The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity

The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity During my a yearlong stay in Australia in 2009, once I happened to visit St Marys Cathedral in Sydney and witness Sunday Services, a formalized way of communal worship by the followers of worlds largest and celebrated religion the Christianity. The services involved singing of hymns, reading of verses from the Holy Scriptures and possibly a Psalm, a sermon by the Archbishop and then Baptisms of a few young believers. The services were followed by a very informative guided tour of the Cathedral giving a quick insight into the history of the Christianity in Australia in general and of St Marys Cathedral in particular. Impressed by the enriched history of the Christianity and captivated by this very orderly and benevolent way of offering prayers by the Christians Catholic community, I aimed to study the Christian religion in detail and explore its various aspects. However, the most vital factor which led me to write this paper is my eagerness to understand and analyze a shadowy and controversial yet vital Christians Doctrine of the Trinity, as during my visit to the Cathedral I was amazed to view the sermon and hymns glorifying the God, the Christ and the Holy Spirit while putting them all at equal to one and another, despite of the fact that the Christianity, besides Judaism and Islam, is a Monotheistic religion which believes in only one God. In pursuance to my eagerness to understand and research on the subject matter, I went through a number of books and research articles about Christianity in general and the Doctrine of Trinity in particular written by numerous writers professing differing school of thoughts. Having gone through all these writings, my understanding about the Doctrine of Trinity remained as bewildering as ever before. However, being a student of MPhil in Socio-Cultural Anthropology once I tried to analyse the subject matter in anthropological perspective, my understanding of the issue became much explicit and I could make sense of many underlying facts about this mysterious faith of Christianity. While doing my research work and writing this paper I have used the secondary data. However, I fully acknowledge and thank for the continual assistance provided by my instructors, my class fellows, and the Bahria Universitys library staff during my drawn-out research work. Introduction The most debated mystery of the Christian faith has been the Doctrine of Trinity, which defines God as three divine persons God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons, though distinct from one another, co-exist in unity and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. Most Christians often say they believe in the Trinity, yet they differ in their understanding of it. There are numerous Trinitarian conceptions that exist today, but generally the Trinity belief is that in the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God. Supporters of the Trinity say that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on teachings of the Bible. The Greek Orthodox Church calls the Trinity the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, even saying Christians are those who accept Christ as God. In the book Our Orthodox Christian Faith the same Church declares: God is triune . . . . The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit is totally God. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as the central dogma of Christian theology. On the other hand, the critics of the Doctrine of Trinity say it false and man self-fabricated, as the God Almighty stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being. They argue that Jesus in his prehumen existence was, like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning, i.e. there was a time when he was not. They instill that Jesus has never been Almighty Gods equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is. They also believe that the Holy Ghost is not a person but Gods spirit, his active force. The opponents of the doctrine claim that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring the origin of the Trinity as entirely pagan. Since the inception of doctrine of Trinity into Christianity about fifteen centuries ago, most Christians who believe in this doctrine have never actually checked it out to see why they believe it. They just assume that it must be true because it is what most churches teach. In addition, many people think it is wrong to question doctrines like this. But the reality is that many Christians who accept the doctrine of Trinity, remain confused and even those who have a deeper understanding of it admit that they do not understand it completely and cant defend it when challenged. Once stuck, their eventual response is that the Trinity is hard to understand because God is beyond human thinking. There is another disturbing aspect of this debate that many Christians believe in different Trinity doctrines or at least they understand this doctrine in different ways. Some believe that God is one being that shows himself in three different ways, like water shows itself in the form of ice, steam, and liquid. Others believe that the Trinity is made up of three distinct personalities and these three are in complete unity in love and purpose. Notwithstanding the above, the aim of this paper is to explore and comprehend the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different aspects including the anthropological perspective. In doing so, I will first briefly glance at Christianity as a religion while looking into its origin, brief history and the basic beliefs. Then I will deliberate upon one of Christianitys most controversial yet pivotal teachings, i.e. the Doctrine of Trinity. In this