In the later, he weakens the importance of reason in Platonism, however, he is able to rectify a seemingly antagonistic relationship between faith and reason. Augustine successfully brought Platonism into Christianity; he reconciled issues such as the existence of a spiritual world and the problem of accounting for evil. Platonism’s ontology allowed Augustine to conceptualize the existence of a spiritual world and claim God, like the forms, is the ultimate source for the existence of all things and ideas within the physical world. Augustine’s application of Platonist doctrines not only helps explain and rationalize Christian faith, it also resolves issues within Christianity, such as, God’s omnipotence and omni-benevolence, and the problem of
In the book, “The Catholic Imagination”, Greeley examines the Catholic views concerning human sexuality. Two arguments are present in Catholicism. One argument argues that sexual desire can be considered as a sacrament, since it is a part of the human condition and is created by God, and the other argument argues that sexual desire is sinful. Human sexuality is used in scripture as a metaphor of Jesus’ love for his church and God’s love for his people. Many Catholic individuals believe that erotic desire is “good, virtuous, and beautiful” (56).
Bunyan draws heavily from both Luther and Calvin 's ideas, and their influence is palpable in The Pilgrim 's Progress. One of the hallmarks of Reformation theology is that it articulates a system of justification by faith alone, as opposed to justification by good works, as the Catholic Church once encouraged. For Luther, faith in God and the gift of God 's freely given grace erased the sins of humanity, rather than good works or indulgences issued by the Church. Though Calvin is famous for his very strongly articulated doctrine of predestination, which states that God has already decided who will be saved and who will be damned, Luther 's theology can also be considered to be predestinarian, albeit more generous than Calvin 's definition. The question of election aside, both maintained that humanity 1had wholly
In this essay I will be discussing the key differences between the eras and how both were very important to the architecture, art and music that we have today. The Baroque style grew and rose from the 17th and 18th century. The style came about right after the Renaissance era. The reason that this style mainly started was because the Roman Catholic Church wanted to use this baroque style to try and counter the Protestant types of music, art, and architecture that were flourishing around the same time that this style was created. This time period was basically the same as the Catholic Counter-Reformation Art that took place to also counter the Protestant Reformation.
In the novel “Bless me, Ultima”, Rudolfo Anaya uses the cultural and religious syncretism in the society of New Mexico to display juxtaposition between the Luna and Márez, as well as Catholicism and the Golden Carp, to help Antonio solidify and change his beliefs, displaying the consequences and results of cultural syncretism. Anaya uses the contrast of the Golden Carp and Catholicism
Various priests are facing charges of sexual molestation towards a minor. They perform these evil acts under the eyes of the Lord yet, they are called ‘holy.’ As it is said in the Bible, in Romans 3:23, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “None is righteous, no not one; all have turned aside, together they have gone wrong.”Romans 3[10-12].
This paper will discuss Hobbes’s central work Leviathan and his perspective on sovereignty and the sovereign’s power in connection with religion (more specifically so, Christianity) found in a close analysis of Book 3 (in particular, in chapter 12). We chose these chapter as it offers his most direct discussion of religion and the sovereign power. Hobbes 's own views of religion are the subject, to some degree, of scholarly debate. He was strongly opposed to scholasticism and Roman Catholicism and trended toward materialism and rationalism in his overall philosophy. Nevertheless, he does argue that his form of political absolutism is well-suited to
Inevitably, this leads into the analysis of how the human will is inherently connected to the problem of evil. Augustine uses his personal reflection as a means of exploring these subjects in his own life, thus finding the link between temptation and will, enabling him to discover what he must do to finally convert to the Catholic faith. Will is an extremely important part of Augustine’s discussion because he considers how freedom of choice, as a matter of course, leads to desire. Eventually, this leads to Augustine’s self deprecation in book eight as he ponders how Ponticianus’ friends were able to let go of their wills, and he is not able to, at the time. In this sequence, Augustine is more impressed with the friends’ abilities to release their wills and less with their abilities to give up
In the book, “The Catholic Imagination”, Greeley examines the Catholic views concerning human sexuality. Two arguments are present in Catholicism. One argument argues that sexual desire can be considered as a sacrament, since it is a part of the human condition and is created by God, and the other argument argues that sexual desire is sinful. Human sexuality is used in scripture as a metaphor of Jesus’ love for his church and God’s love for his people. Many Catholic individuals believe that erotic desire is “good, virtuous, and beautiful” (56).
What happens when the principles of a society’s religion suddenly change? Or, on the contrary, what if it’s the believer the one who decides to change his beliefs? Perplexity, confusion and utter religious disorientation. This is how Early Modern authors must have felt when they saw their spiritual foundations facing new paths and the inevitable clash between Protestantism and Catholicism. Throughout this essay, we are going to see how writers like John Donne and George Herbert channeled their religious anxieties about their relationship with God into the literary form, not only through a process of self-scrutiny and inwardness characteristic of Protestantism, but also by means of cathartic conversations with Him.