Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of believing God
Essay on monotheism and polytheism
Science and religion argument
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of believing God
Jesus. Buddha. Anubis. This has always been one of the most controversial topics throughout history. There have been many civilizations and many wars waged due to religious beliefs. Regardless of who is who and what one believes, all beings believe that what their God, gods, or deities spoke is the truth, the way, and the key to having an everlasting life. The Hebrew seem to now have a religious monopoly with the modern day Christianity, the ideas of the Buddhist reconcile with many of the beliefs of the Hindu, the Egyptians believed in their many gods along with their god –king, and in the midst of all the ancient religions still lies the oldest religions Judaism and Hinduism which are alike in many ways yet completely different. However, the real question is who was right and who was wrong?
In the beginning, the Hebrew civilization, which was politically insignificant compared to other empires such as Egypt, produced a new form of religion that was based on a monotheistic all-powering god that created and controlled everything that they called Yahweh (47). The Hebrew people did not believe in what the Egyptians forced them to believe in and decided to rebel and protest against the unorthodox pharaoh and the Egyptian people who instilled all trust and life into this god-king. The Hebrew decided to leave Egypt, who was led by a profit by the name of Moses throughout many treacherous and tantalizing events. Once the Hebrew crossed the Nile River and the Red Sea, these followers of Yahweh decided to write and record all of their religious ideas, traditions, laws, advice literature, prayers, hymns, history, and prophecies in a series of books. These books are still in existence today and are known now as the Hebrew Bible, which ...
... middle of paper ...
...belief in God himself and good deeds done, as well as maintaining faith in the one true God, he will reward a person with everlasting life. Perhaps life on earth is merely nothing different than what the afterlife holds and it is purely just a continuation of our present existence. Regardless of what one believes all of these people, then and now, still believe that their way is the right way, yet no one really knows the answer to the question for certainty. All of these religions and beliefs are all a circle around a simple protocol and idea for living a good life, being a good person, doing good deeds unto others, and searching for enlightenment rather it be through a monotheist god or polytheist gods. The only true question is who is right and who is wrong? There is no way of knowing and the only way one can truly find out is to just simply learn how to believe.
The cultural context of, and competing narratives to the Genesis creation story do not indicate a codependence between ancient works, but instead help to “calibrate the genre of Genesis 1,” according to Enns. What this unique milieu reveals is that the Hebrew creation story is not about creation as much as it is about God. Despite the obvious storyline of creation, it is God who is referenced more than thirty times throughout the first chapter of Genesis. Johnston, who argues at length that the Hebrew narrative is chiefly, though not solely, written to compete with Egyptian traditions, specifies that “Genesis 1 was originally composed, not as a scientific treatise, but as a theological polemic against…models of creation which competed against Yahwism for the loyalty of the ancient Israelites.” This was then, at its center point, a defining story about the divine Lord of Israel. In seeing this as a story about the power and character of Yahweh, a reasonable explanation is provided for the stylistic and parallel similarities it holds with other creation traditions. Devoid of violent conquest and noticeably missing the polytheistic committee of gods that the surrounding people groups worshipped, the Hebrews’ creation story described their God as the lone and unchallenged
...n. For years they had been subject to the wrath of the Egyptians. Now that the Hebrew people were no longer secondary in society, they produced writing in which they were the focus of attention instead of some other being or beings.
All over the world, there are many people who believe in something or someone of a higher power. There are about five billion people who believe in a higher power (Tiemann 526). There are six world religions that have followers all around the world. The six world religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Many of these religions are monotheistic, which is the belief of only one god or one higher power. There are also polytheistic believers, which is the belief in many or more than one god. These six world religions have a lot in common and they also have their differences that make their certain religion or belief special to them.
In the covenant made by Yahweh with Abram it seemed far-fetched, however, through Moses and the mosaic covenant, those Hebrews would become Yahweh’s fulfilment to Abraham. This time seems like a slow paced culture with more quiet time in nature, in which people could communicate and maintain a close relationship with Yahweh. Unlike, our hectic, chaotic, and fast paced world we live in today. Our understanding of their faith, and knowledge of Yahweh’s laws seem unfathomable, similar to some family of bush people who live in the mountains. At the same time, we live in an advanced culture where knowledge is readily available, so people can learn. Even solitude proved difficult for the Hebrews, as they continued to rebel. Through each step the Hebrews became more established as a nation. Furthermore, the relationship between Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham and the Exodus, only became a reality later, even though, those Hebrews needed to endure Yahweh’s
In the textbook, “Experiencing the World’s Religions”, writer Michael Molloy organizes the 1st chapter “Understanding Religion” to explain the term religion and people’s tendency to pursue a kind of religion through history. The writer starts with stating that as human beings we see ourselves perfect, but our perfectness is so small when it’s compared to how much more great the universe is. Since this is the situation, people start to ask such questions as what is the purpose of life, how is the universe created, or what will happen to us/the universe one day. Most religions provide answers to those kind of questions;therefore, through history people practice some form of religion. In other words, curiosity of people directs people to believe in a kind of religion because people not always are able to answer those questions through their ability to think, and believing in a religion just make it easier to answer their questions. Then, the writer expands the term religion by saying that there is not specific
“What is it, this thing we call Religion? Whence did it come? And why? And how? What was it yesterday? What is it today? And what will it become tomorrow?” the writer, philosopher, and rabbi, Lewis Browne asked in his 1926 work, “This Believing World.”
