Jesus, Paul, And Mohammed: Com :: essays research papers

Michael Hart is an amateur historian and also the author of The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. In this book Hart lists in order the people he believes to be the top 100 most influential people. In this essay I am going to look at three specific people, and compare Hart’s ranking of their impact on society against my own. The three people are Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity; Paul of Tarsus, Christianity’s most important missionary; and Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Since religion did play a considerable role in the shaping of civilizations, it is no coincidence that these three people are respectively the three most important people in the founding of the top two religions in the world. Also Hart’s ranking of these three men will be analyzed, and compared to my own rankings of these three influential men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Hart’s book, The 100, he regards all three of these men as being very important in contributing to the rise of two great religions. In his ranking of the top 100 Muhammad, Jesus, and St. Paul rank one, three, and six respectively. Now right from this statement most people would believe that Hart is already wrong, and that Jesus should be one. In some sense those who believe that Jesus are right because the amount of Christians in the world almost doubles that of the Moslems. Yet if we carefully look at Hart’s reasons for ranking them the way he does, you would see that his ranking seems more understandable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First we should start by analyzing Hart’s reasons for ranking Muhammad one. His main point for ranking him one, above Jesus, is because “ Muhammad played a more important role in the development of Islam then Jesus did on the development of Christianity';(9). He believes this statement to be true because St. Paul complemented Jesus in helping to spread the belief of Christianity. Though Jesus was responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts it was St. Paul who was the main developer of its theology, its proselytizer, and for writing a large portion of the New Testament. While on the other hand Muhammad was the only one responsible for the teachings of Islam, and also to the moral and main ethical principles. This is shown in the idea that the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, contains the teachings of Muhammad, and that his teachings are said to be the words of God. Jesus, Paul, And Mohammed: Com :: essays research papers Michael Hart is an amateur historian and also the author of The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. In this book Hart lists in order the people he believes to be the top 100 most influential people. In this essay I am going to look at three specific people, and compare Hart’s ranking of their impact on society against my own. The three people are Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity; Paul of Tarsus, Christianity’s most important missionary; and Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Since religion did play a considerable role in the shaping of civilizations, it is no coincidence that these three people are respectively the three most important people in the founding of the top two religions in the world. Also Hart’s ranking of these three men will be analyzed, and compared to my own rankings of these three influential men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Hart’s book, The 100, he regards all three of these men as being very important in contributing to the rise of two great religions. In his ranking of the top 100 Muhammad, Jesus, and St. Paul rank one, three, and six respectively. Now right from this statement most people would believe that Hart is already wrong, and that Jesus should be one. In some sense those who believe that Jesus are right because the amount of Christians in the world almost doubles that of the Moslems. Yet if we carefully look at Hart’s reasons for ranking them the way he does, you would see that his ranking seems more understandable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First we should start by analyzing Hart’s reasons for ranking Muhammad one. His main point for ranking him one, above Jesus, is because “ Muhammad played a more important role in the development of Islam then Jesus did on the development of Christianity';(9). He believes this statement to be true because St. Paul complemented Jesus in helping to spread the belief of Christianity. Though Jesus was responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts it was St. Paul who was the main developer of its theology, its proselytizer, and for writing a large portion of the New Testament. While on the other hand Muhammad was the only one responsible for the teachings of Islam, and also to the moral and main ethical principles. This is shown in the idea that the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, contains the teachings of Muhammad, and that his teachings are said to be the words of God.

