Sacrament of Confession

instance, Ray says, “Lawson announced that Abigail Williams had witnessed a gathering of witches near Parris’s house, where they celebrated the devil’s sacrament with ‘Red Bread and Red Drink’” (Ray [Satan’s War] 17). And then within the next day Mercy Lewis, also a female, states how she saw the devil and how it tried to tempt her to take his sacrament. Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse who were two covenanted members who were also accused of witchcraft. Only was it based on all the girl’s…

In medieval times, religion was at the center of daily life of all individuals. The Christian Church formulated a purpose of life and death and preached these ideas. God was at the top in a place known as paradise or heaven, in between lie Earth, and beneath a fearful place of existence known as hell. In contrast, the modern worldview is shaped by human intellect and nature. Original sin was a concept imbedded in medieval minds and in modern times is a concept left only to believers. With…

the bishops and priests, they held the most responsibility in running the church but didn’t hold as much power or popularity as the higher levels. Bishops and priest performed certain rites, and the seven sacraments such as Baptism, marriage, etc., But only the bishop could perform the sacrament of holy orders. This ride is significant to the Catholic Church…

Two perceptions, one meaning Cranach’s Wittenberg Altarpiece The majestic art piece “The Wittenberg Altarpiece” was painted by Lucas Cranach in 1547. This altarpiece is the focal point of the City Church in Wittenberg, on it we can appreciate the importance of how worship was sensed during those days. At the same time, the altarpiece also works as a religious type of publicity since we can identify a clear illustration of the effects of the Reformation on Northern European art. Martin Luther…

This past Thanksgiving, people were worrying about many things. They were worrying about the results of our past Presidential election, the possibility of terrorist attacks, the safety of loved ones defending us overseas, making sure everything would be perfect for Thanksgiving Dinner, would the Lions win the football game, and getting some shopping done after the family dinner to name a few. It is our human nature to worry, especially when it is a big event like the Birth of Our Lord. We worry…

was the backbone of their beliefs. They felt the bible should be read by individuals and that worship should not be limited to a church bureaucracy but conducted with a primitivist conception. Believing that the church should consist of only two sacraments, baptism and communion…

but his intelligence got him a scholarship to the University of Tübingen to study for the Lutheran ministry. Kepler's family was Lutheran and he adhered to the Augsburg Confession a defining document for Lutheranism. During the Thirty-Years War he refused to sign the Formula of Concord which lead him to be excluded from the sacrament in the Lutheran Church. He then refused to convert to Catholicism which left him alienated during the war. Kepler was forced to leave his teaching post at Graz due…

It has been widely contended that Thomas Cranmer’s thoughts on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist had wavered throughout his time as a theologian, and that his writings are somewhat ambiguous when it comes to addressing this important theological topic. A great number of academics agree that Cranmer is not overly notable for his clarity in writing and concede that this ambiguity, especially on his writings of the presence in the Eucharist, is due to the long and the uneven evolution of his…

"Everyman" is an English morality play written by an anonymous author in the late fifteenth century. In the beginning of the play, a foreword describes the message the story will portray. A messenger tells the audience that people should be good in life, and look forward to death so they may go to heaven. Sin seems good to the people at the time, but it will bring about sorrow when they die. When the story begins, God is unhappy with the people in the world and says these people are unkind to…

In Augustine's Confessions, Augustine accounts his journey through his conversion to Christianity. On this journey, he discovers his own free-will has blocked him from loving God above all things. Free-will also proves to be what blocks Plato’s dream of an ideal society. Augustine believes evil originates from the fall of Adam, creating the original sin of pride within all humans. This original sin would be the downfall of Plato’s ideal society because the Guardians would fall into the trap…