...Youth & and the future of the Church The question of how to attract and keep our young people close to the Church is one of major concern in our troubled age. To remain indifferent to this problem can only be regarded as a grave sin and is an indication of soul-destroying self-love. The proposed solutions to this problem are many and varied, but unfortunately most succumb to the easy allure of gimmicks, i.e. the attempt to use methods popular in our fallen society, but sadly distant from the true aim of our salvation. Among these we find an exaggerated call to social action, distraction through social activities, appeals to the intellect, and outright distortions of the Gospel message to accommodate each individual appetite. Let us briefly examine each of these methods, beginning with the call to social action. This approach plays upon what are basically positive and as surely Christian virtues such as mercy, loving-kindness and brotherly concern. Apostles of social action exaggerate the human aspect of Christ's message, stressing it over and above all other considerations. Thus, the primary functions of our Lord's Incarnation are understood to be feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, etc. Far different is the Orthodox concept which recognizes as above all these things the "freedom from the slavery of sin" wrought by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Savior. Therein lies the fullness and the perfection of love. However, to belittle the previously...
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...James Crarer 12EUC709 - The Russian Empire The Russian Empire Essay “In what ways did Peter the Great’s reforms transform the concept of the Empire?” Peter the Great’s reforms are widely considered to be one of the most defining moments in Russian history. Beginning as an effort to modernize the country’s military, as the era progressed the reforms expanded, instigating economic development, governmental modernization, intellectual reorientation and social reconstruction.1 The injection of European practices into Russia arguably set the precedence for the onslaught of a top down modernization that has since been a trait of Russian state development, as well as illuminating the beginning of the transition into a form of Russian modernity. The geographical historian Dennis Shaw, reiterates this by suggesting Peter exposed Russia “to the ideas of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. Building on the achievements of his father, Peter launched a thoroughgoing reform or modernization of his realm with the aim of transforming it into a major European state.”2 In order to comprehend this transformation of the Russian empire, an appreciation of meaning of the term ‘empire’ is required. Stephen Howe suggests that ‘an empire is a large, composite, multiethnic or multinational political unit, usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate, sometimes far distant, peripheries.’3 While Howe’s definition provides a coherent basis from which...
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...The Rise and Spread of Islam •The Post Classical Period: Faith and Commerce - Spread of major world religions o Budhism o Christianity o Islam 1. Spread through preaching, trade routes - Development of Systematic o Boat trade 2. Indian Trade spread disease, religion, ideas - Three Big Ideas o Trans-regional communication and exchange networks o Forms of state organize. Diversify o All societies increased productive capacity • Pre-Islamic Arabia - Bedoin culture based on Kin/clan/tribal networks o Survival dependent on loyalty to clan o Magnified by harsh environment - Shayks- clan/tribal leaders o Conflict was frequent o Society was fragmented - Fierce inter clan rivalries and struggles for resources o Emphasis on revenge, “male honor” - Towns and long distance trade----Mecca and Medina o Medina (Yathrib) (established on oasis) o Mecca more important – Umayyad (ruling clan) – Quraysh; (Ka’ba) - Status of women varied by clan o More respect vs. less respect - Little art/architechture (no big civs) o Focus on poetry 1. Gives glimpse into daily life - Bedovin religions- blend of animism and polytheism o Animism- nature worship - The life of Myhammad and Genesis of Islam o Born around 570 CE – Merchant, married Khadijah ...
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...political problems, social debilities or economic difficulties. To begin with, there was autocracy, which meant that one person, the Tsar, governed the whole state. He was regarded as the absolute ruler, by divine right. There were three official bodies, which helped rule the Tsar: The Imperial council, The Cabinet of Ministers and The senate. Even though this might seem as advancement, all three bodies were chosen by the tsar, and unless the tsar approved it before, they were unable to take any action. This autocracy showed how Russia was politically behind compared to other European nations, as all major western-European countries had some sort of democratic aspects in their government. An important fact in Russian politics at this time was that the few Russian tsars who had been reformers, modernised Russia in some ways, but did nothing about politics, as all of them believed in the convenience of autocracy. Some clear examples of Russia´s political backwardness were: It had no parliament, political parties had no right to exist, it was a criminal offence to oppose to the Tsar and Government censorship was imposed on public books and journals. Anyone who had liberal ideas was not able to express them and would usually go underground. This lead to secret agents of the Okhrana infiltrating these groups, resulting in frequent raids, arrests, imprisonment and general harassment. Another factor that...
