A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE OF THE WRITINGS OF JOHN PIPER AND N.T Thesis Proposal

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE OF THE WRITINGS OF JOHN PIPER AND N.T. WRIGHT ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH - Thesis Proposal Example The study of the doctrine of justification5 is considered the cornerstone of Christianity6 by many Christian scholars. It is, according to Luther, the article by which the church stands or falls,7 The challenge between Piper and Wright concerns the implication of their views on imputed or incorporated righteousness on justification8 to Christian faith, especially concerning Soteriology.9 On the one hand, Piper’s perspective is that imputed righteousness on justification does not consist merely of belief in Christ alone for salvation, but also submission of every area of one’s life to Christ’s Lordship.10 Thus, Piper unwittingly affirms both â€Å"faith alone† and â€Å"faith not alone† referring to justification, which according to Lybrand constitutes the intrinsic incongruence of these assertions in his (i.e., Piper’s) practical interpretations and teachings.11 This inconsistency could be explained in the way Piper distinguishes justification from sanctification,12 wherein he proposes that to man is given the right to stand with God on account of faith alone.13 Again, Piper maintains, this is something given. Nevertheless, Piper insists that man must live a life that he considers a deadly battle against sin.14 The manner by which he fights such a battle––according God’s will––constitutes s anctification.15 Also important on Piper’s position is the argument that sin has been fought, and won over with the death of Jesus.16 One might contend that if sin has been won over based on Christ’s sacrifice, Piper would not be able to justify his â€Å"faith not alone† portion of his argument. However, he maintains that the right to stand with God is only achieved by eliminating the sin––the one that was already won over on the cross––by way of dying â€Å"in Christ.†17 This is central to his righteousness imputation theory,18 and distinguishes his position from that of Wright’s who proposes, â€Å"incorporated righteousness† as a more

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Essay Example The National Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the would - be voters in the United States take literacy tests to qualify to register to vote, and it provided for to vote, and it provided for federal registration of voters in areas that had less than 50% of eligible minority voters registered. The Act also provided for Department of Justice oversight to registration, and the Department's approval for any change in voting law in districts that had used as a "device" to limit voting and in which less than 50% of the population was registered to vote in 1964. It was signed in 1965, and signed for a 25 year extension by George W. Bush on July, 2006. National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) was founded in New York in 1909 for the purpose to improve the living condition of Black Americans at that time. Although their conditions improved enormously, many differences existed in the rights of United States citizens because of ethnic origin; The NAACP continued to seek a single class of citizenship for every American. W.E.B. Du Bois an American writer in 1895 argued that "blacks should accept their social status and work to improve their lives through economic means". The association also secured the elimination of the so- called "grandfather clause", a clause in the voting laws of certain Southern States that permitted only those people to vote whose grandfathers had voted. Because the grandfathers of blacks had been slaves so could not vote, this clause effectively denied enfranchisement to blacks. With the help of organized labour and by various minority groups, civic, and fraternal organizations, the NAACP went on to lead the efforts that resulted in the enactment of the Civil Rights of 1957 and 1964, the voting Rights Act of 1965, and Fair Housing Act of 1968. W.E. Bois says in his magazine, "to stand for the rights of men, irrespective of colour or race, for the highest ideals of American democracy, and for reasonable but earnest and persistent attempts to gain these rights and realize these ideals."* *The Crisis, a magazine founded in 1910 by the American writer and sociologist W.E. Du Bois In 1948 Gerald R. Ford was elected to the US House of Representatives. During his tenure he favored increasing the defense budget, and he usually voted for civil rights legislation. In 1965 he was elected minority leader of the House of Representatives. Among the practices that have been the objects of electoral reforms are actual or threatened physical violence; concealed pressures such as those exercised by some

Developing Corporate Entrepreneurship

Developing Corporate Entrepreneurship Introduction Todays economy is experiencing its ups and downs very quickly: rising competitiveness and fast changing technologies create pressure to the companies that want to stay at the top of their markets. This is not going to slow down, so the need for tools of success is arising. At the same time we are moving away from the Morris and Kuratko (2002) belief that entrepreneurs are born, not made. That is why the wanting, believing, hoping, planning must be followed by doing. As already Confucius said: When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, dont adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. It is time for action and one form of it that suits different businesses nowadays is Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE). As it was stated by Sharma and Chrisman (1999), corporate entrepreneurship is the process whereby an individual or group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization. There are lots of definitions for CE nowadays, but all of them do not change the fact that CE is a tool for differentiation and competitive advantage in todays economy. In order to make a go of this phenomenon, organizations have to develop their strategies how to implement the entrepreneurial spirit in the everyday practices. In this way corporate entrepreneurship spontaneous or induced by the company itself will be not rare and unexpected, but in contrary, become a tool of overcoming inside issues, as well as external pressures. Corporate Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Management A lot of researches, studies were conducted in order to discover the inevitable truth