There are many religious groups throughout the world and the three largest religious groups are Christianity, Islam, and Nonreligious people who claim no religion at all. Under these three religions are other religions that basically having the same belief, but their belief may differ slightly. They all worship God, but in their own way, each having their own belief of salvation of how man is saved.
“The changing meanings of religion. Sociological theories of religion in the perspective of the last 100 years” is a research article written by Irena Borowik and the final version of the same was published in March of 2011. This article is targeted to other sociologists and academics of similar branches. Borowik states that the purpose of the article lies in discussing the conceptual framework for defining religion from a sociological perspective. In her article Borowik start by discussing when and how the first impression of religion from a sociological perspective appeared, and how such reflection on religion in the framework of sociology may be organized in a way that highlights dominant characteristics. According to Borowik the sociological
Around 1400 B.C. Exodus was written in Hebrew. The Exodus, which is one of the books in the Old Testament, are rules, similar to Hammurabi Code placed by God for the descendants of Abram. This literature gives insight into the structure of the Jewish community, which includes the hierarchy of their community as well as the roles important in this community. Scholars can further understand the Hebrew community by reading Genesis. Genesis consists of religious stories that talks about how farming, slavery, and the world came into being. But overall, scholars can see a society very much center on religion.
...f the divine world but the kings were in charge of vocalizing god’s wishes on earth. The most famous of these law codes was Hammurabi’s law code. The Hebrews tried to establish order by using Yahweh’s Ten Commandments and the Torah. Mesopotamian deities were hard to please and easily angered. The Mesopotamians constantly felt they were letting their gods down and usually didn’t even know the reason behind it. Hebrews had a much more forgiving god. Through texts like “The Book of Job”, it is apparent that Yahweh was a tough god but always forgiving and fair in the end. He had few demands of his people and all of them were ethical and easy to adhere to. As long as his devotees followed Yahweh’s laws, they were all capable of receiving his blessings. Through it all, it seemed that God and religion was at the center of every aspect of life in the ancient civilization.
The basic theology of Christianity is not basic at all. It is very long and complicated. Before Christianity came along Judaism was the common religion throughout the world. According to the note provided in class, “Jesus was born a Jew in Israel” (Detrick). Bethlehem is believe to be the birth place of Jesus and according to the note “Bethlehem was the birthplace of King David” (Detrick). The Jewish believed that Jesus was just a man, but Christians believe that Jesus was more than a man. They believe that Mary was gifted with God’s child, making Jesus man and God or a Messiah. The notes also say that “After baptism, Jesus spend 40 days in the desert” and was “tempted by Satan, but refused” (Detrick). Baptism is defined in the Living Religions
Society in all cultures share a common trait: Religion. Studying religion in any society reveals many of their traits and explains the actions of the individual. For example, Jewish people live their lives according to what was written in the Talmud and the Torah. They respect the Sabbath and also eat Kosher meat. Even when looking at Huxley's A Brave New World, analyzing religion still helps us understand the actions of the societies and characters within the book.
First, I believe that every religion must have some concept of a god. I don’t think it matters what form that concept is in, but there must be something or someone that is at the beginning of all existence. This notion is the source of existence and the source of all things to come. This means of perspective can be used for direction, motivation, and purpose for good intentions or bad. Next, the religion must have some tenants that must be adhered to be in accordance it. Many ancient religions share polytheistic beliefs and they have a strong emphasize on respecting ancestors and nature. Most major religions today are monotheistic and worship the god idea through human
The Dynamics of Faith is an in-depth look at what faith is from a theological perspective. Tillich seems to be replying to all of the writers we have read thus far and placing their arguments within the context of faith. Nowhere is this more apparent than on page 24, in his discussion of community. He rightly acknowledges that faith is usually seen in its sociologic setting. He then proceeds to sort out the different claims, saying that
Religion is defined into three main parts: 1. beliefs and worship: people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life, 2. System: an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine and 3. Personal beliefs or values: a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by. Each human being has their own view on religion and this is seen throughout the findings and is stated in the answer s to the analysis questions.