part of the paper, I will address some of vital questions concerning the Doctrine of Trinity and will try to find their answers from the available texts and writings. Thereupon, I will analyse the said doctrine from anthropological perspective while applying a French social theorist Michael Foucaults renowned theory on knowledge is power. I will also highlight perspectives about religion by a few other great philosophers like Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud. At the end I will draw my conclusion. Christianity at a Glance Its Origin, Brief History and Basic Beliefs The Christianity is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of a Jewish preacher named Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus Christ, who lived in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee of Roman province Judaea, about 2,000 years ago. Yeshua was born to a Virgin Mary probably between 7 and 4 BCE, and was executed in Jerusalem in the spring of the year 30 CE on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. After Yeshuas death, his apostles formed the Jewish Christian movement, concentrated in Jerusalem. One of Yeshuas Apostles Simon Peter and then James, who is viewed as either Yeshuas brother or cousin, headed the group. They regarded themselves as a reform movement within Judaism; as they continued to sacrifice at the temple, circumcise their male children, and follow Jewish kosher food laws etc. Around 34 CE, Saul of Tarsus, originally a persecutor of the Jewish Christians, while travelling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to apprehend the Jewish Christians had a vision of the resurrected Jesus in a great light. He converted to Christianity and adopted the new name of Paul the Apostle, and became the greatest theologian of the early Christian movement. His writings, along with those of the author(s) of the Gospel of John, provided much of the theological foundation for what has been called Pauline Christianity, a movement that spread throughout the northern and eastern Mediterranean basin. Paul Christianity, which started around 37 CE, was directed primarily to Gentiles, i.e. non-Jews. The third contesting belief system was Gnostic Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a spirit sent by God to impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the miseries of life on earth. In addition to Jewish, Pauline and Gnostic Christianity, there were many other versions of Christianity being taught. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army in 70 CE, the Jewish Christian movement was largely dissipated which left Pauline and Gnostic Christianity as the dominant Christian groups. Gentiles within the movement took over control of the former movement. As compare to other beliefs systems, the Pauline Christianity grew quickly in size and influence over a few decades, and by 313 CE Roman Empire recognized it was a valid religion and by 387 CE it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, replacing other forms of religions earlier being practiced under the Roman rule. Gnostic Christianity was severely persecuted, both by the Roman Empire and the Pauline Christian churches. During the Middle-Ages, most of the Europe was Christianized. Following the Age of Discovery, through colonization and missionary work, Christianity spread to the American subcontinents, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world. As of today, the Christianity is the most popular and largest religion in the world with around 2.34 billion followers, constituting 33.35 % of worlds total population and growing further at the rate of 1.38 % per annum. It is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa, and, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of several countries. During the 7th century CE, power in the Christian world became polarized in Constantinople and Rome. These two Christian centers gradually grew apart in belief and practice. In 1054 CE, a split was formalized between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Later on, in the 16th century various schisms including the Protestant Reformation led to a fragmentation within the Western Church. The Protestant movement has since splintered into what is now many groups of denominations, and tens of thousands of individual denominations. Consequently, as of today there are three main groups practicing Christianity worldwide; the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Churches. There are other Christian groups as well that do not fit neatly into any one of these primary categories, like Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church. Of all the Christians in the world today about half are Roman Catholic. Though, there are many differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which the Christianity is based, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). The title Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mÄ Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ià ¡Ãƒâ€ž meaning anointed one. Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith. These professions state that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary, was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins. They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God. Christianity has played a pivotal role in shaping of the worlds socio-cultural, political and economic scenario, especially the Western civilization. In words of a renowned American scholar Sam Pascoe, Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. The Doctrine of Trinity Exploring the Doctrine of Trinity The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine, there is only one God in three persons. Each of them is said to be without beginning having existed for eternity. Each is said to be Almighty, neither greater nor lesser than the others. Each is said to be a complete God in every sense of the word which includes Gods attributes and all are equal in time, position, power and knowledge. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God. According this Doctrine, though distinct from one another, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. In other words, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God. The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being un-begotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three persons are each eternal and omnipotent. While distinct in their relations with one another, they are one in all else. This ancient diagram explains the Trinity quite well. According to researchers, the word Trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Scripture, but used by the ancient Christian theologians to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. Some historians are of the view that the English word Trinity is derived from the Greek word trias, meaning a set of three or the number three and its first recorded use in Christian theology was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170 AD. However, some researchers argue that the word Trinity came from the Latin word Trinitas, meaning the number three, a triad, and was first used by a Latin theologian Tertullian in 220 AD to express this doctrine. Development of Trinity into a Christian Doctrine Up until the end of the second century at least, most of the Christians were united in one basic belief; i.e. they all believed in the supremacy of the God Father. They all regarded God the Father Almighty as alone supreme, immutable, ineffable and without beginning. However, with the passing of those second century religious theologians and leaders, the Church found itself slipping slowly but inexorably toward trinity. Most of the researchers are of the view that the origin of the trinity doctrine is linked to a controversy, often known as the Arian controversy, that occurred in the city of Alexandria in the early part of the fourth century. A certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt who attempted to explain the unity of the Holy Trinity that whether the Son of God, is of the same substance, or only of like substance, with the Father. Alexander professed that The Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient and perfect, like the Father, differing only in this one respect that the Father is un-begotten and the Son was begotten. In explaining how the Son was begotten, Alexander quoted Jesus saying that He proceeded from the Father. Arius, who was a presbyter in charge of a parish church in the same city, dissented from the views set forth by Alexander. This disagreement reached the level of confrontation between Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and his presbyter Arius. So at a synod held at Alexandria in 321 C.E., in which Arius was deposed and excommunicated. However, Arius still had much support outside Egypt. Many of the important bishops theologically agree with Arius: Jesus Christ is not God. The sustained controversy caused unrest in the whole Roman Empire and Constantine the Great, in order to resolve the issue invited all bishops of the Christian Church (around 300 at that time) to Nicaea (which is now in modern Turkey) in May 325 C.E. Consequently, the creed of Nicaea was signed by 218 bishops who endorsed the Son as co-equal to God. However, the controversy over the nature of Jesus continued for next more than sixty years and gradually involved every conceivable authority; general councils, Popes, Emperors, bishops alone or in parties, and the faithful at large. A second ecumenical council met in Constantinople in the year 381 CE. This Council gave the finishing touch to the doctrine of three persons in one God stating that Jesus and God were co-equal, co-eternal and the deity of the Holy Spirit. From that time the Roman Emperors resolved and proclaimed they would punish all Christians who would not believe in and worship three persons in one God. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity came to be formally established as the basic foundation of Christian faith for the next fifteen centuries. Subsequently, the doctrine of the veneration of Mary as the mother of God and bearer of God was also formulated at the Second Council of Constantinople (553 C.E.) and the title of Eternal Virgin was added. In the prayers and hymns of the Orthodox Church the name of the mother of God is invoked as often as in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In the Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary, the mother of God, was identified with the figure of the divine Wisdom. The process of deifying the mother of God went a step further here, in that Mary is treated like a divine hypostasis (substance), the figure of heavenly Wisdom. All through this period of development there had been protests made by those who wished to preserve the truth of the Gospel from the innovations; but they were gradually overborne, until at length, when the innovators were strong enough, they called other Christians Heretics, and persecuted them. Factors that Influenced the Doctrine of Trinity According to most of the researchers the prime factor that influenced the doctrine of Trinity to formulate into a fundamental belief of Christianity has been its connections with the paganism. Throughout the ancient world, as far back as Babylon, it was common for pagans to worship triad gods. This practice was also prevalent before, during and after Christ in Egypt (Horus, Osiris Isis), India (Siva, Brahma Vishnu), and Babylon (Ishtar, Sin Shamash). With the spread of Christianity especially the Paulines ministry during the