that CE positively affects the performance of a company: it creates competitive advantages, helps to differentiate, adapt to new or quickly changing markets, and deal with external and internal challenges. As CE is seen as a multifaceted tool, the intensity of CE in an organization can be described by five different dimensions identified in a meta-analysis by Saly (2001): innovativeness, risk propensity, proactiveness, corporate venturing and self-renewal. When creating an organizational structure, as well as inside culture, these dimensions should be a scale measuring the future success of a company. Dealing with the globalization and fast moving changes, a company must take risks, be proactive and strive for innovation. Nurturing these traits, adapting to the environment (self-renewal) and fostering creation of something valuable that generates returns are CE key success factors in the economy of today. Of course no CE can be fostered without Human Capital (HC). In order to become an innovative, entrepreneurial organization needs the knowledge, skills, experience the HC can provide. This is why HC should be one of the most important and valuable assets for every organization. Investing in HC should be a first step towards building and encouraging the entrepreneurial direction of the overall company. As from the employee-organization relations (EOR) literature (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002), the strongest influencers of employee affect are the organizations leaders. Their Human Recourse Management (HRM) practices can valuably contribute to effective enhancement of CE. Different HRM techniques can create a suitable inside culture for an organization to become innovative, flexible and more entrepreneurial. Each HRM practice can be addressed to different employee characteristics and in this way design the employee-organization relationships towards a collective entrepreneurial collaboration. Therefore EOR strengthened with HRM practice can become an efficient tool for creating a collective entrepreneurial atmosphere inside any organization. As organizations nowadays become living entities, diving into the trend of organizational learning, there is less fear that it will develop a strategy and become stagnant. That is why the HRM practices also evolve during the life of a company. Introducing new projects, renewal of the staff with different KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) needed at the time, allocating resources needed for development and inside learning all this organizational support is now more a necessity than luxury. So, understanding that without a learning attitude and readiness to change according the situation, any HRM practices will not be able to influence the companys corporate entrepreneurship level, is vital. Following the idea of George Bernard Shaw: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. HRM practices fostering CE inside the company HRM practices should be an important driver of CE because it involves organizational learning driven by collaboration, creativity, and individual commitment (Kaya, 2006). To foster CE in a company the first task is the set up of internal culture and environment (studies show there have to be available resources, management support and a reliable organizational structure right at the beginning in order for a company could start entrepreneurial activities). Following different studies conducted on the topic of CE and HRM practices, how to establish a suitable internal environment for intrapreneurship seems to be based on these organizational arrangements/managerial tools: Staff selection the objective of staff selection is to form an appropriate resource base of HC to foster entrepreneurial activity. As the HC of any company is one of the most important facilitators of CE, selective hiring can be a tool for influencing the CE level. The selection criteria should fit the organizations culture, be in line with the CE dimensions and reflect the needs of the company. During the process of selecting staff it is beneficial to think about the skills needed in the industry the company operates, how the employees could work together and create a brain trust. Emphasizing the team spirit is very important, because the prominence of collective entrepreneurship is growing. New members should have new ideas and complement the staff by being different and experts of their own sphere. New management staff should have relevant KSAOs, be creative, strive for action and be supportive. Finally, a possibility to grow in ones own career should also be seen during this process, because it will serve as a motivation tool and foster better environment in the company. Management support the positive attitude as well as encouragement of the higher hierarchy levels of the company for generating and developing new business ideas. Management support is important because it indicates the willingness of the managers to facilitate, promote and institutionalize the entrepreneurial spirit and activity within the organizations system and processes (Hornsby et al., 2002) which would encourage the intrapreneurs to engage in innovative projects. If the organization provides support and some autonomy it can then count on the commitment coming from employees. Still coordinating the use of resources, contributing to the fulfillment of the separate individual suggestions or efforts will end up with an increase of overall efficiency. Management support for problem solving and conflict resolution in the intrapreneurship process is required in the idea generation, development, and particularly implementation (execution) stages of the ideas (Damanpour, 1991). This will positively influence a corporations entrepreneurial behavior and enhance potential intrapreneurs perceived trustworthiness to their corporations in terms of detecting opportunities and willingness to develop novel or useful ideas, and/ or projects, and to take risks to actualize them (Stevenson and Jarillo, 1990). Internal supportive environment, tolerance for risk taking to their intrapreneurs, and a high quality HC will contribute to the innovative performance. Companys 3M approach could be taken as an illustration of the management support importance. This firm understood and experienced that capable and motivated employees can turn the company into a profitable, innovative and successful organization. That is why the management was trying to create an environment that supports individual entrepreneurship: a climate that stimulates ordinary people to produce extraordinary