Religion and Theology

The words love, loving kindness and Mercy are used synonymously in the bible. Through the bible we find that the words illustrate the relationship between God and Man, Man to Man and Man to Angels. Loving kindness as an act or covenant represents a level of deep trust and dependence on the parties concerned. In the following paragraphs I explore the different representations of the words Love, Loving Kindness and Mercy as expressed in the NIV and KJV.

Gen 1919 (NIV) Your servant has found favorhave shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. Lot and his daughters found favour with the angels meaning they were accepted or chosen and great kindness was show this context portrays the mercy or good deed accorded to them. Lot can thus plead for a chance to bargain with the angels of the Lord not to flee to the mountains because of the kindness or mercy they have received exonerating them from destruction. They were thus granted their request.

Gen 2427 (NIV) Praise be to the God of my master Abraham who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master In the KJV loving kindness and truth are used to replace the words kindness and faithfulness in the NIV in this context the request made to God by man is proved successful, The God of Abraham is proved true to his promise Gen 2412(NIV) O God of my master Abrahamshow kindness Gods faithfulness is proven to the servant of Isaac that God has honored his treaty with his servant Abraham by showing him mercy and making him successful in getting a wife for Isaac. Gods loving kindness and faithfulness is also mentioned by Jacob as he prayed to meet his brother Esau, Gen 3210 (NIV)I am unworthy of the kindness and faithfulness you have shown  Jacob puts forth his petition humbly on the knowledge God has given him more mercy than he deserved through out his life. In this context God is proved true again when his encounter proved successful.

In her song of praise of deliverance Miriam talks of unfailing love implying the consistent never changing love of God, Ex 1513. The love of God is also at a price those who keep his commandments and love Him Ex 206 the consistency of the love of God is shown in the commandments. Ex 346, 7 The Lord describes His own nature when he passed in front of Moses as abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness The consistency of the love of God is portrayed here and a new dimension of the endless love of God is also illustrated in his love for the thousands. As the people rebelled against the Lord and Mosses became angry he is reminded of the attributes of the Lord in Num 1418, 19 the lord is abounding in love and his consistency in forgiving and loving the Israelites from the days they were delivered from Egypt. In this light the nature of God is portrayed as amorous in spite of the grumbling and bad behavior of the people. In his loving kindness God also pardons and disciplines those he loves. Moses emphasizes and repeats the commandments on love illustrated in Deut 510 and Deut 79 is a similar to of Ex 346, 7 emphasis on the love of God to a thousand generations. The Israelites probably had a tendency to forget the mercy and love of God and would therefore grumble and sin.

The word kindness is also illustrated as a way of seeking pardon and favor between the people. For instance, in Gen 4729 Israel asked his son Joseph for kindness and faithfulness not to be buried in Egypt. He asked Joseph to pledge to deal with him truly as illustrated in KJV. In Jos 212 Now then please swear to me by the Lordshow kindness Rahab after housing the spies and before letting them go urged the spies to guarantee the safety of her household on the day the Lord gives them the land. Jos 1214 the men assured her they would treat her kindly and faithfully if she did not reveal what they were doing. Both parties made a secrecy oath in return for kindness. A similar scenario is replayed by in Jdg 124 Show us how to get to the city and we will see that you are treated well kindness was shown in exchange for a good act. In Jdg 835 The Israelites did not show kindness to the family of Gideon for all the good things he had done for them. The people were expected to return the act of kindness but because they had prostituted themselves to the baals, kindness did not matter to them. Boaz showed kindness to Ruth and Naomi as they gleaned in his field Rth 220 he has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead kindnesses as act of favour as a personal characteristic human attribute. Rth 310 This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier Ruth showed kindness to Boaz by choosing him as a kinsman redeemer as compared to her choosing other younger men. 1Sam 2014 Jonathan reassures David and at the same time petitions for Davids kindness according to the Lord so that as long as he lives he will not be killed.

Naomi bid farewell to her two daughters in Rth 18 Go backMay the Lord show kindness to you in this context kindness is demonstrated as a form of benediction or blessing a farewell message a form of remembrance from the Lord spoken by Naomi to her two daughters. 2 Sam 26, May the Lord now show you the kindness and faithfulness and I too will show you the same favour because you have done this. David blessed the men of Jabesh Gilead for they had buried Saul. The loving kindness and truth of God was also on David and God promised him he will never take his love from him like he did from Saul, 2 Sam 715 The lord blesses David and declares his favour upon him. 1 Chr 1634 a Psalm of David declaring and praising the blessings of the Lord. 1Chr 1713 I will be his father and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. Nathan the prophet spoke the promise of God to David about his offspring who will build him the temple as an assurance that the blessing and mercy will follow Davids lineage.

Through out the Old Testament the Israelites relate to God as their deliverer the faithfulness and loving kindness of Yahweh. In his complaints and anguish Job still acknowledges that his sustenance comes from God in Job 1012  You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. He also continues in Job 3713 to express the nature of God  He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love.

David is known for the composition of songs that express the loving kindness of God. He pleads his petition from the Lord in Ps 511(KJV) by reminding the Lord of his loving kindness to pardon sin. Have mercy upon me oh God, according to thy loving kindnessaccording unto the multitude of thy tender mercies and blot out my transgressions. David expresses that Gods mercy is great and his mercy will prevent the enemies of God to harm him. Ps 5710 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. Ps 5910  Your great mercy will prevent God shall let me see my desire upon my enemies.

Daniels life and deliverance from captivity is one of the best illustrations of how God would allow the testing of his servants faith in order that he would prevail and come out strong and the Lord would receive praise. God shows that he loves and cares for his obedient servants. Daniel would not compromise or bow down to the idols so he offered his petition to the Lord in Dan 94 proclaiming him as the great God who keeps his covenant of mercy and love. Truly as he prayed the Lord delivered him. The scripture proclaims in Dan1 9 (NIV) that Daniel had obtained favor and sympathy from the official.

Modernity, which some date from the French Revolution and from the revolutionary war in North America, put reason not religion at the center. Both revolutions resulted in political systems that separated religion from the state. Both saw government as belonging to the people, to citizens who have the right to rule themselves. Freedom of belief, speech and thought were asserted as rights. Democracy, especially secular, liberal democracy, is often regarded as a by-product of modernity.

Much has been written about Islams response to modernity, often assuming that modernity presents challenges to how Muslims organize society and understand the relationship between religion and the state. The role of reason and the scientific method, central to Western modernity, are said to challenge Islamic ideals. In Western democracies, exercise of individual rights sees people opting for life-styles and choices that traditional Muslim societies regard as immoral. Authority and knowledge in liberal democracies are not fixed in ancient religious texts but subject to progress. Some argue that Islam is inherently anti-democratic. Since religion and the state cannot be separated, religious authority takes precedence over what any individual or even what the majority of people think. Some Muslims argue, however, that Islam does not have to be allied to the state, that Muslim life can flourish under secular democratic systems. Islam, they say, is a religion (din) not a political system (dunya). The religious and political views of Islam compete for influence across the Muslim world, impacting how states are governed. What follows utilizes mainly Muslim voices on these rival options. Political Islam (Islamism) is depicted as a modern construct, one that does not represent Islam of the seventh century, while religious Islam is closer to what was originally intended.

