Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Religion

Places of Worship

The ultimate place of worship is the Temple of Jerusalem. However, as we all know, this temple is currently destroyed. Given this reality, for most Jewish believers, the synagogue serves as the Temple of Jerusalem, even though it may not be rebuilt (only the Wailing Wall remains). However, not all faithful Jews share that view. The synagogue, while conducting worship, performs other functions: it is the place of meeting and teaching the doctrine and laws.

Minister of Worship: Rabbi

From a technical standpoint, it is not accurate to say that the rabbi is a minister of religion, but today they are the closest equivalent to this concept in the Jewish religion. In fact, their role is to explain the Hebrew religion. They are the spiritual... Continue reading "Jewish Places of Worship, Rabbis, and Marriage Laws" »

Ba: The Shape-Shifting Soul

The ba is characterized by its ability to leave the body and take on many appearances. It is often represented as a bird with a human head. Coffin Texts 2.3.Los

The Pharaoh's Transformation

The Pharaoh, though still powerful, appears more human. This is how the Coffin Texts collection was formed. The sarcophagus itself represented the universe. The ascension took place in the form of the ba bird. The deceased could only reach heaven by using a fishing net placed to hunt souls between heaven and earth. There are other dangers in the form of animals and evil demons, such as Gegba (black bird) or Rerek (murderer of ka). Their fate will be threatened by Seth, who will also try to cause their second and final death. The

Alberto Méndez's *The Blind Sunflowers*: A Post-War Reflection

The text before us belongs to the book The Blind Sunflowers, by Alberto Méndez (1941-2005), a writer unknown until the appearance of this work, but connected to the world of publishing and the author of scripts for television. Despite being his first and only book (the author died eleven months after publication), The Blind Sunflowers was met with unanimous recognition from critics and was posthumously awarded the prestigious 2005 National Book Award and the 2005 Critics' Prize.

The work consists of four separate stories cleverly interwoven with each other. In these stories are narrated personal defeats framed in the most difficult period of the Spanish Civil War, the years 1936... Continue reading "Alberto Méndez's The Blind Sunflowers: A Post-War Reflection" »

John Locke on Tolerance

John Locke regards God as the foundation and guarantor of reason, but acknowledged that religion was a serious threat to peace and order.

Limits of Religious Knowledge

Locke acknowledges that if reason has its limits in matters of knowledge, it has no less in religious matters. Nobody, therefore, is in possession of absolute religious truth. But religion is born of conviction, constituting a sphere where political authority cannot and should not intervene. Locke thus postulates the defense of religious freedom and a commitment to tolerance.

Arguments for Tolerance

Locke puts forward arguments in favor of tolerance: that the ills of the political community are not the product of religious division, but of human intolerance;... Continue reading "John Locke's Philosophy of Tolerance" »

Personal Perspectives on Death

It's how we face death, what attitude we take. The personal attitudes towards death may be:

Rebellion Against Death

A tragic revolt against death, because in the end, we all die. In this position, Albert Camus said that to be rebelling against death is a form of loyalty to life. He rebels against death because it is the great injustice, saying that man should never be complicit in death, that it is the greater sin. Man has a more dignified and more human way to rebel against death, delaying its arrival.

Ironic Indifference to Death

"I'm indifferent to death." Heroism does not make sense because if I do not care about death, nor do I care about life. Kafka is the referent of this position. Kafka experienced the fascination... Continue reading "Personal Perspectives on Death: Rebellion to Acceptance" »

The Wheat and the Tares

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left. But when the grass sprouted and produced grain, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from?' He told them, 'An enemy has done this.' And the servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you pull up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First collect the tares and tie them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into... Continue reading "Parables of the Wheat, Lost Sheep, Virgins, and Samaritan" »

A Praying Church: Reform and the Pilgrim

The Reform of the Monasteries

Benedictine monasteries exerted an important role in both religious and social life and culture. They taught farmers to cultivate land and were the guardians of traditional culture but lost to the abuse of power and, therefore, needed a reform that occurred in the 11th century. Two lights were the main reform:

• The Abbey of Cluny (910): The monks began to restore the great principles of the Rule of St. Benedict to become independent of time and reformed the customs.
• The Cistercian Abbey of Cîteaux: The Cluny monks were falling because of some mistakes committed by their predecessors. After two centuries, Roberto of Molesme tried to return to the primitive rigor of Cluny and

The text is taken from a document which makes an analysis. The piece discussed is aimed at a general audience, so it is written in academic language but with simple wording. This informative intention is manifested in the almost total absence of jargon in the text. The text falls into the category of humanistic texts, as it addresses a topic related to society and human life. It presents an expository-argumentative structure: it presents ideas about a topic in an orderly fashion and explains a thesis that supports arguments with examples.

The author of the text takes a sociological portrait of youth. The main thesis is related to their attitude. This attitude manifests itself in certain behaviors.

The text is organized in three parts:

• The first

Monastic Reforms in the Middle Ages

Monastic reforms during the Middle Ages (5th to 11th centuries) saw Benedictine monasteries play a crucial role in religious life, as well as in social and cultural development. They taught farmers to cultivate the land and were guardians of classical culture. Their abbots often became powerful feudal lords, necessitating a careful reform. This reform took place in the 10th and 11th centuries, with two primary focuses:

• The Cluniac Reform (910 AD)

  The Abbey of Cluny, founded in 910 AD, saw its monks begin to restore the great principles of the Rule of St. Benedict. To achieve this, it became independent of temporal power and reformed the customs that had been introduced in its dependent monasteries. Cluny's influence

The Cult of Dionysus: God of Ecstasy and Wine

Dionysus, or Bacchus to the Romans, is theoretically the god of wine, though his domain extends beyond it. He is primarily the god of ecstasy, often associated with wine and frenzied dance. Evidence suggests his worship dates back to the Minoan-Mycenaean period, with a name resembling di-wo-no-he-ho appearing on a tablet from Pylos, possibly a theonym or a theophoric anthroponym.

Origins and Early Acceptance

While the cult of Dionysus appears to have faded in earlier periods, it re-emerged strongly at the end of the Archaic period. Its acceptance was often met with resistance, as mythologies depict Dionysus driving mad those who opposed his worship.

Practices and Spread

The Dionysian cult was seemingly... Continue reading "Ancient Mystery Cults: Dionysus and Orphism's Enduring Legacy" »