performances. Allocation of free time provision of sufficient time to work on developing novelties without any burden of routine workload. Delivery of free time inevitably encourages employees to take risks for putting their novel ideas into practice. When given time for convincing the management level about your project success, employees are not so distracted from their main duties and usually show more commitment towards the company. But this creates a necessity for additional control that the allocated free time would be used for purposes that benefit both sides. Here it comes out that before any significant changes there is a need of HRM practices that boost mutual understanding, better ties between employees and the organization, and make sure their values and visions are on the same path. Organizational structure should be convenient concerning decentralization level or decision-making autonomy. Employees should have the opportunity to express and suggest their ideas easily. The suitable decentralization level differs among every company, but it is a tool to become more flexible, innovative, and active suit the dimensions of CE. If organization provides autonomy for employees who actually carry out the work, this will stimulate their commitment to act in the best way for the company. Having a balanced relationship between autonomy and discipline creates an environment where employees can act, take weighted risks and innovate towards successful outcomes of the company. Companies that are becoming rigid really slow down all the innovative processes as well as cannot implement all of the possible improvements. When thinking about new ventures, projects in order to boost the competitive advantage and profitability of the company it is important they fit the organization in terms of context and organizational structure. There is a possibility to foster integrated or separate CE. For better understanding of the importance of these practices some companies can be taken as an example. Analyzing the case of the company Polaroid, one can see that the impact of bureaucracy, biases and downsizing was a big obstacle for nurturing inside entrepreneurship. The company was big-sized and stagnant, becoming a market follower. The entrepreneur in this company (Joline Godfrey) experienced difficulties to introduce her project because of the hard-to-reach attention of the managers, not flexible organization culture. The inside culture was also not women-friendly and did not show enough interest in projects that were not fully in the area the company operated. In such cases, when an organization becomes rigid, does not answer market needs mostly because of the compilation, slow processes CE must be fostered and implemented. One of the first steps should be an entrepreneurial-oriented structure that allocates the power of decision making not to the higher level employers, but takes into account the employees who know the most about the projects being undertaken. In the case of Lucent (a telecommunication equipment manufacturer), their New Venture Group formed a separate organizational entity. This entity was operating as a base of research for new opportunities, products, and businesses. Being separate has its advantages, because in this way the formed CE device does not suffer from the bureaucratic rules of the parent company, still can use the support needed, creates its own inside environment and culture that can foster CE more easily. That is why, when forming new entrepreneurial project each company has to evaluate its fit in the organization. Usually small projects are of better use inside the company: they can be accessible for all employees, motivate them to work on their projects too, but at the same time not to be too distracted from the mainstream of the company. An example of such an approach would be the case of the company Ohio Bell. The program ENTER-PRIZE (Excellence Through Employee Innovation) was designed in order to support, reward the employees who had ideas how to cut operating costs or generate revenues. This program was an implemented cultural change of the Ohio Bell company. Being nurtured inside the company and connected with all employees, this project had the best place inside the company, fitting the mainstream operations and concept. Fostering innovative ideas, this program was also a good example of the power of rewards towards CE growth. Incentives and rewards availability of a performance based reward system encouraging innovativeness is a way to foster entrepreneurship among employees. If the management tries to convince the employees to act like intrapreneurs, it must also be willing to pay them as entrepreneurs (Thornberry, 2003). Having trust in the rewarding system boosts the employee commitment, willingness to take risks and reveal the projects that could benefit both sides. A reward system that is based on achievements in innovation projects, may lead the brightest and most ambitious players to avoid innovation projects with uncertain outcomes. Building a reward system shows a positive attitude towards the employees and can significantly increase their motivation to benefit the organization. It is important to see the reward practices as a long-term thing, make resources available and not punish the employees straight after the first failure of an entrepreneurial project. Failure or errors tolerance in case of creative undertakings or risky project implementations. Such showed tolerance together with managerial support is a strong tool creating positive environment for CE. A conservative managerial attitude will block the willingness to innovate and cause lack of confidence of the employees. In order to overcome the possible frustration, organization should support the HC even during failures and continue investing in the projects that have high potential. Taking failures as an inevitable step towards success will help to maintain the level of confidence for further innovations and profitable ideas. Of course, in order not to lose control and take healthy risks, companys should build an organizational mechanism to decide which innovation projects are likely to bear fruits and which should be cast aside without having trial-errors. For example, a well known company 3M implemented a more disciplined approach to defining, selecting and funding projects. Instead of running 100 of them as earlier, the process shifted to 12 projects from which 10 are expected to be successful. In this way companies are more oriented, quickly reacting and can create true competitive advantages