Religion and Violence/Study Questions: Christianity

1. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism when the Roman Empire was at its peak and was ruled by Augustus Caesar. The Roman Empire included North Africa, the Middle East, and a large portion of Europe. Under Caesar's empire the people were to have a common language and intellectual culture. Under the Roman Empire it was easy for missionaries to travel and spread the word of the Christian faith.
2. Jesus fulfilled the role of the Messiah by acting as a rabbi. He taught his disciples and performed miracles such as healing people. Jesus did not fulfill the role because some people believed that his message was supposed to be above Jewish law. For example Jesus healing on the Sabbath day is an example of how the message that Jesus was delivering can be viewed as higher than Jewish Law. He didn't care that he was going against the law so he must have believed that his message held more importance than Jewish Law.
3. The basic rituals of early Christianity were baptism and communion.
4. It is most likely that the letters written by Paul was the first section of New Testament written. The Gospels were written between 90 and 100 CE.
5. Constantine was not Christian. His Christian wife and mother were able to influence him. Constantine set the in place the Edict of Milan. This allowed Christianity the same privileges as all other religions.ending the persecution of Christians. He also ordered the Church Council of Nicaea to stop fighting with Christians about the nature of Christ Jesus. 
6. The theological differences were that eastern tend to be more interested in theological formulations and became bitterly divided over certain issues. Western Christians tended to be more concerned with survival in a hostile world. Eastern emphasized the divine nature of Christ and Western emphasized his humanity. 
7. Causes include: beginning of European nationalism, the new learning of the Renaissance, and the decline of papacy.
8. Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Eucharist, Extreme, Marriage, Holy Orders
9. John XXII became the Pope after Puis XII died. John was determined to revitalize the church and bring it in line with the 20^th century. He called the Second Vatican Council and it affected  the most dramatic changes ever made in the Catholic Church. One of the most important movements  in the 20^th century was the ecumenical movement.
10. Liberation theology is a movement in Christian theology. It was developed mainly by Latin American Roman Catholics and it emphasizes liberation from social, political, and economic oppression as an anticipation of ultimate salvation. It is a branch of Catholic theology that seeks to establish the fact that God has made a supernatural revelation and established the Catholic Church.

Religion and violence: (pg 289)

The cause of this violence was the people who were strongly anti-Christian as Paul once was. Watching the stoning motivated Paul to act violently toward Christians. He became a leader in the persecution of these people. In the end he was converted to a spokes persons for the Christians on his way to Damascus. This caused the religion to be seen in a different light by many during this time period. If a leader of the persecution could learn to understand where the Christians were coming from and the beliefs they had then so could others. Paul would be a useful advocate in attempting to end the persecution that Christians were faced with.

Ethics and Moral Conduct

The focus of Christianity on poverty can be seen frequently throughout the Bible. The life of Jesus is supposed to be an example that Christians are to follow. Many times throughout the Bible Jesus is seen preforming miracles and helping those who are less fortunate than him. Since the life of Jesus is an example Christians seek to act as best like him has possible. Since miracles can not be preformed they follow his example by helping those who are less fortunate. The Bible also says at one point in Matthew 25: 35-40 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

This verse is interpreted to mean that when Christians go out of their way to help others they are also helping God. Since everyone is said to be created in the image of God it is like Christians are helping him directly. Christians will eventually be awarded by God for the services that they have done to help others.

Religious Experience

1. The group experience of faith carries just about as much importance as the individual experience. As a group Christians are able to provide a support system for each other making it easier to get through certain situations that they are faced with as they attempt to achieve salvation and reach heaven. They are able to learn from each others mistakes no only relying on their own experiences. Christians as a group may not build as much of an personal relationship with God but they are able to still rely on each other to build their faith up together. When Christians come together as a group it is more usually in order to worship God and praise him for all of the things that he has done for them. When a message is delivered to a group Christians the group takes away meaning as a whole but the individual is able to apply it to their life. For the individual the religious experience is all about being personal with God. Christians can repent for their sins with no one else but God knowing what they have done. When focusing on oneself they are able to ask for what they need from God and ask for his assistance in the things that they are struggling with. 
2. Prayer in Christianity is very important. It is the means that Christians are able to communicate with God. Prayer is used to truly ask for forgiveness for the sins that have been committed. Asking for forgiveness is one of the first steps that is often taken in the process of repenting. Not only is the way for Christians to make requests it also allows them to show God that they have faith in him. Praying to God and keeping a relationship with him shows that a Christian has complete trust in God no matter what they are faced with. Prayer plays a pretty large role in determining if a Christian receives entrance into heaven. Worship also is very important in the Christian faith. Worship is how Christians are able to show God that they appreciate the things that he has done and will continue to do for them. Through group worship not only is a Christian's relationship with God improved, but their relationship with other Christians is improved as well.

Doctrines and Beliefs

Different Schools of thought/Denominations:

Christianity has many different denominations. Denominations of Christianity include Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Anglicans, and Lutherans. The split between liberals and conservatives can be seen in the divisions of the denominations of Christianity. Due to this split, people of different denominations often have different views on issues such as women roles. Some denominations follow traditional practices in regards to gender while others have adapted to fit more modern views of gender roles. Most people tend to stay in the denomination that they are born into because of this the liberals and conservatives within each denomination have their views of where the people of their denomination are going. The split in to different denominations can also lead to people with in the same religion to have disagreements with one another. I think that the cultures and political context are greatly affected by the division of Christians into different denominations. Since there is a separation each group develops their own beliefs and cultures even though they have the same core beliefs about God. I think that this creates some division between the people of the religion because there is no universal understanding of Christianity since each denomination has different interpretations of different things. Also, the division in to different denominations creates different structures of organisational systems with each denomination.

