For Christianity, the 12th century represented a century of both internal and external changes. While the crusades sought to impose a “universalized Christian faith” on those outside of the religion, the internal mechanisms of the Church began to promote reformations that encouraged a unification of the “doctrine, liturgy, piety and politics within Western Christendom”. During this century, Christians began to experience a cohesive and sacred community. Anselm of Canterbury and Peter Abelard made theological advancements that allowed for the unification of the Church – and for a drastic change in Jewish-Christian relations. Their theories of atonement began to shape the way in which Christian’s approached Jews in the questions of God. While Anselm’s satisfaction theory of atonement began to promote an appeal to reason among Christians towards Jews, Abelard’s moral influence theory of atonement had the potential on encouraging religious tolerance. Due to the political climate of this time, Anselm’s theory took hold and became the prominent theological arguments against Jews. To understand the significance that the evolution of the theory of atonement has had on Christian-Jewish relations, it must first be understood what the theory of atonement implies in Christian practice. As Linwood Urban explains, the doctrine of atonement or restitution is: “…the primary response of God to the problem of evil. It states that the unification of the world with God’s plan for it will bring about the eventual conquest of suffering and evil, if not in this world, at least in the world to come.” The fall of mankind with Adam and Eve caused an imbalance in the relations between God and mankind. To achieve salvation, this inequity had ... ... middle of paper ... ...Alister, McGrath. Christian Theology: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (Blackwell, 1997): 407-408. Print. Carroll, James. "Anselm: Why God Became Man." Constantine's Sword: the Church and the Jews, a History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 278-89. Print. Kessler, Edward. "Medieval Relations." An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ., 2010. 102-23. Print. Mattison, Mark M. "The Meaning of the Atonement." Auburn University. True Grace Ministries. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . Plantinga, Richard J., Thomas R. Thompson, and Matthew D. Lundberg. "The Reconciling Work of Jesus Christ." An Introduction to Christian Theology. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2010. 257-83. Print. Urban, Linwood. "The Atonement." A Short History of Christian Thought. New York: Oxford UP, 1986. 101-24. Print.
In his essay, "The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy," Peter van Inwagen alleges a set of reasons that God may have for allowing evil to exist on earth. Inwagen proposes the following story – throughout which there is an implicit assumption that God is all-good (perfectly benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient) and deserving of all our love. God created humans in his own likeness and fit for His love. In order to enable humans to return this love, He had to give them the ability to freely choose. That is, Inwagen holds that the ability to love implies free will. By giving humans free will, God was taking a risk. As Inwagen argues, not even an omnipotent being can ensure that "a creature who has a free choice between x and y choose x rather than y" (197)1. (X in Inwagen’s story is ‘to turn its love to God’ and y is ‘to turn its love away from God,’ towards itself or other things.) So it happened that humans did in fact rebel and turn away from God. The first instance of this turning away is referred to as "the Fall." The ruin of the Fall was inherited by all humans to follow and is the source of evil in the world. But God did not leave humans without hope. He has a plan "whose working will one day eventuate in the Atonement (at-one-ment) of His human creatures with Himself," or at least some of His human creatures (198). This plan somehow involves humans realizing the wretchedness of a world without God and turning to God for help.
It also follows that God, not as benevolent as could be hoped, prefers the maximization of good (2) as opposed to the minimization of evil (1). This is disquieting for the individual who might be the victim of suffering a “greater good.”
forced to live in a part of Russia known as The Pale (which is now in
The Passion of the Christ, by Mel Gibson has taken America by storm. In the US alone, it made $83,848,082 its first weekend. As of April 25, 2004 it has grossed worldwide over $364 billion. Not bad for a movie with a budget of $30 million.
In all human history, there are rare occasions of great individuals who not only have profound effect on future generations, but who also stand the test of time and scrutiny for millennia. These people are often thought to be great leaders of society or business but when we go back even farther in time, the great thinkers and societal leaders and influencers were more often also some of the great religious influences of their day. Religious influences like Origen of Alexandria and Tertullian, even the great philosophers like Socrates and Plato have all left a make on society and Christianity. This essay briefly introduces Athanasius of Alexander and Eusebius of Caesarea, two major influences of the Christian belief that were significant in shaping some of the fundamental principles of Christian faith and principles.
