …show more content…
Similarly, those who were in line with Christocentric/affective spirituality did it to move closer in relation to God, that by their own sufferings they could "grow closer to Jesus, who suffered with them on the cross" (CP1 …show more content…
The humanity of the world, and especially the humanity of Jesus Christ and his Passion and death, was the entire focus of the development of and the point of devotion in Christocentric and affective spirituality. Imagining scenes from Jesus' life on Earth and his human feelings in order to move oneself to compassion was a large part of the affective spirituality. Women of the medieval era used their femaleness as a sign of closeness to Christ, and that for Christ as "divinity is to humanity, [for women, it was] as male is to female" and the Incarnation of Christ was the "ultimate identification" (12). Women with the mentality of affective spirituality expresse\ confidence in the Incarnation in their devotion to the Eucharist, and revered "Christ's physicality, his corporality, his being-in-the-bodyness; Christ's humanity" as above all, that his humanity was his "body and blood"
The work begins with Section I, ‘The Background’ which consists of a general overview in medieval women’s social and religious history. The first section delineates the basic societal framework for Western European women in the High Middle Ages and outlines the cultural forces at work in shaping their lives. The second part of this section reviews the changes in religious consciousness concerning sacramental practices and fasting, from the Church Fathers to the late medieval hagiographers. It should be noted here that although more careful attention is given to the practice of ‘fasting,’ especially in the latter portion of the work which I will be examining in more detail, the ‘feasting’ in question more generally denotes the ‘love feast’ of the Eucharist than the fe...
The medieval theologian Julian of Norwich was a mystic, writer, anchoress and spiritual director for her time. She is gaining in popularity for our time as she provides a spiritual template for contemplative prayer and practice in her compilation of writings found in Revelations of Divine Love. The insightful meditations provide the backdrop and basis for her Trinitarian theology’s embrace of God’s Motherhood found in the Trinity. Her representative approach of the all-encompassing unconditional love of a mother who nurtures, depicts Christ as our Mother ascending to the placement of Second hood within the Trinity while giving voice to the duality of God.
The two largest religions in the world are Islam and Christianity and they have several facts of contact. Both inbred from Judaism an acceptance of one God, the creator of the world and cares about the beliefs and behavior of human beings. In spite of having some points of principle in common, Christianity and Islam have enormous differences, not merely in beliefs regarding salvation, Christ and forgiveness but in several other fields affecting human attitudes, behavior and daily life.
Worldwide, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church both fall under the three largest groups of Christianity, along with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church and the Protestant Church have a lot in common such as that they are both mono-theistic, they both believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he died for our sins, that he ascended into heaven, that he rose from the dead, and that there will be a second coming of Jesus. Some other things they have in common are that both Catholics and Protestants worship in churches, chapels, or cathedrals via prayer, praise, song, and/or reading of the scriptures. The two churches both follow the word of the bible as well as the Ten Commandments, they both believe that human souls are eternal, and they both teach that those who are believers and take the time to exemplify their faith will go to Heaven whereas those who are non-believers will go to Hell. It makes sense that these two churches share many of the same beliefs and follow many of the same things considering that Protestants were originally members of the Catholic Church up until about 500 years ago when they broke off into their own church in an attempt to return to the church’s origin. However, even with all their similarities they have some differences as well.
There are many books and works that presents the influence of these two big religions on the culture. Let us focus on three examples of Old English Literature works in which this influence is the most visible for a reader.
In the early stages of Catherine's life the surfacing modern age was bringing with it social turmoil which spread throughout Europe (Giordani 3). During Catherine's lifetime, according to Mary Ann Sullivan in her essay “St. Catherine of Siena,” the center of Catholic rule fluctuated between Rome and Avignon and contributed to a schism between popes in Italy and France (1). Catherine was born 23rd in a line of 25 children and, according to Sullivan “even at a young age, [she] sensed the troubled society around her and wanted to help” (1). While her parents were not exceptionally religious, St. Catherine's biographer Blessed Raymond of Capua discusses Catherine's early zeal for Catholic practices: “When she was about five she learned the Hail Mary, and repeated it over and over again as often as she could…she was inspired by heaven to address the Blessed Virgin in this way whenever she went up and down stairs, stopping to kneel on each step as she did so” (24). Her devotion to the Virgin Mary would become especially important in a vision she had around this time while walking with her brother to visit one of her sisters.