History of Russian Thought Essay

Russian political and social thought remains a mystery to many historians, often insisting that Russia neatly follow western European categories of development and thought. Rejecting this odd sort of Euro-centrism is the first task of the intellectual historian, and from this point of view has Walicki made his career as the west’s premier historian of Russian political theory. Given the fact that this book is 467 pages, it is not this review’s intention to summarize the contents of this work, but rather to concern itself with method and the approach to this complex and ill-understood subject. A good place to start might be the basic class distinctions in Russian society. It is no accident that the book begins with two highly related objects: the rise of â€Å"enlightenment† thought under Catherine II (the Great) and, concomitant with this rise, the development of an elitist, aristocratic opposition to the crown. This start of some sort of Enlightenment-based criticism of monarchy derives both from western sources, that specifically of Montesquieu, as well as ancient Russian sources, that specifically of the ancient boyar duma, or elite assembly of the land. Hence, the stage is set for the remainder of the book: the constant fluctuation, often confusing, between modern, western models of political critique pleasantly seasoned with large doses of ancient political institutions. It is never made clear, and it is likely impossible to make clear, which element took center stage, the â€Å"west† or the ancient institutions. Among the Russian Slavophiles, major critics of Peter the Great and his western reforms, it is made clear. The Slavophiles, a specifically mystic, and Christian movement, almost Rousseauian in its basic social theory, based their approach on the criticism of the crown on the ancient Russian institutions of the peasant commune, the boyar Duma and the ancient piety of the Russian Church. Hence, early on, Walicki crates a typological distinction that defines the entire work: that between the more or less western-style, liberal rejection of monarchical absolutism, and a more peasant-based and communal criticism of the centralization of royal power. Neither approach rejects monarchy per se, but they criticize the development of the Petrine state, that is the centralized, expensive, militarized and bureaucratic absolutism introduced into Russia by Peter the Great as incompatible with Russian traditions. In terms of this typology, the most extreme of the first group might be the Decembrist movement, especially in the radical masonic societies of Paul Pestel. Unlike many historians, Walicki refuses to ignore the powerful part played by Masons in 18th and 19th century Russian history. The Decembrists, like nearly all opposition movements in the mid 19th century, was both Masonic and aristocratic, having few roots among the common people. Ultimately, Pestel rejected monarchy altogether, demanding an aristocratic based popular assembly elected by full and universal suffrage without property qualifications. He promised Poland its independence, and even became the first Russian Zionist, holding that Jews who refused to assimilate into the new Russia would be sent to Palestine to create a new Jewish nation with government assistance. He was joined in the revolutionary effort by the Society of United Slavs, also aristocratic and military based, who fought with Pestel over ideological concerns, chief of which was the place of old Russian institutions in the new society. The United Slavs, slightly less radical then Pestel’s organization, sought to base the new democratic order on the old Russian institutions of the duma and collective farming arrangements. Now, while the Decembrists ultimately failed, largely due to internal divisions and their lack of understanding of Russian conditions, the real significance of these movements was to give the aristocracy a public program run by semi-secret organizations, in the Decembrist case, military societies. The very fact that these groups were wealthy and aristocratic proves their limitations, and does show, as Walicki insists, that there is no distinction between class and political ideology, since political ideology was largely dictated by class status, at least in the sense that Russian nobles viewed themselves as heir to old Russia rather than to Petrine Russia. But just what they meant by â€Å"old Russia† is another story, and itself is a powerful subtext to this work. The approach to Freemasonry in Russia is worth a review in itself. Rarely dealt with in a serious way, the Masons are depicted by Walicki as the last refuge of the old aristocracy both accepting and rejecting the western Enlightenment. The failure in this otherwise excellent section is whether or not the public statements of the Masonic organizers were truly the belief of the order, or were simply exoteric utterances of the â€Å"initiated† speaking to a â€Å"backward† society. Nevertheless, Masonry (and Walicki holds that these were mostly funded by foreign sources) became a sort of pseudo-religion for the alienated old aristocrats long pushed out of power by the distant, upstart Petersburg bureaucracy. It is clear that the Masons were strictly clubs for the wealthy, sought to usher in a new â€Å"golden age† of history and looked down upon finance. These rather odd confluences of ideas simply tell us what little the Masons ere willing to speak about in public, or, even more, the fact that the aristocracy was using Masonry to challenge the organization of the Petersburg bureaucracy. Either way, masonry was a means whereby the old aristocracy could organize their forces and pool resources, but whether there was a political program that was basically agreed upon is another matter. Pestel’s group came the closest. It is rare that the western Enlightenment is imported wholesale into Russia. In fact, Pestel is an exception in that regard. At first, the famed Russian polemicist Peter Chaadaev held that western Europe should be imported to Russia, since, as he became famous for saying, â€Å"Russia has no history. Chaadaev made himself infamous in Russia by holding that there was no â€Å"Russian history† until Peter the Great made elite Russia European, slyly assuming that historical nations are European, technically advanced and based on baconian scientific models of administration. But his fascination with such things faded early on in his career, as both the revolutionary fervor of France and the dominance of the bourgeois repelled him. For Chaadaev, â€Å"Old Europe† was that of the medieval aristocracy rather than the modern, revolutionary bourgeois. Later figures like Alexander Herzen began their own careers with the same approach, only to actually live in England and France in exile, eventually returning to Russia with a loathing for European fashions and political ideologies. But all of these distinctions can be brought under our original methodological heading: the aristocratic opposition to the crown and the forms that this upper class agitation can take. The problem with this approach is that it leaves out the peasantry as a politically active part of the population. The fact that Walicki has no reference to the Old Believers and their strict, Russian Orthodox anarchism that numbered about 20 million followers by the middle of the 19th century is a major, glaring fault in the work itself. But, without saying so explicitly, this work seems to revolve around the aristocracy and the modes that their opposition to the Petrine state took over time. But the positive side to this approach is that it proves, contrary to typical courses in political theory, that radicalism in Russia was an upper class phenomenon and had few roots with the peasants, who were inclined to the Old Belief. Class status here meant that the higher one found oneself in the economic or aristocratic hierarchy, the more you were inclined to oppose the state (which itself, was based on a service bureaucracy rather than the old aristocracy) and the more one was to lean to radical theories of either economics or politics. The smattering of detail this review offers seeks to suggest that the aristocratic splits in Russian society are responsible for the development of its political ideas. Even more, if a thesis of this work can be found, this is likely it. Masonry, materialism, communitarianism, and even Marxism (though much later) all stem from the various battles among aristocratic and otherwise upper class factions. What they had in common was that they were wealthy, urban and sought to bring about a semi-utopia by force and revolution, bringing the â€Å"dark masses† to a â€Å"true knowledge† of their destiny and social importance. Hence, all of these movements opposed the monarchy in one sense or another. With very few exceptions, these movements all began rather enamored with western ideas, only to be repelled by them once actual contact with westerners became a fact. But the enlightenment was not rejected, only dressed in Russian clothing. Only the Leninists broke this mold, importing Marxism from Germany with few modifications, without the slightest concession to Russia as a cultural entity. The very fact that Leninism was so bizarre in Russian history shows how alien it was from currents of even the most radical thought in Russia and hence, how it was forced to impose itself by violence. What seems to link all Russian radical ideas together is that they were not Leninists, in the sense that they all looked to Russian tradition for the germs of radical institution-building. Hence, one can conclude by holding that Russian radicalism sought to build enlightenment ideas on old Russian institutions. A project destroyed by Lenin, largely never to be revived.

