Free Essay Examples on Religion

Background information and the impact on religious communities The discovery of strange manuscripts by a Bedouin near the Dead Sea in 1947 led to archeological excavations in the area that resulted in the discovery of large volumes of antiquity materials. From 1947-1956, large volumes of Hebrew manuscripts, hidden in clay pots and stuffed in cave holes, were discovered in 11…

Karma is a theological concept that emphasize on living righteously (Moore & Bruder, 2011). This theological doctrine warns believers of consequences for actions and thoughts that are relived through reincarnation. Samsara describes the state of ignorance and assumptions of the current impressions. In this regard, the cycle of rebirth is experienced by the ignorant believers. Nirvana is a state beyond…

The world is currently dominated by five major religions that have been in existence for several years. These religions are Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hindu. The common religions have certain common aspects and also exhibit some ideological differences. This paper examines some facts about the world religions by utilizing the history of the world during the pre16th century era.…

Introduction The aspects of health and disease create a significant portion of the shared understandings of human existence meaning that it influences the diverse elements of religion practiced in various societies. Historical documentations demonstrate that health has all along been an essential aspect that ensures sustainability of the well-being of humanity thereby adding value to life (Smith & Marranca, 2009).…

In his letters to Christians in Rome and Corinth, Paul focused on the Christian blessings in contrast to the state of affairs with the Judaism being the religion of the flesh, law, and strict sin detection regulations. The following discussion will address how exactly Paul represented Christianity as superior to Judaism with particular examples from the letter to Romans and…

Introduction The fall of humanity can be considered one of the major, and, by far, the most complicated topics addressed in the Christian religion. Incorporating a range of concepts such as sin, the Exile, the Divine Promise, death, etc., the fall of humanity can be viewed as an integral part of human destiny. The concept of sin is typically viewed…

A critical review of early Christianity reveals that it has its roots in the Middle East. The historical fact is undeniable in spite of the fact that the region is currently dominated by the Islamic faith. From Palestine, where it originated, Christianity spread into the Roman Empire, from where most historians start tracking down this faith in the West. The…

Introduction The world has a diversity of religions with each having its own beliefs regarding illness. Healthcare professionals are obliged to consider religious beliefs when taking care of patients coming from different backgrounds. Religion plays a major role in healthcare and nurses ought to consider the patients’ religious backgrounds before making certain prescriptions. Research indicates that about 95% of Americans…

Catholics, Protestants, and Jews are three major denominations of Christianity among many others. While the pope is the head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism and Judaism refer to Christianity that is not a subject to Papal authority (Neusner, 2001). The Catholic Church and the Church of Christ are the two most commonly found churches in the world when compared to…

Introduction The Dutch settlers came to America with the sole objective of making money. They did migrate from their original land due to political or religious persecution. A majority of the settlers were single men who were out to make money. The Dutch West Indian company facilitated the movement of the settlers to the New Netherland. The company believed that…

Grief is the deep sorrow that people experience when they receive news about death, illness, or loss of property. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross model summarizes the stages that make up the grief process. The model states that people undergo grief in five main stages (Curry, 2011). This paper focuses on the five stages of grief as portrayed in the story of Job…

Abstract Religious hostilities in Ethiopia and Eritrea have posed challenges for quite a long period. Such religious disputes have been threatening peace and stability in the nations and the whole region. This study discusses the perspectives that exist regarding the supposition that religious hostilities create global unsteadiness, progress to the conflicting position that religious conflicts are bettering between Ethiopia and…

According to the notion of Karma, each action that a person does have outcomes known as repercussions. It is within the context of the repercussions that the notion encourages people to do things, which are good and stay away from bad activities (Moore and Bruder 488). The Karma notion claims that people evolve through a number of stages in their…

Introduction Researchers, who adopt a functionalist approach to religion, believe that it strengthens the unity of the community. Moreover, this institution is believed to eliminate the risk of social conflicts or at least minimise their impacts. This idea has been advocated by Emile Durkheim and his supporters (1965, p. 44). Nevertheless, one can refer to several cases showing that religion…

In Matthew 6: 19-24, Jesus has three main teachings for Christians to apply in their lives. First, he talks about the importance of storing treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed (Bible Gateway, n.d). He explores the concepts of storing treasures in heaven (spiritual) and on earth (material). This teaching is very important because the human heart follows the…

Introduction This paper examines the differences between the beliefs of the Roman Catholicism and the mainstream Protestant Christianity. During Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, “several groups of churches separated from the Roman Catholic Church” (Walton 40). This marked the beginning of differences in beliefs and unity of Christendom among believers. Later, the Protestant movement resulted in many other Christian…

