...believe that there is no god, and in addition, Christians also believe that there is a god. “Buddhism is centered upon teaching of Guatemala Buddha, whereas Christianity is centered on the Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ”(Difren 1). In every religion, people have different beliefs, different traditions, and different ways of praying. In addition, people change. Every year we grow and we become older. The older we get, the more information we collect. Technology has become a primary device that many people use everyday, such as cell phones, laptops, and even a television. Over time, you may notice that technology is becoming smarter, and better; and so are humans! However, technology is not the same as science and/or humans. Technology consists of material and parts that can be detached, but humans cannot. According to Aristotle, when we die, our soul also dies with our body. However, “some people believe that our soul does not die along with our body”(Aquinas 1).”Baseon on his no- soul (anatta) doctrine, the Buddha described reincarnation, or the taking on a new body in the next life, in a different way that the traditional Indian understanding”(Vairacchedidka 32). Buddhists believe that afterlife is based upon your decisions and actions. In Buddhism, afterlife can be a reward or a punishment. In my opinion, I say that I agree with Aquinas, because when we die, our soul doesn't. I believe that there is an afterlife because we are meant to be here for a reason. When we die, we...
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...Provide a one-page (approximately 250 words) self-assessment regarding your performance in the course and describe the potential benefits you foresee from the knowledge you have gained. Before I started the course I did not expect to get to learn about so many philosophers and philosophies. The beginning of the course was really interesting but after I got to the second half I was a little overwhelmed by all the opinions that I learned about. Although I still believe this is the most interesting course I have ever taken. The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, Nietzsche, and Buddha are the ones that interested me the most. I am looking forward to exploring their philosophies a little bit more in depth. Learning about philosophy helps me discover my own way of thinking. By reading all different philosophies I was able to learn and express my own thoughts. Some of the statements, for example about existence of evil, I have never thought about. Through reading the textbook and discussions weekly, I learned that each of us sees world differently and by combining our knowledge, experience and thoughts we as a class can come up with explanations to some of the philosophies. The knowledge I gained I will be able to use during discussions with other people. Philosophy is an important subject which helps us articulate our own thoughts in to meaningful definitions, which we can express to others in a way they could understand. Sometimes although we believe in something strongly we do not...
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...will re-commit, only because they have been deprived from the outside world for such a long time and there are new things for them to introduced to, which may intimidate them. But at least when you execute the inmate, it’s one less person regular society has to worry about. People like them that are serving time just don’t change. Just put them to death so they cant terrorize society anymore. Surely, it would be a win win situation anyway, because their suffering would cease as well. The medieval philosopher, Thomas Aquinas made this point very clear: “Therefore, if any man is dangerous to the community and is subverting it by some sin, the treatment to be commended in his execution in order to preserve the common good… Therefore to kill a man who retains his natural worthiness is intrinsically evil, although it may be justifiable to kill a sinner just as it is to kill a beast, as Aristotle points out, an evil man is worse than a beast and more harmful. Aquinas is saying that certain situations change a bad crime (killing) into a good crime (killing to repair the violation of justice done by the person killed, and killing a person who had forfeited their natural worthiness of killing.) However, everyone has the...
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...University of Phoenix Material Philosophy Matrix | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Historical Developments | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...Philosophy of religion Why is there evil in the world created by a God who is moral, all powerful and perfect? God is moral, all powerful and perfect. He is also which none greater can be conceived. Any attribute of God is overwhelmingly superior to anything we can fathom. So when we try to measure and configure god’s motives, we are really setting ourselves in a maze. One argument is that, due to mankind's limited knowledge, humans cannot expect to understand God or God's ultimate plan. When a parent takes an infant to the doctor for a regular vaccination to prevent some childhood disease, it's because the parent cares for and loves that child. The young child, however, will almost always see things very differently. It is argued that just as an infant cannot possibly understand the motives of its parent while it is still only a child, people cannot comprehend God's will in their current physical and earthly state. Now why is there evil in the world if God is so supreme. Augustine had his view on why evil exist if god is so good. Augustine based his theodicy on his reading of key Biblical passages: Genesis 3 and Romans 5:12-20 Genesis 3 is the story of Adam and Eve and their ‘”fall” in the Garden of Eden. In it the snake convinces the woman to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The woman picks the fruit, and passes some to Adam. Because of their disobedience God has them evicted from the garden. In Romans 5 Paul describes...
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..."Discuss critically religious and secular ethical arguments about environmental issues" In his book, 'The End Of Nature', Bill McKibben highlights the fact that we are destroying the natural environment at an increasing rate, for our own short-term gain. Since the day that man created agriculture, and industrialisation to follow, the imbalance between man and nature has been growing[1/2]. This has been accompanied by a massive population increase, tripling in the twentieth century alone[3]. Human pressure on nature has never been so great. Such pressure has resulted in 'environmental issues', ranging from global warming and eutrophication, to the depletion of natural resources and an increase in the number of landfill sites. A distinction must be drawn between 'anthropogenically created’ environmental issues, and 'natural' ones. The extinction of most of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago was not caused by man, but rather an entirely natural disaster, perhaps a meteor or extreme tectonic activity. It is difficult to apply any man-made ethic to situations that are not man-made, so for the purpose of this essay, 'environmental issues' will be taken to be current issues actively cause by human beings. During the last few decades, many thinkers from different disciplines have been searching for a new ethic to confront environmental issues with - an 'environmental ethic'. Whether religious or secular in nature, this must be able to define the environment...