first two centuries CE, most of the pagans in the Mediterranean basin converted to Christianity. They brought with them their centuries old socio-cultural traditions and religious beliefs. After the death of the Apostles, such pagan beliefs began to creep in Christianity. One may think that Paganism was dominated by Christianity, but it is perhaps more accurate to say that Christianity adapted it. Even the fact that Christians worship on Sunday was the adoptio n of a Pagan festival, because the Jews used to worship on Saturday. Some researchers are also of the view that one of the factor behind formulation of doctrine of Trinity as Christians fundamental faith had been the personal interest of the Roman emperors to wield maximum powers over masses by exploiting religion through the use of Church as a tool. It was in this context that the Constantine the Great, after coming into power in 312 CE, ended the persecution of the Christians and the suppression of the early Church which were continuing since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through conversion to Christianity special favors were offered to the people in the form of political, military and social gains. As a result, thousands of non-Christians joined the Church and enabled Constantine to exercise great power over the Church affairs. Constantines involvement in religious affairs was to such an extent that he himself presided over the proceedings of the Council of Nicaea and exercised his political power to bring to bear the bishops to accept his theo logical position. The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the proceedings of the Council of Niacea as follows: The Council of Niacea met on May 20, 325. Constantine himself presiding, actively guiding the discussion, and personally proposed (no doubt on Ossius prompting) the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, of one substance with the Father. Over-awed by the emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them against their inclination. Justifications by the Trinitarians about the Doctrine of Trinity The people who support the Doctrine of Trinity, commonly known as the Trinitarians, justify it on the basis that some verses in the Holy Bible, of which a few mentioned below, have specific reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct entities in a single narrative. As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! The Trinitarians interpret these verses as support for the doctrine of Trinity, because these verses speak of distinct entities mentioned by name in a single nerative. They argue, though the New Testament does not use the word ÃŽÂ ¤Ãƒ Ã‚ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it, yet it provides the referencing material upon which the doctrine of the Trinity could be formulated. In addition, the Old Testament has also been interpreted as foreshadowing the Trinity, by referring to Gods word, his spirit, and Wisdom, as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham, which the Trinitarians view as support of a Trinity. Rejection of Doctrine of Trinity by the Non-Trinitarians Many groups in Christianity, commonly known as non-Trinitarians, do not believe in the Doctrine of Trinity or the way the God is described in the Trinity and His relation with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Non-Trinitarian groups also differ from one another in their views about the nature of Jesus Christ, depicting him variously as a divine being second only to God the Father, as God but not eternally God, as Son of God but inferior to the Father (versus co-equal), as a prophet, or simply as a holy man. The non-Trinitarians reject the Doctrine of Trinity on the basis that the expression God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were not known or advocated by Jesus or the early Christians. They argue that the Apostolic Fathers and those of the succeeding generations up to the last quarter of the 4th century CE never have thought of a triune God. They believed in One Omnificent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Transcendent Creator Who alone is to be worshipped. Some Christian history researchers and scholars also dispute the authenticity of the Trinity and argue that the doctrine is the result of later theological interpretations of Christs nature and function. In their view, the doctrine of the Trinity was coined by the Christians about three hundred years after Jesus. The four Canonical Gospels, written between 70 and 115 CE, contain no reference to the Trinity. Even Saint Paul, who imported many foreign ideas into Christianity, knew nothing of the Triune God. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to the early Christians and that it was formulated in the last quarter of the 4th century. At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings. The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the (Trinity) idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognized the Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One. Denouncement of Doctrine of Trinity by the Holy Quran Islams holy book the Quran denounces the concept of Trinity as an over-reverence by Christians of Gods Word, the prophet and Messiah Jesus Christ son of the Virgin Mary. The Quran declares Jesus as one of the most important and respected prophets and Messengers of God, primarily sent to prevent the Jews from changing the Torah, and to refresh and reaffirm his original message as revealed to Moses and earlier prophets. The Quran reveals that the creation of Jesus is framed similar to the creation of Adam out of dust, but with Jesus birth meaning his creation excludes male human intervention rather than creation completely without human participation. According to Quran teachings belief in Jesus as a