When it comes to discussing how a particular religion responds to ecological crises, it is important to outline ecologically relevant theological postulates of this religion and to define the qualitative aspects of how it reflects upon psychological/behavioral leanings of its adherents. In my paper, I will aim to explore the validity of this suggestion at length, while promoting the idea…

Distinguish between key concepts and subordinate ideas. Concisely summarize these The key concept of ‘Creation and Wisdom’ by Phillip McMillion is that creation plays a vital part for a minimum of three ways in the acumen of the Old Testament: Wisdom and ethics, wisdom and idolatry, wisdom and praise. The relations between creation and wisdom are considered to be a…

The Fall – Then What is revealed about human nature? In Christianity, such a notion as human nature has two major assertions. The first one is the statement that a human being was created in God’s image. It means that our human nature, to a limited degree, has some attributes of God. We can be pitiful, kind, patient, and compassionate.…

Introduction Latin America covers “an area of around 19.2 square kilometers” (Socolow 5). The region has twenty sovereign nations covering the Caribbean and South America. Most of “the countries in Latin America are characterized by the use of different Romantic languages” (Socolow 9). The landing of the Europeans in Latin America led to colonialism. The Europeans managed to introduce new…

The first chapters of the Gospel of Mathew in the New Testament relate an account of how Jesus Christ has begun his earthly ministry to people. In this paper, chapters 3, 4, and 5 will be observed in detail with an objective to narrate my insights into Jesus’ thinking as he moved from baptism to Sermon. In chapter 3, the…

Introduction The views of Thomas of Aquinas and Saint Augustine contain many similar points. However, some difference exists between the two thinkers. Aquinas and Augustine had different attitudes to philosophy. While Augustine offered individual ways to cognize God, Aquinas presented logical proofs that God exists. Unlike Augustine, Aquinas acknowledged earthly happiness. The critique of Thomas to Augustine was gentle since…

From the point of view of Hinduism samsara is a cycle of being born, living, dying and then being re-born again. This cycle will repeat many times, while the person is tied up by their own karma, which is the law of causes and consequences that determine an individual’s quality of life. The cycle breaks when a person gives up…

Introduction Today, many Christians neglect the Old Testament, considering that it only contains bedtime stories and is not relevant for the modern believers. However, this approach is not correct. Studying the Old Testament gives a modern believer knowledge on the relationship between God and people, explains certain universal principles, helps to understand the mission of Jesus, provides material for analyzing…

Samsara is the process of birth, dying, and being reborn. Karma stands for action. It shows that every cause or activity has its consequences. It looks at humans in general (Brooke 490). Each choice made by an individual, whether good or bad, has its outcomes. Good deeds bring about happiness, while bad ones result in sorrow. Nirvana, on the other…

Homosexuality is the manifestation of sexual desire towards a member of one’s own sex or the erotic activity with a member of the same sex (Strauss 1). Every Bible believing Christian, who has read the scriptures and understood what they say about homosexuality condemns homosexuality and should be oppose to having homosexuals elected in positions of leadership in churches. Homosexuality…

Christians should be allowed to kill depending on the case at hand. Though Christians through the Bible in Hebrews 12:14 are encouraged to pursue peace (The Bible 835), love one another in John 13:34-35 (The Bible 749), be compassionate in Matthew 9:36 (The Bible 675), and forgive others when wronged in Proverbs 20:22 (The Bible 455), there are cases that…

What do (or should) Christians mean by the word “Salvation”? The Christian definition for salvation is deliverance from wrath of God brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation is a process which Witherington describes as: “one believe in ones heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, He died and rose up from the dead and then confess…

One of the questions which remains unanswered among Christians concerns how the Bible came into being. How were the writings collected and organized into what is presently used as the holy Christian Book? Who exactly collected the writings composed in the New Testament? These and other questions address the entire process of the canonization of the Bible. This essay mainly…

No one can deny the role of history in our day to day lives. We are and will remain to be products and by-products of past events. What the world experiences today in the name of postmodernity is simply a complex transformation of what was practiced in the early days. This phenomenon is equally important in not only understanding our…

Introduction Modernism and postmodernism belong to the same movement. Both are based on changes in cultural, economic, and social movements. However, the two movements differ when it comes to the way of thinking. This essay will explore which world view, the modernity or the postmodernity, is more conducive to Christian beliefs. I think that modernism is more conducive to Christian…

Introduction Buddhism is believed to have been in existence, way before Siddhartha existed (United Press International, 2007, p. 1). Most scholars observe that the roots of Buddhism are very deep, and though Siddhartha contributed a lot to the development of the religion, many Buddhists believe that he was just one of the people awakened to attain buddahood (United Press International,…

