What Role Does Jesus Play In Religion Essay

In Chapter 3, Douglas presents three different theological perspectives of the Black Christ. Albert Cleage, James Cone, and J. Deotis Roberts discuss the idea of Christ being Black. Cleage presents, “the most provocative version of Christ’s Blackness” (55). His argument is theoretical in the utmost sense of God as flesh representing Black Americans, but suggesting that Jesus was actually, “…the Black son of a Black Israelite woman and of a Black God” (56). It is of the upmost necessity for Jesus to be ethnically Black to Cleage because of, “…his role as pastor, his understanding of the Black church, and his ties to Black nationalism” (56). Because Cleage views Christ as literally Black, he is not forced to

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

Although the Bible’s description of Jesus and his crucifixion has not been changed, the perception of the people about Jesus has been changing throughout the ages. The poem “The Dream of the Rood” is good example of a unique view of Jesus and his crucifixion. The poem is referred as “one of the first and most successful treatments of the crucifixion” in Old English poetry (Burrow 123).

For example, in the 1690’s Jesuit priests introduced the Virgin Mary to a group of Indians where they emphasized the already existing notion of chastity, therefore assimilating Christianity with an already present concept. Other non-forcible means of spreading Christianity also existed. Puritan minister, John Eliot, translated the Bible into the local Indian language to gain converts. In these regards, the spread of Christianity fundamentally dismantled the inherent culture of Native Americans.

When it comes to the crucifixion of Jesus, there are many different arguments that appeal to specific peoples’ beliefs or arguments as to what makes the most sense. What really is the determining factor though when we are deciding how we portray Jesus’ death? Is it our faith? Is it what logically makes the most sense to us? Is it what we are taught growing up by our parents or Sunday school? Could it possibly a mixture of all of those factors? Either way, we all have different beliefs and ideas when it comes to His death. One of the most popular arguments for Jesus’ crucifixion is that the reason he died was purely in place of us due to our sins; he was the ultimate sacrifice. In this paper, I will argue from a logical standpoint that not only does this theory not make sense, but Jesus’ life and choices were related to his crucifixion as well. The most logical circumstance is that, instead, Jesus died as a ransom.

• Writes about James, brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ. Stoned to death in A.D. 62. Pg.78

Associated with their attention to the spiritual needs of conversion, the priests endeavored to eliminate ‘heathen’ practices among those Indians that they baptized.[x] The non-Christian people of the Americas were not simply to be converted; they were to be civilized, taught, humanized, purified and reformed. The Indians to be converted were strangers speaking in many unfamiliar tongues. In most cases, when the Friars first encountered them, they had been only recently conquered and subjugated, and even if not actively hostile they were likely to retain covert antagonisms. In their experience all Spaniards were exploitative.

Europeans attempted to forcefully assimilate the native Americans to Christianity. Spanish missionaries preached the words of God to the Native Peoples who listened out of fear.(Doc.2A) The Europeans viewed them as a barbarous people without the knowledge of God refusing to acknowledge their religions.(Doc.4B)Partly due to the fact the Natives were not Christian the Europeans felt justified in enslaving them.

This statement further reveals the factions that had surfaced as a result of racial tensions as both races feared one another to an extent. The blacks feared the whites because of their power, and the whites feared the blacks gaining any power. These racial tensions through the verbal propaganda of whites versus blacks intensified to a point where it eventually got in the way with some people’s faith and belief, “‘Is Jesus white?’ said [the student in Sunday School]. Rev. Owens said no. ‘Then how come they make him white here in this picture?’... ‘If they put Jesus in this picture here, and He ain’t white, and He ain’t black, they should make Him gray. Jesus should be gray.’ Richie stopped going to Sunday school after that.” (McBride 53). Had tensions not been so high during the time period, Richie may not have cared that Jesus was depicted as white. However as anti-color propaganda was being tossed at the opposing race, it struck towards individuals such as Richie to be a large deal and as a result he let the tension destroy his sense of faith, indicating the power of propaganda during this period. Social ladders become intensified through the creation of racially separated schools, stores, churches, water fountains, buses and more.People’s treatment of the opposing race began to worsen when these factions were created. Propaganda shows the spreading of information controls society’s thoughts and emotions as the art behind the language and the author’s expression of the

From when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. to the postmodern age, the Christian Church had varying degrees of control on Western society as an authoritative figure, dictating moral decisions and controlling mass culture. This cultural super-influence, of course, bleed into literature, music and film as well as everyday life. With the decline of believers, Jesus’ contribution to American culture has surely not shaken. The

The greed for gold and the race for El Dorado were the main inducements of the Spaniards who, at the peril of their lives, crossed the ocean in unfit vessels in a mad pursuit after the gold and all other precious property of the Indians” (Peace 479). The royal rulers of Spain made it a rule that nothing would jeopardize their ability to rob the land from the native people of Latin America. The missionary process, “had to be encouraged, but the missionaries could not be permitted to dominate the colony at the cost of royal rule” (Gibson 76). The European governments established missionaries to cleanse their minds of any guilt aroused by the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children. When European “ships arrived in the 16th century to colonize the land and exploit its natural resources, they killed indigenous people and brought black slaves from Africa. Millions of indigenous people were slain and their cultures completely destroyed by the process of colonization” (Ribero). The overall devastations caused by the Christianization of the native inhabitants created a blend of cultures within the indigenous civilizations which gradually isolated old native ways into a small population of oppressed people. The Christianized people became a symbol of loyalty to the European powers and were left alone simply on their religious status. This long term mission of total religious replacement caused very strong and advanced

The founding of religion gave birth to quite a few contentions between separate groups, raising moral dialectics. These moral bickers from religion fueled groups to spread their specific beliefs or ideals. For example, in the year 1769 Spanish Missionaries, led by Junipero Serra, attempted to christianize those Native Americans who habited California. The missionaries accumulated thousands of semi-nomadic Indians to strong missions which taught ideas like horticulture. Missionaries fiercely shoved the idea of christianity down the throats of the natives, yet they did so with retaliation. It was common for the natives to violently rebel against the religious influences pushing into their private, peaceful lives. Also, French-Catholic Missionaries called Jesuits, attempted to "save" Native Americans and convert them into Christianity. Jesuits went as far as to try and convert Native Americans even though they were rebellious to the point of violence, like the Native Americans in California. A majority of the Jesuits' attempts failed because copious amounts of the conversions were not permanent. In the small world of politics and religion, philosopher John Locke emphasized the separation

ideas of God the Father, Jesus the Son of God and the Holy Spirit in

When this question is personalized, it becomes the most important question one will ever be asked or answer. Who is Jesus Christ to YOU? Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV). In 1 John 5:11-13 we are told that if we have the son in our life we can KNOW that we have eternal life. Jesus is the only way for us to live an abundant life here on earth, or receive eternal life in fellowship with God. Jesus died on the cross to take the punsihment for our sins so that we could be sinless in the eyes of God. If we do not receive the free gift of eternal life by experiencing the forgiveness achieved by Jesus, then we will receive the punishment we

When discussing and proving the person of Christ, there are two basic laws that must be addressed and proven. First you must prove that Christ is one hundred percent human (humanity), then you must prove that at the same time Christ is one hundred percent God (deity).