“In Flanders Fields” A symbolism analysis Essay

â€Å"In Flanders Fields† is about World War I victims in the cemetery. When we read it, we are meant to feel sympathy for the dead victims of the war who rest in that field because we see their wonderful lives before the war and how it was ended fighting for their country. We are supposed to think of them and remember the war and all other wars and live fully the life they made for us. We are supposed carry on what they did. The deceased in this poem are afraid that we won’t remember them and won’t carry on their efforts and patriotism, even though the poppies grow in the graveyard for remembrance. We have to carry on the torch for them and for ourselves. From this poem, we also feel the fear of dying because those in this poem who once lived and fought for their country are now nothing but crosses in a graveyard. This poem uses figurative language to get its very poignant message across. Mainly, it brings the dead back to life to narrate this poem. The first stanza of the poem provides visual imagery of the graveyard. The poppies blowing between the crosses are symbolic of remembrance. The larks, â€Å"still bravely singing,† are personified to express bravery, which is a human emotion. The â€Å"guns below† are the ceremonies held for these men who bravely fought. Basically we are shown the beauty of the graveyard and signs of people remembering the deceased. The second stanza introduces the leader to not only their death, but also their life. Suddenly we feel sympathy for the young people buried here, whose lives were ruined by terrible warfare. In the third stanza we are shown the anguish of their spirits. They are brought to life in this poem to send us their message. Their â€Å"failing hands† can not of course literally throw a torch, which is symbolic of the war effort and patriotism. This is simply meant to represent the legacy that they are leaving behind them. This stanza is a paradox of the first, saying that peace and remembrance does not come from mere ceremony, but from us living out their legacy. The message in this poem is for all to live and understand.