through expedient CE. Training and development appropriate abilities can be acquired through training and development strongest results towards boosting CE. Training can overcome the factors that decrease employees job performance and satisfaction. Staff development seen as activities that increase employees qualifications and performance at all hierarchical levels through education, career management, and work structure. All these practices can promote entrepreneurial behavior and improve the environment in the company. Training programs should be oriented towards building useful CE skills, fostering the dimensions of it inside the company: change acceptance, willingness to take risks, assume responsibility, and the value of teamwork and shared achievements. Training activities that enforce interpersonal skills should be fostered. Also training that supports creativity will strengthen innovativeness and potentially strengthen self-renewal and new business development. Finally, training on how to transf er new ideas into business will lead to higher intensity for risk propensity and proactiveness. For effective training, programs should fit the companys strategy and work process. To unfold their full effect on CE, expert knowledge, social competence, creativity, and methodical expertise are especially important to be considered. Specialist assignment specialists can anticipate and estimate specific problems earlier and thus identify needs for modifications more quickly. As CE is more often seen as a collective process, instead of putting the emphasis on one individual, firms must encourage cooperation among specialists to increase successful innovation processes. This is stressed because as environment impacts on organizational behaviors it is also seen in change of relationships between employees and employer or managers inside the organization. In order to become competitive and innovative, firms have to adopt new strategies, as well as different employee-organization relationship (EOR) patterns. The importance of this is significantly growing, because corporate entrepreneurship involves not only product innovation, risk taking or proactive responses to environmental forces, but also organizational learning, driven by collaboration and commitment. Here the collaboration of specialists could be seen as a link between employees, managers and their potential to foster corporate entrepreneurship together. As it can be observed in the Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI), a company that confronted financial and inside environment problems with a program called Change Agent Program, managerial support, concentrated staff selection and employee training and development are the tools that foster corporate entrepreneurship spirit and help to overcome the downturn a company can experience. The Change Agent program looked to replace Siemens Nixdorfs rigid corporate hierarchy with a more flexible and entrepreneurial attitude that would be more responsive to market demands. The company operated in a very competitive European market, was undermanaged and over consulted. As the employees at SNI experienced restructuring at the company during the early 1990s and four years of losses, the inside culture was far away from a company one could call innovative and lead thinking (as the ones operating in IT industry in US). The program though was focused on employees, emphasizing the importance of the people at the company and expanding the opportunities open to them. The goal of the 13 week program was to build an understanding of business fundamentals and business change along three dimensions: customer, competitiveness and culture. It combined presentations, discussions, workshops, case studies, best practice site visits, internships, and coach research. An important goal was to provide participants with new perspectives about their projects and give them the know-how to implement them upon return to the company. The programs aimed to have the sponsors (each member had two of them) provide leadership, guidance and support in order to help them achieve their project goals. This is also an example that specialists assistance is a tool fostering corporate entrepreneurship and improving the employees input. It was also aiming to help find innovative ways to approach and implement their projects. Each participant of the program had a project drawn from the area that concludes the most important challenges the company faces which were fostered by the program and implemented upon the employees return to SNI. Although the 21 Change Agents had varying degrees of success, it was clear that they played a role in driving SNI to profitability in the 1994 1995 fiscal year (for the first time in the companys history). That was reflected in the decision by the SNI Executive Board to perpetuate the Program on an annual basis. Such training and development programs foster collective and individual entrepreneurship inside the company. This example shows how important it is that such tools would fit the aim and strategy of the whole company. By addressing the right problems, training the right people (at SNI they were thoroughly selected) this training program helped the company to enhance the communication within the company, improve its international operations, flexibility and determine new possible directions. The employees felt the more entrepreneurial spirit of the companys culture and were able to channel their enthusiasm for changes and revitalization, feel more responsibility, and support what opened the ways for their projects. Conclusions Having the goal of being visible, active in todays global economy requires established companies to become more and more entrepreneurial in order to handle uncertainty and environmental dynamism. As the importance of CE is growing, more scholars are interested to define the specific tools that help to create and benefit from the CE inside the company. Different studies provide positive relationships between HRM practices and CE. As knowing the importance of qualified HC, so the management practices become a source of sustained competitive advantage for organizations. CE-related HR practices are unique to the extent that competitors cannot imitate them. Nevertheless the support from HR practices must be in line with that particular organizational culture and consistent with what is needed from employees. Considering the combined effects of all the OS factors, managerial support and tolerance for risk taking have still exerted significant effects on innovativeness. That