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
To better understand this model, we must first examine how bodies have been viewed and affected within the Christian religion framework of our western culture. Christianity has a long tradition of focusing on embodiment. Its basic practices and ideas of incarnation, Christology, the Resurrection, and the Eucharist, even the metaphor of the church being the body of Christ, all involve embodiment in some way (McFague, 1993). Yet, with these embodiment characteristics of Christianity, this religion still devalues nature and women’s bodies. It has set up a patriarchal framework for western culture of devaluing the body, and women. “Western culture and religion have a long, painful history of demeaning the female by identifying her with the body and with nature, while elevating the male by identifying him with reason and spirit” (McFague, 1993). This idea reinforces stereotypes that oppress women and separates the body from the mind and soul. Until we reconcile this disconnect of the body and mind, we cannot fully love all bodies; this leads to the inability to love the “body” of the earth (McFague, 1993). Without this love, we cannot fully appreciate ...
Judaism and Christianity are two of the most commonly known religions in the world. The latter is practiced by more than 2.2 billion people—by far the largest practiced faith. The former is practiced by a far smaller population—about 14 million. Despite the significant difference in the amount of people belonging to either religion, they share a history, and compare in far more ways than people realize. However, Judaism and Christianity are also far more different than people realize, as well.
huge part in the functioning of the emotional system of the church. If individuals in families and
Chilton, B. D. (2012). Classical christinaity and rabbinic judaism: Comparing theologies. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Judaism does not accept the thought of original sin, the idea that people are bad from birth and cannot remove sin by themselves. An act of grace provided by the sacrificial death of Jesus as resentment for all of humanity's sins. For Christians, there are no other forms of salvation other than through Jesus.
One may notice his divinity by the simplicity of Jesus’ birth in the infancy narrative. The King of Kings was humbly born in a manger where the shepherds flocked to admire him. The angel said to them, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14) One sees Jesus’ humanity through his innocence and grace at the beginning of his life. The reader may connect with the humanly tasks that Mary and Joseph must attend to before the birth of Jesus. Jesus was not born in a castle or elaborate setting, but a simple manger in the small town of Bethlehem. The modesty of Jesus’ birth is a source that anyone can identify with. Another example of his humanity occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays to his Father and says, "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). One can sympathize with Jesus because of the physical pain he knows is about to unfold. The grief that Jesus speaks of is a sorrow that the reader can feel within their heart. Jesus’ humanity acts as the most intimate form of theology that people can connect with. His divinity reveals a different element to Jesus’ character which creates a type of awe that is a necessity in Catholicism
The Late Middle Ages saw great theological discrepancies through the progression of Christian mysticism. The exploration into spiritual practices and the unification of the soul during this period led to great philosophical works. The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ are two noteworthy texts that discuss one’s aspiration to attain union with God. The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymously authored spiritual exercise that accentuates movement toward the contemplative life by acknowledging what is unknown by man. In contrast, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is a spiritual guide which emphasizes that the way to be fully Christian is to live in the imitation of Jesus Christ. While many of the thoughts concerning human reason and withdrawal from the corporal world are similar in the texts, the two are inherently different as the account in The Imitation of Christ is more compelling due to its focus on a humanistic objective while acquiring union and salvation with God.
...idualism which will free them and will let them express their individuality and ambiguities in faith. Even though they are inspired from different sources, they believed in the unity of all creatures and the righteousness of humanity. They try to describe the God’s nature in many different vivid figures such as: tragedy and pain that will make us realize the God’s true power. Often we find ourselves away from God because he might take something/someone important from our lives, but when everything returns to normal we always find new fulfillments and pleasures. Even though their ideas originated from different sources and their writings were different from one another, they were quite similar in expressing the love for the God through nature without the need of religious authority. “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”(Emerson 3)