prophet, as well as belief in the original Gospel and Torah and belief in Jesus virgin birth are core criterion of being a Muslim and Quranic criterion for salvation in the hereafter along with belief in the Prophet Muhammad and all the prior prophets. In short, in Quran the God is seen as being both perfect and indivisible. He can therefore have no peer or equal. Jesus, being Gods creation, can never be considered to be equal with God or a part of God. So, any believe in the concept of Trinity is considered as blasphemy in Islam. Anthropological Perspective about the Doctrine of Trinity In the preceding paragraphs I have tried to explore the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different historians and researchers point of view. The study confirmed that this doctrine had no roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ, his Apostles or the early Christian theologians. It was gradually evolved and formulated after at least three hundred years of Christ resurrection. No doubt, this doctrine has been in hot discussion in the Christian world for centuries and has retained the central most space in Christian theology. Though, tons of literature has been written down to analyse this Trinitarian doctrine, but its understanding remains as bewildering as ever before. Now, in order to comprehend this doctrine from anthropological perspective I will try to deconstruct it by going through its contents and by discourse analyses while applying Michael Foucaults theory on knowledge is power. In order to do that I will apply his structural theory to deconstruct this doctrine as power is employed to analyse knowledge, i.e. the concept of discursive formations. Foucault has a unique lens to see the world, societies, and its different institutions, and to use his own perspective about the knowledge and power. His philosophical theories addressed what power is and how it works, the manner in which it controls knowledge and vice versa, and how it is used as a form of social control. His first argument is that all relationships are the relationships of power which are diffused in the fabric of society ontologically, and its intrinsic urge to control others, everyone, and everything. He argues that in the human cultural history irrespective of time and space as a major rule human wants to control human by nature. Foucault divides all human history in three episteme; pre-historic, religious and scientific episteme respectively. He describes religion as a tool to control people. I n his view, knowledge such as scriptures, symbols, myths and rituals play a pivotal role to prove legitimacy of any religion. Knowledge is information and skills acquired through experience and education. Foucault describes four types of contesting knowledge that exist at parallel in a society; i.e. dominant, subordinate, marginalized and muted knowledge. According to Foucault, knowledge as power is used very carefully and politically by the knowledge creators to control human mind. Dominant knowledge creators are the drivers of the society as an elite class in the Marxist paradigm. Dominant knowledge producers create knowledge as discourse which elect some people, and give them the gaze to judge masses in the society, which means society is panoptical and individuals are under constant surveillance that they are doing their jobs properly. If some deviate from their role then the system declare them unfit and put them into asylum. In Foucaults perspective the society is held up in illusion and false consciousness. He annihilates all beliefs, norms, traditions and rules as discourse created by the dominant knowledge producers which are overwhelmingly imposed on the society. He proclaims that no knowledge is authentic, all are socially constructed. In line with many other postmodernists, Foucault argues that the reason to contest between knowledge is that there is a gap between the surface knowledge and living knowledge. Through discourse analysis, power structures may be uncovered and questioned by way of analyzing the corresponding fields of knowledge through which they are legitimized. This is one of the ways that Foucaults work is linked to critical theory. The corollary of the concepts of Foucault is ruling under the rubric of knowledge as power to dominate the thoughts of society. Now applying Foucaults theory on to the Doctrine of Trinity, we would evaluate its legitimacy as divine revelation or socially constructed theology. As we explored earlier, the doctrine of Trinity came into existence through a gradual evolution that took over two centuries. The Christianity that started its career as a pure monotheistic religion drifted slowly but inexorably toward polytheistic beliefs under the influence of pagan traditions and the dominant class of that time, i.e. the Roman emperors. The earlier Christian theologians and council of Bishops like Gnostic (50 CE), Justin Martyr (150 CE), Theophilus (169 CE), Irenaeus (177 CE), Tertullian (192 CE), Clement (215 CE), Hippolytus (220 CE), Origen (230 CE), Sibellius (255 CE), Arius (320 CE), Council of Nicaea (325 CE), Council of Constantinople (381 CE), Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) played their role in the formulation of doctrine of Trinity by continuously defining and re-defining the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and th e Holy Spirit and their relations to one another. Throughout this process the dominant class of that time used its political muscles to keep the doctrine in line with the state mechanism. In short, the knowledge created by the religious theologians and scholars in collaboration with the ruling class was employed to wield maximum power, and that power was used to control the masses. Now we will exchange the lens of Michael Foucault with other great philosophers of nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to analyze this doctrine in their own conceptions and perceptions. One of the great figure the social philosopher and the most influential political atheist Karl Marx has a very unique materialistic world view to see the processes in the society. He proclaims a conflict view of religion as the sigh of the oppressed creature, the illusory happiness of men, the reflex of real world, the opium of

