Barth vs. Brunner and Natural Theology

The concept of natural theology pertains to the belief that natural gifts are provided from conception and installed mainly on human mind. Furthermore, it states that the revelations are provided on the general prospect of humans, and not merely on special individuals. In this theory, revelations are said to be revealed not only from the Scriptural basis or even from Jesus Christ .As for the theory’s concern, the scholastic tradition of natural theology had provided their simple explanation why the Scripture and Jesus Christ received some sort of special revelation . According to natural theologians, the rationale for the provision of such special revelation is nothing more than an unexplainable event or beyond human reason . As far as the history of theology is concerned, one of the most highlighted debates comes from Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, dating from 1914 .From the concepts and theological principles introduced by Barth and Brunner comes the great and prolonged theolo gical debate, forthcoming from the quarters of â€Å"dialectical theology†, particularly from Barth’s radical rejection of the notions of General Revelation and Natural Religion or Natural Theology, including the â€Å"point of contact† and the rest. By far, this argument has been known as the Barth-Brunner conflict . Due to the strong influence and very much detailed argument brought by Barth, the conflict between the two theologians has greatly affected the stand point of today’s theology.This controversy has dominated the theological discussion of to-day, and has affected literally every problem . In this study, the primary discussion revolves in covering the issues brought by the debates of Barth and Brunner, and the theological concepts embedded in their proposed principles. From the point of view of the study, the first thing to discuss is the concept of natural theology in order to determine the rationale for its rejection. Next, the study centers on the conflicting theologian, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner.Lastly, the study provides the analysis of their argument to explore the primary stand points from both theological perspectives. Discussion The Concept of Natural Theology In general, the Reformers were less enthusiastic about natural theology, in part because they rejected much of the scholastic tradition, in part because it tended to render special revelation, and particularly Scripture, less necessary, and in part because it granted fallen human beings powers of correct reasoning that the Reformers themselves saw as corrupted by sin .According to the traditional scholastic movement, the concept of natural theology only provides its significance by illustrating human sin and their never-ending need to survive – more like an instinctive theological description – however, with little standing ground in justifying how these humanistic needs pursue . It is not the place here to enter into the historical, psychol ogical and theological reasons for the development of this great controversy. The historical reason is the adamant opposition that had to be shown to Nazi ideology and the wrong and dangerous theology of the German Christians.Barth rendered here an immeasurable service to sound theology and the cause of the Church as a whole . A form of natural theology that is worth defending takes its cue from core theological interpretations of the nature of God and the world. The concept of natural theology comprises of three theoretical perspectives that are derived mainly on nature that correlates with the divinity of God. The word ‘natural’ in the expression ‘natural theology’ is meant to mark a contrast between nature and revelation.The concept of Natural theology does not imply natural in the perspective of being a non-complex and unsophisticated belief, but rather, the natural theology is the product of a fairly sophisticated state of western theism and would have been foreign to many great religious thinkers before the Middle Ages. The concept of natural theology was realized during the era wherein theologians tried to logically obtain the answers to divine existence while at the stage of reflecting their religion.At this point of Middle Age, theologians obtain the elements that have been established already beforehand, and those that can provide unaided rationale for those parts that they believed to be unnatural. Hence, they coined and develop the natural theology, which somehow contradicts the existence of natural activities through single-handed or chose ones. As for the theory, it mainly exemplifies that everyone is chosen in their own account of being an image created after God . The concept of natural theology allied with Nazism most especially during the time of Jews massive discrimination.Significantly, the natural theology, even from the early times, pointed its fingers to chosen individuals, such as the Jews, wherein the theology contradicts the fact that these people are chose. The possibility of natural theology has been denied by some theologians and by some philosophers. The theological arguments against natural theology are mostly concerned with the relationship between reason and faith: they urge the uselessness of reason as a means to salvation and of philosophical speculation as a step on the road to heaven .One of the essential criticism that served as ground basis for the concept of natural theology is the fact that these principles are essentially from the philosophical perspectives, which