is why firms should invest to build such an organizational environment where first, support and tolerance exist to a large extent. On the other side, organizations should spend more time on recruiting and training managers to be supportive and hold a philosophy that failure is a stepping-stone to success. As seen, HRM practices play a significant role in fostering and maintaining high levels of CE. Having a CE-friendly environment, companies should focus on the HRM practices of staff selection, staff development and training, and staff rewards that align employee motivation and entrepreneurial firm development. These practices show the highest correlation with innovative outcomes and positive CE results. Learning from the previously discussed real life examples it is obvious that CE is a complex phenomena to handle for different organizations. But the conclusion, that corporate entrepreneurship is a success factor in todays dense economy, stays the same. In order to foster the entrepreneurial culture inside the company it is important to maintain the focus on all possible sources and adapt the HRM practices to use them beneficially. LITERATURE: Employee-organization relationship in collective entrepreneurship: an overview. Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano,   David Urbano.   Journal of Organizational Change Management.  Bradford:2010.   Vol. 23,   Iss. 4,   p. 349-359 Boosting corporate entrepreneurship through HRM practices: Evidence from German SMEs. Ralf Schmelter,   RenÈ Mauer,   Christiane Bˆ rsch,   Malte Brettel.   Human Resource Management.  Hoboken:Jul/Aug 2010.   Vol. 49,   Iss. 4,   p. Organizational support for intrapreneurship and its interaction with HC to enhance innovative performance. Lutfihak Alpkan,   Cagri Bulut,   Gurhan Gunday,   Gunduz Ulusoy,   Kemal Kilic.   Management Decision.   London:2010.   Vol. 48,   Iss. 5,   p. 732-755 L.A. Hill, N.A. Kamprath and M.B. Conrad (1992), Joline Godfrey and the Polaroid Corporation (A), Harvard Business School Case, 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 492à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 037. Chesbrough, H.W. and Massaro, A. (2001) Lucent Technologies: The Future of the New entures Group, Harvard Business School Case, 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 601à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 102 : 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 19. Bartlett, C.A. and Mohammed, A. (1995) 3M: Profile of an innovating company, Harvard Business School Case, 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 395à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 016 : 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 20. Kanter, R.M., McGuire, J.F. and Mohammed, A. (1997) The Change Agent Program at Siemens Nixdorf, Harvard Business School Case, 9à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 396à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 203 : 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 17.

The War Of Religion And Science Due To Their Similarities And Diff :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The â€Å"War† of Religion and Science Due to Their Similarities and Differences Samantha Pavlakos Ms. Smith Period 6 English Term Paper March 13, 2000 Outline Thesis: In the book Phantoms, Dean Koontz relates the â€Å"war† between religion and science through the defeat of a supernatural being. I. Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A. Similarities to science from the theological view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B. Differences to science from the theological view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Why they are different from the theological   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. How to overcome there differences from a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   theological view II. Science   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A. Similarities to religion from a scientific view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B. Differences to religion from a scientific view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Why they are different from a scientific view   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. How to overcome these differences from a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   scientific view III. Supernatural   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A. World view of the supernatural   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B. How the book uses the supernatural to show the â€Å"war† between religion and science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For many years, there has been a so-called â€Å"war† between religion and science. religion is a powerful worldview as is science. Many people around the world believe in the existence of both religion and science. Unfortunately, the conflict between the two is partially due to the fact that they are so similar yet so different. Both religion and science expect a person to rely on information that is sometimes unexplainable. In the book , Phantoms, Dean Koontz relates this â€Å"war† between religion and science through the defeat of a supernatural being.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different religions that fill this world. Religion requires a person to believe that some events are unexplainable, and that a person should just believe because God, or some other figure wanted life to be this way (Hall 26). A person is expected to believe without a foundation of reason. This relates to science because theories are reasons that have not yet been proven. A scientist expects for a person to believe a theory because it is a reasonable explanation, even if it is not a proven explanation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientists have been accused of saying that religion is only a belief, and that there is a scientific explanation for everything, but if this is true, how come all things in life cannot be explained (Hall 27)? Hall says, â€Å"Science cannot explain how a man can survive something when it is impossible to survive.† But can religion explain this? According to a theologian, a person who studies religion, there is an explanation. Hall says, â€Å"God has a plan for everyone. It is almost like a outline of life. If you are expected to do something before you died, the nothing will stop you.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also many things in religion that are unexplained. How can a man rise from the dead?

