1. Jesson Foo
2. JessonFoo
3. 0 missed a lot of late
4. Not all of the required reading, but I read the first few weeks of reading
5. I don’t know
6. Im not sure, but I would LIKE an A, ive come to every class, and I pay attention to the lectures, if the tests were multiple choice im sure I would get an A on both of them :P
7. I have read Siddartha which you said was extra credit on your website I believe, and I answered the extra credit questions.
8. I don’t know how to find all of my old posts, but my profile (http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OQJV6QMKOHPFCKO2X6JMH4A4TE) shows the last 5 posts… I know I did at least 20-30
9. What precisely do we know for "certain" (in terms of
documentation/history) about the life of Jesus Christ? Be specific
and be sure to substantiate your answer.
In retrospect, the things that we know for CERTAIN of Jesus Christ are close to zero. Everything that we do know is either blurry or vague, for starters we don’t even have the year Jesus was born in correct. Most people would agree that Jesus was born in the year 0, but bible scholars have found this to be false, Jesus was most likely born around 6-4 BC. In addition to this, he wasn’t born in December nor was he born on the 25th, these minor details are completely unknown to us. As for Jesus’ father, there are several ideas as to who the culprit is, Christians firmly believe that it was “God” while many skeptics argue that it was possibly joseph, while a hand full of others deem it plausible that it was a roman soldier. Jesus’ birthplace is also a topic of argument, he was either born in Bethlehem as written in the Bible or in Nazareth, as Joseph was known as a Nazarene. Whether or not Jesus had any Siblings was also debatable, early manuscripts claimed that Jesus was not really the “First Born” therefore he could not have been born of a virgin. Protestants believe that Jesus indeed did have a brother, while other Christians in what it seems like an attempt to defend their faith deny that Jesus had any siblings, calling John his “cousin”. To make things even more sketchy, there are many parts of the bible that are undocumented in regards to Jesus’ whereabouts and what he was doing from the ages of 4-11 and 14-26. In addition to these things we do not even know if Jesus’ had really resurrected from the dead, the 4 accounts of Jesus’ resurrection seem rather unreliable as there are numerous differences in the texts regarding minor details, though all of these together make for a rather unreliable source, and lastly, we do not have any idea what Jesus looks like.
10. Compare and contrast Judaism with Islam. What are the
similarities and what are the differences? Outline it.
Apart from the trivial differences & similarities such as the size of the groups, and their religious holidays, days of worship etc., in a nutshell, the differences and similarities between Judaism and Islam can be summarized into this; Judaism is almost like Christianity except that it does not believe that anything in the new testament is true, in a very similar way, Islam is almost exactly the same as Christianity, except that they believe that instead of Jesus being the “son of God” Jesus was a “true” prophet of God, except that his teachings were misunderstood, or changed. This rules out both Religions for falling under the category of “Christianity” the main differences as shown is the beliefs in Jesus, Judaism believes that Jesus was NOT born of a virgin, but instead he was born of a normal birth, where as in Islam, the believe Jesus to have been born of a virgin just like in the texts. In addition Judaism believes Jesus to have died at the cross, and that he was not resurrected, the Muslims also believe that Jesus never resurrected, but this is due to the fact that they believe that instead of resurrection, Jesus never died in the first place, and that as he was being crucified, he ascended in to the heavens. In terms of similarity, they both differ from Christianity in the sense that they have several other prophets whom the Christians do not recognize as being prophets, some of which include, Job, Eber, and Joseph (not the father of Christ, but Joseph as in one of the 12 sons of Jacob in the old testament) In addition both of these religions find that the doctrines of the Christian ideas of the Trinity (that “God the Father” “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit” are all one being) to contradict their strict ideas of monotheism
11. Compare and contrast Taoism with Confucianism. What are the
similarities and what are the differences? Outline it.
Although Taoism and Confucianism are two of Chinas most influential religions, they are almost polar opposites. Taoism and Confucianism could be classified better as philosophies rather than religions, Taoists believed that those who believed in the teachings of Confucius were troublemakers that caused more harm in the world than the good that they claimed to do in the name of “humaneness” and “righteousness”. Confucianism teaches people to search for knowledge, and is an almost socialistic philosophy, they believe in a ritualized life, and emphasizes family, and government, in addition women have almost no say in most areas of life. Confucianism teaches that men are the driving force of the government and that the men help to rule the state, also the government must be ruled by a Sage ruler, or a wise ruler. With a wise ruler, they believe that they can attain social and political order, “with good government comes good society”. Believers often do things in the name of righteousness and humaneness, which are what they believe are defining points of a “good individual”. Taoism is almost the exact opposite, Taoists believe in the flow of nature, and anything that deviates from the norm is not in favor of nature and therefore not “good”. Taoists believe that Confucianism causes trouble and that sages are up to no good. They say that those who seek knowledge will have keen ears or eyes, and keen ears or eyes will lead to trouble because they begin to question too many things and will become distraught by trivial things. Confucian pursuit of knowledge only created barriers between man and nature, and created new ways to hunt and destroy nature. Confucianism did not help to bring people close to the “tao” which was “the ultimate principle of the universe”. The definition of a good person in Taoism, was one who accepted all his traits, and knew who he was.
