Prophets: Idolatry, Social Injustice, and Religious Ritualism

In Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, he accentuates the inevitable distinction between the sacred and profane.This develops when an individual tries to establish himself in his world and acknowledges his own individuality of the worldly and physical spaces he takes up. Chaos seems to be in the areas where the profane governs and there are no principles in a profane universe. The idea of the sacred comes from knowledge itself. The brahmanas defines religion and human existence with the sacredness embedded in water which brings forth life.

There are many religious beliefs that have confused people throughout the years. For example, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christians are the most commonly religions that confuse people. A religious belief is basically a belief in God or gods. Hinduism is a religion where people do witch craft in what they believe that will help and protect them.

For we must consider that we shall be the City upon a hill. They eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present from us, we shall be made a story and a by word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors of God 's

Throughout the course of the semester, we have constantly talked about and expressed the idea of reading the Bible in a historical context. Picking out the pieces that coincide with evidence that has been found with archeological findings, the accuracy of dates, and important people. The critical study of the Bible is to look at the book as a piece of historical text. The use of our “historical lens” allows us to pick out to various pieces that appear to be factual. Using this analysis of looking at the Bible through our “historical glasses”, we can understand the true meaning of the Bible in its original historical setting.

In this paper Malcolm X will be discussed. Malcolm was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May, 19, 1925. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and became heavily influenced by hoodlums, thieves, and pimps. Sent to prison from age 20 to 27 because of burglary. Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam and came out of prison a changed man. Malcolm X endured many troubles in his life but Malcolm helped people in times of segregation. Malcolm also relates to some of the ancient prophets of Israel. First in this paper the biography than the characteristics of a prophet, than the conclusion of the paper will end it off. Malcolm X relates to a prophet because he shares characteristics with them, such as Malcolm has a vocation, He challenged power, and suffers

For Part 1 of this assignment, you will need to read each section in the “Story of the Bible” media piece. When you open the media piece, click on each flag/banner (creation, fall, covenant, prophecy, gospel, restoration). Read the entire media piece and answer the following questions. Here is the link to “The Story of the Bible.” http://lc.gcumedia.com/zwebassets/courseMaterialPages/cwv101_biblical-timeline-v1.1.php

There is a stirring of His Spirit that is calling to the deepness of our spirit about a outpouring of His goodness, for the deepest darkness.

The rich oppressed the poor; might was right; it was an age of corruption.” The religious leaders in Israel believed that Yahweh materially rewarded those who honor him and practice at the established places of worship, which meant that the poor did not live comfortably because they refused to regularly participate in religious activities. Amos, on the other hand, was taught that you express loyalty for Yahweh through fair dealings among people.

However, I wouldn’t go as far as he does saying that we are worshiping images and we should focus on words because “…, God planned to lead his people through this world of visual idols by words from his lips-in language, through his revealed word”(41). I agree with his message, but not to this extent-he’s looking far too into it. Yes we focus more on short snippets of information and pictures, but I feel that images can help bring words to life. There is a balance between images and pictures that can be very beneficial to our understanding of the message being presented. Anything can be worshiped and idolized including words, and I feel that he took the text a little too literally.

Dennis Bratcher provides insight on the ethics of the prophets in his article entitled Social Ethics in the Prophets. In this article Bratcher gives the reader some general information regarding the prophets before discussing in greater detail the theological foundation of the prophets and social ethics as it pertains to the prophets. Today, we understand that the torah and the prophetic traditions existed side by side in Israel’s religious life. They were both expressions of what the people had come to understand about God and how they should respond to God.

This paper will analyze the "Divine Purpose" as it appears in the various "highways of prophecy" in the New Testament, and show how those "highways" may be followed to a deeper and fuller appreciation of God's message.

When studying any piece of literature there are many different methods and techniques that can be used. The Bible, in specific, is often referred to as a source of moral code, hope, and answers to social, ethical, and political questions. However, this incredibly influential book can also be read as if it were any other novel. The events, settings, and characters can all be evaluated for what they are, forgetting the notion that they are from a religious text. This approach is called narrative criticism. When regarding to the Bible in this way, we do not need to know any historical information or focus on seeking a deeper theological meaning. Instead, the stories are evaluated in terms of how

The Old Testament consisted of a set of documentations of religious scriptures, which were written by different people at various times for a different audience. Most of the Old Testament contains short stories of traditional stories and those stories of distinguished ways God established mankind. These stories are often told to the people in narrative form, which are guidelines often referred to as laws, songs, genealogies, and a list from these authors that composed the Old Testaments. The pressing of set documentation is essential because it is the framework for the lives of God 's followers. The term “Old Testament” originated as a means to express spoken traditions and God 's creation of that particular era. It is an method of philosophical investigation was designed to answer the why questions within these spiritual text documentations. These religious documentations consisted of four parts. These four sections retrieved from the Old Testaments are the laws, history, wisdom and prophecy. The laws are a rule of behavior enforced within the community. The rules are sometimes called “Torah.” When analyzing this Torah, these rules viewed within the first five spiritual books of the Bible. For example, in the first Torah in Genesis, it explains the creation, Noah’s Flood, Abraham and Isaac, and Joseph’s coats of many colors. However, the laws in Exodus were in regards to the going out. The going out took about 40 plus years, until the people led to

Idols of the tribe do the most damage to man’s outlook of the world: man tends to make decision’s based on his emotions rather than logic, man clings to his first impressions, and man often twists facts to support those impressions.

The Old Testament ends with the Minor Prophets. These prophets provided insight on many issues the Jews were facing. All of the prophets had the same ideas of a warning of impending judgment because of the nations’ sinfulness, the coming judgment, a call for repentance, and a promise of future deliverance of God’s grace. Idolatry, social injustice and religious ritualism are three issues that the prophets emphasized on in their teachings and can be inspired in the minds and hearts of believers today. The prophets’ teachings are just as important today as they were in the past. The teachings about God, the way man lived, social issues, and religious rituals are all relevant in the today’s society.