History and Development of the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement Essay

Charismatic movement is a religious revival movement that developed during the late 1960’s among members of several Christian denominations, notably Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and Methodists. Charismatic believe they can become infused with the Holy Spirit. When so infused, they believe, they may be granted such charisms (gifts) as the ability to speak in tongues, to make prophecies, and to heal by faith. Charismatics share many beliefs and practices with the Pentecostal churches but do not consider themselves to be Pentecostals (Duin, 2000). Moreover, Pentecostal churches base their faith and practice on certain religious experiences that are recorded in the New Testament. Pentecostal churches teach that every Christian should seek to be â€Å"filled with the Holy Spirit. † The proof of this occurrence comes when the person speaks in tongues. That is, the person will speak in a language he has never learned. The New Testament refers to the disciples speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and mentions speaking in tongues elsewhere (Blumhofer, 2004). Pentecost is an important springtime Jewish and Christian feast. Its name comes from the Greek word fifty because Pentecost occurred on the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover. As a Jewish thanksgiving feast for the harvest, it was called Feast of Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16) and Shabuot or the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23: 15-21): â€Å"From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up the day after the seventh Sabbath and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the lord. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and with out defect, one young bull and two rams†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From the least the 200’s, Christians celebrated Pentecost on the seventh Sunday after Easter as one of their greatest feasts. It commemorated the descent of the Holy Spirit (called Holy Ghost in older English) upon the apostles on this day (Acts 2: 1-4): â€Å"When the day of the Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled tem. † He had been promised by Jesus as â€Å"another Comforter† (John 14:16) and came to strengthen the apostles after their nine days of prayer following the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Then they showed themselves more courageous and zealous than they had been before. Pentecost was later called Whitsunday or White Sunday, because the newly baptized wore their white baptismal robes on that day, marking the end of the joyous Easter season (Pentecostalism. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2004). In masses of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, red vestments are worn on Pentecost to symbolize the tongues of fire representing the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3). This paper studies the origin of Pentecostal/Charismatic movement and knows some denominations that practice the Pentecostal beliefs. II. Discussion Pentecostal churches that emphasize glossolalia (speaking in unknown tongues). The term â€Å"Pentecostal† refers to the day of Pentecost, soon after the death of Jesus, when the disciples spoke in unknown tongues. In present-day Pentecostal churches, during the highly emotional moments of the service, members make utterances that have not been identified with any known language (Wakefield, 1999). Pentecostals also believe that they can receive other supernatural gifts. For example, they believe they can be given the ability to prophesy, to heal, and to interpret what is said when someone speaks in an unknown tongue. The New Testament refers to these gifts in I Corinthians 12-14. Aside from these distinctive qualities, however, individual Pentecostal denominations do not usually resemble each other. There are more than three dozen Pentecostal groups in the United States of America alone. They differ radically in size as well as in their interpretations of matters of faith and practice. Some of the largest Pentecostal bodies are: Church of God in Christ, 3,700,000 members; Assemblies of God, 2,100,000; United Pentecostal Church International, 500,000; Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), 455,000; Church of God in Christ, International, 200,000; International Church of the Four-square Gospel, 180,000; Pentecostal Holiness Church, 110,000; and the Pentecostal Church of God, 90,000. Pentecostal churches trace their origins to revivals of tongue-speaking that occurred at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kans. , in 1901, and at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles in 1906. Similar revivals also took place in Great Britain and in Europe, Asia, and Latin America during the early 1900’s. Since the 1930’s, the Pentecostal denominations have grown rapidly. With a worldwide membership estimated at seven million, the Pentecostals are sometimes called Christianity’s â€Å"Third Force,† alongside the Roman Catholicism and traditional Protestantism (Ferm, 2001). Many Pentecostal churches are Methodist in origin. John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, believed on perfectionism. As Methodism later decreased its emphasis on perfectionism, many American Methodists broke away and formed their own churches. Stressing the perfectionist doctrine, these bodies are became known as Holiness churches. The Pentecostal churches are usually defined as those Holiness churches that consider speaking in tongues an important sign of having attained holiness. A. Assemblies of God Assemblies of God are Protestant Christian churches forming the largest of the Pentecostal denominations. The basic belief of this denomination is that conversion is a spiritual rebirth. Speaking in tongues is the first sign that that the Holy Spirit has been received by the reborn. Members believe in the infallibility of the Bible, the second coming of Christ to rule the world, eternal bliss for believers, and eternal punishment for the wicked. The denomination is composed of churches (assemblies) that are self-governing in local affairs. Each ordained minister and one lay delegate from each assembly is a member of the General Council, which is responsible for missions, publications, and other matters affecting the entire denomination (Assemblies of God. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2004). The church arose out of a rival movement about 1900. The General Council was organized in 1914. Membership is about 2,100,000 in the United States. The church has missions in a number of African and Latin American nations. International headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri. B. Practices and Beliefs †¢ Gift of Tongues Gift of tongues in Christianity is the ability to praise God in words that cannot be identified with any known language. It is also called glossolalia (Greek: tongue talking). Speaking in tongues occurs during moments of intense religious emotion. Many people believe that the speaker is possessed by the Holy Spirit. In Pentecostal churches, the gift of tongues is considered a sign of spiritual perfection. Early in the 1960’s, speaking in tongues spread through some congregations in other denominations, especially in the Episcopal, Roam Catholic, and Methodist churches (Glossolalia. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2004). According to the Bible (Acts 2:1-13), 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus, on the Jewish Pentecost, the Holy Spirit entered the disciples of Jesus and caused them to speak strange words. Many foreign Jews who were present understood the words, even though they were not spoken in their language. Instances of the gift of tongues are recorded in later New Testament books. However, in all these cases the words were directed to God and were not understood by any human being (Pentecostal movement. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge). †¢ Faith healing Faith healing is another practice of Pentecostal church. Faith healing is the curing of physical and mental ailments through religious faith of the sufferers. Medical science recognizes many kinds of physical disorders that are caused or made worse by the patient’s state of mind. These ailments can often be cured or relieved by mental therapy—by changing the patient’s outlook rather than by prescribing medicine. Faith in the curing power of religion or religious relics has often brought about this mental change. Some reported cases faith healing, however, cannot be explained medically (Foster, 2006). Faith healing has been recorded in many religions under various conditions. In the Old Testament, the Syrian general Naaman was cured of leprosy when, as instructed by the prophet Elisha, he washed himself seven times in the River Jordan (II Kings 5:10-14). Jesus performed many miracles of healing. After healing a leper, Jesus said to the man: â€Å"Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole† (Luke 17:19). The apostles performed acts of healing. They believed that â€Å"prayer of faith shall save the sick† (James 5:15). III. Conclusion The Pentecostal churches stress the doctrine of perfectionism, or holiness, which states that man has free choice, while still on earth, may become sinless through uniting with God. This doctrine rose in reaction to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, which states, in part, that man is sinful by nature and may be saved only through God’s choice. Other beliefs common to many Pentecostal churches are the fundamentalist ideas that the entire Bible is literally true and that Jesus will return physically to rule the earth; some of the Pentecostal churches also practice faith healing (Pentecostal churches.New Standard Encyclopedia). Reference 1. Blumhofer, Edith L. Thinking in the Spirit: Theologies of the Early Pentecostal Movement. The Christian Century. Volume: 121. Issue: 7. Page 43+. April 6, 2004. 2. Duin, Julia. Charismatic Movement Transcends Sects. The Washington Times. Page Number: 2. March 31, 2000. 3. Pentecostalism. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press, New York, 2004. 4. Wakefield, Dan. Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century. The Nation. Volume: 260. Issue: 3. Page Number: 98+. January 23, 1999. 5. Pentecostal churches. New Standard Encyclopedia. Vol. 13, Page 456-457. 6. Assemblies of God. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. New York, 2004. 7. Glossolalia. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. New York, 2004. 8. Foster, Mark. Sugar Grove Pentecostal Church Draws Members. Daily Herald. Page Number: 4, Dec. 18, 2006. 9. Ferm, Vergilius. An Encyclopedia of Religion. Philosophical Library. New York,

“Burro Genius” by Victor Villaseñor Essay