12. How did Judaism evolve away from its polytheistic roots into a
monotheistic religion?
Before the time of Moses, the ancient Judaic Religion was one that involved the worship of multiple Gods, during this time, the Judaic Religion was known as “Abrahamic” because Abraham was the earliest known record of known worship to a Hebrew god before the Migration from Egypt. During this time, Abraham was known to have been worshipping a Hebrew God known as Elohim, whose name meant “Lord” but in plural form, in addition to this, the Hebrew bible contains numerous names of a “God” however many Jews say that all of these names refer to the same “God”. However many people disagree and say that this can be attributed simply to the fact that royalty often spoke of themselves in the plural form as well. There are several theories as to how Judaism evolved from a polytheistic religion into a monotheistic one. The most basic theory, which also happens to be the most general, can be used to describe the evolution of most polytheistic religions into their current monotheistic form; in the beginning, most humans had a belief that all living things had a soul of some sort, and eventually they came to believe that some of these souls were more powerful than others and deserved to be deemed “gods” people began worshipping these gods, and further down the line, they recognized some of these gods as more powerful than others, soon they began to singly out one god, and started to forget about the rest, and voila monotheism. The more detailed version of how Judaism evolved is more interesting. According to many scholars, the first god or the supreme god of the Hebrews was known as El-the creator of creation, creator of all mankind-, his wife or consort was known as Asherah-the queen of heaven-, Asherah was one of the greater gods among Hadad, Yam, Mot and others. Asherah was the one who supposedly gave birth to El’s seventy children, and of those children was Yaweh, the Hebrew Judaic God. Orthodox Jews claim that El as well as Elohim and certain other names all refer to Yaweh, and that the rest of the names that don’t refer to him are false Gods. This is backed up by the commandment to have no other Gods before him, which showed Yahweh’s understanding of the existence of other Gods. The last and final theory that I will cover involves the mosaic understanding of the religion, that before Moses Judaism was polytheistic, but Moses brought about monotheism, and that prophets helped to further form the religion.
13. How is the Koran different from the Christian Bible? Be specific
in your answers.
Multiple Writers of the Bible and the Bible Is a Collection of Multiple Books
Vs.
The Qur’an was an oral dictation of one man, and one book
Jesus did not personally write any of the books of the bible nor did he dictate
Vs.
The Qur’an was a personal dictation of one book by Muhammad whom the book was told to him over a span of twenty three years.
The Bible never refers to itself as “the bible”
Vs.
The Qur’an does numerous times
The bible has been translated into numerous languages
Vs.
The Qur’an is still in its original language
Holy City of the bible was Jerusalem
Vs.
Holy city of the Qur’an is Mecca
Jehovah or Elohim, Yahweh etc. etc. is the God of the Bible
Vs.
Allah is the God of the Qur’an
Jesus is God or the Son of God in the Bible
Vs.
Jesus is only a Prophet in the Qur’an
Jesus Died on the Cross and rose again on the third day in the Bible
Vs.
Jesus never died in the Qur’an he ascended during his crucifixion.
14. What are the differences between Roman Catholicism and those
religions which identify themselves as Protestant-Christian?
The main differences between Roman Catholicism and those religions that identify themselves as protestant Christian can be summarized in the acronym TULIP which is T for Total depravity, U for Unconditional Election, L for Limited Atonement, I for Irresistable grace, P for Perseverance of the Saints.
Total Depravity means that the protestant view is that we are evil at heart or sinful at heart, and that we are saved By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, which would produce Works. The Catholic view is that instead of seeing humans as evil at heart or sinful at heart, we still maintain some good in our heart but it is so small and that our heart is covered mostly in sin. A commonly used analogy for this situation would be dung covered in crème vs. a delicate rosebud covered in a large pile of dung.
Unconditional Election is the idea that Jesus came to save everyone by grace, and through faith we are saved, but the catholic view of this is that we are not saved by grace, but instead through our works, which some Roman Catholics defend by saying that the works are done by God, but many people say that it feels like they are doing the work, therefore instead of rebuking them they simply say that they play a role in the works as well.
The theory of Limited Atonement states that although Election is the way to get into heave, not everyone is elected, only those who would accept Christ are offered the chance to believe, while Catholicism believes that everyone is called to the faith, and that God wants everyone to believe, that even someone who “will not accept” will be given numerous chances.
Irresistable Grace is basically just saying that once your saved you cant lose the gift of your salvation catholics believe that it is possible that one would choose a path that is not for god, and it would stop the salvation process. This is due to the fact that God can not co exist with sin.
Perseverance of the saints is the idea that is a result of the irresistable grace, one who is saved must know this 100% and whenever they do sin, they will repnt and do good works because of the irresistable grace, knowing what Jesus has already done for them. Catholics believe that it is ok to question your own salvation, and that only god knows who will be saved, catholics believe that it is a sign of spiritual maturity to leave your salvation in the hands of God not knowing if you are saved. Perseverance to catholics is doing the works even though your not 100% sure you are saved.