Historical Background
Analysts suggest that two options face the contemporary Muslim world. Supporters of the first, religious Islam, regard Islam as an ethic (adab) and a religious faith, not as a comprehensive legal and political system. Supporters of the second option, political Islam, see Islam as a total way of life embracing politics and law as well as spirituality and devotional acts.  This, they claim, was the Islam of Muhammads time, of the early caliphs and is still the ideal for Muslims today. Compromises made by Muslim rulers, who sidelined Islam for their own purposes but mainly, in much of the Muslim world, colonial intervention, dismantled Muslim institutions, replacing them with Western style laws and systems. Colonialism is widely held responsible for what Wilfred Cantwell Smith, in a pioneer book about Islams encounter with modernity, described as the fundamental malaise of modern Islam. Faced by this malaise Muslims asked how could they rehabilitate their history, set it going in full vigor, so that Muslim society may once again flourish as a divinely guided society should and must Even the Muslim worlds division into separate, independent nation states was seen as a Western imposition. Hassan al-Turabi, the Sudanese politician, argues, The phrase Islamic state is a misnomer  Islam does not stop at any border.

Political Islam v Religious Islam Muslim Voices
Turkey, a secular state founded in 1922, may be identified as an example of a context where religious Islam dominates. Political Islam, also referred to as Islamism and as fundamentalist Islam, dates from at least 1928, when the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt. It can also be identified with the founders of the Saudi state, for whom religion and politics were intimately related. Tibi, a German citizen originally from Syria, represents a strong voice for religious Islam. His The Challenge of Fundamentalism political Islam and the New World Disorder (1988) was partly a response to Samuel P Huntingtons The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996). The book critiques the phenomena, claims, goals and practices of Islamists throughout the Muslim world. Huntington suggested that, in the new world order after the Cold War, rivalry between civilizations rather than ideologies might create conflict. A clash between the Western and Muslim worlds was highly likely. Muslims, said Huntington, are prone to violence. Cultural differences between the Western and Muslim spheres and the latters perception that the former plan to subjugate them will lead to conflict.

Tibi agrees that a clash between the non-Muslim and Muslim worlds is possible. In his view political Islam creates disorder but he argues that Islam as a religion is definitely not a threat.  Behind the possibility of a clash lies the fact that the West and Islamists both want hegemony and that Islam may be the only challenge to Western dominance.  Tibi sets out to undermine the legitimacy of the Islamists claim to represent real, traditional, authentic Islam. He regards political Islam as a construct, an a-historical abstraction invented in the modern period (the twentieth century) to serve the interests of those who demand what they call the unity of din (religion) with dunya (state), hence the expression din wa dawla, unity of religion and state. While this is a cardinal principle of fundamentalist or political Islam it is, he says, is a fiction. He points out that such phrases as din wa dawla and nizam Islami (or Nizam siyasipolitical system) do not exist in the Quran or Sunnah (saying of the Prophet). Zakarias The Struggle within Islam The conflict between religion and politics  (1988) offers a similar argument. He served in Indias parliament and was a vice-chair of the Indian National Congress. When Islam has been (as it often was) effectively divorced from politics it did not suffer as a religion but flourished. Fatima Mernissi, a Muslim feminist and activist in her native Morocco, also rejects the fundamentalists claim that an Islam separate from the state would decline. Under a secular system, Islam would not only survive but thrive.  Mernissi agrees with Tibi that political Islam is a construct. Claiming to revive original or pure Islam of the seventh century, Islamists deny the reality of Islamic history. Support also comes from Iranian scholar Abdulkarim Soroush, who points out that no majority Muslim secular country would ever become irreligious, so Muslims should not fear a secular system. Rather, If a society is religious, its government too will take a religious hue.

Advocates of political Islam have no interest in history because, if the earliest Muslim community under Muhammad was perfect, history has no lessons to teach. Thus, Islams essential timelessness leaves no room for historical investigation.  Tibi points out similarity between Islam as depicted by Western Orientalists as unchanging and singular and the ideals of political Islam, giving us homo islamicus, the same everywhere and at all times. In this view, Islam is incapable of change or reform because it is already perfect, the same everywhere and always.

Tibi challenges the idea that Islam exists as a comprehensive social, legal and political system, regarding this claim as a mobilization of religion for political ends. The typical Islamist is a homo politicus not a homo religiosus. This turns what was intended as ethical guidance and spiritual nourishment into a political-legal system. Central to the Islamist agenda is the demand to impose Shariah law. In their view, any Muslim state that does not impose Shariah is illegitimate, while any state that does impose Shariah becomes, by definition, a bone fide Islamic state. Issues related to how such a state would be governed, says Tibi, are subverted by the insistence that all answers to every problem will be solved once Shariah is established. Yet, says Tibi, there really is no such ready-made body of law. Those who demand its imposition would find, should they seize power no coherent legal system at hand that they can apply to situations, conditions and events overnight  as events will demand.  As traditionally understood, Shariah rested not with the state  but rather with religious societal communities.

Throughout his book, Tibi insists that Islamists mistake human interpretation of the Quran for Gods eternal word. Only the second can claim infallibility. Similarly, Soroush says that even though scripture may be infallible, how we read and understand it is fallible, open to different interpretations. Tibi says that a states constitution can be based on Islamic principles as long as this is understood as a human construct.  He argues that the combination of religion and state under Muhammad was a response to circumstances, that unity of religion and politics is not a constitutive part of Islamic beliefs.  This argument is not new. Ali Abd al-Raxiq 1888-1966) an Egyptian religious judge, argued that Muhammads combination of political and religious leadership was circumstantial, not prescriptive Islam he argued does not specify any particular form of government, thus allowing Muslims to create democratic states  Tibi says that he and other advocates of a secular state are denounced as infidels. One reason for this is the widespread belief, across the Muslim world, that secular nationalism is anti-religious. He traces this idea to the fact that many early advocates of secularism in the Muslim world in the early twentieth century were perceived to be irreligious. Trying to impose secularism from the top they were accused of wanting to put Islam aside. Tibi responds by arguing that the secular does not have to be profane, that in any democratic society with a Muslim majority, Islamic ethics and principles would inevitably and properly inform legislation. Islamists denounce secular nationalism as a Western ploy to destroy Islam by promoting a political ideology that stresses a national rather than Islamic identity. The Arabic word coined to describe secular puts people off because unlike the word ummah (nation), which has a distinctly religious connotation, qawmiyya denotes tribalism so is easily presented as anti-Islamic. Islam is ideally trans-tribal. Others dismiss the nation state as a Western imposition after World War I or the end of colonial rule, arguing that a single, trans-national Islamic caliphate must be revived. This is certainly the aim of some extreme Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda. Secularism has suffered from the fact that many post-colonial states were corrupt, with little genuine democracy.  Western support for these states tainted Western democracy as well as secularism. Until 1991, some looked to the Soviets for help. Others claimed Islamic solutions, not capitalist or communist, must be applied. Sayyid Qutb, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, denounced Western democracies as bankrupt. They were, he said, actually ruled by elites and special interests, not by those who vote. Democracy, he argued, was incompatible with Islam because God is the lawmaker, not people.  On the other hand, some Islamists do participate in elections, arguing that the ruler and his advisory council should be elected. The Qurans reference to shura (consultation) is cited to support some form of popular participation in government (Q3 159 42 38). However, only pious Muslims would be allowed to stand. This is sometimes called Islamic democracy. Critics express concern about the rights of minorities and of women under such systems, if established.

