Scholarly study of religious figures of the past – especially those with a contemporary resonance – raises particular challenges. In this essay, we will show the difficulty to gather reliable primary sources, as literary works have often a hagiographic tone and controversial elements might have been omitted by followers in the best interests of their faith. We will also show that preconceived ideas or contemporary issues can lead to unintended misinterpretations in order to fit ready-made pictures. The essay will draw examples from the scholar study of the lives of Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, Regina Jones (first female Rabbi) and Hasan al-Banna (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood).
Primary sources are fundamental building blocks in the process of historical study: the historian must gain access to sufficient sources and handle them with appropriate reservation. When studying religious figures of the past, we might well have inherited overwhelming ancient literary works about their deeds and actions, but these sources are often of little help as they are mostly hagiographic – excessively uncritical and adulatory. For instance, we have at our disposal an important corpus of ‘near-contemporary’ Christian sources about Jesus’ life, as the ‘New Testament’ of the Christian Bible, the ‘General Epistles’ and non-canonical sources, as ‘The Gospel of Thomas’ and other Gnostic materials (Newman, 2013, pp. 20-21). These works tell the sacred history of Jesus Christ: his miraculous birth, his numerous miracles (as healing the sick), his crucifixion and resurrection in order to bring Salvation to humanity. These religious sources are certainly important to understand the meaning of Jesus Christ for his followers and the emergence of early Christianit...
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...ygiene and painkillers at the missions, the secrecy of her accounting and her acquaintance with controversial figures as dictators. This will help us to avoid being biased by the sense of familiarity we have about Mother Teresa (a selfless person welcoming the poor and sick) and address some of the controversial issues around her.
Furthermore, in order to have a scholar perspective on the debate, I selected an article written by sociologist Gëzim Alpion, who also authored the book Mother Teresa: Saint of Celebrity?. In his article about Mother Teresa published in 2006 in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, Alpion discusses the nature of her celebrity and her relationship with the media. Considering Alipion’s expertise on the subject and the fact that the article was published in a peer-reviewed journal, it can certainly serve as a good scholarly source.
The two most polarizing and influential religious figures of time, Jesus Christ and Muhammad, have been considered to be two people who, at two different times, attempted to bring messages that would change the landscape of the spirituality of the world and gain followings from the masses. Timothy George shows the two for being responsible for creating two of the three historical religions in the world, with both descended from the third, Judaism, in his article in Christianity Today. While both may have lived a parallel path for some parts and shared a similar message amongst a few issues, they severely disagreed in their teachings on others, and encountered different events in their life span, especially towards the end. From their lives’, to their actions, and to their teachings, this paper will examine the similarities and differences in the two great “teachers” of the religious movements of the Anno Domini age, and how vastly contrasting the two truly were at the core of their leadership and values. The heart of Islam and Christianity, examined to the core of their founders.
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
To begin, Mother Teresa stands as a strong activist from India, who deserves recognition for her tremendous actions. Mother Teresa, founder of a religious group of nuns in Calcutta, India, devoted her life to aiding sick and poor people throughout the world. I see Mother Teresa as an important figure to depict, since she dedicated her life to helping other and even inspired others to do the same. Born in war-torn Albania, Mother Teresa survived her childhood and at 19 joined the Sisters of Loreto in India. She served with missionary order of nuns for 20 years, until she had a realization of her life’s mission. She found that she needed to help the poor and sick. So, Mother Teresa descended into the slums of Calcutta and began the Sisters of Charity. From there, she led the Sisters of Charity in ministering to the sick and hungry by giving them much needed food and live. Mother Teresa received local reconviction; but in 1969, after a documentary on her work, she became a celebrity and was deemed a modern day saint. Mother Teresa used this to increase awareness of her work, thus benefiting the poor and sick further. She gave speeches all over the world emphasizing the struggle of the poor. Before her death, Mother Teresa had met a large number of world l...
The content and structure of this section is largely based off of Mark Gabriel’s Jesus and Muhammad. I strongly encourage anyone reading this essay to read through Gabriel’s book in its entirety. My writing will focus on Muhammad’s life timeline, which is interesting in and of itself, but it is incredibly valuable to see the life of Muhammad side by side with the life of Jesus. Gabriel does just that.
Voig, Desmond. Mother Teresa Her People and Her Work. New York: Nachiketa Publication, 1976. Print.