in the end obtained vast arguments and criticisms against natural theology itself. In particular, the theologians of Natural perspective drew heavily on natural philosophy to show how the hand of the Creator could be discerned in the Book of Nature as well as the Book of Scriptures.By contrast, those still wedded to a more traditional order in Church and State tended to be wary of natural theology and the forms of natural philosophy interlinked with it as obscurities from a theology based on Divine revelation . On the other hand, the significance of Natural theology is its ability to provide an analysis of the human situation and the question of God implied in it. One side of the traditional arguments for the existence of God usually does this, in so far as they elucidate the dependent, transitory, and relational nature of finite human existence.But, in developing the other side of these arguments, natural theology tried to derive theological affirmations from the analysis of man’s finitude . The natural theology concentrates mainly on the natural imagery of men as earthly beings being linked to God’s image. As for the theory, it mentions that every human being possesses the right to obtain revelation from God for everyone is from the same image, which is God. Somehow, these two rationales are deemed as the primary arguments that render the argument of the Natural theology.F irst, natural theology should not claim to operate with an account of pure, objective, ahistorical reason . For man’s reasoning cannot be considered absolutely pure from intention for man by his own nature is deprived from complete purity; hence, contradicts the statement of natural theology itself. Second, natural theology should not offer a philosophical metaphysics as a way of mediating between faith and the world . From these concepts, the argument against natural theology settles in. Different theologians, most significantly Karl Barth realizes the wrong ideations brought by the theology.From the perspective of Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274), he claimed that there are certain truths that are attainable by the powers of â€Å"reason properly applied, and others that are beyond the reach of reason, and are known only through revelation†. From Aquinas’ theology, the concept attaining revelation and reason conjoins to further discover the truth and absolute reasoning . The concept of nature in the doctrines of theology can be misleading and contradictory for its very meaning can be a profound statement of obscurity, which can also contribute to the eclipse of God’s imagery .As for the theory of Natural origination, it is a major concept where philosophy of religion interrelates theological aspects. Philosophies of religion scrutinizes what the sheer existence of the universe entails what it forces us to conclude, and likewise what its order entails. Protestantism is usually against the concept of natural theology for they claim that God, whose existence is demonstrated, is not the Christian God. For Protestants, God Himself should not concern in Himself in providing His existence for He in fact exist above all.Whether natural theology is to be dismissed and why is a major area of investigation in Christian theology. Roman Catholic somehow defended the concept of natural theology for they believe that there are essential differen ces between what we can know of God by means of natural theology and what we know of God by revelation. Currently, natural theology tends to act and to be used as a tool that metaphorically provides clergy and students some rigorous proof to demonstrate God’s existence .Emil Brunner In 1914, Brunner published a work entitled Nature and Grace wherein his main argument coincides mainly on the generational theology’s task of reverting back to the concept of natural theology . Brunner, being one of the main characters of natural theological concept, obtained his idea of natural theology from the concept of imago Del or in translation would mean, â€Å"Image of God†. Human nature is constituted in such a way that there is an analog with the being of God .Considering the sinful nature of human beings as installed already in their instinctive characteristic, Brunner stated that the ability of human beings to discern the presence of God is still there by the concept or reasoning that God remains in the natural environment. Within the context of human beings as sinners, still their innate nature are capable of recognizing the presence of God and are still aware of their guilt before God. All these linkage are brought by the concept of natural stand present in man from the time of his creation and image pattern.Hence, as Brunner concluded, this linkage brings forth revelation to every man with no special disposition present, such as sinner or holy, rich or poor, or any other means. Brunner significantly pointed out that God can manifest His revelation to anyone with no consideration on human characteristic since human beings are all created out of his natural image . As per Brunner’s defense on natural theology, greatly point out the significance of the doctrine of the incarnation to revelation: in Christ may be seen the personal self-disclosure of God .From Brunner’s ground basis, it is the story of creation that serves as the fore gr ound of this theological belief. He reasoned that there are considerably three rationales that offer support for the theory of Natural theology namely, human reason, and order of the world and beauty of the world . In the argument of