Religious v Political Islam across the Muslim world
In many Muslim countries, supporters of religious Islam vie with supporters of political Islam for influence and power. What evolved in Turkey suggests that a Muslim society that is secular does not become irreligious. Committed to secularism, religion was banned from the public square until 1950, when multi-party politics began. Parties were then also allowed to adopt an Islamic identity. Over time, more people voted for the main Islamic party, which is currently in government. It does not aim to introduce Islamic law or to change the secular nature of the state but Islamic values informs policy and legislation. Islamists would impose their version of Shariah as a supposedly fixed, complete code of divine law. Any elected bodys task would be to interpret and apply the Shariah, not to legislate. In this view, God makes law, not people. As in Iran, only those considered pious and skilled at fiqh (jurisprudence) would be allowed to occupy high office. Advocates of political Islam may advocate rule by those who know the Quran, based on verses that speak of some being raised in rank (see Q6 156 12 76 43 32) and on verses that appear to question the majority principle (see Q6 16 12 21 12 103).

Osama bin Laden probably wants a single caliph to rule. The issue is not how the ruler is chosen or even who the ruler is but that, once appointed, he (and women would be barred) applies the Shariah. Even though some consultation took place when the first caliphs were chosen, succession became dynastic, which solved the problem of how to choose the leader. The Saudi other monarchies in the Muslim world rests on the principle that a system that maintains order (prevents fitna, disunity) is valid as long as Shariah not made-up law is enforced. Classical discourse on the role of the caliph said little about how he should be chosen or removed, a great deal about his duties. Among these, protecting the Shariah and maintaining unity were paramount.

Conclusion
Political Islam does attracts support, largely because existing governments are often corrupt and rich while most people are poor. Islamism also attracts support from Muslims who do not really want an Islamist state but who suspect Western motives and solutions. However, political Islam might be a modern construct, one that does not represent the original Islam of the seventh century. Religious Islam might be the model closest to Islams original intent. This option, however, needs to be seen as more authentically Islamic, not as a Europeanized version of Islam.

In the world today so many Christian scholars and ordinary people find themselves asking very critical questions about evil. Every second, every minute, every hour and every day evil happens to every person and in different ways. In fact, every person experiences evil within himself and around himself.  In this regard, evil is an inevitable reality in the world of humans and something that she must learn to live with in life. A good reflection on evil brings about the notion of imperfection in creation as designed by God. This fact that God is the author of all that there is makes the case of evil even more complicated especially when one wants to reconcile Gods transcendence with evil. It is really complicated, very complicated.

Therefore, this study seeks to shed more light on the problem of evil in the world and in the light of its origin. Or better still the study will try to reconcile Gods fundamental characteristics namely omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, and apathy just to mention a few. The views of God from the point of view of Classical Theism and Dialectic Theism will also be considered. In addition, a reflection on various theological themes will be reviewed especially the one on Theodicy. In general, the main aim is to reflect on the understanding of evil and its causation and how it can be countered.

Logic and Evil
As indicated above evil is a very complicated issue and a very difficult task to explain. In fact, it becomes even more complicated when one applies certain principles of logic to it. Logic bases itself on inferences and statements in drawing its conclusions. Or better still by way of deduction andor induction conclusions derive necessarily from the premises and with mathematical certainty. In this regard, all judgments made by way of logical implication admits not any contradiction. This is one of the many reasons why the topic on evil is difficult to fathom especially in the light of logic. To elucidate more on this consider the following arguments.

God is Love and Goodness and by virtue of His omnipotence He ought to have created a perfect world. And, if God is Almighty and a transcendent God then He is able to maintain a perfect world free from evil. But, God is the sole creator of the world. From this argument confusion begins when one tries to reconcile imperfection and the omnipotence of the good Lord. Now, looking at the above arguments it is possible to construct logical arguments as follows

If God is omnipotent and transcendent, in addition, that than which nothing greater can be conceived as Anselm notes then He was able to create a perfect world free from evil. This is the first dimension of this argument. But, evidently evil is all over the world This is the second dimension of this argument. Therefore, it can be inferred that God is not omnipotent and that He was not able to create a world devoid of evil. To elucidate further on this argument consider it in its symbolic form as follows.
If M then N. If it is  not the case N, therefore it can not be the case M.

Note that this is in principle because for any hypothetical argument to deny the consequent is to deny the antecedent. This illustration will be of importance for some themes in the rest of the chapters below. Nonetheless, this should not entertain any atheistic tendencies as logic is developed from the human mind. It lacks metaphysics and that is why classical theism is one of the preferred discourses in explaining the nature of God.

Classical Theism
As mentioned above, theologians and philosophers have done a lot of scholarly works in a bid to describe the nature and essence of God and above all the possibility for his existence. This quest dominated in the classical times and in fact shaped the theism system. Today, it is referred to as classical theism. Why one would support this system of thought is due to its theistic tendencies or better still, it appeals more because it confirms the existence of God. Theism simply involves indisputable belief that God exists. Islam, Christians or Judaists all fall in this category. Classical Theism is one and the same thing with Judaeo-Islamo-Christian.

From the argument above, it demonstrates why evil is a controversial issue. Clearly, it bases itself on the fundamental understanding of the qualities of God. In deed, they are very strong and transcendental qualities such that the human mind cannot comprehend. Anselm notes, God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.  Therefore, classical theism majorly mentions the following qualities omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, transcendence, and benevolence. The transcendence of God is derived from the fact that God is neither an intrinsic part of creation nor is creation an intrinsic part of God. God is not a spatio-temporal reality as he is beyond time and space. Corporeal objects such as a table, a chair or a human being are spatio-temporal realities since they occupy space and are contingent beings. Again, spatio-temporal particulars are sensible objects hence the human mind can grasp them through the use of the senses. God is not in this realm at all. He is incomprehensible as such. This is why questions as to whether God exists or is it possible to know what God is like are regarded pointless and with no sense.

