The Sacred And The Profane

Upon their return to Palestine after their release from exile, the Jews were struggling to “maintain their religious and social identity” (Wenham & Walton, 2011, p. 7) and found themselves in the midst of great military powers, first the Greeks, and then the Romans. Their influences on the Jews were remarkable. This essay will examine the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD by describing a typical Greco-Roman city, then discuss the various levels of Roman administrative structure, explain where local authority resided in the cities/villages of 1st-century Palestine, and finally support with Scripture the structure of authority within the Gospels and Acts.

Sacred texts and writings are very beneficial for Christian people since they are the word of God and can be deliberated as supportive indication of understanding the principle beliefs of Christianity which include the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the nature of god and the nature of trinity, revelation and salvation. This essay aim’s at assessing the significant role of the sacred text in providing authentic information in regards to sacred texts.

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.

Religious spaces, characterized by Thomas Tweed, are “differentiated,” “interrelated,” and “kinetic.” As a sacred city with spiritual significance in three major religions, Jerusalem is depicted thoroughly in the Hebrew Bible and illustrated as one of the spaces Tweed defines. The Bible emphasizes that Jerusalem was chosen by God and honored by Israelites, which differentiates it as a special, singular space; the description of Solomon’s Temple shows that the Holy City was interrelated to economic power and involved in the judgment of civil cases. Moreover, the conquest, development and destruction of Jerusalem illustrate the city as a kinetic space, reflecting the unsettled history of the Iron Age. These characteristics all make Jerusalem a religious and political center from the ancient Near East time to present day, guiding the footsteps of believers around the world.

The book Anatomy of the Sacred was an interesting read. I’ve learned a lot concerning

Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane analyzes a wide variety of components that are found within various world religions. Eliade uses the history of religion to support his ideas as the the book itself is a brief introduction to religion as a whole, particulary the religions of primitive societies. Nonetheless, when looking to the past one can see that mankind’s desire to associate itself with the sacred has been occuring for thousands of years. From temples to passages of intiation, religious man is a unique microcosm that follows and repeats the structure of the religious macrocosm, the creation of the cosmos. One can conclude that Eliade views religion as the “paradigmatic solution for every existential crisis.” (p210) and

The Islamic religion and belief system is very solely focused on the teaching derived from its core spiritual texts, also when confronted with the ethical issues situated with bioethics, religious Authority is very influential in the decision process of the issue, e.g. with abortion and euthanasia a member of religious authority would refer to the spiritual texts of Islam to whether the issue at hand is “wajib” (mandatory), “mustahabb” (advised), “mubah” (either way/unbiased), “makruh” (advised against), “haram” (illegal/prohibited). The main core spiritual texts are as follows: The Qur’an, Sunnah and the Hadith. The Quran is the central text of the Islamic religion as a whole and can be interpreted in many different ways, it is believed to be the revelation of God written by the prophet Muhammad. The Quran is the primary source for Islamic law, ethical teachings and values. There are known to be 350 legal verses out of the 6235 verses that make up the Quran, meaning that it is fairly scattered and hard to follow. It is used with the Hadith to clarify Shari’a Law. The Sunnah is a written version of the teachings and sayings of the prophet Muhammad who is known to be the perfect role model for a Muslim, this meaning that the Sunnah is referred to as the perfect way in which a Muslim must live and it influences every aspect of their daily life. The Hadith is another sacred Islamic text, which is basically one of many reports that followed the

1.) Fish are a symbol of luck in China. In fact, it’s traditional to serve fish at New Year’s dinner. The word fish, “Yu”, sounds like the word “wish” or “abundance” in Cantonese and Mandarin.

The land of Moriah is a set of mountain ranges, that later become known as Jerusalem. There is powerful significance not only to the land of Moriah, but the test of Abraham as well. Some believe that Mount Moriah is identical with the temple mount of Jerusalem, though no one knows exactly where the temple mount was located. Others believe that where Abraham traveled with his son, is where the crucifixion of Jesus was. “Which would of course b a literal fulfillment of Abraham’s offering of Isaac when God said, “ On the mount of the Lord it “ the final offering for sing” will be provided.”

Now enters the city, New Jerusalem (21:1-22:5), the symbol of hope. Instead of presenting another worldly power, John brings God’s power to earth, an enormous city which only the worthy can access. Unlike the beast’s (Rome’s) wealth, New Jerusalem contains a bounty of wealth for all those worthy, everything from shelter found in the high walls built with strong foundations to food provided year-round from the tree of life, and yes even jewels are present in God’s city which knows no night. Just in case the community loses its sight on how they might arrive at such a divine city, God’s throne rests at the center of New

Our understanding and motivation towards political movements and action relies on our values that we hold (Marietta, 2012, p. 25). The use of sacredness assigns a value to the cause in question, such as the example of martyrs in the Euromaidan protest riots. By associating those that died at the hands of government and police at the Euromaidan riots with the term ‘martyr,’ we identify the cause that they have died for (Ukrainian independence of Russia and unification with the European Union) as of sacred importance (Shterin, 2016). This cause is now seen as an act of valor, and participation in it brings one a sense of righteousness, dignity, and moral pride, as described by Marietta (2012, p. 62). By associating a political movement with ‘the

This paper has presented a definition of religion, as well as an examination of its parts to determine if the definition is adequate to apply appropriately. Secondly, this paper has examined several practices and experiences common to both major religions of the worlds, as well as indigenous religions. Lastly, the key critical issues of the study of religions and reasons for their consideration have been identified and discussed.

Eliade, in his book “The Sacred and Profane,” poses an interesting conjecture that all people are inherently religious. What one does and the decision they make in their lives are all reflections on what they find sacred. Sacred in this context is an extension of one’s belief held up in high esteem to the point where what is deemed sacred is god like. Religion is the frame that interprets what is sacred and gives it a name and a face. Christians, for example, view Christmas as a sacred time as it is the season of the birth of their savior; Jews view the Passover as sacred as it represents a time in their religious history where God passed over the Jews while sending a message to their enemies. What is sacred can manifest itself in any shape, form, or time; truly entering the fourth dimension of space. If something sacred is god like, what is sacred to those who do not have a God? How can something be sacred if there is not a frame of reference for the thing to be sacred? How can every decision a person makes be reflect what they find sacred, if they do not have a religious language to reflect this phenomena?

Abram leaves his home and family, and departs into the "strange land" of Canaan, showing an extreme obedience to God and understanding of his duty to father this great race. Throughout Genesis, Abraham builds altars to God and sacrifices animals. In Genesis 22:2, God tells Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains". The next day, Abraham sets off for Moriah "and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." After God stops the sacrifice, he tells Abraham, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

Through out history, as man progressed from a primitive animal to a "human being" capable of thought and reason, mankind has had to throw questions about the meaning of our own existence to ourselves. Out of those trail of thoughts appeared religion, art, and philosophy, the fundamental process of questioning about existence. Who we are, how we came to be, where we are going, what the most ideal state is....... All these questions had to be asked and if not given a definite answer, then at least given some idea as to how to begin to search for, as humans probed deeper and deeper into the riddle that we were all born into.