On August 26, 1910, in the country of Macedonia, Mother Teresa was born. She would grow up and accomplish many remarkable achievements. She taught in India for seventeen years before she experienced her 1946 “call within a call” to dedicate herself to caring for the poor and sick. She established centers for the aged, disabled, blind and a leper colony. In addition, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. It all began when she left for Ireland to begin her religious work, leaving her family and speaking a language few knew. Every aspect of her life, from her early years to her later years, are fascinating and builds in to her ministry to the week and poor.
Richard P. McBrien. Lives of the Saints: from Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa. 2001. (Reference BX4655.3 .M33 2001) In addition to the lives of holy women and men (both canonized and uncanonized), this volume includes articles on the politics of canonization and the differences between various schools of Christian spirituality.
The life of Jesus is one that is often discussed and debated among scholars and authors since the time Jesus walked this earth. Gerd Theissen’ s work, Shadow of the Galilean, takes the unique perspective of a grain merchant who has been enlisted by Pilate to find out information on various religious sects and report back to him. After Andreas, the grain merchant’s, first report he is given the task of finding out more about this Jesus who is gaining quite a following. Pilate and the Romans want to know if he is a threat to them. This book follows Andreas as he goes on a journey to find out more about Jesus from various sources for his report to the Romans.
Saint Teresa is very influential in her works of service. She has inspired many to take on a life of hope in service and helping others. When you see a person who carries themselves like mother Teresa does, she helps those who people are afraid to be around and don't want to even look at from the goodness of her heart. In all the situations she's been in, many people would have ran and went into hiding instead of standing up for others and being helpful. She challenges us to a life of service because of her faith. She stood up for what she believed in, and that's how she's such a good role model.
For the layman, familiarity with the major religions stems from the stories that are associated with them. Using the narratives that are derived from the sacred texts is the most prominent way in which our society identifies the Western religions. The Jewish tradition is best correlated to stories like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Seas, for example, as are the many tales of the miracles of Jesus connected to Christianity. This essay will present narratives as an easy method of providing the basic groundwork for the Western religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because of their simplicity and easily transmittable nature. Furthermore, narratives impart many of the rules, laws, and moral fundamentals for these faiths, and are used by religious writers as a novel method of initiating discussion or providing a parallel for other narratives.
Lev, Michael A. "The Entire World Says 'Goodbye' and 'Godspeed' to Mother Teresa". Chicago Tribune, reprinted by The Providence Sunday Journal, September 14, 1997,
Author, William E. Phipps, made an excellent comparison between Muhammad and Jesus in this book and gives the readers an insight into the background of Muslim and Christian religions. Phipps made it very obvious that these two men were dynamic spiritual leaders of the world’s two of the most influential religions. Although they were separated by more than six centuries, they led extraordinarily similar lives. He believed both Jesus and Muhammad represented the same God, taught about God’s love for mankind, and claimed that their way was the truth. Their lives have impacted millions of people into believing in one true God. They had humble beginnings, provided new teachings, introduced revolutionary new paths for their followers, and they had an enormous impact on the way people view spirituality. They never wrote a book; however, their followers recorded the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life and words in the New Testament, and detailed account of Muhammad’s revelations from God in Quran. Muhammad was able to unite different groups of Arabs under Islam, while Jesus brought reconciliation between God and mankind.
In this paper, I will examine Jesus’ resurrection from the dead because, according to many scholars, there is no other event in the life of Jesus that is as significant. In order to better comprehend the magnitude of this event, I will begin by looking at what can be discerned from the Resurrection of Jesus. Then, I will explore the two different kinds of resurrection testimony that there are: the confessional tradition and narrative tradition. For the confessional tradition, I will look at a few examples including St. Paul’s confession in First Corinthians which is composed of four parts: Jesus’ death, the question of the empty tomb, the third day, and the witnesses. For the narrative tradition, I will briefly examine the two sources of information
Mother Teresa is one of the most recognized women in the world. Teresa brought in a revolutionary change in the world with her positive thoughts and love for humanity. Her missionary work started way back 1931 when she was still a little girl. She joined the Nuns as a kid in 1931, and she was later named Teresa from Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. It was in respect and honor of the Saints of Theresa. Mother Teresa’s missions were concentrated around helping the poor people with their basic needs such as food, water and shelter. She also demonstrated a lot of interest in taking care of the weak and defenseless people in the society. For example, it has been recorded that she spent a lot of time caring for the elderly, disabled and injured. At the same
Talbert, Charles H. Reading John : A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles. Macon, Ga: Smyth & Helwys Pub, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 27, 2014).