...Comparative Religions Comparative Religions: Reflection Essay Luckily we live in a country where we are free to express ourselves religiously however we choose to. I was born into the Greek Orthodox branch of Christianity and have remained a Christian my entire life. Different religions have always interested me; I have even studied extremely different beliefs than my own such as Paganism and Wicca. As noted in the textbook, there are eight different elements in which religious beliefs can manifest, such as: A belief system, community, central myths, rituals, an ethical system, emotional experiences, material expressions of religion and sacredness. (Malloy, 2010, p. 6) Some people may feel that their religious beliefs are larger influenced by each of these eight elements, while others may only be influenced by a select few. I grew up in a very Christian household. My mother was a Christian, that’s what she always said even though she was Roman Catholic. I later learned that she meant she had strong beliefs in Christianity, while not adhering to some of the Roman Catholic beliefs. I would strongly agree that the element of community really played a significant factor on my initial belief in Christianity. Since I was surrounded by an entire family whose belief was in Christianity and around people that talked constantly about Jesus Christ being our savior, I was heavily persuaded into the belief system that is Christianity. As I was raised, my family would tell...
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...COMPARISON OF TWO RELIGIONS:- HINDUISM:- Hinduism constitutes and extremely intricate religion upon which a single definition cannot be imposed. The prime feature of this religion is the vast diversification of beliefs and rituals among its adherents.(www.bellbookandcandlepublications.com) Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a specific founder. Rather, the tradition understands itself to be timeless, having always existed. Indeed, its collection of sacred texts is known, as a whole , as Sanatana Dharma, "The Eternal Teaching"(www.patheos.com). The tradition is typically divided into four major sects : Shaiva (devotees of the god Shiva), Vaishnava (devotees of the god Vishnu), Shakta (devotees of the goddess), and Smarta (those who understand the ultimate form of the divine to be abstract and all encompassing, Brahman) (www.bellbookandcandlepublications.com). CULTURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF HINDUISM:- Hinduism has traditionally been contained in the place of its origin. Hinduism was created through the intermixing of two distinct cultures involving the Aryans and the Indus Valley civilization. Throughout most of history , Hindu adherents remained in South Asia , particularly in India. It was believed that adherents who crossed ”the black ocean” became impure and were no longer Hindu. Only recently has...
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...similarities and differences between the different major religions of the eastern and western hemispheres. Regardless of what your belief is in some ways the religions between the east and west will most certainly be similar and different on certain spiritual ideas. Let us look at the different views on life and death in respect to the western religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam compared to the eastern religions Buddhism and Hinduism. The western outlook on life and death is that you only get one chance or one go around compared to the eastern outlook of reincarnation. In western religions the goal of after life is to for the soul to be released from the body and the the self remains the same self through eternity. In the Eastern religions the goal of after life is to be released from ignorance, and ultimately, loss of self and merger with the Divine. So just on the outlook from the respected religions we can see the differences between them. Now we shall look at some of the similarities between the same religions between the eastern and western hemispheres. We can first look at the nature of reality for all of these religions they believe that there is more to reality than the things of this world. The soul is immortal, deathless, and eternal either merging with god, or living forever in god’s presence. For all of these religions salvation is through strict obedience to god’s will. With all of these religions eastern and western with the exception of buddhism they...
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...The goals of Eastern and Western religions may differ greatly, but specifically Buddha and Christ share similar stories. Before Buddha and Christ reached their destiny their names were Siddhartha (Buddha) and Jesus (Christ). The comparison and contrasts of Buddha’s and Christ’s teachings, birth, and death can show us the linkage and disconnections between the Eastern and Western religions. The similarities of Buddha and Christ's’ existence began with their mothers’ mysterious births. Before the mothers’ conceived their baby, they had a dream forth-telling their child’s life mission. This quote shows Christ’s understanding of who he is at such a young age within the church, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Unlike Christ, Buddha was sheltered from...
