Monday, March 30, 2020

Halloween is bad

The Halloween celebration is bad. To begin with, the celebration is meant to commemorate the god of dead people. It signifies the time when the wall between the world of the dead or supernatural and the living was broken down. It is thought that evil spirits and spirits of the dead visit the earth during this time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Halloween is bad specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Those who strongly believe in the celebration see it as an opportunity to seek help from the devil concerning issues like marriage, the enemies, and health, among others. In reality, the ceremony exalts the devil and other spirits hence demining God’s power and his ability to save mankind from his troubles. The ceremony has strong links to pagan worship (Barth 22). Every faith that has God or a god at the center of worship usually demands that only that God/god is to be worshipped and any divergence from that is pe rceived as transgression. On the contrary, Halloween acknowledges evil spirits and even the devil and as they are thought to be able to solve human problems. In the real sense, it is only people who ascribe to Satanism that acknowledge the supremacy of Satan and any celebration that exalts the devil must be satanic. For those ascribing to the Christian faith most of the activities done on the day could be termed as anti-Christian. Given that light and darkness cannot associate, then the devil and God cannot be acknowledged at the same time. Some of the activities carried out during the Halloween celebration include visiting those houses that are haunted by evil spirits. Black cats, the jack-o’-lanterns and bonfires are all associated with this celebration most of which owe their originality to occultism. In the ancient days during the Halloween celebration, people wore animal skins and they would dance around bonfires. Participating in the celebration is equivalent to supping with the devil. Those who do it cautiously can be compared to those using a long spoon. In its original ancient form, the celebration was accompanied by human sacrifices and it was mostly performed by the witches. During the ceremony, demons are worshiped using the human sacrifice. By allowing one allowing his/her children to take part in the celebration, that person is simply initiating the children to Satanism and reinforcing their belief in the spirits of the departed. Such children may end up unruly or ascribing to very weird beliefs. The celebration is mainly associated with mischievous activities, death and ghosts.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The celebration has been slowly getting into people’s minds and activities and it is nowadays being perceived as any public holiday. Some celebrate it without trying to find out its significant. Some on the other hand do celebrate it due to peer pressure (Russell 100). During the Halloween celebration, children are left wandering in the night doing activities they do not fully understand. This could jeopardize their safety and security as no one can foretell the danger that lies ahead during the night. It may therefore help to stop one’s children from wondering aimlessly in the night on purely security grounds. The costumes worn during the ceremony are scary and might even cause nightmares to some of the young children. There is need for those who celebrate the ceremony unknowingly to research into the history of the ceremony as well as its meaning before daring to take part in it. Works Cited Barth, Edna. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts. New York: Seabury Press, 1972. Print. Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. New York: Cornell University Press, 1972. Print. This essay on Halloween is bad was written and submitted by user Charli K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Reading Response on Missions Essay Example

Reading Response on Missions Essay Example Reading Response on Missions Essay Reading Response on Missions Essay The most effective way to employ the mission strategy is to know the past history of missions in our world. In the reading, R. Pierce Beaver gives the reader a look into the time line of missions throughout history. He starts by telling us of Boniface who was a man that first used an approach that was effective and set the stage for later works. Boniface used an aggressive approach, but in the end won over the locals and taught them how to live creating a civilized society. Beaver next discusses The Crusades. He explains how this war against Muslims left a hatred to the Islamic lands making it almost impossible for missions there. Despite this, the reader learns of two men who went to teach in love; Francis of Cassis and Ramona Lull. Lull, especially, was dedicated to the task of winning over the Muslims and devised a system to answer all opposition to Christianity by the Muslims. Until his death, he begged for an institution that would help train others to reach the Muslims. Beaver moves on to explain missions in Colonial expansion. During this time, Christianity became a worldwide religion in connection with expansion. The Pope told the monarchs to evangelize the people of the lands, found a church, and preserve it. This made mission part of the government itself. The mission strategies of the 17th century were connected to this expansion as well. Manuals of missionary principles and practice described what was needed to be a missionary. Also during this time, colleges and other institutions were put into place to help train those missionaries. The missionaries of the 17th century were the Jesuits. They shared the gospel with the native people by learning their language and customs and formed the gospel around it. The Shogun shut down Christianity and closed Japan to outsiders which sent the Christians underground. Eventually, Japan was reopened two centuries later. During the 19th century, Protestant missions largely made up the time period. Their goal was that of worldwide missions. The Protestants viewed the main objective of missions as Civilizing the locals because they viewed their culture as degenerate. This soon began to change with the help of two theoreticians; Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson. They established the three self formula which stated that the goal of session was to plant and foster the development of churches that will be self- governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. Both men felt that after an area had been function well, the missionary should leave and go to another place to share the new of the gospel. American missions adopted these theories but the British missions resisted them. Also during the 19th century, we begin to see an emergence of missions in education and medicine. Another aspect of this time period was that of comity, which was employed by the Southern Baptists. Comity was put into place to eliminate competition for areas of need in missions. With these new tactics, cooperation was great and led to increasing home base communications. After World War II, missions changed again. Roland Allen wrote that the missionary was to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit. That they should convey the gospel and the simplest statement of faith. The old missions dissolved and made way for what we have today. Missionaries began to take Jobs in the culture and work as the people to religions in the world mission as well.