The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter- In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the letter "A" changes it's meaning many different times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they live. The letter "A" begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of her ability to do and help things, and finally it becomes a symbol of her respect for herself. The letter "A," worn on Hester's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . ." (84) Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a "devil child," either has some sort of psychological problem, or is a very tough woman. The second meaning that the letter "A" took was "able." The townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet "A" to stand for her ability to create her beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. "The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet 'A' by its original signification." (156) At this point, a lot of the townspeople realized what a high quality character Hester possessed. "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester- the town's own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!" (157) The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off

full monty :: essays research papers

Full Monty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Full Monty is a film which women fulfill their fantasies. Film is talking about a fantasy world where women are power holders and men are objects. Film is based on the idea that after hundred years of industrial reform, which was started on United Kingdom, modernized factories and high technology machines make blue-collar workers unemployed. Those unemployed Englishmen who are losing their power and becoming weak to women are trying to survive by strip teasing. Gaz, our main character should pay his wife to see his kid. Closed steel plants made Gaz and his friend unemployed. Machines took their place. They should fin something in order to survive. Their survival is to re-evaluation of their places in society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to shape a new world definition, Feminist thought is making new fantasies everyday but as everyone knows it is hard to change the world order. I believe that in the Twenty-second century women will have more power, power of money and social power. It will not be power of women on men. Men will never be objects. Nowadays some women have jobs and men have not. But this does not change the world other way around. In the film a friend of Gaz says â€Å" Few more years and men will not exist.† In my opinion, this is a sentence that some women want to hear. In a free market people use their resources to produce what others want. Producers of Full Monty saw that there is a demand for a film where men are considered as objects. Whether the have jobs or not men will always be men. The film is not completely different from now. A man in the film states â€Å"My wife is out there spending with fucking MasterCard.† This man wants to find a men’s job to work, but there is no jobs available for his skills. In today’s world Men are in power women, who are said to be weak, are still spending with â€Å"fucking† MasterCard or Visa.

The Secret Life of Bees – Hero’s Journey Essay

Kc Keppler January 13, 2012 Block D – English Lily’s Journey Towards Self Discovery and Maturity – Bees In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd, there is one particular motif that one might call ‘all important,’ this motif is the bees that fit into Lily Melissa Owen’s, the main character and protagonist of books, heroic journey towards self discovery and finding a way to open up to others.The bees in this story represented and lead her, piece by piece, to her finding herself and accepting the imperfections in her life. The book is initially set in Sylvan, South Carolina where Lily was born and raised by her father and mother before her mother’s untimely death. But the setting quickly changes to Tiburon, South Carolina when bees that Lily had kept in a jar give her a call to her journey when she glanced over at the open jar – representing her own freedom as well as the bees.The sign of the bees departure fro m her holding them captive gave Lily a sense that someone was speaking to her only to help her understand the â€Å"her jar is open. † This sets off her journey to save her wrongly accused housekeeper from jail cell and runaway to Tiburon in search for information on her mother. This event immediately shows an initial step forward in Lily’s search for self-discovery. Although the bees give Lily her call to journey they help her in several ways that bring her to happiness, acting as almost a subtle guide to her.The initial steps Lily takes with the bees’ help are in the first few chapters but after her call to journey, her prized possession, a picture of her mother with the word ‘Tiburon’ on the back and a picture of a black Mary are what leads Lily to a lake right by Tiburon, South Carolina. The honey label brings Lily to a bright pink house owned by the Boatwrights, a group of black sisters called the calendar sisters, August, June, and May, who li ve together and make a living off of honey. Lily is welcomed to stay and work on the Boatwright land for a while as she states that she is on her way to her aunt