Crete: Biblical Traditions, Churches and Monasteries
Crete has long been known for its isolation caused by the mountains and the seas ; As a result of its landscape, it has been always identified as independent.? (Dubin 241). However, the mountains and the seas could not keep away the various foreign powers, occupations, and the religious impact these forces have had on this beautiful island.? History has shown that its island form has not kept Crete safe from outside forces; In fact, it is often considered to be a microcosm of a continent.? Just like a mini-continent, Crete has a diverse religious history that is fluid and ever changing with hundreds of years and layers of religious history.?
?Crete has always been steeped with religious importance, especially to the western world.? In fact, it was here in Crete where many believed that Zeus (the Roman god) was born and raised. (Psilakis 7) The caves in Crete are not only famous for the brethren who have made Christian dwelling, but also for being where the mythical gods lived as well.? Crete was also very important in early Christianity; The Apostle Paul around 64 CE (during his third apostolic trip) visited Crete. ( Theocharis, Detorakis) Paul later entrusted Titus to oversee the duty of the Christianizing the island.? However, the church in Crete has experienced many internal and external stresses on the church, much of it due to the friction of the island.? These tensions, however, have not impacted the religious strength and stamina of it island.? Crete is famous for their? ?Ten surmountable martyrs? who were martyred under persecution of Decious, Crete around 249-251 AD.( Theocharis, Detorakis)? So? famous and revered are these Cretians, that whenever the Byzantine wrote about the island of Crete, they were almost always mentioned.? The ?ten surmountable martyrs? are indicative of the strength, notoriety, and torments that the Cretian church and its members have embodied through history.
HISTORY
?Despite the enthusiastic missionaries of early Crete, it was not until the peace came (under the Pax Romana) that Christianity really flourished in Crete.? It was between the 5th and 7th centuries when the church could flourish under the prosperity of the Byzantine empires of Constantinople. (Tucker 527) It was during this time that the Orthodox Church flourished. Unfortunately, later occupations and invasions have destroyed much of this epoch in Crete?s church history.
?Much of the Crete?s church history, however, is representative of constant change and not stagnancy.
They are all known as the Nordic Welfare States. Especially gender equality and the well-being of the individual are seen as the main characteristics from a foreign perspective. But every Welfare State of the different nations does not fit the perfect social democratic model and has a unique policy. From a Swedish domestic view it all started to increase the living standard of the Swedish people and the number of children to secure the surviving of the state. Using the Danish Welfare State to compare to Nordic countries both started from different points. While Denmark had more agriculture, Sweden had a stronger industry. Nevertheless both countries’ welfare history can be divided into similar periods as described for Sweden before. The second and third period share the most similarities: increasing state intervention, greater social democratic influence, universal social benefits based on citizen rights with a strong public sector and a focus to solve family and gender disadvantages. The oil crisis in the 1970 changed the political landscape differently than in Sweden. The universal support was widely criticized and the power of the market grew again. The focus shifted from the individual well-being towards the duties of the individual receiving state benefits. Another difference was the early EU-membership of Denmark. The special Danish labor market can be described
"Constantine the Great." The Catholic Encyclopedie, Volume IV. 2003. New Advent. 7 Dec 2006 .
The significance of monumental architecture lies not only in the function it is built to serve but also in the cultural values it represents. Monumental architecture is aesthetic as well as functional, and in its aesthetic aspects it is a form of cultural expression. In Bronze Age Mediterranean civilizations, the development of monumental architecture was influenced primarily by the political structure of the state. Perhaps the most disparate forms of monumental architecture in this region were developed in Pharaonic Egypt and Minoan Crete, reflecting the differences in their political systems. The socio-political structure of these two cultures can be sharply contrasted through an examination of a predominant type of monumental architecture found in each region.
The martyrs in the document take on the role of mediator between God and man, spreading the Word of God to the masses of people and the relaying to them his holy message, in a sense taking on the role of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Perpetua, one of the martyrs when confronted about her faith by her father retorts, “I am Christian” (para.6). Another martyr, Felicity, confidently defends her faith and proclaims it openly by stating, “Stand fast in the faith, and love you all one another; and be not offended because of our passion” (para.20). This statement portrays to the reader the ...
