Beatitudes Essay

The terms of “good” and “evil” have been defined in different ways by a considerable number of sources. According to the Oxford Dictionary “good” means “having the required qualities, of a high standard; possessing or displaying moral virtue” and “evil” stands for “profoundly immoral and wicked.” What might at first seem like a clear opposition between the two concepts becomes extra complex after a thorough study. The dichotomy between good and evil has been heavily discussed by critics, whether…

Within a society dominated by a hierarchical structure of riches and poverty, purity and defilement, and honor and shame, the message in Luke calls for a reversal of such values. Throughout his Gospel, Luke employs a plethora of literary techniques in Mary’s Song, Jesus’ initial Sermon, and the parables and stories of the Rich and the Kingdom of God, the Rich Fool, the Shrewd Manager, and The Rich Man and Lazarus in order to portray a theme of universality and to call followers to live simply…

The Synoptic Gospels The New Testament is composed of four Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they all contain either similar or identical stories from Jesus’ life. Synoptic means that they can be read together “with one eye” (Harris 117). All the connections and similarities between the Synoptic Gospels had created an issue for scholars that they referred to as the Synoptic Problem. In order to solve…

Interreligious Dialogue Approach: “Doing Before Knowing” with James Fredericks Tension between Evangelization and Interreligious Dialogue Practicing interreligious dialogue invites the Christians to be aware of any triumphalism when investing their energies in the goal of Christianity’s “eschatological hope.” Fredericks observes that official teachings of the Church confuse us about the meaning of dialogue; for example, the two documents Dominus Iesus and Redemptoris Missio reads,…

Discuss Thomas Gnosticism. What did it mean to be a Thomas Christian? How was that different from Johannine or Pauline Christianity ? Include a broad description of the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thomas the Contender, and the Acts of Thomas , pointing to their similarity and differences Gospel of Thomas According to class lecture notes on November 17th 2016 , The Gospel of Thomas can be set during the early part…

A Dark Wood “Midway along the journey of our life / I woke up to find myself in a dark wood, / for I had wandered off from the straight path. / How hard it is to tell what it was like, / this wood of wilderness, savage, and stubborn / (the thought of it brings back all my old fears) / a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer” (1.1-6) Dante Alighieri, who was a politician, intellectual, and poet, was born in Florence, Italy under the sign of the Gemini in the year 1265. Much of Dante’s…

close to meaning “Justice.” When justice is done it is seen as God’s gift to the people and shalom comes to the people when they live faithfully under God’s covenant (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, pp 207). Jesus also emphasizes through the beatitudes that peacemakers…

It is clear to any reader of "Howl" that Allen Ginsberg is upset with the status quo, in fact, one might even borrow Ginsberg own words about how he feels about his “generation” when he states that they, “let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy.” What a spit in the face. As I continued to read Ginsberg’s profanity-laced and prolonged verbal assault I was sure about convinced about one thing; Ginsberg is demanding for his generation to change by beating…

Part Two: Synthetic Catholic Moral Theology Catholic Moral Theology is centered on natural law. Most basically human actions should align with the divine will of God to be deemed morally good. Therefore, no act of humans can change the will, power and knowledge of God's divine will even if people sin against God. There is an important emphasis on ordering in one's life that must be founded on love, love of God, love of thyself, and love of neighbors. The situation at the time of St. Augustine…

Dream visions ‘offer an insight into life in this world rather than information about the other world’ (A. C. Spearing) As JoAnna Mink and Jane Ward mention in their study, Joinings and Disjoinings: The Significance of Marital Status in Literature, ‘Chaucer invites each of us to come out of our locked chambers and, through the transforming ministrations of literature, to face even the darkest truth about life.’ The experience of dreaming, then, allows the author to present ideas from his world…