... about how Hinduism can be traced back to 1500 B.C. in what is now India. It began as just a religion that worshipped lots of gods and that was very ritualistic. At first, the simple head of the household could perform the rituals; however, they became increasingly complex as the centuries passed. Consequently, it became necessary to create a priestly class and to train those priests to perform the rituals correctly. During this time, the Vedas were written to give the priests instructions as how to perform the rituals (Halverson 87-88). Dean C. Halverson quotes: According to Hindu tradition, Ishvarn became known to humanity through Trimurti (literally, “ ...

... and proclaimed the truths of the Lotus. He endured many hardships because he felt that he had a responsibility to save both Buddhism and Japan, where the doctrine was supposed to be revived spread abroad. Thus he sounded a nationalistic note that was new to Buddhism. More recently in 1930 Tsunesaburo Makiguchi founded the modern sect of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. Nichiren sects include the politically powerful Soka Gakkai Lay religious organization, but they have a much smaller following than that of the true land sects, which across with Nichiren as pat of the popular Faith movement of the Kamakura era. The people of this religion believe that chanting of Man ...

... turtle putting his head through the yoke (which also floats around the ocean) on one of his trips to the top. It follows, therefore, that to waste it is to waste numberless lives spent trying to gain this precious rebirth and also the chance of enlightenment. The law of Karma says: All actions will entail consequences in the next life, so a Buddhist's freedom could be said to be somewhat compromised. This law means that, to be reincarnated human, you must live a near-perfect life. Any wrong doing on our part is foolish, because the condition experienced in present existence is regarded as having been caused by past deeds. It is beneficial, therefore, to use the g ...

... meaning for all of us. There is the obvious conflict within the family of two brothers who are very different personality types, parents who show partiality toward each of their favorite sons and the way that God allows events to happen as He relates to each of the characters involved. Exploring both the surface story and the deeper implications it has as it relates to our own lives, we can hopefully derive some deeper meaning which God working through the author intends. On the surface, we see a story of rivalry that is typical even in modern times, yet we can also look to some valuable truths that are revealed about how God sees our personal moti ...

... Luther called the book the Magna Carta of Christian Liberty. It helped bring back in a reclamation of the faith. Where salvation is based on peoples faith. Not on peoples efforts. But still every generation is marked by a tendency to classify worshippers by the way the act during worship. Or the way they pray out loud. Or the way the speak in church. Some are considered first class, others second class. In nearly every case, the segregation of the church results from add-ons to the simple, pure gospel of Christ. But when believers hold on to Christ alone, Their faith and the church will grow. That is the basic message of this great book Galations. So ...

... were priests; and thought that the Bible should be available to all people in their own language. However, it seems that the timing for a reformation was simply not right during the times of Hus and Wyclif. When Luther began his crusades, numerous groups in Germany were discontented with the changes they saw taking place around them. Peasants desired the right to hunt and fish as they had been able to in the past, and disapproved of the rising taxes being imposed on them by their landlords. The common people were also unhappy with the church, feeling that the clergy were greedy and more interested in acquiring wealth than being the spiritual leaders they were ...

... by groups of missionaries led by the Apostles Peter, Paul and John. All of the people who had previously practiced the Roman religion now would practice Christianity. The expression, “Love thy neighbor” was a very essential lesson for the Christians. It formed their bases of living (Fenton 34). The Christians were using maintainable operations. Many people who had learned about it through missionaries were following this religion. The missionaries spent long hours and put forth much effort in their attempt to spread Christianity. This would take a while because of the broad size of the Roman Empire and the so little few of the missionaries. However, the ...

... is distinctly "tying wreaths to the letters" of the Torah, so that Akiba can decipher their meaning later. Moses the writer of the document is then taken to Akiba's classroom and shown the sophistication that the Rabbis have when they interperit the Bible. Moses is put in the back of the class witht the new students as a symbol that he is not the master of the Bible. Moses was the writer. He had no say in what it meant or contained. Rather he was the first to interpret the words of God and write them. The fact that God put in the Bible, obscure text for future Rabbis is a symbol that he expected them to pick apart at even the most minute pieces of grammar. The ...

... was believed that if there was sin among the people then God would not come and be with them. After the Temple was destroyed during the war with Rome, these animal sacrifices were stopped, and there were no more active Jewish priests. The religious leadership in the synagogue was led by the rabbis. In the Protestant religion there exists a "priesthood of all believers"("Priesthood", 529). This meant that each member in the community serves as his or her own priest, with direct access to communication with God. Protestants believe that the role of the priest is an "officiating mediary"("Priesthood", 529), rather than a one who performs ritual sacrifices. This st ...

... were two main reasons for the church to split apart. One large part is when the church leaders were arguing about a phase which was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed known as the filiogue. The second reason and probably the larger reason was the Roman Papal said he was the leader and the authority over the entire church. The conflict came about between Photius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Pope Nicholas I. These same conflicts continued until 1054 when Pope Leo the IV excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinoble. Later the Patriarchs called together a council to excommunicate the papal delegates and the new Eastern Rite of the church was ...