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

At the beginning of the Early Modern Age, the authority of the Catholic Church was being challenged. People believed that the Catholic Church was failing to adapt to the times.

Humanism emphasized the value of human beings and promoted individual interpretation of the Bible. With the development of authoritarian monarchies, monarchs had more control over the Church, weakening the authority of the pope.

In addition, the selling and buying of indulgences was introduced. This meant that sins could be pardoned in exchange for money given to the Church. This practice was criticized by priests and humanists. There were many other harmful practices at the heart of the Church, so some people called for reforms:

Change and religious conflicts. Reformation and Counter-Reformation

The causes of the Reformation

• Disdain for the papacy and clergy: People believed that popes were concerned with their own interests; bishops lived a life of luxury and didn't reside in their dioceses; lower-ranking clergy lacked education, didn't preach and failed to set a moral example; and religious orders didn't adhere to the established rules.
• The abuses of the Church: Nepotism, favouritism by the high-ranking clergy towards members of their own family when allocating ecclesiastic positions; nicolaism, marriage practiced by priests; simony, the sale of ecclesiastic posts. Pope, bishops and cardinals sold forgiveness for sins to whoever bought a document of indulgences.

Reforms

What is Virtue?

Virtue is an acquired habit and firm disposition to do good.

Theological Virtues:

• Faith: Belief in God and all that He has revealed to us. It is a theological virtue by which we believe in God and all He has revealed to us.
• Hope: Firm confidence in eternal life.
• Charity: Love God above all things and all neighbors as ourselves.

Moral Virtues:

• Prudence: Practical reason to discern in all moments.
• Temperance: Moderates the attraction to sensual pleasures.
• Justice: Consists in the constant and firm will to give to God and neighbor what is due to them.
• Fortitude: Firmness and constancy in the practice of good.

The Seven Deadly Sins

The deadly sins, or capital vices, are those to which fallen human nature is mainly inclined. The deadly sins... Continue reading "A Guide to Catholic Virtues, Sins, and Commandments" »

The transmission view of communication

The transmission view of communication is the commonest in our culture--perhaps in all industrial cultures--and dominates contemporary dictionary entries under the term. It is defined by terms such as "imparting," "sending," "transmitting," or "giving information to others." It is formed from a metaphor of geography or transportation. In the nineteenth century but to a lesser extent today, the movement of goods or people and the movement of information were seen as essentially identical processes and both were described by the common noun "communication." The center of this idea of communication is the transmission of signals or messages over distance for the purpose of control. It is a view of communication

Historical Background

The origin of Buddhism was a founder, Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, who was born in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal) during the 5th century BCE.

Basic Belief System

One fundamental belief of Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation, the concept that people are reborn after dying. In fact, most individuals go through many cycles of birth, living, death, and rebirth.

The Four Noble Truths

• Dukkha: Suffering exists, is real, and almost universal.
• Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering; people desire worldly things and self-satisfaction.
• Nirodha: There is an end to suffering, which is to stop desiring things.
• Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

Eightfold Path

1. Know and understand the

Tariq bin Ziyad

Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād was a Muslim commander who led the Islamic Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711–718 A.D. Under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I, he led a large army across the Strait of Gibraltar from the North African coast, consolidating his troops at what is today known as the Rock of Gibraltar.

Treaty of Granada

The Treaty of Granada, signed and ratified on November 25, 1491, between Boabdil (the sultan of Granada), Ferdinand, and Isabella, stipulated the surrender of Granada and its territory by a certain time. The conditions were favorable: The Moors were to keep their religious freedom, their civil laws, and their right to leave the country. They were only required to pay the taxes they previously... Continue reading "Key Figures and Concepts in Islamic History" »

Argument for Divine Simplicity

1. Anything that has a metaphysical distinction between what it is and the attributes that characterize it first one way and then another is something that changes.
2. God does not change.
3. God does not have a metaphysical distinction between what it is and the attributes that characterize it first one way and then another.

Argument that Meaning is not Physical

1. All physical reality is underdetermined.
2. Meaning is not underdetermined.
3. Meaning is not physical.
4. If meaning is not physical, then meaning is not acquired through physical means.
5. Meaning is not acquired through physical means.

I.XI.18 Argument

1. No one says (nor should say) “let him be wounded worse, he is not yet cured” regarding the body.
2. The health of the body is like

The Life of Irena Sendler

A Holocaust Hero

Irena Sendler was 29 when Nazi forces invaded Warsaw, Poland, and began imprisoning Jewish people in ghettos. Before this, Irena grew up with strong morals and kindness in her heart. She believed that no matter a person's ethnicity or social status, they should always be treated with kindness, respect, and love. Irena learned these strong morals from her father, whose dying words to her were, "*If you see someone drowning, you must jump in and save them, whether you can swim or not*." These kind words of advice stuck with Irena throughout the rest of her life.

When Jews were forced to sit separately from "Aryan" students at Warsaw University, where Irena attended, she stood up for her Jewish friends.... Continue reading "Irena Sendler: Saving 2,500 Jewish Children from the Warsaw Ghetto" »

Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Daisy and Randolph

The most frequently noted symbols in Daisy Miller are Daisy herself and her younger brother, Randolph. Daisy is often seen as representing America: she is young, fresh, ingenuous, clueless, naïve, innocent, well meaning, self-centered, untaught, scornful of convention, unaware of social distinctions, utterly lacking in any sense of propriety, and unwilling to adapt to the mores and standards of others. These traits have no fixed moral content, and nearly all of them can be regarded as either virtues or faults. However, Randolph is a different matter. He is a thinly veiled comment on the type of the “ugly American”... Continue reading "Symbolism in Henry James's Daisy Miller" »