Human Reason, considering that God’s existence can be found in His creation, and then it is acceptable to use the idea that God can be most likely found in the highest peak of His creation, which is human reason .The next argument Brunner introduced is the ordering of the world, wherein the prime philosopher concerned is Thomas Aquinas. Considering that the natural pattern in the environment is unquestionably and extremely organized, this phenomena been emphasized to be from God . Brunner did no go as far in denouncing the philosophical approach to God. Nevertheless, Brunner stated that the attempt to derive knowledge of God from creation, which is the theology of natural religion, is ultimately not being helpful in theological doctrine.He even a dmitted that the knowledge of the Creator forms as a component of our existence. However, Brunner concluded that this knowledge component placed to human beings as God’s creation does not follow that human beings know God completely, since such philosophical intelligence does not end in communion with God . Brunner’s theology has been linked very much within an existentialist, dialectical framework and focused mainly on the uniqueness of existential, personal understanding. He even continued with basically anthropological starting point.Lastly, the concept of beauty present in the world has also been emphasized as an argumentative statement in Brunner’s ideologies. According to these theologians, the presence of beauty in surrounding world is the primary depiction of God’s existence through the nature’s beauty . Another focus entailed by Brunner in his beliefs is in faith of having personal encounter between the one who hears the Word, believer, or human being per say, and the God who speaks and draws near in grace, as distinct from an acceptance of abstract propositions of belief.Christianity thus sets forth â€Å"truth as encounter†, Brunner’s primary effect and influence thus far had come through his writings of â€Å"The Mediator and The Divine Imperative† and in Brunner Oldham perceived the chances and events for creating an innovative and urgently required dialogue between evangelical theology and the contemporary human sciences — vital if the churches were to address seriously the current world context . Enveloped in Brunner’s appeal to nature is an idea, which can be traced back to Luther, known as â€Å"the orders of creation. †The generation Nineteenth-century German Liberal Protestantism had utilized this perspective as their basis, and further developed a theology, which permitted the German culture, including a positive assessment of the state, to become of primary signif icance theologically . Brunner had used this idea of the â€Å"point of contact† back in 1927, and it is integral to his understanding of human nature. For Brunner, human nature is constituted in such a way that there is a ready made point of contract for divine revelation. Revelation thus addresses itself to a human nature, which already has sonic Idea of what that revelation is about.For example, take the gospel demand to â€Å"repent of sin,† Brunner argues that this makes little sense, unless human beings already have some idea of what â€Å"sin† is. Karl Barth: Analysis of the Argument During the twentieth century, Karl Barth (1886—1968) initiated the so called spiritual argument or attack in the theoretical concept of natural theology. For this reason, the theologian ties between him and another leading ‘neo-orthodox theologian, Emil Brunner (1889—1966) broke due Barth’s attack on Brunner’s theological concepts .Such actio n is very much important for Barth’s perspective in that it shows the importance of natural theology’s attempt to further provide an illustration of Christianity’s attaining its peak on German civilization; hence, the sole purpose of Barth is to negate the ally status of natural theology to the concept of Nazism . Barth’s criticism is that it goes beyond any rejection of natural theology that is based on claims that it is invalid, unpersuasive, or unnecessary .From Barth’s argument, he exemplified that God has indeed revealed His identity to human beings; hence, it should be natural for humans to be convinced on God’s existence. It is already insignificant to have God’s existence justified in other forms for He already chosen to be revealed in the form of His triune son, which is Jesus Christ . A natural theology that proceeds from a different starting point must inevitably compromise and distract in relation to the primary theologica l task.Even worse, it may threaten to subvert the true nature of the faith by the introduction of foreign and ethically dangerous materials . Barth’s last consideration to reject the principles of natural education lies with the fact that such form of theology is a potential ally to compensate the needs of German ideations against Jews and other racial backgrounds. By far, the theoretical principle of Natural theology hinders the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ. From the perspective of Barth’s argument, natural theology is a human attempt to initiation subversions for human’s necessity for revelation.The theology, by its very purpose and significance, attempts to learn more about God in a manner and under conditions specified by humans’ ways and not by God Himself . In Barth’s view, the concept of natural theology is very much compromised in historical, philosophical and theological significances. The great Scottish theologian Hugh Ross Mackintosh once summarized the questions centering on revelation as follows: â€Å" religious knowledge of God, wherever existing, comes by revelation; otherwise we should be committed to the incredible position that a man can know God without Has willing to be known .