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...A comparison of the three monotheistic religions in the Middle East reveals that all believe in one God who governs the universe and to whom we are responsible for our actions on Judgment Day. It is the differing views on interpretation of God's word that sets each apart from the others. Judaism According to tradition, God entered into a special relationship with the Jews when he spoke directly to them at Mt. Sinai: if they would acknowledge Him as their ultimate God and agree to obey His laws, He would acknowledge the Jews as his special people and promised them the land now known as Israel. The Torah, the Holy Book of Judaism, is God's will expressed as commandments. There is no mortal person alone who governs the Jewish faith but each rabbi is the instrument of his own synagogue in order to relay God's oral commandments to the congregation. Jewish tradition dictates that prayers be given three times a day: morning, afternoon, and evening. No work is allowed on the Sabbath so that Jews can spend the day in prayer, study, rest, and family feasting. The Jews believe the Messiah has yet to make himself known to those here on earth. It is their belief that virtue and obedience will be rewarded in the next life and that the suffering and forced exile they have endured will be addressed at the end of time. Christianity Christians believe in one God and that Jesus Christ was sent by him to convey God's love to those here on earth. Though seen as being...
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...Contrinia Gee HUM 211 Section 0901 Comparison Report There is many characteristics of early Christian art and music. Christian art and music became an important instrument of theology. Christian sculpture was second to painting and mosaics. Small-scale relief work was done on stone sarcophagi (coffins) and ivory panels. The subjects depicted were drawn from the Old and New Testaments. The earliest paintings of Christian art were done in catacombs. Christian music roots itself in Jewish worship. There were two kinds of music which were responsorial and antiphonal. Musical accompaniment of any kind was prohibited. Islamic art was not the art of one particular group of people or that of one country. It was associated with the life of one person, Muhammad, and the teachings of one book, the Quran. Islamic art and music was a fusion of many different cultures. The most influential were Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. At first, art was not encouraged due to the fact that Islam opposes idol worship. Palaces and mosques were built in the late seventh century. They were rectangular in plan, with an open court, and a fountain in the center used for purification. There were covered walkways, with flat roofs supported on columns and arches. They led to the side, on which is located the mihrab, a small niche indicating the side facing Mecca. Decoration was made of tile and stucco and either modeled in low relief or is built up in layers that are often cut away to create the effect of...
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...Buddhism arose from Hinduism. Both the religions have many similarities. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world and originated in India. Hinduism is an ancient religious belief in India, and it is not known that exactly how this religion emerged. The Hindus call their religion “the eternal law.” Hinduism has emerged over millennia of time and is a mixture of thinking of different people. The majority of the people are probably aware that Aryan defeated the first people who lived in Indus sometime during the 1700s f.Kr and when the two societies merged they gave rise to a new way of thinking and lifestyle (Molloy, 2013). It is said that Buddhism emerged around 500 BC in the Himalayas and penetrated to the Indian plains. According to the legend, Prince Gautama Siddharta was born in the holy city of Banaras, now called Varanasi. The prince later went out into the world to seek the answer to the question of why there are sufferings in the world. After seven years of searching and thinking, he came to enlightenment and turned into a Buddha, the informed. He came on as long as a man asking for more and more; they will there continue to be reborn to more suffering. King Ashoka ruled over northern India during 200-century BC - AD, and he played a key role in spreading Buddhism in East Asia. Hinduism has a large number of sacred writings, including the four Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures. Scriptures have come to anything because religion has changed. The four Vedas are songs...
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...Comparison of Two Religions V. Tracy Woods Strayer University Margaret Rinck Religion 212- World Religions April 28, 2014 Comparisons of Two Religions Select two (2) religions from those that we have studied so far. Identify and describe the cultural and geographical origin of each religion. According to Fisher, (2014), “Hinduism is a term derived from a name applied by foreigners to the people living in the region of the Indus River, and was introduced in the nineteenth century under colonial British rule as a category for census- taking”. The spiritual expressions of Hinduism range from extreme asceticism to extreme sensuality, from the heights of personal devotion to a deity to the heights of abstract philosophy, from metaphysical proclamations of the oneness behind the material world to worship of images representing a multiplicity of deities. According to tradition, there are actually 330 million deities in India (Fisher, 2014). The Hindu spiritual beliefs is based on the existence and immortality of the Atma (the soul), Karma, the cause and effect of an action, the spiritual law in which they practice, and reincarnation, which is the cycle of birth, death, and the rebirth on to Earth (Fisher, 2014). Buddhism was founded in the late sixth century by Siddhartha Gautama, (The Buddha) and is a religion that is practiced throughout most Asian countries. Dhamma or Dharma, which is the teachings of life experiences of the Buddha and the spirit of essence that he...