Victor Villasenor is, certainly, one of the most famous and beloved authors who has presented his raw and unexpected memoirs to public opinion. Actually, the book explores Victor’s transformation from embarrassed and intimidated young boy into the famous writers of the present world. Thus, his memoir â€Å"Burro Genius† describes difficult life of poor Mexican American boy having been always faced with constant discrimination in his local school system. Villasenor vividly presents struggle between him and teachers and emphasizes the role of parents and God for overcoming all difficulties. Special attention is devoted to spiritual connections with god. It is necessary to say that Villasenor describes his masterpiece as real miracle. (Villasenor 2004) Villasenor says when he stood at the podium facing a group of teachers, who always harassed and discriminated him; he became really furious and enraged with such unfairness. Despite the fact that the boy had never spoken to the public, Victor’s mind was filled with doleful and sorrowful childhood recollections associated with constant misunderstanding, humiliation and power abuse. Victor’s heart was thumbing, though he started his impressive speech about all the incidents taken place during his entering local school. It is mentioned in the book that some listeners couldn’t help but shedding tears. (Villasenor 2004) This is a mournful beginning of Villasenor’s memoirs. The author appears highly talented and imaginative playing with words and sense. For example, he vividly amplifies how he has coped with untreated learning disability meaning that he has diagnosed as dyslexia. Furthermore, the book provides impressive descriptions of frustrations of his life as a Latino boy. He says that American school system has failed to comprehend cultural understanding and has failed to deal properly with Hispanic students. (Villasenor 2004) The author admits that he is born and raised on San Diego County and thus he devotes certain part of the narration to description of several surrounding cities: streets where cattle and domestic animals are seen; dusty roads adapted for horse-riding. Nevertheless, still he remains away from his childhood memoirs not to disturb the picture of quiet life. His memoirs are developing with essay progression; they are filled with lifted spirit of a child, with fears and terrors of classmates and teachers. However, special role is devoted to illustrating racism being able to chill anyone. (Villasenor 2004) Victor says he was often slapped by instructors and kicked by classmates only because of being Mexican guy. Moreover, the boy was considered the stupidest child in the class. Apparently, the author raises important themes not only for his time, but also for present world, because the problem of cultural discrimination and racism touches not only the USA, but the rest of the world. Nowadays many foreign students are suffering from hostile attitudes of native students. Therefore, the author sensitively describes all his hardships, privations and difficulties at school. (Villasenor 2004) It is impossible to remind indifferent when the author describes his rage and says he even â€Å"contemplated killing some of his teachers and classmates with a firearm†. Such statement seems to be used ironically and his infuriating energy has now changed. It is necessary to suggest that Villasenor is one of the first to raise the problem of cultural discrimination so openly and bold. Actually, teachers in both public and private schools, according to the author, practiced violent abuse and brainwashing tactics to intimidate and to discriminate foreign students. (Villasenor 2004) The boy was often treated as â€Å"dirty† Mexican being ugly and unworthy as well. Certainly, boy’s psychological development was upset and the boy has distorted perception of reality. Victor realized that all those characteristics were referred to his family members as well. For example, teachers said his mother was ugly, his father was loud and dirty. As it is mentioned above the boy was often beaten, because his English was poor. Therefore, Victor was forced to be really ashamed of his nationality and heritage. Furthermore, his cultural values and tight-knit family were questioned. Victor’s growing frustration fueled his desire to become a writer and to reveal the truth about racial discrimination in public schools. (Villasenor 2004) Nevertheless, the positive moment of the book is descriptions of constant family love and support, especially the role of father and brother in Victor’s life. The author mentions that it is his father who helped him to eliminate false notions and to move forth. The struggle with Mexican culture is seen throughout the whole book and the boy seems to be proud of his family, whereas he is ashamed of being Mexican. Apparently, Victor considered brown skin as crime. (Villasenor 2004) Communicative bonds with nature and Gods are amplified after death of Victor’s older brother. For example, the boy sees trees, stars and moon as a magical encounter existing between humans and nature. Further, he begins to believe in the supernatural and his intuition is strong. Therefore, it is the main reason why the child’s imagination overwhelms book’s narration. From the very beginning Victor considered himself as a spiritual person being devoted to religion and God. He describes Navajo as â€Å"like perspective on the natural cycle of life and being one with nature†. (Villasenor 2004) â€Å"Burro Genius† makes readers analyze and think of their own childhood, past and present. Furthermore, readers are forced to reflect how words are able to affects psychological development of a person. It is known that ruler- striking teachers don’t exist in the country, although author assumes that racism exists, though its forms had been changed: â€Å"Now teachers are more concerned with how to separate students so that they don’t taint the school’s test scoring system†. (Villasenor 2004) Apparent strength of the book is that the author strongly defends his positions regarding culture and religion. References Victor, Villasenor. (2004). Burro Genius. New York: Rayo.