† The main idea embedded in Barth’s desire to counter the theology of natural perspective is for the purpose of safeguarding the integrity present in divine revelation against human attempts to Construct their own notions of God. As for Barth’s perspective, he argues that revelations from God do not simply occur to anyone, unless God chose to. It is neither inborn nor chosen to be possessed by me, but it is God’s choice to reveal Himself to an individual. Revelation, indeed, is out of human’s power but solely rely to God’s preference.Although deeply distrustful of all apologetic instincts, Barth appears to make a minor but important concession in his discussion of natural theology. In its proclamation of God’s self-revelation, the Bible does not ignore the details of the cosmos or the physical world as these are known from empirical observation and human experience. In their own way, they attest the divine truth . However, this event does not simply occur or free for man to manipulate. It is not a separate line of enquiry that can simply alter or displace human perspectives from the original faith .On the contrary, its function in Scripture is to incorporate within a single framework all that attaches to human existence in the cosmos. The argument of Barth provides an extended and systematic criticism of natural theology. The main conflict thrown by his argument argues that such theology, â€Å"which comes to humanity from nature†, expresses the humanity’s â€Å"self-preservation and self-affirmation† in the face of God . Barth views the concept of natural theology as a safeguarding perspective to cover human being’s longing to jus tify self against God and for the provision of independent intellectualities.His conflicting idealism against this theology rests on his fundamental belief that it undermines the necessity and uniqueness of God’s self-revelation. From the logical statement introduced by Barth’s argument, if knowledge of God can be achieved independently of God’s self-revelation in Christ, then it follows that humanity can dictate the place, time and means of its knowledge of God . The perspective of Barth against natural theology institutes a close relationship between the theology itself and the subject of human independence against religion and divine supervision.Considering Barth’s familiarity in the concept of natural theology, he confirms and expresses the human desire to find God on our own terms . The central concept on Barth’s argument had been scrutinized by the religious community; hence, considering his argument against natural theology. However, other t heologians have been having this assumption of Barth’s initiating a scientific theology despite of his overcorrection of the Reformed theological position, and that an informed recovery of an older position is overdue.A scientific theology offers such reappropriation and the second of these merits dose attention . It is a simple fact of historical theology chat the Reformed theological tradition has not, on the whole, opposed natural theology. Conclusion The argument of Barth and Brunner with the subject of natural theology has been present from and long influenced the condition of catholic beliefs and perception against the occurrence of God’s existence and the value of human self-justification and intellectual identity.The natural theology mainly states that the existence of God is in the physical form of nature itself, considering its organization, beauty and man’s intelligence, which are derived from God’s imagery. However, Barth refuted this theology and stated that God’s existence is in the form of Jesus Christ. He contradicts the theology due to its self-justification, and tendency to form ally with Nazism. Bibliography Allen, D. and Springstein, E. O. Philosophy for Understanding Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) p. 19 Clements, K.Faith on the Frontier: A Life of J. H. Oldham (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1999) p. 272 Gonzales, J. L. Essential Theological Terms (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005) p. 118 Grenz, J. Theology for the Community of God (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000) p. 50 Huyssteen, W. V. and Shults, F. L. The Evolution of Rationality (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006) p. 392 Kenny, P. and Kenny, A. . The God of the Philosophers (Oxford University Press, 1979) p. 2 Kraemer H, Religion and the Christian Faith (James Clarke & Co., 2003) p. 356 McGrath, A. E. An Introduction to Christianity (Blackwell Publishing, 1997) p. 162 McGrath, A. E. Christian Theology: An Introduction (Black well Publishing, 2006) 170 McGrath, A. E. The Science of God: An Introduction to Scientific Theology (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004) p. 84 Porter, et. al. R. The Cambridge History of Science (Cambridge University Press, 2003) p. 270 Scott, P. A Political Theology of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 2003) p. 40 Tilich, P. Systematic Theology (University of Chicago Press, 1963) p. 14 Barth vs. Brunner and Natural Theology IntroductionThe concept of natural theology pertains to the belief that natural gifts are provided from conception and installed mainly on human mind. Furthermore, it states that the revelations are provided on the general prospect