Bernie’s in Virginia.One her earliest moments while in the house that the bees help her forward is when Lily is just starting out in the black household and August asks her what she love most in the world. Immediately August, one of the calendar sisters and guardians of Lily in the story, is portrayed as a symbol for Lily’s exploration of new things and urging Lily to think of something she truly loves and to discrver a aspect of herself is one of the challenges that she, as a young woman, has not yet faced.Lily happens to list multiple things but the bees are among the highest on the list. This is because in Lily’s story the bees mean her personal growth as a human and exploration into new things, staying as a beekeeper in the Boatwright house is just one of those explorations that she undergoes along this journey. While in the house the writer begins to create Lily an infatuation with an older boy named Zachary Taylor, or for these purposes, Zach.But the feelings aren’t one sided as Zach, the African American, 16 year old boy begins to grow feelings for Lily too. Zach almost acts as a guardian but he also takes some of the part of the bees as from early on he attempts to nudge Lily to be more open about herself but her lack of confidence in herself and the people that care for her initially keeps her fairly timid about helping people to better understand her.Although Zach makes attempts to guide Lily and help her mature and grow as a person it is the bees that lead her to another step in sexual maturity when she informs Zach of her feeling towards him after licking the honey off his finger. This showed Lily moving forward in her emotional and sexual maturity as a young woman and understanding new aspects of what she can feel. These three occasions are few of many check po int in the book that the bees help Lily and one way or other to begin understand her actions and why she feels the things she does.By the end of the book she shows a fully mature side of her when she manages to come to terms with the fact that her mother had left them before she died and wasn’t perfect as she had suspected for the majority of the story. Learning these things about her mother took courage on her behalf but without the bees couldn’t have happened. August acts as a mentor and guardian and a conversation speaks to her telling her, â€Å"Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about. This helps Lily to identify with the lives of the working bees. The bees are said to have a way of continuing to work hard and have a strong love for their mother (the queen of the hive) much like Lily. Of course the bees have a strong hold on a female community somethin g that Lily thrives on in the Boatwright and benefits from, this shows Lily the true power that and community can have when working together. But most of all, through everything, the bees always manage to inspire her to do something or understand another thing.By the end of story Lily chooses not to return home but to remain in the Boatwright house but when speaking to her father finds a way to mature and almost forgive him for his imperfections as a person, there is in no way that she would have found a way to take a step forward like this without the guidance of the bees on her journey. They help understand why things have happened to her and hold a very important place not only in the novel but in Lily’s heart too.Because the bees are the true inspiration of the story as told by the title, they assume the position of the main point of all the motifs that guide Lily through her journey. Everyone is like Lily, in that aspect of wanting to find him or her, and reading this bo ok we learn that in order to find yourself you need one thing to inspire you and help you push forward. Finding our own bees in our life is a journey that will make out to help us discover ourselves just as Lily did.

Hunger game Essay

In the novel the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the main character is Katniss Everdeen a female that represent district 12. Throughout her journey she has to fight against eleven other district and twenty-three other tributes in order to be the last tribute to survive. Although Katniss know that the Hunger Games is not an easy task to complete winning or staying alive is the only option, she still gain the power and confidences to compete. Throughout the Hunger Games all the power was given to the totalitarian government of the capitol. The government was able to control the people and the districts of Panem, because they hold most of the country of Panem wealth. In theHunger Games the citizens of Panem were consider to be servants in a brutal game of life and death. The games keep the people of the districts divided and fighting among themselves. â€Å"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill on another while we watch† (1.  18). The main purpose is to remind the districts how weak they are, and cannot do nothing about it, their deaths is for televised entertainment. As the journey continues Katniss started to develop more power and confidences in herself. The control the capitol has over each districts is to maintain order. But when it came to Katniss and Peeta the capitol had little control over them. â€Å"Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble† (1. 6). At this point in time Katniss’s fear that the capitol is controlling her. â€Å"I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not† (10. 141). Peeta wants to die as himself, not as one of the capitol’s servants. The Hunger Games involved different stages of dystopia. In which they used propaganda to control the citizens of Panem. The only option they have is to fight for their survival to win or to be killed. However Katniss defeats the capitol and frees the districts from its wrath.

