Islam vs. Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Islam vs. Christianity - Essay Example Nonetheless, this essay will address the comparison between Islam and Christianity from the historical perspective, as well as how the significance of these religions in society, especially with regard to the influence these might have on rulers in society. The rise of Christianity can be traced from the early Byzantine and Justinian Empires. Emperor Justinian I championed the Christian culture, which is evident in various levels of the Byzantine culture. Justinian is heralded for shaping church policies. He therefore, got rid of the former religious practices, including the practice of paganism. For instance, Justinian declared an expulsion for pagan teachers for the academy of Athens (The Metropolitan Museum of Art web). Overall, it is during the early Benzatium that Christianity spread, and replaced the gods of antiquity. On the other hand, the spread of Islamic religion can be traced to the Abbasid dynasty. The Abbasid dynasty is highly associated with the rise of civilization. T his later spread to other parts of the empire. In addition to various aspects of civilization in this dynasty, there was progress in science and this led to the development of Islamic sciences, which fell under the category of religious sciences. Nonetheless, this comprised branches such as Hadith, Fiqh, and Tafsir. The dominant religion in Abbasid dynasty was, therefore, Islam. However, there was religious tolerance in the dynasty. There is a relationship between religion and power, especially, when focus is on the past civilizations. The rulers in past societies drew considerably on religion to rule their subjects (Brisch Web). An example of this is the aspect of divine kingship in Mesopotamia. Basing the notion of religion, Naram-Sin of Akkad, who was the first ruler of Mesopotamia, declared himself a divine king. This aspect is also called self-deification. Other rulers that took up self-deification include Shulgi (2095–2049 BCE) of the Third Dynasty of Urm, Rim-Sin of La rsa (1822–1763 BCE) and Hammurabi of Babylon (1792–1750 BCE) (Brisch Web). Nonetheless, in self-deification, the kings compared themselves gods, who needed to be worshipped, like the one divine God. Nonetheless, a major reason for this was to prove that they were powerful, and to expand their area influence, as well as legitimize their powers. Rulers in some of the past civilizations also used religion to guide people. Nonetheless, the laws of some civilizations in the past were drawn from religion. However, the relationship between law and religion is changing throughout history (Barzilai Web). The use of natural law in past societies can be closely associated with religion. Nonetheless, among the Israelites, the Mosaic Law, including the Ten Commandments was used. These were considered as laws from God himself. In the epic of Gilgamesh, the rulers had a different perception of the gods. Mainly, the rulers feared and revered the gods, as they considered the gods dange rous. Therefore, in this case, self-deification as in the case of Mesopotamia was impossible, as the gods would possibly destroy any ruler that would attempt this (Carnahan Web). In addition, the gods in the epic of Gilgamesh were considered dangerous for humans. For instance, unlike in the Mosaic Law and Abrahamic covenant, the gods in the

Why Are College Students Stressed What Can We Do Essay

Why Are College Students Stressed What Can We Do - Essay Example ausal factors that contribute to stress within the life college student as well as some prescriptive changes that can be utilized as a function of reducing the overall level stress. In such a manner, it is the hope of this particular author that the information which will be put forward can be useful not only in seeking to further define this negative externality of you but in seeking to promote best practices that will improve the quality of life, health, and stress reduction of the individual that might otherwise high stress during their college years. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, there are two types of pressures that are inherent within the university system. The first of these has to do with pressures that are placed upon the student by the University and those that are placed on the student by none other than the student themselves. Although these definitions may seem somewhat simplistic, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which these stressors impact upon the student are various and multifaceted. Taking the example of the way in which the University creates expectations that stress the student, this can of course be understood in terms of race, scholarships, class standing, and other norms that exist within the University system. Whereas it is true that it is necessary for a student to put forth maximum effort as a function of learning the material at hand, most educators would currently agree that the University education has become so focused upon this component of education that the learning of the mate rial, is a distant third or fourth in terms of overall priorities (Pedersen 623). This is a fundamental drawback and weakness that is exhibited within the current educational system in colleges and universities around the country. In order for this to be ameliorated, it will be necessary for universities and colleges to insist that educational attainment and knowledge acquisition is the main determinant by which success can be judged;