The biggest question about life and why we are here is God. What is most important about God is how you view him. I view God as being someone that understands everything and he knows everything too, but most importantly he has made each one of us like him and so He cares for each one of us. There are some things that help me understand God a lot better.

One thing that helps me to understand god better is a tree for several reasons. A tree makes seeds just like it and hopes they will grow. A tree also adapts to each individual habitat just like god does in every relationship. Although, in some relationships god might parish because of simple factors in one’s life and this is just like a tree because sometimes a tree might die because of the harsh weather in a certain place.

Another thing that reminds me of god is a chameleon. A chameleon reminds me of god because it can loose an arm and regenerate a new one. God in a sense can do the same thing, like when one questions god and some important aspects of God are lost in one’s life but they can eventually grow back. Another instance might be if someone holds high a value in their life, but then someone encourages them not to hold that value any more. In time they might learn that that value lost is again important so they might regenerate that value again.

God is like our sun. God is life giving. The sun helps me remember God is all that I need to get through life. It helps me to understand that it is the key to life. God keeps things alive and made them living in the first place. And God is always there throughout my entire life.

In the Egyptian life death was considered not such a bad thing. Death was an opportunity to move on to a better life. The Egyptians believed their life was not complete if they have not died. Death is an important thing in Egyptian life because they feel like they have not reached their full potential. In the Egyptian religion they believe that you don’t accomplish any thing unless you are at your after life.

After about 70 days in which the mummification took place, the mummy is placed in a coffin. Anything useful to the next life was prepared to be buried with the mummy. The last thing performed by the priest on the mummy was called the “Opening of the Mouth.” After placing the mummy in the coffin, the tomb was sealed.

The steps for mummification are that your first remove the lungs, stomach, liver and intestines through an abdominal incision on the left side of body. The brain is removed through the nose with an implement called a brain hook, it looked something like a crochet needle. The heart is remained on the body. After the organs were removed, the body was rinsed with wine, which helped to kill any remaining bacteria left in the body. Then it was covered and packed with a form of natural salt (called natron), and left to dry on the embalming table. After four days it would be blackened and shriveled,

Possessing even more power than it does mystery, religion has a great impact on the way people live their lives. Its writings justify our existence, provide a model of how to live, and also explain death or afterlife. Much of religion is left to interpretation, primarily from the writings handed down to us. These writings include, but are not limited to the Bible, the Quran, and several other works sacred to Eastern religions. It is through these texts that the ultimate goal of practicing religion is achieved: salvation or fulfillment.

Western religions, namely Christianity and Islam, have a similar idea of salvation. Their salvation derives in some way from a relationship with God. Hinduism, however, is focused on personal enlightenment. This spiritual belief could explain the vastly different lifestyles of the Eastern and Western world. For example, the East places much more respect on elderly because wisdom is a virtue. It is the key to their salvation. As far as the West is concerned, it is everybody for themselves. We even build our cities differently. Asia expands horizontally, blending in with the land. The West towers upward toward the sky, thus showing dominance by becoming closer to the heavens. Buildings, statues, and monuments are all vertically erected. The District of Columbia has strict height regulations on monuments. A statue’s importance is directly related to its height; the freedom monument is the tallest.

When I was a young child, I prayed to God every night for a little sister. I believe full heartedly that He would give me a little sister to be by my side, to laugh with, to cry with, to be my best friend. I’ll never forget the day, years later, I was able to hold my new baby sister in my arms. We all agreed to name her Faith; for I had faith in God he would grant me the joy of a sister. For me, faith is a gargantuan part of my life. My faith in God has given me the passion to live for Him. Oswald Chambers, a British bible teacher and one of my personal favorite devotional writers, interprets his idea of faith that is similar to mine.

“Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything. But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.” (Chambers)

Chambers is trying to explain that to have faith, you don’t need to do any background research on what or who you want to put your trust in. Faith is the immediate and fully capacitated trust in someone or something even if you are not completely able to understand its complexity. Even if I don’t know what He has in store for me, I know that God has a perfect plan for my life and I just need to be a willing servant to carry it out.

Faith has taken it’s meaning to a new level for me. While researching the virtuous quality of faith, I’ve realized how entirely challenging it is to have a faith-filled heart. To be able to have faith in something without wavering is an incredible display of surrendering any doubts and laying out your soul with confidence for a cause, person, or higher being…and that is something I plan on continuing. Faith has been depicted in my life as an everyday, every moment event. I’ve been reading the Bible consistently whenever possible – even in school. Sometimes I get teased for doing so, but, delving deeper into an understanding of my Faith in God is more important to me.

Listening to my mother illustrate what faith meant to her, meant a lot to me. One of the questions I asked her in my interview was “Do you believe faith makes you naïve to reality?” And her answer was ingenious. “I would be naïve to reality without faith. God is reality. And without faith, I would not know the fullness of reality, nor could I dwell on it.” I’ve always looked to my mother for guidance because I know that she is full of wisdom, but this comment was completely breathtaking. Many people do tend to doubt their faith in a higher power, but for me, the higher power is truth and I would be naïve not to accept His Holiness as being nothing but reality.

Another piece of wisdom that I thought was intriguing was the quote I came upon by A.W. Tozer which states “In this world men are judged by their ability to do. Faith dares us to fail.” This is an interesting quote because it seems to be bizarre and seemingly delusional assumption, when in fact, it is truly amazing. Having a faith in God allows to be happy no matter what the circumstance. Conquering the office, soaring above in the industry, sitting upon millions does not equate perpetual happiness. Having a faith in a higher being, knowing that he is in control of your life and will provide for you, gives one peace of mind.

In the opening section of the Apostolic Tradition, its purpose is made explicit. “We have proceeded to the summit of the tradition which befits the churches, in order that those who have been well taught by our exposition may guard that tradition which has remained up to now, and by recognizing it may remain firm” (Hippolytus 75). The need to record, establish and in the same vein, settle the matter on certain points concerning the Christian community is an indication in-itself that clarifications absolutely needed to be made. Because of one of its main tenets, that is, the belief in the existence of One and Only God, Christianity stood apart from all other religions. The exclusion of those who were members of particular professions and crafts was due to the inherent uniqueness of Christianity, which was in no way going to compromise its position in order to accommodate any other belief system. It could not merely blend into the syncretic nature of the religion of the Roman Empire. The restrictions were not trivial but purposely put into place in order to avoid Christianity going into a heretical or syncretic direction. The endeavour here, attributed to Hippolytus, was most certainly not an exercise in futility but a reaction to the issues of its time frame. At the beginning of the 3rd Century, Christianity was slowly expanding and branching out. In an era dominated by Roman rule it is clear to see why Christianity needed to clarify its stand. It demanded absolute allegiance that made it incompatible with both syncretic paganism and emperor worship, two activities which permeated the lives of all Roman citizens and the ways in which many earned a living.

Officials of the Church of England overwhelmingly accepted the results of a church inquiry which accused Freemasonry of being blasphemous and heretical. At their annual summer policymaking session in York, England, the General Synod approved the report by a vote of 394 to 52, with five synod delegates abstaining. The Synod decides church policy for the world’s 70 million Anglicans (including American Episcopalians).

The role of religion in Athens in the time of Pericles was based on the reciprocal relationship between the gods and people. The Greek gods demanded recognition and respect from all people, but there was no formal creed by which Athenians lived their lives. The role of religion was based on behaviour rather than belief.