Religion Essay Samples
[...] Another indigenous religious movement that was most widespread among North American Indians and was one of the most influential forms of Pan-Indianism is peyote eating. In general, peyotist doctrine consists of belief in one supreme God or the Great Spirit, who deals with men through various spirits, which include the traditional waterbird or thunderbird spirits that carry prayers to God. In many tribes peyote itself is personified as Peyote Spirit, considered to be either God's equivalent for the Indians to his Jesus for the whites, or Jesus himself. In some tribes Jesus is regarded as an Indian culture hero returned, as an intercessor with God, or as a guardian spirit who has turned to the Indians after being killed by the whites. Peyote, eaten in the ritual context, enables the individual to commune with God and the spirits, including those of the departed in contemplation and vision and so to receive from them spiritual power, guidance, reproof, and healing. [...]
[...] Jesus began to spread his message as a wandering preacher, and disastrously because he was presented as a threat to the current authority was executed at the age of thirty-three. It was his execution and his resurrection that was seen as the ultimate sacrifice of God in alleviating mankind's sin. During his teachings, Jesus had several followers called disciples who after his death were concerned about the death of their leader and the future of their following. During the Pentecost while they were all together the Holy Spirit filled them and Peter (one of Jesus' disciples) explained God's plan of salvation and Jesus' role. Peter further explained that that the people should be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and to accept the Holy Spirit. The story is told that shortly after this occurred, over three thousand persons were baptized and from this point the Christian church was established by the disciples and followers. [...]
[...] The Essene vision of liberation revolved around the ancient biblical idea of the Apocalypse, imagined to be a cataclysmic period of disaster and conflict at `the End of Days', and culminating in the intervention of heavenly armies to reinforce `the Sons of Righteousness' in their struggle against `the Sons of Darkness' and `the Hordes of Belial'. The anticipated outcome was victory for God's holy forces, a cleansing of the world of its corruption, and the beginning of `the Rule of the Saints' and `the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.' [...]
[...] The profound and provocative analysis of what is lying underneath the cover of every-day life of modern America is delivered with quite a diligent approach. Craig Gay introduces his of view of the society that is now looking like a construction built with a complete ignorance of laws and principles of physics, and the heavily used notion "practical atheism". Gay proposes the reader to witness the possible consequences of this approach and encourages Christians to investigate its destructive nature. Writer's ultimate understanding of the society is that nowadays the "practical atheism" combined with the social culture leads the nation the idea that God is "largely irrelevant to the real business of life." However this "practical atheism" does not rule-out the religious understanding but rather tries to modify its nature. To the atheist the religion and its spirit must be more or less regulated by the "natural" conditions. The 'final' version of our religion would be totally controlled and thus allow the humans not to have any controversies with the Lord, for God's Law will now be explained in the favor of the living people. The only logical outcome of this approach is the collapse of our society and universal morality. [...]