Omnipotence is one of the major reasons why logicians regard the debate about God nonsensical. Omnipotence of God implies that God is able to do anything or better still, God can do everything and without limit. Empiricism has had serious problems with this fact since they base all their beliefs on the empirical verifiability of experience. The dictum that what is empirically possible is also logically possible makes things even more complicated, again as pertains to evil. So, theists have used Gods omnipresence to explain the problem of evil vis a vis the arguments advanced from the logical statements. Recall the arguments illustrated in the beginning of this study.

Omniscience refers to Gods ability to know everything. He is all-knowing. He goes beyond the normal epistemological status of knowledge especially characterized by wisdom or intelligence or intuition. He is everywhere every second, every minute and every hour as he is not limited by time and space.Cosmologically, this is impossible. Cosmology looks at two qualities of corporeal reality namely pluri-precence and impenetrability. That one person cannot be in different places and at the same time. True, this is absurd and impossible. Theists however, regard this as a possibility as far as God is concerned.

Lastly the other quality is that of benevolence. This actually, is the ground for the problem of evil. Reconciliation of Gods goodness and love with evil is totally a contradiction and a very complex theme to fathom. To reiterate, this is the main cause of atheistic tendencies and as such due the imperfections found in the world. This leads now to the next discussion in this study in addressing evil especially its origins, how it is understood in the contemporary world, and modalities used to counter it.

The problem of Evil
As indicated earlier God is the source of every thing that there is and that nothing can explain its origin from itself without referring to God as its source of existence. This simply means that everything is from God, the creator. This assertion does not exclude the problem of evil in that it also originates from God. God is the principal cause of evil and this is justifiably so by virtue of the principle of causality. However, evil is termed as physical evil, mental evil, and moral evil. Physical evil is when one is undergoing illness of body, lacks some parts of his body like the handicapped, natural disasters like tsunami, floods, hunger, and drought just to mention a few. Cases of insanity and mental retardedness , on the other hand, are examples of mental evil. Moral evil is characterized by concupiscence in man, for example, the inclination to sin. In fact, moral evil is believed to be the source of all evil in the world. Note that morality revolves in the world of humans therefore, you cannot attribute evil with animals or with trees or with buildings, name them.  One cannot argue that this tree is evil or that table is evil it only makes sense when one says this man is evil or that girl is evil and so on and so forth.

Therefore man is believed to be the source of evil. From the discussions above, God created an orderly world but man disordered it. God willed that the world be good for man but out of mans sinfulness, pride and disobedience he disordered everything. To ease the struggle in explaining evil, it is therefore important to consider mans freedom as a gift from God. The aspect of freedom is actually the reconciliation between Evil and God with respect to man. That among the many things that god created He also willed that man be a free creature. In deed, God has endowed man with the gift of freedom embedded in his two faculties namely intellect and will. In this regard, it is easy to fathom why evil is as a result of mans activities.

Islam religion notes, that the fear of God and good character are the gate pass to paradise. However the mouth and the private parts are the gate pass into hell. Good and Evil are not concomitants. Even though the amount of evil overwhelms you, take refuge in God, and you will prosper. Self-inflicted punishment is also seen as an act of penance for the sins of the Muslims Community, who abandoned Husaynand his followers to their strategic fate on the days leading up to Ashura.

Conclusion
As you can see the problem of evil becomes a difficult task if some facts are not put into consideration. We have looked at the absurdity of the arguments about evil from convincing logical positions. From logic point of view, we cannot reconcile Gods transcendence and Goodness with evil. In deed, He seems to be the cause of evil again evil disproves his omnipotence and benevolence. The position of classical theism is good and I concur with it. The qualities of God are omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, transcendence and above all, benevolence. From experience, these qualities are evident since we experience God as so. However, to be able to believe in God we need divine help which is characterized by revelation. This is why logic cannot wholly determine ones thinking about God. We stated that logic is purely a product of the human mind. Faith comes in to aid the mind in its quest to know God. Therefore, to comprehend evil as per its origins and the rest, we need faith. Whenever a person is undergoing crisis in his belief in God in the case of the problems of evil, this is always a crisis of faith. Yes, she needs to address hisher faith.

The historical background of Thessalonica was originally an ancient town named Thermani, meaning Hot Springs.  In due course, it became a city with a significant role because of its strategic location. Cassander, the Macedonian king, established the city in 315 B.C. and named it after his wife, who was the half-sister of Alexander the Great. By the time of the Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and it stood on the Via Egnatia, the Roman highway heading eastward. During Pauls time, it was an autonomous community with enough Jews in residence to warrant the construction of a synagogue (Acts 171).

This place was one of Pauls major missionary activity when was instrumental in establishing a Christian community there on his second missionary journey (Acts 171-9 New American Bible).  However the creation of this community caused some trouble among the Jews and in order to keep the peace, he and his companion, Silas, agreed to leave the city (Acts 1710). However, he revisited the community on his third visit and even though he had not done so subsequently relied on his friend Timothy to keep him apprised of the situation and based on the latters report, Paul started writing his letter to the Thessalonians in two series.

In the first letter, Paul tried to address one of the issues that appeared to be causing some problems with the Christian community in Thessalonica, which was the apparent immorality going on there when he heard that the people there were being very promiscuous and committing other acts not pleasing to the Lord. He exhorted them to greater care in carrying out the gospel precepts, particularly those pertaining to right sexual conduct

It is Gods will that you grow in holiness that you abstain from immorality, each of you guarding his member in sanctity and honor, not in passionate desire as do the Gentiles who know not God and that each refrain from overreaching and cheating his brother in the matter at hand for the Lord is an avenger of all such things, as we once indicated to you by our testimony. God has not called us to immortality but to holiness hence, whoever rejects these instructions rejects not man, but God who sends His Holy Spirit upon you (1 Gal 41-8).

It can be inferred here that the Thessalonians had not completely let go of their former lifestyle prior to their conversion to Christianity where they would freely engage in sexual activities which would include of all things, orgies and even spouse-swapping and such things were considered immoral to God and it was apparent here that the Thessalonians were still trying to seek pleasure in worldly ways (Morris, 1959, pp.117-119).  What Paul was trying to do was to rectify this error of thinking by exhorting the Thessalonians to adhere to the highest moral standards by pleasing God first rather than ones own desires and it would be quite a struggle to do so but to those who would heed Gods will, the rewards would be greater in the sense that the gratification they would receive from God would be greater than what they would enjoy from their earthly life.

Paul next focuses on the most serious problem which Timothys report highlighted, and it was the Thessalonians excessive sorrow over the death of their loved ones, because they assumed that they would be deprived of the satisfaction of the second coming of the Christ or parousia.  Paul spelled it out this way

(No) The Lord Himself will come down from heaven at the word of command, at the sound of the archangels voice and Gods trumpet and those who have died in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living, the survivors, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thenceforth we shall be with the Lord unceasingly. Console one another with this message (1 Thes 416-17).

