Christianity Essay -- essays research papers

The period from the eighth to the fourteenth century was one of vast reforms, some for the better and some for the worse. During this period in Europe, commonly known as The Middle Ages, economic reforms took place as well as social, political, and religious changes. One common theme throughout The Middle Ages consisted of the relationship between the Church and the State. The Catholic church during this era held a prominent role in society, and it had an abundant amount of power and authority during this time. The Catholic Church exercised its authority in many different stages, in which a response from the people occurred because of the way the Church showed its power. The nature of the Catholic Church began its reform around the time Charlemagne, from 768 to 814, took control. He became a Christian emperor and the first great political leader in Western Europe. His main goal was to promote the Roman Catholic religion throughout all of the world known to man, and to do this Charlemagne coordinated with the pope, which in turn the pope crowned him the holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne strived to reestablish central authority and revive the culture of the Early Middle Ages, and he succeeded by gaining authority over a large area, including almost all of Western and Central Europe (Charlemagne p.130-131). Charlemagne also made many reforms, mostly Church and educational ones. He first reformed the monasteries by making them Benedictine; he also made sure that the churches were abiding by the rules and not doing anything wrong. Charlemagne designed a system in which four archbishops were set up in four different regions with their headquarters in cities in that particular region. The archbishops appoint bishops authority in their territories. As the Catholic Church’s authority increases during this time, it also comes with consequences. This system of archbishops and bishops are great for the Church, but Charlemagne uses them as royal agents, which is part of royal policy. Furthermore, Charlemagne makes reforms in education in order to further improve the Church; he sets up a system which strengthens the priesthood by setting up bishop schools. These reforms indicate â€Å"a lack of division between religious and secular affairs† (Charlemagne p.131). Who really has authority, is it the pope or the king? King Charlemagne did make all of the reforms, but the pop... ... the monarchies of Europe and by the papacy. Considering everything the Catholic Church has gone through , was it successful in the religious mission it set out for. The answer to this question is very opinionated to historians, but I believe the answer is no. Notably during the High Middle Ages in which the crusades occurred, many popes set out into various lands including Byzantium and Islam in order to spread Christianity and stop the popularity of the Islamic religion. Many historians believe that the Crusades contributed to the economic and intellectual development of Europe by reopening Mediterranean east-west trade, but these people are wrong (Cantor p.192). All the Crusades did was stir up religious prejudice and the intolerance of Muslims (Cantor p.193). Although the Christian world learned a great deal from the Muslims, the Crusades were not a part of this occurrence. In addition, the fact that heresy occurred from such groups as the Hussites and the Waldensians further proves that the papacy had problems with people actually turning away from the Catholic Church. How could the Church be successful in its religious mission if groups of people are breaking away from it?

