Religion term paper
| [...] "One individual may prefer a highly emotional religious service with music, rituals, and passionate oratory, while another prefers a rather calm service with an emphasis on information and exhortation; a religion which does not embrace both styles will not appeal to all people, whatever its doctrines. It should not be surprising, then, that if there is one God who manifests himself or relates to us in different ways, mystics of different temperaments should have perceived different aspects of his activity and nature." [...] |
| [...] "In large countries such as China, religion is often linked to ethnic or regional cultures and identities. Hence, religion is sometimes involved in ethnic self-assertion and occasionally in separatist movements. In China, Muslims in Xinjiang province and Buddhists in Tibet pressed for greater autonomy or separation from the empire. Chinese state officials have responded in several ways to the political problems posed by ethnic religions: co-opting some religious leaders in return for state support and funds for seminaries, imprisoning religious activists unwilling to be co-opted, and trying to control the next generation of religious leaders by approving candidates. For example, the largest non-Chinese region in China is Tibet, which developed a distinctive form of Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhists, particularly the exiled "living Buddha," the Dalai Lama, have played a role in agitating for greater autonomy. China's strategy with regard to Tibetan Buddhism is to closely monitor and control. Tibetan religious organizations, prevent their use to foster separatism, and try to weaken the position of the Dalai Lama To this end, the government has cultivated cooperative or malleable Tibetan Buddhist clergy. It has also officially endorsed the selection of a six-year-old child as the reincarnation of the last Panchen Lama, who died in 1989." [...] |
| [...] "It helps to keep in mind here some of the rudimentary baptismal theology presented in the New Testament, especially the writings of Paul, that was developed in later, extended, patristic treatises on baptism. Throughout this literature, several major themes predominate. Above all, baptism is regarded as an act of spiritual regeneration and redemption from sin. On the one hand, it is held to symbolize the death and resurrection of Christ so that, as Paul says, in baptism the Christian believer dies with Christ is buried and raised to newness of life (Rom. 6.4; Col. 2.12). Apparently the reference is to the thrice repeated practice of submersion and lifting from the water. On the other hand, baptism is also likened to rebirth, and emphasis is placed in this respect on the symbolism of water and nakedness (John 3.3-5)." [...] |
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