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...been born in Stettin, Pomerania as a German princess to Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst who had belong to the ruling family of Anhalt. When Catherine was fifteen years old her mother had found her a husband. She was to wed Grand Duke Peter III of Holstein. Since Catherine didn't think to fondly of her soon to be husband she had decided to convert to Russian Orthodoxy after a year of instruction and education from the Russian court. Since she accepted the orthodox faith, she had changed her name from Sophie to Catherine. Catherine wanted to make a statement in life and that was to become completely Russian. This would make her popular with certain political elements which would go against her spaced-out husband. Catherine wanted to increase Russia's power even with them having weaker neighbors, who were Poland and the Ottoman Empire. She had established a virtual protectorate over Poland in 1764. As time passed by she had secured the largest portion of Poland which was among Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Catherine may of been born as a German princess and be known for being the longest leading Russian woman leader but their wasn't just one thing that made her so famous, she was a strong and powerful ruler, which is generally what gives a monarch the title of Great. With Catherine be such a leading ruler one thing that made her so mighty was increasing Russia's territory...
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...However, a large number of countries in the world have refused this type of punishment, in particular, Algeria, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia and others. They cite the following reasons: possibility of a miscarriage of justice, absence of addressing the causes of crime, contradiction to the international law standards. In the modern globalized world the international community faced faces with the active development of global problems such as terrorism, drug trafficking, corruption, etc. These problems stimulate the constant debate about the necessity to toughen penalties for dangerous criminals, in particular, people discuss the need for of the death penalty in states, where the law does not provide it as capital punishment. The Russian Federation is one of these states. It is the largest country in the world, and many criminal elements from neighboring less prosperous countries penetrate on its territory, they commit serious crimes in Russia and its citizens also organize or take part in crimes, the most dangerous crimes concern the high level of corruption . In this regard, the discussion on the introduction of the death penalty in Russia is very important. In my opinion, the study of the national peculiarities of this question is very interesting, so let us consider this issue in detail. On the one...
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...Alexander3 inherited the Russian Empire in the moment when there was urge for changes. His legacy from his father was the inception of newly introduced liberal movements. Even though Alexander was reactionary, it was mainly because he did not want to follow his fathers footsteps who was assassinated by nihilist group “Peoples Will”, he couldn’t stop spread of so called “Westerners” and radicals. It was crucial for Alexander to preserve his power as an autocrat, which meant that there were no room for opposition that could jeopardise his reign. But at that point he could still hold his control over Russia and opposition was too weak and divided to challenge the Tsar, at that time Empire faced more economical and social problems that Tsar needed to solve. As a child Alexander had Pobedonoscev as his tutor who was Tsars chief minister and leading official of the State Church. He was remarkable by his conservative views, being part of Slavophiles movement. It was easy for him to influence Alexanders views far before he became Tsar and even after his influence kept pursuing the young Tsar. Because of Pobedonoscevs doctrines Alexander believed in order for Russia to modernise it needs to follow old traditions, so he will be safe from repeating his fathers fate. Pobedonoscev taught Alexander that basis of political stability, which was very important for the Tsar, lay upon autocracy, Russian nationalism and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox Church members supported Tsar...
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...The purpose of this essay is to explain the geographic patterns of the 2004 presidential election vote in Ukraine. These patterns display very significant information to a scholar in search of the reasons behind how the voting went. The east side of Ukraine was largely in favor of Viktor Yanukovych, with his support dwindling as the pattern moves westward. (Figure 1) The west side of Ukraine was largely in favor of Viktor Yushchenko, with his support lessening as the pattern moves eastward. (Figure 2) Both patterns are particularly conspicuous, revealing geographical cultural differences across the nation. Over against some false explanations, these patterns can be properly explained by analyzing the ultimate and proximate causes of why people voted the way they did....