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...Assignment 1: Comparison of Two Religions Judaism is a religion which is a set of ideas about the world and how we should live up to it. Jewish belief also centers on the idea of one God and the love that He shares with all his creations through his covenant. Jews do not have a specific set of mandatory beliefs and rituals they have to follow, but one Jewish belief is the Rambam's thirteen principles of faith. The Jews practice their faith in many ways some people go to festivals or Shabbat for prayer services to read the Torah. Others may go to temples or synagogues which are Jewish houses for prayer and studying. Most Jews practice their faith reading the Torah which is known as the Old-Testament or Tanakh.(Judaism, 1968) There are three holy books the Jews study they consist of the: Torah which is the Law, Nevi'im the Prophets and lastly Kethuvim known as the Writings. The Jews also practice their faith by obeying the 613 mitzvot as well as they could, following the Judaism Rabbinic law and rules. One example of Jews practicing their faith is celebrating Hanukkah. (Kaplan, 1932) This is basically a Christmas for Jewish people, they light up a nine-branched candle known as the menorah. They do various activities such as lighting up a candle every night and eight candles would be lit in the last evening, eating oily foods reminding them of the miracle of the oil and play games such as "dreidel" which is a game with spinning tops that includes four Hebrew letters. There are...
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...Comparison of Two Religions Hinduism & Buddhism By: Darilyn M. Parks Week 4 Assignment 1 Strayer University Chamblee Campus REL 212 Professor Dr. Bell Belew 02/02/2014 Page 1 Introduction Comparison of Two Religions Religions can overall be very dynamic in their effects, where they can really bring about many changes in individuals as well as societies. The religions Buddhism and Hinduism had existed for thousands of years. Religion has always been the very basic foundation of life, as well as an object that could be studied. Religion can often become tools of great oppression; they are found in many places because are useful. Overall religion has actually held society together, where we use religion in helping us to have an organized structure. We as humans have a way in having the need for a stable frame of reference (Erich Fromm (1900-1980). We all know that religion has a way of transforming people and can just as well help us in understanding life. Religions are considered to have political powers, and in this paper I will speak more of the comparison of Buddhism and Hinduism religions. Hinduism Hinduism is not easily separated from many of the other religions that were created back in India. The scriptures called the “ Vedas “ are considered as being the foundations of Hinduism. Both Hinduism and Buddhism has a devotion that takes the forms of rituals and other different practices...
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...Comparison of Two Religions: Hinduism and Buddhism Strayer University Professor Carla Thompson April 28, 2014 Comparison of Two Religions: Buddhism and Hinduism Buddhism Buddhism was founded around 500 BCE by Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Gautama Buddha who was born about 2,500 years ago questioned his sheltered luxurious life in a palace. Leaving the palace he found four sights, a sick man, an old man, a dead man and a monk. Seeing this he realized that even a prince could not escape the issues of illness, suffering and death. So a monk told him to relinquish all his power and become a wandering holy man and seek the answers of why must people suffer and what was the cause of the suffering” (United Religions Initiative, 2002). For many years of doing many religious practices, including praying, meditating and fasting, he finally understood the basic truths of life. He realized this all by sitting under a popular-figtree in India for many days in meditation and this is when he was enlighten which is actually known as nirvana and this is when he was given the title of the Buddha which is the meaning of the Enlightened One. Buddha spread his teachings from India as far as Asia, becoming the dominate religion in many countries” (Fisher, 2014).It is thought that the Buddha lived many lives before his birth as Gautama, and that he continues to live through his teachings and his relics. Buddhism is the religion and philosophy which developed out of the teachings of...