Paul maintained that the resurrection of the dead would occur before the parousia, so that Christians living at the time would not have any undue advantage over those who had died. He reminded them that Christ had already conquered death by dying on the cross and he assured them that the dead will rise again and so there was no need for mourning and grieving or dwelling too much on the passing of their loved ones (Morris, 1959, pp. 135-136).

He further reminded them of the words of Christ exhorted the need of constant spiritual readiness for it when he said

We who live by faith must be alert, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope for salvation as a helmet. God has not destined us for wrath but for acquiring salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, that all of us, whether awake or asleep, together might live with Him.  Therefore, comfort and upbuild one another, as indeed you are doing (1 Thes 58-11).

What Paul meant here was that they show the proper attitude toward one another in true Christian spirit by way of preparing for this.  If one were to draw a conclusion to the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, Paul was trying to help set things straight among them.  To ensure they live morally upright lives by adhering to the highest moral standards and he corrected their views of life and death, stating that the dead are not exactly dead but are asleep and will one day awaken before the parousia where along with the living, will live happily under Gods graces.

Among major religious traditions of the world, belief in the feminine divine is especially prominent in the Indic family. What follows mainly explores the role of the feminine divine in Hinduism but touches on how Buddhism and Sikhism also possess strands honoring the feminine. Tracing the origin of the feminine divine to the Indus Valley civilization (3,000  1, 500) BCE, it will be seen that although the Vedic period (1,500 to 600 BCE) saw less emphasis on feminine aspects, even the development of misogynist attitudes and practices, the Puranas (600-200 BCE ) saw a resurfacing of the feminine. None of Indias religions are devoid of male efforts to subordinate women. Yet a persistent, ancient current challenges male-centered, male dominated religion, reminding men of their feminine side, women of equality with men, men and women that the divine is masculine and feminine. Efforts to suppress this current did not stem its flow. It remains a vital tradition, closely but not exclusively related to Tantric belief and practices. Through primary and secondary sources, described below, the origin and subsequent history of this current is traced. Beginning with the Indus Valley, moving through lesser emphasis on the feminine in the Vedic literature which some see as an import into India, the currents triumph in the Puranas is discussed, with some reference to its presence in Buddhist and Sikh thought. Although fully expressed in the Puranas, the concept of the feminine divine can be read into Vedantic thought (in the Upanishads), which is itself considered to be a continuation and elaboration of Vedic truth (absolute truth for Hindus), hence it means end of the Vedas. The feminine divine tradition is enormously popular, perhaps more popular than official precept always suggests.

Sources
Two primary sources are used in this paper. These are translations, with commentary, of the same Puranic text, the Devi-mahatmya. Like the Bhagavad-Gita, which is part of the larger Purana, the Mahabharata, the Devi-mahatmya, originally books 81-93 of the Markandeya Purana, is also used as a freestanding scripture. The oldest Hindu text on the feminine divine, it is dated somewhere between the 5th and 6th centuries BCE. Coburns calls it the first comprehensive account of the goddess to appear in Sanskrit. Worthams classical translation was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1885. The DM is occupied with an account of the Great Power of Devi, or Durgha, says Wortham, the wife of Siva. Thomas B. Coburns translation is more recent (1988), so his commentary benefits from scholarship and research unavailable to Wortham. Five sources are secondary. However, these contain references to primary material and relevant fieldwork research. Singh (1993) is consulted for the feminine divine tradition in Sikhism, Shaw (2006) for Buddhist expression of the feminine divine, or principle. Bose (2000) surveys the feminine divine across the centuries. This is an edited volume and chapter 7, The Goddess, Women and their Rituals in India by Samjukta Gombrich Gupta was useful for content on how the Vedic tradition systematically excluded women from ritualistic religious duties because they were deemed impure and unclean, which contrasts with the later Tantric tradition that encouraged sexual contact during womens menstruation. With Coburns introduction, this provides most of the historical data used below. Finally, on the continued popularity and significance of the feminine divine tradition in at least one region of India, Samanta (1992) discusses Bengali perceptions of the divine feminine. Veneration of Kali is especially widespread in Bengal.

The origin of the Goddess the Indus Valley
Knowledge of the Indus Valley civilization is entirely from the archeological record, since there are no written accounts. Gupta and Coburn both refer to the lack of written attestation to the role of the goddess. Gupta says that although excavations suggest worship of a female figure, lack of written evidence makes it impossible to know the nature of that religion. People speculated that the Indus Valley civilization might have been matriarchal, that women as well as men or even only women may have performed ritual. Coburn comments, however, that most scholars accept that pre-Vedic religion had a strong feminine component, thus worship of the goddess is of non-Aryan, non-Sanskritic, indigenous origin. This rests on the popular but controversial theory that migrating or invading Aryans who entered India from outside, displaced the Indus Valley residents, bringing an early form of Sanskrit with them and perhaps the Vedas as well. The Indus Valley residents, or Dravidians, were pushed south. Coburn says that the Aryan and non-Aryan cultures were radically different.  Possibly, surviving princes of later preserved the non-Aryan traditions, while the Brahman priests (the highest class according to the Vedas) represented the former. By the time that the Puranas were written, though, the non-Aryan tradition was sufficiently strong to impact the Aryan-Sanskrit tradition, thus from the third and fourth century the religion of the Goddess becomes as much a part of the Hindu written record as the religion of God. From the writing down of the Vedas (1,500 to 1,200 BCE) the feminine was almost absent from religion, at least from official, Brahmanical religion. Gupta says that Vedic religion restricted women s ritual participation to certain life-cycle events and more or less treated women as members of the lowest class, the sudras. Menstruation was seen as an impurity, as was birth which inflicted impurity on all associated with it such as the mother and the midwife. Widows, especially if young were widely seen as the cause of sexual temptation. Although sati  the burning of widows on their husbands funeral pyres  was not actually prescribed by any text, it was commonplace. Allegedly, this was voluntary but more often than not women were compelled. In the Vedas, Indra (God of War) transferred one-third of his son for killing a Brahmin to women, which resulted in womens menstruation. She argues that women were increasingly mistrusted, especially as the caste system grew more rigid. Women role was to be submissive, obedient, docile and decorative. Womens lives were lived through mens. Their lives provided little opportunity for ostentatious spirituality, which was left for men. A woman was thought incapable of achieving moksha (release from samsara, the cycle of existence). Being reborn as a man signified progress.  This is reflected in how the female deities are depicted in the Vedas, where they are mainly decorative accessorizes for male gods.

