Essay 3 on Christianity

* respond to this post by agreeing with them.:
“Disagree: All sins are the same.
The phrase sin is defined in the dictionary as a transgression against divine law. In the Christian bible (Joshua 1:18), sin is defined as a rebellion against God. In both definitions, sin is a big deal. However, in the bible it is stressed that all sins are equal in the eyes of God. This I do not agree with. Many Christians use this phrase as a way of teaching people to take all levels of sin seriously and to keep their promise they made to the church of living a sin-free life. A quote I came across is there are no little sins. This means that even the common sin of lying or committing lustful acts is seen as betraying or going against God.
I disagree with this because I feel as though it is fear-mongering. Many portions of Christianity for the past 100 or so years have heavily relied on striking fear in its followers in order for them to blindly follow and obey. We see examples of this in sermons that preach against homosexuality, and coincide with hatred, and racism. Christianity itself is not a hateful religion, its people who take passages out of context that create the hateful side of Christianity. All sins are equal is a common phrase said in order to convince people that making mistakes and certain lifestyles are instantly damned to hell. This phrase also gives off the impression that something as drastic as murder and something as simple as a fib or being envious of another are equally as bad in the eyes of God and Christianity. The reason I disagree with this statement so heavily is mainly because it is misinterpreted within many Christian households. The true meaning of the statement all sins are equal is that no matter the sin, it still separates you from God, however, all sins are not equal in heinousness levels. Different sins have different impacts and in my opinion, it is unfair to put them all on the same level even if it all separates you from God.
Many people argue that all sins are equal is a necessary statement to preach because it gets the point across that all sins are transgressions against God. They feel as though all sins have the same effect in the afterlife and should be preached as so in order to stir people away from sin. I think that you can get that same point across without causing people to fear the possibility of sinning. We are human and mistakes should be seen as learning opportunities rather than a sin that separates you from God. Fear-mongering is something that causes distaste in religion and pushes people away from believing in any type of spirituality, this includes me.
In conclusion, all sins are equal needs to be re-examined as a passage. People shouldnt fear being damned and on the same level as murderers simply because they are human and made a simple mistake. Fear-mongering in religion in general needs to be challenged in order for any religion to thrive.”

3rd Essay Assignment on Christianity (Chs 15 & 16)
Suggested Topics
Choose a religious view that you like or dislike most among our topics in Christianity, and critically discuss it. I am giving you a freedom to choose your own topic as long as you satisfy the following requirement: describe the view concisely, discuss why it is good or not, consider possible objections to your evaluation, think of rebuttals of these objections to save your original view, and briefly conclude your discussions.

Critically discuss Jesus teaching The Kingdom of God is in Your Midst.

According to Paul, Love was the fulfillment of the Law. Therefore, the bondage of the Law could be cast aside for the freedom of the Spirit. Explain this and discuss its importance critically.

What is the nature of the Arian controversy? How did Athanasius try to refute the point of Arianism? Was Athanasius successful in his efforts?

Critically discuss Augustines view on the Original Sin. How did he think one could be saved in spite of it?

Augustine thought the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. In 589 CE, a Western council, meeting in Spain, added to the Nicene Creed (the creed of 381 CE) the word filioque (and from the Son) immediately after the words saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The theologians of the East protested the change strongly. Why did these theologians of the East protest it so vehemently? Why was it such an important issue?

Aquinas attempted to reconcile reason and revelation, philosophy and theology. How did he do it? Was he successful? Evaluate his view.

Critically discuss Martin Luthers emphasis on the authority from Scriptures. Why was his view so important for the Protestant Reformation?

Requirements
Read the academic honesty policy in the course syllabus.

You do not have to answer all the questions in the topic. What I want to read is an essay, after all, not an exam paper. Try to focus on just one or two points.

You should try to narrow down the scope of your topic and discuss it in depth. Jumbling up many miscellaneous points in a short essay does not make a philosophy paper.

Papers with more than five serious grammatical or spelling errors will not be graded. They will receive no credits.

Papers written for the other class(es) will get no credits.
It is the four essay assignments that will evaluate your deep understanding of, and critical and creative approaches to our topics. For each essay assignment, you can choose to post your own discussion note, or you may comment on other student(s) note(s). Each post will give you maximum 14.5% of your final grade. Each essay must have at least 250 but no more than 500 words; if your essay is not quite perfect in its content or has fewer than 250 words, you will get 0%~14.49%. For a given assignment you may post as many essays (discussion notes or comments) as you would like, but only one best essay (discussion note or comment) will count toward your final grade. In short, all I need for each essay assignment is just one essay, whether it is your essay that you start the discussion thread with, or a comment essay on other student(s). Four of your essays will constitute 58% (4 x 14.5%) of your final grade.
Students are encouraged to read regularly other students discussion notes and comments. You are required to comment on other note(s) if there is another note already posted that has the same subject as yours that is, you are not allowed to start a new thread of discussion if your subject overlaps with other student(s). This is to encourage everybody to read other students notes regularly. A failure to comply with this requirement may result in no credit for your post. Just write a sentence or two at the beginning of your essay as evidence that you have read other students essays of the same topic.

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