Answering The Call: Inspiration For Teachers

Where does the inspiration to teach well come from? How and why do we teachers keep going at a time in Ontario when we are so often depicted as public enemy number one? What is the motivation when funding for kids is considered such low priority, and testing them such a high one? The answer is quite simple. We know we make a difference. We know we are called to make a difference. Sure, the academics are important, but in the years after the children leave our classrooms, they won t remember the Cs or the Bs. What they'll remember is whether they felt loved in our classroom, whether they felt safe, and whether they felt God.Teacher Cadet Essay And that can make all the difference in the world. In 1986, I was 22 years old, immortal, and out to discover the world. I had just completed the first year of a two-year volunteer contract to teach mathematics in Africa. I was posted to an impoverished boarding school in Malawi, a sliver of a country in central Africa, with another Canadian teacher for a roommate. Unlike my roommate Janet, I was a novice teacher, still feeling my way through lessons, spending long hot nights planning and grading, while I listened to distant drums and nearby crickets. My job was fulfilling despite the overcrowded classrooms and 1920s British textbooks and by the end of the first year I was beginning to realize that job satisfaction was dependant on a lot more than my student s academic successes. Besides the new experiences in my community, the opportunities to travel were fantastic. It was near the end of one particular trip that I learned how important one teacher s influence can be. On this occasion Janet and I had been visiting the fabled Victoria Falls that Livingstone had so loved. We had been lucky enough to hook up at the end of our trip with some young American missionaries who were driving their new pick-up truck back from South Africa to their Malawian mission. They were in a hurry to get back as one of their number had just come down with malaria, and they were eager to have as big a company as possible. I was worried about accepting a lift in a vehicle with South African license plates. This was, after all, still the apartheid years, and Zambia had been bombed by the South African air force less than six months before our trip. I was afraid that the soldiers that manned the many roadblocks on our route might not. give us the chance to explain that none of us were actually from South Africa before they reacted. But there were going to be risks whether we accepted the lift or rode along the twisting pot-holed road in one the Zambian buses whose undercarriage was held together by chicken wire. Janet and I had already decided that avoiding adventure was neither possible nor always desirable. Nevertheless I tensed every time we came to one of the many military roadblocks that lined our route. At first all went well at the various stops. In the heat of an African afternoon, the soldiers were happy to do no more than a quick check of our apers and vehicle before retiring to the shade. We were actually beginning to enjoy the breathtaking views of the distant mountains, and close to the road, the sight of brilliant scarlet-leaved trees announcing a rainy season soon to come. Janet and I sat in the back of the pick-up for the entire journey and the breeze kept us cool as we covered our heads in the local cloth, or chitenge to prevent sunstroke. It wasn†t until we approached the last roadblock that the aggression I feared began to seem a reality. Right away we could tell things would be different. Even before we had completely stopped at the gate, a row of soldiers had risen and were facing us, rifles very much in evidence. As soon as we had braked completely, an officer walked angrily to the driver s side and ordered the three Americans out. Other soldiers gathered around, rifles in hand. Janet and I were frozen in the back unsure of what we should do. The Americans tried to explain that one of their company was too sick to stand, but the soldiers had no time for what they took to be excuses. The missionaries were pulled stumbling from the cab. Sitting in the back I could feel the adrenaline rushing as I recalled every orror story I had heard about travelers in Africa. The seven Germans who had disappeared on the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road. The Canadian mother who had been strip-searched along with her two daughters by Zambian soldiers. I did not of course at this time remember that the anger Africans feel against foreigners is justified by decades of aggression and rule by outsiders. All I felt was panic as the yelling went on at the front, as one of the missionaries began to cry, as the soldiers voices became angrier, and as we waited, and waited, interminably in the back of that truck. One of the soldiers finally came around to Janet and me. We had taken out our passports and were nervously waiting. He demanded that we hand them over, then, as his gaze fell on their deep blue covers, his whole face changed. Canada? You re from Canada? he asked excitedly. We hardly knew what to answer. Do you know Father Leclerc? he went on. He taught me French in high school. He was such a good teacher. Is he a White Father? I asked tentatively, trying to control the shaking in my voice. Yes he is! answered our guard, delighted. Do you speak French? I told him I did, and, in what I was beginning to feel was some kind of wilight zone we exchanged a few words in French.. 3 Suddenly our attention was called back to the front of the truck. The sick missionary had begun to collapse and one of his friends put out a hand to steady him. We heard the slap of rifles going up and the yells of fear even before we turned and saw the panicked faces of the Americans. For a moment the tableau of m issionaries and soldiers stood frozen in the shimmering heat. I felt the ball of a scream stuck in my throat, but before I lost the struggle to control it, our new friend called out sharply to the other soldiers. I couldn t understand much of what he said but two words stood out again and again. Canada. And punzitzi, the word for teacher. After a moment the rifles slowly went down, and one of the soldiers gestured to the Americans to get back in the truck. They climbed slowly back into the cab as Janet and I held our breath. It didn t seem possible that we would get away so easily. But we did. When moments later we were headed on our way, and we had all finished a long shaky prayer of gratitude I remember wondering, as I still do today, if I could ever have the same effect on my students as that unknown teaching Father obviously had on his. That s what teaching is all about. Hoping that somewhere, somehow the children you have taught will grow up to make moral decisions in situations and places you can t even envision. We were lucky that that priest was Canadian like us. But even more, we were blessed that he was good at his vocation. Wherever he is, I thank him not just for that one brief moment in Zambia, but for the inspiration he has given me ever since.

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA-SPAIN Free Essay Example, 1250 words

The Cathedral took about two centuries for completion and resulted in a mixture of Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Plateresque architecture. Architectural Features in Relation to Culture Patio de Los Naranjo A was a big and opened space, in the Islamic culture, where believers carried the ritual ablutions prior to prayer. The place has been greatly altered with time, and now it has combined two fountains under the shade of palms orange trees, and cypresses, with an arcade. Alongside the structure’s main entrance into the courtyard, just above the la Puerta del Perdon, the Gate of Forgiveness, there is the bell tower placed over the Arab minaret towards the end of the sixteenth century (Dodds, 2007). Figure 1: Patio de los Naranjos (www. mezquitadecordoba. org, 2015) Prayer room There are arrays of columns that rise in the prayer area designed and built by the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me architects of the period; it was an unprecedented art that later influenced Islamic architecture. Top architects were hired to show the appreciation intellectual culture among the people of Cordoba; the different Emirs were constantly gauging themselves with other states for instance north Africa (Triano, 2005). We will write a custom essay sample on THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA-SPAIN or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now There are 856 columns within the nineteen naves rising with shafts made in beautiful forms and colors, and above which the curved horseshoe arches are topped with the semi-circular arches that are reminiscent of the Roman aqueducts (Dodds, 2007). The visible ochre hues on the stonework alternating with the red of the brickwork create an effect of a beautiful palm grove. Maqsura and Mihrab The Mihrab was the wall that the Muslim faithful faced when praying, and where the Koran was initially read from. The Maqsura is an adjacent space that was meant for the caliph. The Mihrab is octagonal and has a shell-shaped dome with bright glittering floral mosaics as well as the Arabic inscriptions originating from the Byzantine artists. There is a glittering Mosque’s dome above the Maqsura made of marbles that are covered with mosaics (Triano, 2005). Figure 2: Maqsura and Mihrab (www. mezquitadecordoba. org, 2015) Doors and faà §ades The north side of the Mosque is the main faà §ade and faces Calle Cardinal Herrero with the Puerta del Perdon (the Gate of Forgiveness) and the Puerta del Caà ±o Gordo. The west front has the Puerta de la Leche, Milk Gate, and the Puerta de Los Deanes, the Deans’ Gate opposite a hospital, the San Sebastian Hospital, that was commissioned at Abd ar-Rahman II time. The east side has the Puerta del Sagrario, Gate of the Shrine, and the Saint Catherine Gate, Puerta de Santa Catalina (Irwin, 2004).