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...Essay: Peter the Great v.s. Catherine the Great Peter the great first took to the throne in 1682 as a ten-year-old boy. Though he lacked proper education at first, he soon gained knowledge and set his sights for modernizing Russia. His ideas, however, were difficult to express, therefore he soon became an autocrat. He gained control over everything from the Russian Orthodox Church to boyars, or landowning noblemen, forcing them into various positions as civilians or military personnel. Forcing the boyars to shave their beads, change their style of clothing and allow women into their parties didn’t please them, however the boyars’ lands and servants were protected by Peter. Peter also ushered in a new generation in academics, creating better education systems and creating more academies. He also fixed up the roads, waterways and canals to help with his modernization of Russia. (Ellis & Esler, 168-169) Though his ideas proved to be good ones, he had a terrible tolerance for rebels, often torturing them and displaying their corpses on the outside of his palace walls. His army became the largest in Europe, he “Built a world-class navy from scratch,” and sought to extend the borders of his kingdom. He fought against the Ottoman Empire to gain a route for trade with the west that wouldn’t freeze over, but suffered defeat at their hands. ( Ellis & Esler, 169-170) Peter’s army went to war with Sweden in 1700, again suffering many defeats, but finally nine years later he won seizing...
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...Jewish History Notes * Sept. 4 * * Three Ways to Look at History: * These are three different ways of interpreting historical events: * 1) Divine Causation (hasgachah pratit) is a theological term which refers to the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in people’s lives * 2) Human Causation suggests that events in people’s lives are a result of the outcome of human involvement, i.e., God either does not exist or does not involve himself in the affairs of humans. * 3) Chronologically suggests no causation of any kind. Events take place divorced from each other, i.e., there is no cause and effect. * * * * How do we know if an event really took place? * Here is the criterion often used to determine if an event really took place. Note: If this criterion is not met it does not mean that the historical claim is false. * * 1) Multiple Attestation rests on the premise that, the more independent testimonies to a tradition there are, the greater is the probability that it is authentic i.e., more than one independent source refers to the same person, place or thing. 2) Contradiction is when a source mentions a person, place or thing in a way that serves not to benefit the author in any way Sept. 7 What is a fact? 1. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed: Genetic engineering is now a fact. That Chaucer was a real person is an undisputed fact. 2. A real occurrence;...
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...Name: ____________________ Period: _____ APWH WORKBOOK Unit Four: 1450 to 1750 CE “The Early Modern Period” Due Date: _________ Score: ____/30 [pic] This packet will guide you through the fourth unit in AP World History and prepare you for the reading quizzes, vocabulary quizzes, essays, and the unit test on January ___, 2010 You must complete ALL of the pages in the workbook by yourself to get credit; incomplete or incorrect work will result in a zero for the whole packet. Unit 4 Vocabulary Terms Quiz #1 1. Scientific Revolution (p. 410) 2. heliocentrism (p. 410) 3. sacrament (p. 396) 4. Renaissance (p. 405) 5. bourgeoisie (p. 413) 6. republic (p. 422) 7. Protestant Reformation (p. 406) 8. Jesuit (p. 409) 9. joint-stock companies (p. 415) 10. mercantilism (p. 468) Quiz #2 1. caravel (p. 384) 2. conquistadors (p. 394) 3. Columbian Exchange (p. 431) 4. maritime (p. 402) 5. manumission . (p.467) 6. coerced labor systems (p.475) 7. plantation cash crop (p.470) 8. tariffs (p.469) 9. indigenous (p.393) 10. encomiendas (p. 439) 11. serfs (p.529) 12. mestizo (pp. 442 – 45) Historical Thinking Skills: Periodization, Causation, Contextualization Timeline Exercise: Annotate the timeline with two facts about the important effects of each event Unit 3: 1450–1750 (Early Modern) 1453 Ottomans captured Constantinople;...