The Puranas the resurfacing of the Feminine Divine
The Puranas are the most popular Hindu scriptures. Between the Vedas  which women and shudras were forbidden from reading and the Puranas, the Upanishads were written. These are regarded as an elaboration of the Vedas. According to Coburn, the Puranas, although technically a lesser category of scripture (smriti), are understood to be an adaptation and elaboration of sruti, that is, of the first two types of scripture, the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Upanishads, between the male-centered Vedas and the Puranas in which the feminine divine resurfaced, developed a theology of what Gupta calls inclusive monotheism which had a strong monistic aspect. The Upanishads took the vague Vedic notion of THAT ONE (unnamed, simply THAT which rested within itself) from which existence flows and developed the idea of Brahman as cosmic creative energy. As atman, Brahman (singular and formless) is present in all sentient beings. This monistic, formless idea of Brahman, above attributes, a principle rather than a person, may not have satisfied everyone. Possibly to provide a way of entering a more intimate relationship with Brahman, the next round of elaboration, the Puranas, developed the notion of Isvaras, personal manifestations of Brahmanss qualities. It was then that the shaktas emerged. Shakti (strength) is the feminine divine. The shaktas are partners of the male deities popularized by the Puranas, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, known as the trimurti (the divine three, literally three-images).

 Each male deity and their female partners all manifest attributes and perform specific tasks. Brahma, associated with the beginning of each cycle of existence, is often called the creator, although Hindu thought does not draw a rigid distinction between creator and creation. There is more continuity between Brahman and the cosmos, which emanates from Brahmans being. Vishnus task is to preserve the world, to protect dharma (righteousness) from chaos. In the Vedas, primordial chaos was displaced by the world and must be kept in check. Demons and evil are agents of chaos. Vishnu manifests in physical form, such as a super-hero (Rama, Krishna) to defeat chaos whenever dharma is threatened.

Shiva is associated with the end of each cycle of existence. However, since all three manifest Brahman, they also perform all three functions. Shiva is also the preserver. He sits on a mountain (like the Vedic Rudra) meditating, sustaining the world. The shaktas, or partners all have significant roles. They are literally their spouses strength. Without their female partners, the male deities are incomplete and vice-versa. Brahmas consort, Saraswati, is the patron of learning. Vishnus partner is the patron of wealth, Lakshmi. It is with Shivas wife, though, that the feminine divine emerges as a fully blown teaching. In one of her several forms, Durgha, she is the subject matter of the DM. As Parvarti, she is beautiful and somewhat decorative, perhaps more similar to the Vedic females deities. She is the patron of the arts. However, as Durgha and Kali, she is fierce, ferocious, the destroyer of ignorance, protecting meditating Shiva from evil. In the DM, Durgha destroys demons, this the entire universe is sustained by the bounty of Siva and Sakti, the Great Goddess. She is the energetic principle that sustains creation, without her, nothing can stir or be imbued with life. Durgha is no decorative accessory. She is not longer idealized as merely a wife of the male god but is conceived of as his creator. She is the great goddess, wrote Wortham, by whom even the hearts of the wide are detained, by whom the worlds were made. Shakti, says Coburn, is the bedrock for all the myriad manifestations of divine power. In the DM, she appropriates the powers and attributes of the divine three, indeed Shakti transcends them, becoming greater than the gods.

The goddess, says Gupta, reclaims her supremacy which presumably refers to her resurfacing from the Indus Valley to challenge male-centered Vedic religion. The comely, husband obeying figure of earlier periods is replaced by a powerful autonomous personification combining contrasting traits of benign and terrific, erotic and demure, motherly and virginal, saintly and heroic, ferociously powerful yet calm and silent. As sustainer and preserver, Durgha is peace loving and bestows benevolence, compassion and mercy. She grants boon and good fortune.  However, in her ferocious guise, she protects the universe from demons, she is approached by the gods at an hour of cosmic crises, when the demons are intent on disturbing the stability of the world. Now, her features are transfigured into fierce ones.  In the DM, when confronting the demons, she creates her most terrible aspect, three-eyed Kali whose complexion is as black as ink. In the closing scenes of the DM, the gods acclaim her as the highest principle of the cosmos, the power of creation, preservation and destruction, the Ground of Being, rolling all the roles of the three male deities into one. The text reads

Thy power and thy might have no equal, The eternal Lord Vishnu cannot celebrate it, nor Brahma, nor Hari .thou art good fortune to the pious  thou art the cause of all the worlds  thou art the abode of all things, all this world is but a part of thyself, for thou art the supreme nature

Identified with Vac (or Bacm, speech, a Vedic deity) she becomes author of the Vedas
Thou art the revealed word, thou art the source of the beautiful Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, with eloquent, charming, lovely verses

Her nature is to destroy evil yet her beauty can neither be imagined nor equaled by another.
The combined force of the demons cannot defeat Durgha. In graphic detail, DM describes her battle and victory
The goddess of unmoved countenance, without any effort, raining upon them showers of weapons, cut their darts and missiles in twain and she was praised by the Suras and the Rishis. And the Queen shot forth her weapons and her missiles

Shakta worship in the Tantric tradition
Despite the attention Tantra attracts by some Western scholars, fascinated by the role of sex, it cannot be described as a dominant tradition. Gupta describes Tantra as heterodox, embodying a critical and controversial attitude toward women, sexuality, their relationships with their bodies and senses, social classes, and traditional notions of purity and impurity. On the other hand, Hinduism embraces so much variety and diversity that the term heterodox may be misleading. Certainly, Tantra challenges Brahmanism and male-centered religion.  Gupta says that in Tantra, all women share the with the goddess continuity of being. Regardless of caste, creed, age, status or personal accomplishments all women are regarded as the physical incarnation  of divine cosmic energy. Tanttic literature is full of respect for all women as vessels of the goddess, Every woman in this world is my human form, says the Goddess. Women are not considered subordinate to men in Tantra. Upon birth, women assume cosmic energy. Voluminous Tantric literature exalts women as the very form of the universe. Nor is this praise devoid of content since in Tantra a genuine attempt is made to develop a code of ethics and rules of conduct which are entirely in favor of women.  True devotees of Shakti  many of whom are men  honor all women and look upon them with great reverence.

Tantra took a strict stand against wife-beating and sexual abuse of women. Men should honor, not hurt, women. In Tantric circles, women of all ages are addressed as Ma mother, which discourages men from seeing them as sexual objects. Tantra sees womens bodies as a locus of purity, which is radically different from orthodox perceptions. Her menstrual blood and the blood of childbirth do not pollute but bestow energy, represented by the female kundalini. This symbolically mirrors all the elements and astral planes of the outer universe. On the one hand, Brahmanism does value women for their reproductive power. On the other hand, its attitude toward menstruation remained oppressive. This does not apply in Tantra, which considers menstruation a suitable time for performing the ritual of union. Brahmanism sees womens bodies as threatening, so links menstruation with sin, guilt, murder, punishment and fear. Tantra worships the female body as a form of the goddess, as their living incarnations, all women are portions of thee. As wisdom, she dwells in the hearts of all men. Women in certain rituals become the Goddess and bless their male devotees. Most Tantric ritual consists of puja (worship) of the Goddess but the Left-Hand practice a ritual union involving sexual intercourse. The aim is to use the senses and the body as an instrument of liberation, to release latent sexual energies. Such unions involve men and women from all castes, to render asunder the rigid norms of social identity.