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...Denise Johnson Professor Nicole Braun Sociology 300- Sociology of Develop Countries 3 February 2014 The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid The country that I believe has been affected mostly by both peace and war is Africa. The foreign aid that have been received includes relief operations, medicine, and reconstruction in assisting the various programs in this country. The advocates wanting to get aid to Africa are lifting their voices to the U.S. government to push the international assistance for roughly $ 50 billion each year. The evidence that demonstrates that this aid is being used to help the poor seem limited compared to the funding other countries such as the U.S and China has provided. The aid that is going to Africa has made more debt, more inflation and even more vulnerable to the currency markets and more unattractive to higher quality investment. It's increased the risk of civil conflict and unrest that caused an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster. The examples of some positive effects are the relief programs that continue to support the development and reconstructing of poverty stricten areas in Africa. Another look at the the development is recovering from war to addressing the causes of inequalities, discrimination, and structural insecurity which would reduce terriorists. There are few people that will deny that fact of a clear moral imperative for humanitarian and charity-based aid to step in when...
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...Comparison between Orthodoxy, Protestantism & Roman Catholicism: The table below aims to given an outline of some of the key issues in Christian belief and how the three traditions view these issues. I have tried to state what might be called the 'representative' view of each tradition; though there are obviously differing views within each of them e.g. the diverse range of opinions on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The links under the More information section should be consulted for the definitive positions. With thanks to Father Gregory Hallam for his assistance. |Topic |Orthodox |Protestant |Roman Catholic | |Apostolic Succession |This is an important part of Orthodox |With the exception of the Anglicans|As in Orthodoxy, this is of vital | | |belief and ensures continuity with the |and some Lutherans, this idea is |importance to the church. There is also | | |church that Christ founded. |rejected. Rather it is important to|some degree of mutual recognition of the | | | |emphasize continuity of teaching |validity of Orthodox ordinations. | | | |with that of the apostles, rather | | | | ...
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...| World Religions Report | Jehovah’s Witnesses & Judaism | Axia College of the University of Phoenix | Christopher C Bewley | 1/26/2012 | | Introduction In this paper I will be comparing two religions respectively. I will show you an interview I have conducted with a practicing Jehovah’s Witness. I will use the information acquired within that interview to display the differences and similarities between their beliefs and those of the Judaism faith. So brace yourself for an in-depth discovery of two faiths that almost completely contradict one another. Research Overview I have found that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have had a hard time gathering recognition amongst the world and many people disregard them entirely. The only historical figures that are honored in this faith are prophets whose recognition originates in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and Jehovah God. Their central beliefs focus on living a life based off of the examples Jesus Christ set forth in his time through his actions and instruction to his twelve apostles. The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in a Trinitarian God, they believe Jesus Christ and Jehovah God are two deities and Jehovah God is the superior deity. The Clergy are not paid; they volunteer their teachings to serve the purpose of spreading the word of Jehovah. There is no collection plate that gets passed around during the meetings; people can donate if they feel they can afford to do so. They...
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...paper, I am going to identify a point of time in which I experienced invidious comparison and vicarious traumatization. While identifying theses to aspects, I am also going to address how to stop invidious comparison. As well as identifying strategies that I use to avoid vicarious traumatization in my own personal life. I will also go in to depth to show how to avoid vicarious traumatization as a human service worker. Lastly, I am going to address the strategies that can be considered or developed to avoid vicarious traumatization. What is invidious comparison? Invidious comparison is the comparing yourself to others. It can be through race, sexual orientation, and religion. Invidious comparison can make a person feel that their self-worth is not wanted and even take its toll on the person doing the comparison themselves. It can send you into a depressive state where you develop levels of stress. To stop invidious comparison, we must first get an understanding on others and accept the different views that other may possess. Everyone is different in their own way. There will also be an individual that may excel in different things that you may have thought you were good in. Some may be incapable of abilities that one may have. By understanding these aspects we must acknowledge the strengths that we have and do not have without dwelling on the weaknesses of others. Everywhere we go there are comparisons, it is important to get caught up in a situation where you start to become judgmental...
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