Art Is Long Life Is Short Essay

Art is a one of the most wonderful things in our life. It is an expression of inner thoughts and beauty in our life. It helps people to understand and feel deeply the all beauty and splendor of our culture. Without the greatest masterpieces of past times we even couldn’t find out the development of our history. For example, the most wonderful treasures are Wonders of the World. Thanks to them we know about the potentials of human creativity, thoughts, and, of course, about our past. Basically, the phrase means that great art, whether it is music, painting or poetry will far outlive their creators. For example, William Shakespeare. He passed away many centuries ago but his magnificent tragedies, comedies and sonnets are still alive. They will always be the greatest literature masterpieces of the world. And many artists, composers and poets were not famous inter vivos, their works were not popular or were fundamentally different with the demands of the government, and they live on the breadline. But after their deaths their works became appreciated at their true value. For example, one of the greatest Russian composer Modest Musorgsky did not manage to show his compositions to people openly, in all of their beauty because they were too sharp and truthful and, of course, his works were banned to perform. He was distraught and began drinking alcohol and died in destitution. But after his death, the time has changed and his masterpieces were appreciated and they are still one of the most wonderful music compositions of the world. The works of artists, composers, sculptures can go on for many generations. Life seems so incomparably short to great art. And we do not even notice how life goes. Life can end, but art is immortal. And all of the creators are also alive in their masterpieces and in our souls.

Reflective Cover Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflective Cover Letter - Essay Example It is a great pleasure that you will be convinced of my improvement in the use of rhetoric techniques, structure of essays, brainstorming varied ideas to support claims and communicating with the academic audience, as well as, making use of instructor feedback. It is evidently that writing has always been an idea that I really enjoyed from the first quarter given that English is my first language whether it was informational, essay or creative. It was my pleasure to learn that I had the ability to take English during my first year of college though I knew the assignments would be difficult. However, that was not the case as they appeared to be interesting, as a result of, the engaging topics. The best of work during the semester I have a great feeling were in the pieces assigned as: Shelter problem for cats and identifying situations to help the community. The first essay entailed a persuasive and analytical essay that focused on the identification of the subject matter and persuaded the audience of the problem and the recommended solutions. The latter entailed an informative and creative essay that gauged the writer’s skills in making well-structured arguments supported by valid evidence. I had a hard time in beginning these two tasks, however, with more reading materials from the tutor it was more exciting, and I was unable to stop once started. I felt that with the two essays my voice was evidently able to come through with meeting the requirements of the learning outcomes. The tutor introduced the aspect of drafting the progress of the essays and submitting them for corrections. Such an aspect enabled me to run spell checks and fixing typos. However, this quarter I am much into the understanding of the necessity of drafts. With my first trials during the beginning of the semester regarding these two essays it appears that I had no clear thesis, the paragraphs were

Scholarly Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scholarly Writing - Assignment Example Through critical reading (Douglas, 2000) and analysis of the author’s reasoning using one’s purpose, information presented and conclusion (Paul & Elder, 2003, Spring), it can be deduced that the increase in use of personal computers does not reflect the current status of â€Å"digital divide†. The issue of â€Å"digital divide† or its non-existence has been over-generalized by the author. There are governments that restrict the use of computers in their countries or censor certain information. With the current technology, access to digital information from the computer or internet can be connected other gadgets. Thus, the divide can be perpetrated by the government according to its internal policies, such as the ban imposed by UAE (access of internet and sending of messages) and Saudi Arabia (on sending of instant messages) on some Blackberry functions because the government cannot monitor them (Walls, 2010, August 2). The author has also cited the 2001 Bu siness Week release that more than 80 percent of secondary students are â€Å"plugged in†, meaning, that they are constantly using the computer and the internet. Being â€Å"plugged in† may refer not only to personal computer use at home since there are public places and internet cafes that allow computer use for a certain fee.

Change Agents Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Change Agents - Research Paper Example The change agent is unbiased and he looks for solutions to resolve the issue taking into considerations the needs of all parties involved. Resistance to change can negatively impact the plans to implement change at a company. The managers must communicate with their employees to explain to them how the change management initiatives will affect their job routines. Change initiatives often fail due to a lack of change management (Swati, 2012). Resistance to change can hinder the ability to change the culture of an organization. Management intervention is needed to resolve resistance to change (Mariana, Violeta, 2011). The managers have to demonstrate to the employees the benefits of the initiative. If resistance to change persists it can have devastating effects on a company. The efficiency and productivity of the workers decreases which hurts the profitability of the firm. Long periods of resistance to change can escalate into work strikes or even complete shutdown of an operation. Managers have to react in a proactive manner to handle resistance to change effectively. Mariana, P., Violeta, S. (2011). Opportunity to Reduce Resistance to Change in a Process of Organizational Change. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 10(2). p698-702. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from EBSCOhost database. Swati, M. (2012). Managing Employee Resistance to Change a Comparative Study of Indian Organizations and NMCS in Delhi-NCR Region. Researchers World: Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce, 3(4). p64-71. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from EBSCOhost