Drug Abuse- a Menace to the Society

Drug Abuse is a serious issue affecting all sections of the society, Irrespective whether they are Young/Old, Poor/Rich, and Educated/Illiterate. To really understand the gravity of the situation one needs to understand a few very important points;- what actually is Drug-Abuse? As I understand a very simple definition of Drug abuse is that it means use of drugs for the purpose for which it is not meant to be used (in other words use of drugs not for treating ailments but to satisfy vicarious pleasure ). The destructive thing about this is that when people experience the hallucination under the influence of these drugs, they would like to this again & again causing a serious Drug Addiction. Now let’s try to understand the various Drugs frequently abused. The Most Common that is used by more than 80% of the people is Marijuana also called Ganja or Grass or weed in colloquial language. The most dangerous aspect to be noted is that in spite of being labeled a Banned Drug, Marijuana is available very easily to all & sundry. The reason for it to be a favorite among the Drug addicts is that it is not very expensive & it gives an instant kick and can be had instantly without even letting a non smoker know about it. We see thousands of people smoking cigarettes everyday & their may be many of them smoking Ganja & still we won’t know about it. Even though this is not an appropriate time to say I cannot prevent myself from saying that the If the Law enforcing authorities are strict, this menace can be controlled to a very large extent. Why would people get addicted to this? Other than the reasons of being easily available etc, as mentioned above Chemically a substance called as THC ( Tetra Hydroxy Cannibinol) a ketone present in this Drug makes the body become dependent on it. The relaxation it brings to the smoker along with the euphoria it creates makes the smoker misconceive that this actually is not destructive & some regulars believe that smoking grass helps in harnessing their creativity. Once again this is a misconception which needs urgent rattention. . Now let us see How it becomes a menace to the person abusing it so that we can understand how it affects the society. As the time goes by & the addiction takes root, it causes various personality disorders, serious psychological behavioral problems & loss of priority resulting in Poor judgments, Slowed reflexes, Distorted vision, Memory lapse, Anxiety, Confusion, Constant physical fights, tiredness, Black outs, Lowered inhibitions & problems in remembering recently said or did. They even start believing that Drugs is necessary to have fun & to even to exist. They constantly feel run-down or depressed leading to suicidal tendencies. They constantly complain of Dry mouth, Nausea, Head ache, decreased co-ordination, Increased Heart rates, Reduced Muscle strength, increased appetite & craving. Drugs & Alcohol together are contributing factors in at least half of all murders, Suicides, & Car accidents in an inebriated condition. Drug dependency pushes people to loose their self esteem & make them promiscuous. Approximately there are 1 lakh deaths occurring per year because of Drugs. The Illegal drug Mafia has a firm grip on the Market & is a very big source of funding Terrorism. Of course Marijuana is not the only drug & there are more serious Drugs like Cocaine, Heroin, LSD, and Phencyclidine which are more dangerous but luckily they are not very common as these are expensive, difficult to procure & more harmful. These drugs are snorted, smoked or injected. When these drugs are taken thru injections, it increases the chances of transmitting AIDS & HIV by sharing of needles. The Good News is that more than 98% of the teens have never tried these harder drugs like cocaine. Let me see if we can do anything about this, first of all on a personal level if we find our friends or other young people indulging in it, we have to report to the family immediately. On the family level care should be taken in handling these people & we should give them all the love & support to overcome the addictions with the help of De-addiction clinics. On a bigger scale the society of which we are a part of should take stringent steps to see there are no peddlers or users among them & finally the state should introspect & see why it cannot be rooted out if there is a will & conviction among them. My friends, Recently we saw the Grammy award winner Amy whinehouse dying at the age of 27 because of Alcohol & Drugs. It’s a pity that such a great talent has to loose out to Drugs. I can go on & on about the menace the Drug Abuse causes to the Individual first & then the society, but I feel the more we dwell upon it, the more we would be energizing it, so lets all say NO TO DRUGS & Promise to ourselves & to the society that we would weed out this menace in our generation completely.

Are we living in a therapy culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Are we living in a therapy culture - Essay Example The different types of general problems are also increasing for employees day by day. According to Furedi (2003), the therapy concepts are not linked with dilemmas that are peculiar or indifferent states of mind of the individuals. Therapy is being taken as dealing with dilemmas that are common and state of minds that are being observed in normal human beings on a usual basis. There was a time therapy was considered as typically being applied on some unique cases but now every human being is gradually becoming prone to therapies. The states such as depression, stress, anxieties that are general, different types of phobia, and shyness are some of the common problems that are faced by majority of the individuals (Howard 2005). The author Furedi (2003) also discusses that the individual experiences that are faced are being categorized as medical and psychological issues and this may directly relate with the emotional mind set of the individuals. Therapy concepts are not just visiting psychologists and having chat sessions with them, therapy is becoming an inbuilt concept in society that is making mandatory compulsions on individuals for remaining competitive in the society and cope up with realities of life. Therapeutic claim making has become one of the most interesting debates currently. Furedi (2003) suggests that individuals are mostly interested in acknowledgements that state that they need formal recognitions and approaches to cure themselves. The society pressurizes the individuals to consult psychologists and counsellors to have sessions and discuss about their problems so that their therapy sessions can start with them. Cameron (2000) argues in his book that people are ready to make therapy claims very easily by observing their conditions. It the psychological thought that they have developed that they may get well if they take up therapy sessions for