Religion

Compare the development of one specific Islamic and one specific Christian location between 632-1000 C.E. When discussing each location, provide a more specific timeline, and consider adding examples of significant leaders, political and social structures, beliefs, and cultural products (stories, philosophies, theologies, artifacts, art, and architecture). Your comparison should identify similarities and differences in the two religious-based cultures, and also indicate influences they share. Be careful not to compare the religions as a whole but instead focus on a range of cultural elements in your two specific locations because cultures may vary even within one religion depending on time and place. What insight about the historical development of these two cultures did you gain from the comparison?

Step 1: Review the section of the Unit V Study Guide entitled, “Be Careful When Making Historical Assumptions.”

Step 2: Choose two appropriate sources, not including the textbook. At least one source must come from Islam and Christianity by John Renard. Resources should be credible and peer-reviewed by historians and cannot include Wikipedia, Biography.com, History.com, or any other .com site; resources should also not be taken from any type of message board or other encyclopedia-type sites.

Step 3: Complete your research. Choose one interesting comparison that illustrates the main point that you want to make about these cultures during this period. Gather details about your choice.

Compare similar features (known as “comparing like terms”). For example, compare cities to cities, education systems to education systems, technologies to technologies, stories to stories, ideas about the nature of God to ideas about the nature of God, and other features. Make sure you complete the comparison for all features or note why you think there is not a like term for some features.

Comparison includes consideration of both similarities and differences.

Here are some examples to consider:

the promotion and use of learning by leading figures;
the relationship between religious and political authority;
the shaping of artifacts (leader, idea, practice, or structure) by time period and environment;
the shaping of societies by artifacts and whether different people were affected differently; and
the way that different elements of culture reflect power arrangements, goals, hierarchies, and/or challenges.

Step 4: Prepare your introduction, including your thesis statement. A thesis is prepared after you have completed your research and includes the comparison of what you found. It should be a one- or two-sentence statement of the conclusions you drew from the comparison.

Step 5: Write your essay. Your essay must be at least 500 words in length.

Step 6: Reflect on how this comparison paper shaped your understanding of how to practice cultural history ethically, as discussed in the “Be Careful When Making Historical Assumptions” section of the Unit V Lesson. Write one paragraph to be placed after the concluding paragraph of your essay, reflecting on how the guidelines in the unit lesson shaped your understanding of how to use historical evidence, including artifacts, to practice cultural history ethically.

Be sure to consider the following guidelines in your essay.

The introduction should engage the reader and clearly present the essay’s thesis and summarize the main points that clarify your point of view. The last sentence of the introductory paragraph should be your specific thesis.
Organization should clearly present points arranged to illustrate your opening thesis. Paragraph order and organization should clearly present points arranged to illustrate your opening thesis rather than to narrate the chronological story.
Writing should be clear and concise with no spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors.
The number of sources should meet or exceed any expressed assignment requirements, and the sources should be peer-reviewed or academic in nature. At least one source must be from Islam and Christianity by John Renard.
APA guidelines should be used for reference entries and in-text citations.

Due ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN A 1 PAGE REFLECTION ESSAY
1) Based on the information presented in the class lecture, what were the main differences in Christian and Jewish traditions of worshiping G-d (hint, Jews do not write the word God in full, considering informal use of the word to be blasphemy so they write G-d instead)?

2) What were the controversies of the Roman Emperor Constantine embracing Christianity? How did previous Roman emperors react to this faith?

3) Of the two competing Christian faiths of the 6th Century, which would you have sided with, the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church? Why? Support your answer.

On Humanism Past and Present – 1. Is Humanism still a useful ideology? why or why not? – 2. Parable of a Sower (chapter 6-13) A. Discuss any part of the text that resonates with you. what emerging themes have you identified?
B. Construct a discussion question for the class from chapters 6-13 of the text. – 3. Parable of a Sower (chapter 14-19) A. Discuss any part of the text that resonates with you. – B. Construct a discussion question for the class from chapters 14-19 of the text. –
4. Parable of a Sower( chapter 20-25) A. Share some final thoughts on the novel. what do make of the ending? You should know that this is the first in a trilogy.

Find a current event happening within 2019-2020 about the Animism religion.

* Lately, the most widely practiced Animism in America today is Santeria or Orisha.
* This CANNOT be an article. Rather, an ADVERTISEMENT telling about the event.
* Write a paragraph, summarizing the advertisement/event. Include details, like dates, what will be happening, who can you contact, etc.
* Please, put this in your own words because it will be turned in to Turnitin.com
* Lastly, once you have found the website to this event. Please, place the link at the bottom of the word document.

Thank you!