For the author the goodness of God remains despite the reality and face of evil in the world because evil is the result of man’s weakness, of man using his free will to veer away from the laws and opt to live in sin. God in all his power shows the utmost respect on man’s freedom by not imposing his will on men but by respecting his choice – to be good or to be evil.
attacked them in their homes. Jews had to sell their businesses and other property to
Every religious group has suffered a time when their religion was not considered to be popular or right. Out of all of these religious groups that have suffered, no one group has suffered so much as that of the Jewish religion. They have been exiled from almost every country that they have ever inhabited, beginning with Israel, and leading all the was up to Germany, France, Spain, England, and Russia. Not only have they been exiled but also they have suffered through torture, punishment, and murder. Thus, because of the history of the religion, the Jewish people have become a very resilient people. They have survived thousands of years carrying their religion with them from one country to the next and never loosing their faith. They have traveled form Eastern Europe, to the United States and have finally managed today to settle comfortable all over North America. The Jewish religion has suffered tremendously throughout the centuries, and unfortunately it did not become any easier for them during the twentieth century.
When compared to each-other, each of the religion’s approach to justice and forgiveness is remarkably similar. Although the customs and standards may vary widely, and in fact vary even within different sects of each religion, justice and forgiveness operate on largely the same principle: man’s nature is to act against God’s justice, but man is capable of repairing his relationship with God through the process of forgiveness.
A foundational belief in Christianity is the idea that God is perfectly good. God is unable to do anything evil and all his actions are motives are completely pure. This principle, however, leads to many questions concerning the apparent suffering and wrong-doing that is prevalent in the world that this perfect being created. Where did evil come from? Also, how can evil exist when the only eternal entity is the perfect, sinless, ultimately good God? This question with the principle of God's sovereignty leads to even more difficult problems, including human responsibility and free will. These problems are not limited to our setting, as church fathers and Christian philosophers are the ones who proposed some of the solutions people believe today. As Christianity begins to spread and establish itself across Europe in the centuries after Jesus' resurrection, Augustine and Boethius provide answers, although wordy and complex, to this problem of evil and exactly how humans are responsible in the midst of God's sovereignty and Providence.
Anselm’s theory of atonement has been associated the idea of vicarious atonement (Victor 120). The one popular version is known as the doctrine of satisfaction and is associated with Anselm’s. Anselm thought of sin as a violation against divine justice (Albl 271). If individuals were to lie or cheat this doctrine would consider that divine order of justice would be instable. To refurbish the stability of the world something must be thru to reestablish the stability. Human beings violating the way of order would put themselves in debt to God and must repay that debt. The major factor of atonement is making right what was wrong. The only way to receive Christ is to accept him and seek forgiveness for the sins committed. True repentance and
Christianity is not a system of ideas but a religion, a way of salvation. But as a religion becomes a distinguishable strand of human history, it absorbs philosophical assumptions from its environment and generates new philosophical constructions and arguments both in the formation of doctrines and in their defense against philosophical objections. Moreover, philosophical criticism from both within and without the Christian community has influenced the development of its
Judaism has most interested me, because of the respect I have for the history of the Jewish people and their ability to beat all odds. The perception of God in Judaism is monotheistic; in 2012 the world's Jewish population was estimated to be 13.75 million-according to Professor Sergio Della Pergola (2012) a Hebrew University demographics expert; that means an estimated 13.75 million Jews followed the tradition/religion of Judaism. The ultimate reality in Judaism is God; The Jews view God as eternal- the ultimate creator of the universe, and the source of righteousness. God has the power to intervene in the lives of the Jews. God has been called upon throughout Hebrew biblical history in many different names (ex. Elohim,YHWH), although all names reference the same God.
...sensible validation in catastrophic suffering, and we must not justify it as part of some divine purpose or for the greater good of humanity in the afterlife; humanity needs justice on earth. Such need to justify cruelty and agony eliminates the incentive for victims and their families to overcome sorrow, grief, and misery, especially if the explanation lies in the after-life. An appropriate response must present solutions to prevent suffering, and an initiative to spread human compassion, thereby overcome suffering. One response is to keep protesting against injustices on human beings, by alleviating poverty, violence, torture, child abuse, and any other sort of injustice. If we are to hold the argument that God suffers with those who suffer, it would be much more justifying to end the suffering rather than to vindicate it, and accept that suffering is God’s will.
Although, God had more than one solution to the problem of sin by humanity. “Simply in order that through this gift of Godlikeness in themselves they may be able to perceive the Image Absolute,...