Sacred Text Christianity

The Bible

The Bible is given authority by God. The Bible says that it is the inspired Word of God. The Old Testament establishes the idea of salvation and the New Testament shows the source of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Bible is written by many different authors. There are slightly different versions of the Old Testament depending on the denomination of Christianity being practiced. This creates different interpretations of what the Bible is really saying. The Bible has a main focus on Jesus who is said to be the son of God. Jesus is believed to be sent to cleanse us of our sins. Jesus was sent to teach people and lead them down the right path so that they could reach heaven. His death was used as a sacrifice for the sins of Christians and his resurrection shows that there will be a second coming when God will judge your actions. When looking at the Bible as a group the interpretation may be different than when one individual looks at the text. In private worship, Christians develop their own interpretation of the text. This is often shaped to fit the life of the individual. When reading the Bible with a group frequently a general interpretation is discovered creating a different meaning when reading the Bible as an individual. The Bible can be viewed as a record of miracles or a historical document.

Important Verses

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9)

This excerpt is a direct explanation of the way that people are able to be saved from their sins. It is saying that you have to verbally confess Jesus as Lord and have no doubt that he was raised from the dead in order to achieve salvation. This is important because it gives doesn't use a story to explain how we are to achieve salvation, but instead it tells what is expected of someone who if they want to achieve salvation.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

This verse is saying that God is at the beginning of everything. It also seeks to give the Bible more authority. Since the Bible calls itself the Word of God that means that it is giving itself authority by claiming to be directly from God. This also explains why the Bible is so important to Christians since it is the only text that is said to be directly from God. 

The Ten commandments (Exodus 20:3,7-8,12-17)

These verses are important because it gives a list of the things that Christians are not to do. It is giving guide lines to Christians. This also helps to give the Bible authority because it says that God directly said these things are what people should not do. This verse is saying that in order to avoid sin Christians should follow the ten commandments.

Taoism Huston Smith Questions

1. I think that the most intriguing thing about Taoism is the concept of wu wei or non-action. The idea of just following what is natural in the world. The most difficult thing for me to understand is the life of Lao Tzu because there is no way to be certain if he even really existed and if he did we don't even know what his name was.

2.From my understanding Tao is the path or flow that everything naturally follows. This is different from the idea of a god because a god is usually seen as a powerful, holy being but Tao is more of a way of life and the way things are.

3. I don't think that there is a perfect equivalent for the concept of ch'i in the West, but the idea of diet and exercise and staying healthy are often emphasized. I think that staying healthy regardless of how it is done improves spiritual well being because it can help people remove distractions of the world and maintain a focus on god.

4. I don't believe in magic because I feel like everything can be explained in some way at some point. For the things that we are unable to explain now I believe that they can be explained eventually. I think that people use magic as a way to explain things that they are uncomfortable with or don't understand.

5. I understand that wu wei is that people are to follow their natural path. It is not acting against ones nature.

6. Yin and yang are the positive and negative, or light and dark forces. They represent the opposites that are in nature. I think it is a hindrance because it leaves the potential to portray one spiritual energy as better than the other and creating a divide between men and women.

7. I think that all values are relative and contextual because there are certain situations where what is good for one person is not for another person. This is because different people in different situations have different views of a situation.

8. I think that in the views of a Taoist it is a return to ones origins since the focus of Taoism is to become at one with nature. This seeking to become one with nature though could be viewed as a goal for ones life and that every day is a step forward or backward in reaching this goal.

9. I can't think of a religion that places as much value on being lighthearted as Taoism. Most of the other religions seem to be more structured and have a set rules that the followers of the religion are supposed to keep to.

Hinduism Review

First stage: "Brahmacharya"-student stage

• Period of formal education
• Till age 25
• Male leaves to stay with guru to get spiritual/practical knowledge

Second stage: "Grihastha"-householder stage

• Starts when one gets married and has to support family

Third stage: "Vanaprastha"- Hermit stage

• no longer a householder (grandfather now: children established their own lives

Fourth Stage: "Sannyasa"- Wandering Ascetic stage.

• completely devotes to god (virtually merges with god)

What is the human condition?

• We are subject to suffering due to the desires that we have and to remove these desires is to remove suffering from ones life and reach release from samsara(cycle of birth death and rebirth).

Where are we going?

• We are either going to achieve the ultimate goal of release from samsara (moksha) or we will be stuck in samsara.
• The placement of where one is on their next journey through samsara depends on karma. Acting according to ones caste enables better conditions for release from samsara by way on karma.

How do we get there?

• We achieve the goal of release from samsara or return to the cycle through karma and our actions.
• Hindus are to follow dharma or religious and moral duty and avoid pap (sin) by completing the duties of ones caste in order to rejoin Brahman (the ultimate reality)
• Moksha is achieved through various yoga or paths to liberation
• Bhakti yoga-path of devotion
• Jana yoga-path of knowledge
• Karma yoga-path of ethical actions