First stage The first writings about the main stages of life in Hinduism appeared thousands of years ago, and they are closely connected with the Vedic tradition. The opportunity to follow four life stages is significantly based on the caste system, and it is associated with people’s completing definite duties or responsibilities which are determined for each stage. In spite…

Indigenous religions are based on the strong connection between people and the nature which is reflected in people’s treating animals and their attitude to the environment with references to the natural phenomena as the ways to communicate with spirits. All the natural surroundings are full of spirits or gods, and indigenous people organize their life according to the natural laws.…

Introduction Buddhism was brought to light about 500 BC by Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism has not been described as a religion as such but rather as philosophy. The story of Siddhartha Gautama and how he brought Buddhism to limelight is quite moving. In this essay the thoughts of Siddhartha Gautama are explained and how the society reacted to his arguments. Generally…

Introduction The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. It tells about the life of Jesus and His teachings. In particular, Chapters 24 and 25 contain some of the stories told by Him. In this paper, we, utilizing the questions offered in Duvall and Hays’s book (Duvall & Hays, 2008, p. 108), will try to find…

Introduction The Bible is one of the most influential books in human history. Words τὰ βιβλία are translated from Greek as “the books”; and indeed, The Bible is a collection of books. The Old Testament is generally divided into 39 books (Bible: Old Testament, n.d.). The first of them, Genesis, tells the story of the very beginning of the world’s…

Introduction The history of the establishment of monarchy and the reign of the first Israeli kings is described in the books of Samuel and the books of Kings. The first king, Saul, was appointed due to the fact that people turned away from God’s will; even though his successor, David, was a good king, his son’s sin resulted in the…

Introduction The Holy Bible is one of the most influential books in the history of humanity. This is no wonder, for it contains a great amount of wisdom that should be learned from. One of the always timely topics discussed in the Holy Scripture is the issue of diligence and sloth. In our paper, we will look into this topic,…

Literary criticism Context The Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-13) is often being regarded as one of the most important miracles that took place during the course of the Savior’s earthly service (second only to the Resurrection). This miracle was meant to prove to the most loyal disciples of Jesus (Peter, James and John) that he was indeed the Son of…

Introduction There is a reason why the Bible is one of the most influential books in human history. It is not only the word of God; it addresses a wide range of issues which are important in our lives, and shows how the Lord wants us to behave. In this paper, we will explore how the Prophetic Books of the…

Introduction Each religion of the East (classical Hinduism and Buddhism) teaches separate principles from one another. Every religion of the East may be similar in some way, but their rituals, books, and views of a higher being are different. Principles can be found in multiple religious traditions, but each religion has their own set of particular beliefs. This paper compares…

Buddhism is a form of religion that has three major schools of thoughts including Theravada, Mahayana, and Vihrayana. Mahayana originated from India in the 5th CE under the leadership of the Gupta dynasty. The government valued the teachings of Mahayana traditions to an extent of establishing a public university referred to as Nalanda to teach people its principles. Mahayana religious…

Introduction Buddha whose real name was Siddhartha Gautama is believed to have been born at around 563 BCE and lived till 483. According to a report by Ascension Gateway, he is believed to have been born on Nepal to a king named Suddhodana, his mother died after giving birth to him and thus he was raised at his father’s palace…

Saint Augustine was one of the philosophers who tried to explain the role of religion in society by observing that any decision has to be based on the teaching of God in the scripture. For instance, he noted that virtue is a rightly ordered love in the sense that individuals should focus on helping others whenever they are in tricky…

Introduction The Bible is one of the most influential books in history; the New Testament, having been written almost two millennia ago, still has much to teach people about. To properly comprehend what it says, it is important to see the main principles taught there, as well as to understand the difference between these texts’ intended audience and today’s people.…

For centuries, philosophers and thinkers have made many arguments for and against the existence of God. One of the simplest and most powerful arguments made by the proponents of the existence of God is the design argument. The basic premise of the design argument is that the complex and functional quality of everything that exists in nature points to the…

A defining characteristic of human civilization is the presence of religion, which is the belief in and worship of a supernatural being(s) through rituals. Most people in the world practice a religion and their particular faith influences their worldview and affects how they act. There exist many religions with most of them having unique beliefs and rituals. One of the…

One of the main epistemological dilemmas, which continues to be faced by philosophers/theologians, is whether one’s belief in God can be considered rationally justified. As of today, the discursive validity of such a belief has been assessed from a variety of different gnoseological perspectives, among which the most ‘proposition-friendly’ appears to be the Foundationalist one. However, there are many conceptual…

G.E. Lessing created a powerful poem that talks about a father’s love for his sons. The father’s love for his three sons was illustrated through the importance of the ring of power. He will bequeath the ring to his favorite child (Lessing 1). However, he realized that he equally loved his three sons, prompting him to promise the ring to…