In addition to these things, there are other minor differences such as the pope having no say whatsoever in the protestant church, and the belief in purgatory, and the minor differenecs in scripture.
15. Why is atheism appealing to many in America today?
Friedrich Nietzshe was a German philosopher, who came up with a theory known as the "God is dead" theory, this theory was not very well known during his time, but since then it has become a big hit. in 1990 the british Nietzshe society was founded and publishes its own bi annual journal, and there has been a sudden flood of books on and about Nietzsche dealing with his theory of language, his notions of truth, reason, literature, nature, morality, his relation to Socrates, Kant, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Blake, Darwin, Post-Modern Criticism, and religion in general. what is the reason for the sudden increase to his popularity? perhaps it is due to the fact that we have now had 2 world wars, over 30 regional wars, and numerous natural disasters that have fueled the skepticism in regards to an all good and loving God. in addition to these natural disasters, there have been undoubtedly uncountable personal tragedies that have happened to almost everyone as well as religious scandals, and the unstoppable popularity rise in materialism that bring about the favoring of atheism. Modern Media also plays so many themes of sexual, and violent acts as well as films of magic dark, and good alike, as well as demonic spiritual forces that attract people of all ages.
16. What is the appeal of new religious movements, like the one
founded by Adi Da?
The appeal in the new religious movements similar to the one founded by Adi Da is based mainly on his eloquence, and the fact that he is able to convince people that he is God in the form of Man. He incorporates many ideas from different religions that are universal truths, thereby recruiting many young as well as old followers who are searching for the one true religion. Adida taught many things such as "self-Contraction" which was basically what he said basically kept humans from experiencing enlightenment. he claimed that it was the sorce of all their emotional, psychological, and spiritual dissatisfaction. He then continues to map out the evolution of the human spirit, which he called "the seven stages of life." These Stages are as follows "First stage - individual development - second stage socialization - third stage - integration/mental development - fourth stage - spiritualization/divine communion - fifth stage - spiritual ascent - sixth stage - abiding in consciousness - seventh stage - divine enlightenment: the bright" These stages, he claims have been achieved by many people in all of history, but that he was the only person in history to have first achieved the seventh and final stage. By claiming that all 6 of the stages have been previously achieved in history, and that the last few stages have been achieved by only a few such as jesus, and buddha, Adida has created a reality that he has transcended those individuals, and markets to the audience that he can help them to become as great as Jesus or Buddha.
17. How is the Mormon religion similar to other religions of the
past? How is it different?
Almost every religion apart from satanic Cults have a basis of things that are practically required for it to be called a religion. These things are; stories that are told in regards to how or what things are, certain rituals that are performed for the faith, such as praying or meditation, Certain philosophies that the religion attempts to convey to their followers, Laws that one must obey, usually moral laws that ensure the survival of a nation etc. etc. as well as temples or churches. These are all things that the Church of Latter Day Saints posess, however the differences from other religions are quite vast. For starters, the Morman Religion is very similar to christianity, however where it differs is that theyre religion is leaning torwards polytheism, they believe that when they get to heaven, they will be able to become God's themselves, and they shall rule over seperate planets, they also believe that God is like a Person, who can be married, and have children. They acknowledge the bible as the word of God, but also believe that The book of MOrman is also the word of God. Unlike most religions, the code of conduct is extremely strict as to oppose many everyday things such as alcohol, tobbaco, coffee as well as tea. Furthermore, they believe in a literal context of most of their scriptures, so literal that in fact, they took the scriptural text "curse of cain" to refer to the black man, and thereby believed that black men were a sense evil, or sinful, and that they were "created as a black man for a reason."
18. What are the fundamental differences between science and religion?
The fundamental differences between science and religion is that Religion is a faith based thing, most of the ideals and philosophies in religion can not be backed up, where as science is based on facts, and is tested, and backed up by facts, tests and physical comprehendible things. Many of religious texts make absolute statements, that can be neither proved nor disaproved, where as science is an evolution of truths, relative truths, and statements that can be tested and proven false, whereby new statements or hypotheses shall be created and tested again until it is proven to be true. religion was created in the early days to explain things that could not be explained by the limited knowledge that they had at their period posessed. Religion and Science mix like water and oil, although when science supports religion, religion will accept it, where as when it defies its mythical stories, then science is banished from the realms of religion.in essence, Religion is for those who want an absolute answer for things that cannot be answered, and science is there to prove what we can prove.
EXTRA CREDIT: write an essay examining how learning to "doubt"
changed your views on religion.
The moment professor lane began talking about religion in our class, I knew that my world would be turned upside down. Growing up as a Christian in a Christian home, I grew up never doubting my religion, I never asked questions as to how things became, or hypothetical situations, what if the word, or the bible as we know it was once never like this? although i know that you did not intend for us to become atheists or agnostic after taking your class, i feel as if i am that way now, or as if im searching for the truth now. starting with faqir chand, all i thought about was how little that we knew about our religions, and how science has made so much more sense than all the magical stories of religion.
