It incited rancor and division between old traditionalists who insisted on the continuing importance of ritual and doctrine, and the new revivalists, who encouraged emotional involvement and personal commitment. It had a major impact in reshaping the Congregational church, the Presbyterian Church, the Dutch Reformed Church, and the German Reformed denomination, and strengthened the small Baptist and Methodist denominations. It had little impact on Anglicans and Quakers. I am writing this paper to compare and contrast two authors’ views concerning the Great Awakening. The first article that I read was “The First American Great Awakening: Lessons Learned and What Can Be Done to Foster a Habitat for the Next Great Awakening” by Cynthia A.
The essential thing is that since its inception as a nation, America's obsession has been to find social perfection through a triple commitment: the divinity, religion and community. Throughout its history, the nation's politicians have invoked the favor of God in his speeches and stressed the "important mission" of their obligation to fulfill. Manifest Destiny was not a thesis embraced by the whole American society. The differences within the country about the purpose and policy implications of expansion led to its acceptance. It is said that the manifest destiny was positive because it encouraged Americans to explore new places and regions.
The Scarlet Letter Essay “For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” This quote by C.S. Lewis is incredibly relevant to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, by accurately summarizing the battle of Hester Prynne and the Puritans. The book takes place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640 time period. This Puritan settlement dogmatically believed God had a definite plan for each and every member of society whilst deviating from this plan could only lead to misfortune. In this book, Hawthorne focuses on the infallibility of fate in multiple contexts, yet by contrast, Hester Prynne becomes the embodiment and source of free will.
They provide evidence for the idea that life starts at conception with biblical quotes like "the days ordained to me were written in your book before one even came to be" and "your eyes saw my unformed body" suggesting that our personhood in God's view starts at as soon as the egg is fertilised. With that in mind, one of the ten commandments: "thou shalt not kill" would apply strongly to foetuses, and this is why many Catholics believe abortion is wrong under all circumstances. As for the societal implication, Christians could argue that allowing abortion could lead to a lesser respect for human life in general, which is disrespectful to God who gave us the divine gift of life. From the perspective of Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics, abortion can be seen as unacceptable in many cases where the amount of agape love is not maximised. This could mean in cases where the mother could look after the child comfortably with love and care but chooses not to out of selfishness instead (one of the four functioning principles: pragmatism, would need to be applied to decide).
Research Question: Compare and contrast the Christian views of salvation versus the Islam views of salvation. With much candour and respect given to religion and the study of religion, over the years, humankind has searched for the need to belong and be a part of something big. Salvation is that which has brought the commencement of such an activity. The word salvation is one taken from the Latin word salvatio; the Greek word sōtēria and the Hebrew yeshu'ah. The significant connection in all three words is in its meaning, which the Oxford Dictionary has defined thoroughly, “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss; deliverance from sin and its consequences.” The essence therefore is to be saved, salvaged, or redeemed.
Four score and one hundred and fifty years ago, America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, presented one of the most iconic and reputable speeches of all time, the “Gettysburg Address.” Lincoln provided his people this speech with the intent of re-instilling values of equality while honoring the dead and unifying the country. With the use of sections that represented the past, present and future, persuasive language, and rhetorical devices, Lincoln convinced his people that, those lives lost in battle were not in vain, but sacrificed in order to preserve those ideas of equality our country was founded on, which were first presented in the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln commences his speech, representing the past. He states, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” creates a stepping stone for the remainder of the speech. This section speaks solely regarding the past, and the equality of our nation.
Christians were promised that if they joined the war, they would be forgiven of sins and guaranteed a place in heaven, which was irresistible to many people. The motto of the first crusade was 'Deus vult,' or 'God wills it.' With these calls to action from the Pope, the lay public became the 'Soldiers of the Church.' Thus, there were internal motivations on the part of the public to fight the war in order to become holier. There were also economic motivations behind the Crusades.
In the 1960’s the traditional Christian Church was going through massive change. Society was dealing from post WW2 feminism, Vietnam War, civil rights, teenager and hippy culture, sexual liberation and a rejection of traditional sources of authority, for example church teachings. Martin Luther King’s legacy in the 1960’s set the scene for a revolution in civil rights and sexual freedom and therefore challenging the traditional legalist approach. This radical change in society underlies Situation Ethics which was part of a general move for people to have greater autonomy and freedom. The concept of situation ethics was first introduced by Fletcher in 1966, in his book ‘Situation Ethics’, expressing his beliefs against antinomian and legalism approaches.
As honor was being restored, things were happening as to remember all the lives that were lost. As many lives were lost and the country was being ripped to pieces, something had to be done to respect the men who were lost, resulting in the cemetery. The cemetery was placed on the Battlefield at Gettysburg. All of the land that was encompassed during the battle was set aside as a memorial for the Battle of Gettysburg. President Lincoln made it clear that it was for both sides, not just one or the other, because even though they were divided, they were fighting for the same country.
Over the past decade many revisions have been made to how people publicly celebrate their faith. Church and state cases have been continues throughout history ranging from whether Jehovah witnesses should be excused from saluting the American flag to whether religious symbols and sayings should be in government buildings or not. The lack of clarification which the term separation of church and state provides sets an unclear message to what the term actually means. The U.S. is a very religious country with religions spanning across the world. Separation of church and state is meant to keep religious freedom while keeping it out of both politics and people with separate religions.