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...state of being than the other. Starting with a list that has already been compiled, this essay will rank each historical figure by their impact on the world. (Please note that this list was compiled based on a western perspective.) Topping the list at #1 is Muhammad. As the Prophet of Islam, Muhammads, s.a.w, teachings have reached and inspired many societies and their people. His teachings also indicate the best way to think and therefore live. At #2 is Jesus Christ, whose place as the central figure of Christianity has impacted the lives of his believers, all 2 billion of them (give or take). His existence has lead to the many holidays and churches that occupy mainly, western society. At #3 is Gautama Buddha, who is the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism. Lord Buddha has played a large role in the growth of many people of asian descent and offers a religion to the world that can be seen as very peaceful. At #4 is David, King of Israel or rather the Biblical King of Israel. As the founder of Jerusalem, he has empowered the Jewish nation to take on a large amount of influence in various aspects of the world, including the entertainment industry. At #5 is Ali, the founder of Sufism. Ali is a central figure in Sufism due to being anearly Caliph, expanding the religious world. Continuing the list at #6 is Joseph Smith, Jr.. He is one of America's religious leaders who actually founded a religion; in his case it is Mormonism. At #7 is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was an...
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...The current Dalai Lama and his impacts Buddhism originated in India and spread primarily through Asia. Now, it has become a worldwide religion, such as, the Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism has already established many communities of immigrant Tibetans in California, Colorado, New York, Hawaii, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain. Also, museums regularly acquire and show Tibetan Buddhist art (Molloy, 2008). Why does Tibetan Buddhism draw so much attention at present? One of reasons is the current Dalai Lama who has a significant impact on the people around the world. Who is “Dalai Lama” and why does he have such a significant impact on the people around the world? A religious reform movement emerged in Tibet in the fourteenth century, which came to be known as Gelug-pa. The Gelug-pa provided Tibet with its political leadership. The Dalai Lama is the executive head of the Gelug-pa (Molloy, 2008). In other words, the Dalai Lama is both the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people (Wieder, 1999). Meanwhile, Tibetan people believe that all the Dalai Lamas of Tibetan Buddhism are reincarnations of former Dalai Lamas. When a Dalai Lama dies, people will find and train the reincarnation (Sweet, 2009). People found the current Dalai Lama (the fourteenth Dalai Lama) in eastern Tibet (Molloy, 2008). He left Tibet in 1959 (Wieder, 1999), and thus his life was no longer limited in Tibet. This made many more people know Tibetan Buddhism and considerably improved his impacts...
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...” opens up a wide range of other question: “Why are we here?” “What is our purpose?” In the end, there is no one who possesses a definite answer; one, which is beyond any doubt. Most philosophers agree that since our lives are limited we should try to live in happiness and arrive in the end with no regrets. An Ancient philosopher, Aristotle, had a simple recipe for life: “seek happiness” (Chapter 2, pg. 11). In his mind children could not be happy but that happiness came later in life, after we have accomplished things and lived a long life. Arthur Schopenhauer, a pessimist who described “all happiness as an illusion.” stated that we are all stuck in a hopeless cycle of wanting things and later getting them. He had a similar idea to what Buddha had said. He believed that humans do not see what is our reality and if we did we would be a better species. Another philosopher who is mentioned in A Little History of Philosophy is Seneca who talks about how our lives are rather not two short, as most people like to put it but actually wasted on pointless activities or meaningless thoughts. Despite these two views on how we should live life I wish to follow Seneca. When we are born the way we grow up and the people surrounding us, such as our parents, influence the person we end up becoming. Warburton said, in chapter 5, of “A Little History of Philosophy”, “If it starts to rain just as you have to leave your house that is unfortunate. But if you have to go out, apart from putting on a...
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...Consequence of Religious Tolerance/Intolerance This paper will first define several words related to the title, expose some consequences of religious intolerance, and finally explain how religion connects with our culture. Our team discovered while looking at different religions that there were many religions than what we will define here. It is certain that a discussion about religion will at some point bring up the subject matter of there being so many different religions, and do they have any common components. Our group agreed that although that are many differences, there are some similarities, impacting four basic areas, such as : what people believe, what people do, what people think, and what people feel. For many people religion is their way of life. David Barrette in an a weekly column writes, “it is well known that those who think about their own religion often work hard to establish what they believe to be the correct interpretation for the time in which they live.” Another thing to take into consideration before moving on to the next definition is behavior. Behaviors of religion according to David Barrette could include rituals, meditation, and prayer, much of this list is learned after joining a particular religion, and again these all in turn become a way of life. In each particular religion, most members live very close to others practicing the same religion for comfort, strength, and in order to keep growing stronger in order to help newer members as...