Bhakti-marga (the way of devotion) associated with the Puranas lso has a caste-gender equalizing current. Krishna said in the Bhagavad-Gita that whoever worshipped him, women or men, high born or lowborn, would be granted salvation. In village India, it is not unusual for women to lead worship, even to bathe the images of infant Krishna housed in the inner chamber (womb-chamber) or the Temple. The fact that all Temples have womb-chambers suggests that ideas about the feminine divine exist outside Tantra, as does such common terms as Mother India, Mother Ganges. Saraswati and Lakshmi are traditionally depicted in more demure terms, although they are also shaktas. Their festivals are enormously popular. Nature (Prakriti), is feminine. Tantra has the masculine principle (purusha), mate with Prakriti to produce the universe. Both are aspects of what was originally singular - monist, non-gendered Brahman. The way in which male deities in Bhakti tradition are depicted can suggest androgynous roles or even cross-gendered roles. Shiva as nata-raj, lord of the dance, looks distinctly feminine. Krishna, though renowned for his love of women, also quite often appears feminine. In fact, at Book 84 verse 41, the DM says that Parvati became Krishna and dwelt on Mount Himavant. This is meant to challenge ideas of personhood that elevate one gender, male or female, over others. All deities and all people have feminine and masculine qualities, which balance each other. The Puranas associated with each of the divine three depict them self-identifying as the others, as the All-in-All, as the sacred syllable OM. Thus, Vishnu is also Brahma and Shiva. Shiva is also Vishnu and Brahma. Here, the Goddess tradition stands on common ground when Parvati claims that she became Krishna. All manifest one reality, so they are essentially one.

The feminine divine in the Buddhist and Sikh traditions
The fact that ideas about the feminine divine are present in other religions born in India testifies to the power and persistence of this tradition. Buddhism was born within the Hindu thought-world. For some Hindus, it represents another marga. The Vishnu tradition claims Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu. Buddhism does not have a perfect gender record. Spiritual progress is associated with being male more so than female. The most senior nun was junior to the most junior monk and in Theravada the order of nuns no longer functions. Mahayana Buddhism developed its own Tantric tradition, which has much in common with Hindu Tantra. Over time, however, the feminine divine resurfaced in Buddhism, just as she did in the Puranas. The Buddhas mother, Mayadevi, became an exalted female with supernatural aspects. Gotami, his foster-mother and founder of the female order, provided a nascent concept of female Buddhahood. In Mahayna, which developed the concept of the universal Buddha, goddesses receive substantial attention in literature, practice and iconography. Some Hindu figures were endowed with specific Buddhist virtues. Compassion, central to the Bodhisattva goal (delaying leaving samsara to help others reach enlightenment) was equated with female qualities. Tantric goddesses are regarded as full Buddhas. They evoke different dimensions of enlightenment. Tara is the mother of liberation and in her different forms is linked with healing, compassion, wealth and power. She was the fist female to be crowned with the title of Buddha. Shaw describes Buddhisms engagement with the feminine divine as lively, longstanding and profound if less widely explored.  Nature, too, for Buddhists has a decidedly female face and there are goddesses associated with the earth, trees, sacred groves, plant life, rice, fruit, flowers among other natural phenomena.

Singh (1993) explores the also less widely researched topic of the female divine in Sikhism, The male principle has tended to dominate within Sikh studies. The feminine principle has been overlooked.Even though all ten gurus were men, women were full members of the Sikh community. No constraints were placed around womens bodies or menstruation and there were no ideas about women finding it more difficult than men to achieve intimacy with the divine.  Images such as that of the scripture as bride were used. The military nature of the community after the time of Guru Hargobind led to neglect of feminine images. However, these images are present in scripture, where the Ultimate is best approached and apprehended through the feminine experience. The feminine embodies what the Reality uniquely is. It is Mother, the Infinite Matrix  joti, or light, the spirit informing all  the She within us all  she is kudarati, creation herself  the saguna form of the totally nirguna. The word (bani) that the Gurus received was feminine, so since icons and images form no part of sikh sacred space, it is through bani alone wherever and whenever seen, heard or recited, that makes their space and time sacred.

The Feminine Divine in Contemporary India
Veneration of the feminine divine in contemporary continues to flourish. Samantas 1992 article looks at Kali worship in Bengal. Kali is considered to be the patron goddess of Calcutta. During the anti-British self-rule movement, weapons were dedicated to Kali and songs sung in her honor. She writes, Kali is a pervasive presence in the daily lives of Bengali Hindus in present day Calcutta. Her role as protector and also as guide is closely linked with auspiciousness. She is thus addressed as the Mother who embodies auspiciousness. Her framed print or picture is found in most homes, on the dashboards of cars, buses and taxis. She is the ideal mother, worshipped predominantly within an idiom of bhakti. A large body of Bengali devotional literature praises Kali. It was a cult of thieves and murders, called thugees by the British, who worshipped Kali that gave the goddess a negative press. Combined with Tantra, this resulted in some very distorted ideas. Ramprasad Sen (1720-81) was especially prolific as a writer of songs in praise of Kali, whose work remains popular.

Conclusion
If the more male-centered Vedic material came into India from outside, then the less female friendly tradition represented by the Brahmanism (a great-tradition) was not indigenous. The older, native tradition was centered on the mother goddess, although lack of written records mean that people can only speculate about the nature of that religion. However, if Coburns argument is correct, this tradition survived until it resurfaced and found written expression in the Puranas. The idea that Brahman, at the level of attributes, has masculine and feminine qualities was then projected back into Vedantic thought. Whether the Vedic tradition entered India from outside or represented a more male centered indigenous tradition, it could not completely wipe out the feminine current. That current re-surfaced in the Puranas and in the devotional traditions, including Tantra, that were inspired by the Puranas. This current emerged or re-emerged in both daughter traditions, Buddhism and Sikhism. Despite male-centered aspects of both traditions, the feminine divine could not be displaced. Men as well as women are attracted to the worship of female deities. The male-dominated tradition gives women a limited role, subordinating women to men. The feminine tradition has actually given women a greater ritual role than men, although it stresses equality. The role of the feminine divine in India rightly attracts scholarly interest, connecting with an ancient human spiritual inclination that equates life with Mother, who gives us birth and nurtures us. In India, this appears to have pre-dated written, textual religion, reaching back to pre-history, as suggested by the archeological record of the Indus Valley civilization.