The purpose of this is to draw attention to the invisible government which controls the United States. One of the means of control is the Federal Reserve System. Many of us have seen the recent decline of the dollar in the news. We will address this in terms of the Federal Reserve System’s control over the value of the dollar. Much of this is a concentration of quotes by noteworthy individuals such as Economists, Presidents, and Congressmen.
Eusebius’ account of Constantine’s conversion is comparable to Gregory of Tours’ accounts of Clovis’ and Gundobad’s conversions to Christianity, in the sense that they all initially called upon the “Christ-God” (albeit Gundobad perhaps indirectly) to come to their aid, which he did, during periods of military crisis. The si...
All comes to show, that Christianity took hold on the ancient world because it was easy, convenient and powerful. Christianity is a strong religion seeming as it still stands
Doodle’s health is not good and you can see that in this piece of text. (Topic Sentence) The author writes, “He didn’t answer so I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backwards onto the Earth. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt was stained brilliant red.”(172)(Textual support- 5). Doodle is harmed and it’s because his brother’s pride got in the way of his health and well being. (Commentary)
I have decided to visit a Greek Orthodox Church, Saint Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church. I went alone because I figured that this would not draw too much attention during the service. I tried to find a nearby church that will give the service partially in English. When I found one near me it was my luck that I went at the time when it was all spoken in Greek. The English service was at six in the evening, and the all-Greek service started at ten in the morning. So to my discouragement I was at a lost at any attempts that I had preplanned to adapt to this new environment. I didn’t even get the name of the priest. While I was there sitting in the back I was able to dissect some of the norms of the church and the culture with in.
Drug policy is a crucial topic in the country today. Substance abuse, as well as drug-related crime rates, are a huge problem. This is a fact. The way to fix the problem of substance abuse, however, is widely disagreed upon. Some think that stricter laws regarding drug possession and use would solve the problem, while others believe that loosening the restrictions would be a better option. The issue of legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, is one that is debated all the time. In fact, in 1995, a survey was conducted on the most important policy issues and eighty five percent of the country placed drugs at the top of the list (Falco 1996). Many states are actually beginning to decriminalize, and even legalize, marijuana use for medical perposes. In fact, two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana for anybody over the age of twenty-one since 2012. (Hawken, Caulkins, Kilmer, and Kleiman 2013)
“Office of National Drug Control Policy.” The White House. USA, 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .
The following is a summary of the President’s policy emphasizing on the President’s stated objectives. Stopping drug use before it starts, providing drug treatment, and attacking the economic basis of the drug trade are the main positions the President stressed. The President’s policy was analyzed by the important tasks played by law enforcement, schools and the community. The apprehension of major drug organizations will be explained how they attribute to the policy. The effectiveness of the President’s drug policy will also be evaluated.
“The Latin Christians looted the city, destroying sacred books, vandalizing churches, and carrying huge amounts of gold, jewels, Christian relics, and works of art back to Western Europe.” Once they set up kingdoms on Byzantine lands, they tried forcing Latin forms of Christianity on the Byzantine Greeks. Although in 1261, “the Westerners were driven from Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire regained its independence,” its power was majorly weakened. The consequences that they experienced were, “crushing taxes, decreasing agricultural production, declining trade, and civil war continued to sap the tottering empire.” The Byzantine empire eventually came to an end.
Throughout the early centuries of the church’s existence, the Roman government suppressed the spread of Christianity. Many emperors did their absolute best to try to stop the Christian populace from spreading with none succeeding (demonstrated by the fact that Christianity is still in existence today). It was not until 322 A.D. when Constantine united all of Europe under his throne that Christianity could be spread without threat of persecution. Under Constantine, Christianity, in terms of numerically, thrived. Councils were held, doctrine developed, and great strides were taken in order to have Christianity be one catholic church. However, in the next couple centuries, the church would grow apart and rulers would fall resulting in mass turmoil throughout the Western Empire. The Roman Catholic Church (as it would later be called) used these events to secure its grip over the entire western empire.
The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism as, “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological”. Whereas the Belgium Red Cross says that terrorism is committed “for the purpose of intimidating the population, forcing a third party to act or destablishing or destroying the fundamental structures of a country or of an international organization”.