You are allowed to choose a passage of your preference from anywhere in 1 John. Your passage should contain a complete idea or story. You should not start in the middle of something or cut a unit off early. Generally, your selection should be at least 3 verses long but no longer than 10 verses.
Once you have chosen your passage. You will want to read it closely, attending to its overall flow, the structure of sentences, key nouns, key verbs, and any important descriptive elements. Then you will want to consider the four contexts (immediate, literary, cultural-historical, and canonical) and see how they may inform your understanding of the passage. Remember that you can draw on the videos on “Literary Styles in the Bible,” “Cultures in and of the Bible,” and “The Story of the Bible” to help provide some material for these various contexts.
A brief introduction that identifies your passage and explains why you chose it (approximately 50-75 words).
A brief introduction that identifies your passage and explains why you chose it (approximately 50-75 words).
A section that explores the details of the passage’s flow, sentence structure, nouns, verbs, and descriptors (approximately 250-300 words).
A section that explains the passage more fully by using two of the following contexts with connections to details in the passage: immediate, literary, historical-cultural, and canonical (approximately 250-300 words).
A short conclusion that states your main takeaway from your interpretive work and how that point may apply to our time and place (approximately 100-150 words).

The research essay will explore how a particular religious tradition has responded to a specific problem or issue in the modern era. Students can select any religious tradition that we have touched upon throughout the course and select from the following issues: environmental concerns/ethics, fundamentalism, gender roles, questions pertaining to sexuality, and the issue of religious diversity/pluralism. This is a research essay and students will be expected to use a minimum of five academic sources. Students are permitted to use the textbook as a source but must use four additional sources, which may include scholarly books or journal articles. The essay must be a minimum of 5-6 pages (1,500-1,700 words) in length but students may to write up to a maximum of 8 pages. In addition, students are expected to include a title page (name, student number, course information & essay title), in-text citations, and a bibliography at the end of the essay. It is preferred that students use the Chicago Style citation method by students may also use APA or MLA. **Wikipedia may NOT be used as a source. Essay Topic: Religion in the Modern World For the research essay, students will select a particular contemporary issue on which to focus. Such issues may include (but are not limited to): environmental ethics the role of women issues of gender and sexuality (i.e. homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, birth control, assisted reproductive technologies etc.) bioethics and medical technologies (i.e. transplants, blood transfusions, etc.) Students will research the varied responses that may exist within a specific religion (such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Indigenous Traditions, or New Religious Movements) and the research essay should address the following questions: How has the tradition you have chosen responded to the selected issue? Has there been a varied response by different sectarian groups within that tradition? Have religious officials/institutions justified their position using sacred texts? Did you find both conservative and liberal viewpoints on the chosen topic? Additionally, students must articulate a thesis statement or argument after their preliminary research has been completed. This will be the basis for the research essay, which must go beyond description and include some critical analysis.

Please identify and explain in your own words the significance of the following terms as fully and succinctly as possible. Be sure to identify the religion that each term is associated with. 1. Bar Mitzvah 2. Baptism 3. Sangha 4. Qu’ran 5. Circumcision 6. Ganesha 7. Kaaba 8. Gospels 9. Samsara 10. Paul of Tarsus 11. Mahayana Buddhism 12. Trimurti 13. Martin Luther 14. Synagogue 15. Four Noble Truths 16. Five Pillars of Islam 17. Avatar 18. Arhat 19. Hijra 20. Passover 21. Bhakti 22. Impermanence 23. Rabbi 24. Shahaadah 25. Predestination In writing your answers, identify the concepts and explain them as fully as possible. Aim for approximately three sentences per term — short, one-sentence responses will not be sufficient. IMPORTANT: All submissions will be passed through anti-plagiarism software, so be sure you are submitting only your own work.

why do some religious communities take on social justice issues as critical to their faith? how can religion play a role in contributing to discussions about inequality, racism, gender equality and other social justice issue? what do they have to contribute to these dialogues?

The purpose of your paper is to show how your selected theme was first viewed/understood in the Old Testament (OT), and then how it is viewed/understood in the New Testament (NT), i.e., how did the NT reinterpret this theme? Identify and discuss similarities, differences, and changes to the meaning of this theme. (Please note: there may be more than just one understanding of this theme in both the OT and the NT, and you should indicate if that is the case.) Use ONLY the following resource that’s available as an e-Book (click on this title!): The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology (and a Bible approved for this course).

In his essay, “Of the Faith of the Fathers” (vol 2, Ch 11), W.E.B. DuBois, in speaking about black religion, observed that there were three things that “characterized this religion of the slave — the Preacher, the Music, and the Frenzy” (p. 113). Were DuBois alive today, might he say something similar, given the video clips on Father Divine, Sweet Daddy Grace, and Reverend Ike? Are there one or two other characteristics (beside the preacher, the music, and the frenzy) that he might add to his original three? [500 word essay]