There may be parallels with other ancient civilizations and with the role of women before more patriarchal societies developed. India currently has a woman president. It had a woman Prime Minister, who played on her gender and role as daughter of the nations founder to connect with ideas of feminine power. Bangladesh, although 85 Muslim and about 14 Hindu, has an eclectic culture where Hindu and Muslim ideas merge. The election of two women prime ministers on four occasions (both have won elections) could be due to the feminine-friendly cultural current that continues to flow though Bangladeshi society, even though the majority of people are theoretically Muslim. Bangladeshi Islam is often characterized as Hinduized Islam. No one would argue that the feminine divine tradition in India has ever succeeded in displacing male centered religion. However, it has enjoyed a vitality and popularity, especially at non-elite levels, that shows no sign of diminishing. Hindu women do not need to reinterpret or reinvent their religion from a feminist perspective, unlike the followers of some religions. They can draw on an ancient aspect of Indian religion to challenge religious attitudes that dishonor and disrespect women, subordinating them to men.

Throughout history, many of the major world religions have undergone radical reformations and changes in beliefs that alter the religious practices and customs of the former older religion for each of the major world religions. The key drivers that initiate these radical changes are reform movements that are formed mainly after differing with the parent religion over some of the religious practices for each of the world faiths. The process of reforms in major world religions has continued even to the present leading to formation of many subgroups and pseodoreligions that are different from the parent religion. In Christianity, the major religion movement that had a major impact in the church was the Christian reform movement that began in 1517 by Martin Luther which was responsible for introduced protestant Christianity to the world (Vries, 26). It started after King differed with the catholic religion authorities over some doctrinal practices such as devotion to Mary, corruption in the church and Simony.

This movement ended the domination of the Catholic Church and contributed to establishment of many protestant churches a trend that has continued to the present. In Judaism, the Reform Movement in Judaism which exists even to today is the movement that has been responsible for establishment of pseudo Judaism groups that challenge traditional Jewish practices and introducing its new theological practices and customs that are based on the ideals of autonomy, universalism and modernity as opposed to the ancient parent Judaism. The movement has been responsible for introducing a radical form of Judaism that has spread across Europe and America. In the Buddhism religion, there have been several reform movements that have made the Buddhist religion to differ in practices across the nations in Asia (Vries, 31).The major one is the Santi Asoke Buddhist Reform Movement in Thailand that aims at developing a society that is not influenced by modernity issues like materialism and environmental pollution. The movement aims at growing a Buddhist community that retains the values of the parent Buddhist religion. In another Asian religion the Theravada Buddhism. The reform movement Mahayana. arose with its own interpretation of the ancient Buddhism and led to the development of the Theravada Buddhism which has spread in most of Asia.

The major similarity in the reform movements across most of the religions is that most of the movements arose due to differences in interpretations of the parent religion practices by the reformers. Another similarity in the reform movements in all the religions is that they faced and still face a lot of opposition from the parent religion supporters over the years with some of the clashes leading to even wars like the wars between European countries in the 18th century over the clash over Catholicism and protestant (Vries, 39). This trend has continued even to the present and there is always a clash between the reformers of the religion and traditionalists over their practices. The two opposing groups are always critical and in opposition of each other as   the traditionalists view the reformers as deviating from the ideals of the ideal religion while the reformers view the traditionalists as having religious practices that are questionable

The other similarity in the movement across the religions is that the movements have continued to mushroom in varying degrees for all the religions even to the present. This has led to rise of many versions of each of the above parent religion. However, there are some instances where the reformers and the traditionalists strike a common ground by sharing common religious practices for each of the four religions (Vries, 46).

This paper will be addressing the following questions Does the Bible have authority How do the arguments for the existence of God influence your view of the supernatural If a person is a Christian, does it matter how they live their life  I chose these topics for their significance in Christian thought.
Section I Does the Bible have authority

Indeed, the Bible has authority.  In fact, it is the only authority when it comes to Christian doctrines.
There is no other book like the Bible. The prophecies in it are exact, nothing is under- or overstated, and they do happen.

But it is a fact that not all words in the Bible are words of God. Words of the devil were also written, such as the devils statement to Eve that surely Adam and Eve will not die if they ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Words of unbelievers were also written in the Bible. So we have to exercise caution in reading passages because we might attribute words to God that are not really his.
The words of God in the Bible are accurate, because they were inspired by the Spirit of God, and written by men for men. The Bible says, But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. This statement is precise. No truthful man can ever claim that he has no lust or that he is not affected by it.

And there are scientific facts in the Bible which were written even before they were realized by man. One such example is the passage, It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.  Long before man discovered that the earth is round, there already was a circle of the earth mentioned in the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Section II  How do the arguments for the existence of God influence your view of the supernatural
The arguments for the existence of God all the more prove to me that God really exists.

Although there are people who do not believe in the existence of God, nature itself, including the heavens, testify to the existence of God and His eternal power and wisdom that created all things. Our very being testifies that there is a supernatural power that created us.

All the arguments presented only reinforced my view and belief of the supernatural, that there is something else beyond what we naturally see and feel. There are supernatural things that exist that are not seen by our literal eyes.

I do believe that there is life aside from the life we have on earth, and what is beyond life on earth is supernatural. The life we live on this planet is our natural life, and the life that will be given to us after it is supernatural. There is life beyond death.

What we now call nature did not come about because of an accident or by chance. There is a supernatural power that brought forth all creation.

And what we now call supernatural is the spiritual realm. We are human, we are finite. Beyond our natural limitations is the supernatural  what cannot be done naturally by man. And that which can do the supernatural are spirits. There is more to man than just his flesh. There is a spirit that gives him life without the spirit, the flesh is dead.

Miracles are supernatural. And I do believe in miracles, they range from daily and almost mundane to downright phenomenal and incredible. What is natural is already amazing, the supernatural is much more amazing.

Section III  If a person is a Christian, does it matter how they live their life
It really does matter how a person lives his life if he is a Christian.  The life of a Christian should reflect the Christian doctrines. Otherwise, the Christian teachings and faith will be criticized or reproached for the way he conducts himself. He should prove that he is different from the heathen. He does not conform to worldly lusts and practices.

It is the Christians duty to spread the word, by testimony and by his conduct. As Christ commanded, Christians should serve as light of the world. And a light is not kept under a bushel or under a bed but in a prominent place where it can serve its purpose  to light up the place. As a Christian, he should set good examples that will inspire and at most, illuminate others to the benefits of choosing good over evil and of acknowledging a God in heaven.

The best way that a person can prove that he is a Christian is not by word but by deed. A person who says something good but belies it with his deeds is a deceiver who deceives primarily himself. Through his good works, he is able to share his faith, extend help and show that his God is a loving God because he himself is a loving person.

A true Christian is not only a listener but a doer. He is a good listener whenever he listens to the teachings of Christ. But he is a much better doer. He puts into practice what he hears. And in doing so, he not only proclaims his faith but brings honor to the Lord he serves.

Conclusion
These areas of progression in Christian thought are remarkable for me. They help me ponder more on the spiritual side of life which most men pay little attention to. Most people are after the carnal, which is easily accessible, more easily explained, tangible, and more pleasurable since man is flesh. To many, spirituality is only a matter of discussion for the religious and not for the sensible.