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...WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 1. To what did the Latin religio refer? a) The Latin word L. religionem (nom. Religio) is defined as “a respect for what is scared, reverence for the gods”, and according to the text refers to the fear or awe a person feels in the presence of a spirit or a god. 2. Taoism and Confucianism are nontheistic religions, that is, religions for which belief in God or gods is nonessential. While gods are not alien to either Taoism or Confucianism, belief in/of gods is not central to either tradition. What are a couple of other religions that can be called nontheistic religions? a) A few additional examples of some nontheistic religions are Agnosticism, Atheism, Buddhism, Secular Humanism and Scientology. 3. What is Paul Tillich's definition for religion, and why do Hopfe and Woodward consider its development too broad? a) Paul Tillich defines religion as, “that which is of ultimate concern”. Hopfe and Woodward consider the development of Tillich’s definition of religion too broad for a world religions course because a philosophical exploration of Tillich’s definition of religion, yields many an individuals personal belief of what is of ultimate concern hardly lending to the general understanding of popular or mainstream religions they hope to accomplish in this text. 4. Explain E. B. Tylor's theory concerning the origin and evolution of religion. What is animism, and to what, "ultimately" and "finally," did Tylor think it evolved? a) E.B. Tylor’s theory...
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...Why This Person is Superior George Orwell as a Novelist George Orweel is one of the leading novelists of modern age. His novels express a powerful sattire on the political and social hypocrisies. By thw quality of his writing, he has achieved international fame and recognition. In his evolution as a novelist he moved from simple narration to symbolic expression. But he has been criticised by many critics due to the lack of sincere characteristics of a novel in his novels. It has bveen proved that he has failed as a novelist. Tom Hopkinson opines, “Orwell’s reputaion as awriter rests largely on his novels, but his gifts are not those of a novelist; and, if the novel had not happened to be the prevailing literary form during the twenty years when he was writing, he would proably never have been attracted to it. Orwell had little imagination, little understanding of human relationshipl, little sympathy with individual human beings- though much with humanity in general.” O.D. Leavis also found that he had “wasted a lot of energy trying to be a novelist. I think I must have read three or four novels by him and the only impression those dreary books left on me was that nature didn’t intend him to be a novelist.” Edward M. Thomas also found that he did not possess the temperment of a novelist. Thus Orwell, who wished to produce more than thirty novels, had to admitin aletter, written to his friend, Julian Symons, “You are perfectly right about my own character constantly intruding...
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...Russell Ellis Simerly III AP European History Chapter 17—The Age of Enlightenment: Eighteenth Century Thought Chapter Overview: The Enlightenment is a movement of people and ideas that fostered the expansion of literate sectors of European society and that economic improvement and political reform were both possible and desirable. Contemporary western political and economic thought is a product of Enlightenment thinking; therefore, some historians believe the process of Enlightenment continues today. Inspired by the scientific revolution and prepared to challenge traditional intellectual and theological authority, Enlightenment writers believed that human beings can comprehend the operation of physical nature and mold it to achieve material and moral improvement, economic growth, and administrative reform. Enlightenment intellectuals advocated agricultural improvement, commercial society, expanding consumption, and the application of innovative rational methods to traditional social and economic practices. The spirit of innovation and improvement came to characterize modern Europe and Western society. Politically, the Enlightenment had a direct impact on some rulers--in eastern and central Europe—whose policies came to be known as enlightened absolutism. Section One: Formative Influences of the Enlightenment Section Overview Chief factors that fostered the ideas of the Enlightenment The Newtonian worldview the political stability and...
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...The Development Intelligence Gazette The Development Intelligence Gazette is a news journal that summarizes the most significant political and economic stories related to sustainable economic and democratic development in the world. Comments and questions can be addressed to Joseph Merton at merton.stratintsol@gmail.com. Inside This Week’s Issue United States and the European Union Mild eurozone recession likely in 2012: economists………......................................................................................4 Euro declines in its longest losing streak since 2010..............................................................................................5 Head of Russian Church Urges Action on Vote Fraud Allegation….…………….……………………………..……………….…..…6 Tribute to Václav Havel attracts thousands…………………………………………………………….……………………………….……….7 Middle East Islamists' chance to lead change ............................................................................................................................ 8 Why Islamism Is Winning ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Kenyan troops join AU Somalia mission .............................................................................................................. 10 Asia WH calls for stable transition in North Korea . ..............................................................................................
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