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...THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES JOSEPH CAMPBELL BO I. L I N G EN SERIES XVII PRINCETON UNIVERSITY AND PRESS P R I N C E T O N OXFORD Copyright © 2004 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton Unhxmt^Pms, U WiffiaM SUrtt, Pnnceton, New Jersey 08540; im^inii!-. •:-..• punght i 1-49 by Botiingen e d i t i o n l n ' i l h Foundation, rc't.'itii.yi •: • andpttt t*j''!' !_•"' . !.,.: b% :''ohi: •• Bough, one-volume edition, p. 386. Copyright, 1922 by The MacmiUan Company and used with their permission). Compare Sigmund Freud: "I recognized the presence of symbolism in dreams from the very beginning. But it was only by degTees and as my experience increased that I arrived at a full appreciation of its extent and significance, and I did so under the influence of . . . Wilhelm Stekel. . . . Stekel arrived at his interpretations of symbols by way of intuition, thanks to a peculiar gift for the direct understanding of them. . . . Advances in psycho-analytic experience have brought to our notice patients who have shown a direct understanding of dream-symbolism of this kind to a surprising extent. . . . This symbolism is not peculiar to dreams, hut is characteristic of unconscious ideation, in particular among the people, and it is to be found in folklore, and in popular myths, legends, linguistic idioms,, proverbial wisdom and current jokes, to a more complete extent than in dreams." {The Interpretation of Dreams, translated by...
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...Counseling Ethics Christin M. Jungers, PhD, LPCC, NCC is an Associate Professor of Counselor Education at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She obtained her doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Duquesne University and has worked in the field as a counselor since 2000. Christin is a licensed professional clinical counselor, as well as a National Certified Counselor. Her clinical work spans a variety of issues and includes counseling with individuals, couples, and families. Currently, she offers pro-bono counseling services in Steubenville and Wintersville, Ohio through the Catholic Diocese of Steubenville. She is the editor of The Counselor’s Companion: What Every Beginning Counselor Needs to Know (co-written with Jocelyn Gregoire), as well as numerous articles. Christin also has conducted trainings abroad in the Seychelles Islands and in Mauritius, which have been aimed at providing consultation to emerging counseling programs. Jocelyn Gregoire, CSSp, EdD, LPC, NCC, ACS has been a Roman Catholic priest for 25 years and has been involved in the counseling field for many years. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to his doctorate in Education, he holds two other graduate degrees. Through his expertise as a professional counselor, Dr. Gregoire has helped thousands of people across the world in their journeys toward...
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...or reality) and also the theory of value, since concepts of perfection are connected to notions of God. A wide variety of arguments exist which can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. Does God exist? Is there a god? The existence of God is subject to lively debate in philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and popular culture. The Western tradition of philosophical discussion of the existence of God began with Plato and Aristotle, who made arguments that would now be categorized as cosmological. The field of theodicy arose from attempts to answer this question. Other arguments for the existence of God have been proposed by St. Anselm, who formulated the first ontological argument; Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Aquinas, who presented their own versions of the cosmological argument (the kalam argument and the first way, respectively); Descartes, who said that the existence of a benevolent God was logically necessary for the evidence of the senses to be meaningful; and Immanuel Kant, who argued that the existence of God can be deduced from the existence of good. Thinkers who have provided arguments against the existence of God include David Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell. In modern culture, the question of God's existence has been discussed by scientists such as Stephen Hawking, Francis Collins, Richard Dawkins, and John Lennox, as well as philosophers including Daniel Dennett,...
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...THE HANDY RELIGION AN SWE R BOOK JOHN RENARD Detroit The Handy Religion Answer Book™ C O P Y R I G H T © 2002 BY VI S I B LE I N K PRE SS® This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper. All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Visible Ink Press® 43311 Joy Rd. #414 Canton, MI 48187-2075 Visible Ink Press and The Handy Religion Answer Book are trademarks of Visible Ink Press LLC. Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink Press, at www.visibleink.com or (734) 667-3211. Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski Typesetting: Graphix Group Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Renard, John, 1944The handy religion answer book / John Renard. p. cm. ISBN 1-57859-125-2 (pbk.) 1. Religions--Miscellanea. I. Title. BL80.2 .R46 2001 291--dc21 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved ...
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...existence of man because without an existence of man, man’s essence is of no use and nothing to talk about. This brings about the proposition ‘existence precedes essence’. The proposition that existence precedes essence is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence (the nature) of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence (the mere fact of its being). To existentialists, human beings—through their consciousness—create their own values and determine a meaning for their life because the human being does not possess any inherent identity or value. By posing the acts that constitute him or her, he or she makes his or her existence more significant. Also Saint Thomas Aquinas specifies that a true human being has both essence and existence. Man is rather different than any other beings like animals, plants and inanimate creatures. And it is apparent that man cannot only be evaluated in terms of physical features. Some describe man as having certain members like eyes,...
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