of humans, and not merely on special individuals. In this theory, revelations are said to be revealed not only from the Scriptural basis or even from Jesus Christ .As for the theory’s concern, the scholastic tradition of natural theology had provided their simple explanation why the Scripture and Jesus Christ received some sort of special revelation . According to natural theologians, the rationale for the provision of such special revelation is nothing more than an unexplainable event or beyond human reason . As far as the history of theology is concerned, one of the most highlighted debates comes from Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, dating from 1914 .From the concepts and theological principles introduced by Barth and Brunner comes the great and prol onged theological debate, forthcoming from the quarters of â€Å"dialectical theology†, particularly from Barth’s radical rejection of the notions of General Revelation and Natural Religion or Natural Theology, including the â€Å"point of contact† and the rest. By far, this argument has been known as the Barth-Brunner conflict . Due to the strong influence and very much detailed argument brought by Barth, the conflict between the two theologians has greatly affected the stand point of today’s theology.This controversy has dominated the theological discussion of to-day, and has affected literally every problem . In this study, the primary discussion revolves in covering the issues brought by the debates of Barth and Brunner, and the theological concepts embedded in their proposed principles. From the point of view of the study, the first thing to discuss is the concept of natural theology in order to determine the rationale for its rejection. Next, the st udy centers on the conflicting theologian, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner.Lastly, the study provides the analysis of their argument to explore the primary stand points from both theological perspectives. Discussion The Concept of Natural Theology In general, the Reformers were less enthusiastic about natural theology, in part because they rejected much of the scholastic tradition, in part because it tended to render special revelation, and particularly Scripture, less necessary, and in part because it granted fallen human beings powers of correct reasoning that the Reformers themselves saw as corrupted by sin .According to the traditional scholastic movement, the concept of natural theology only provides its significance by illustrating human sin and their never-ending need to survive – more like an instinctive theological description – however, with little standing ground in justifying how these humanistic needs pursue . It is not the place here to enter into the histori cal, psychological and theological reasons for the development of this great controversy. The historical reason is the adamant opposition that had to be shown to Nazi ideology and the wrong and dangerous theology of the German Christians.Barth rendered here an immeasurable service to sound theology and the cause of the Church as a whole . A form of natural theology that is worth defending takes its cue from core theological interpretations of the nature of God and the world. The concept of natural theology comprises of three theoretical perspectives that are derived mainly on nature that correlates with the divinity of God. The word ‘natural’ in the expression ‘natural theology’ is meant to mark a contrast between nature and revelation.The concept of Natural theology does not imply natural in the perspective of being a non-complex and unsophisticated belief, but rather, the natural theology is the product of a fairly sophisticated state of western theism an d would have been foreign to many great religious thinkers before the Middle Ages. The concept of natural theology was realized during the era wherein theologians tried to logically obtain the answers to divine existence while at the stage of reflecting their religion.At this point of Middle Age, theologians obtain the elements that have been established already beforehand, and those that can provide unaided rationale for those parts that they believed to be unnatural. Hence, they coined and develop the natural theology, which somehow contradicts the existence of natural activities through single-handed or chose ones. As for the theory, it mainly exemplifies that everyone is chosen in their own account of being an image created after God . The concept of natural theology allied with Nazism most especially during the time of Jews massive discrimination.Significantly, the natural theology, even from the early times, pointed its fingers to chosen individuals, such as the Jews, wherein the theology contradicts the fact that these people are chose. The possibility of natural theology has been denied by some theologians and by some philosophers. The theological arguments against natural theology are mostly concerned with the relationship between reason and faith: they urge the uselessness of reason as a means to salvation and of philosophical speculation as a step on the road to heaven .One of the essential criticism that served as ground basis for the concept of natural theology is the fact that these principles are essentially from the philosophical perspectives, which in the end obtained vast arguments and criticisms against natural theology itself. In particular, the theologians of Natural perspective drew heavily on natural philosophy to show how the hand of the Creator could be discerned in the Book of Nature as well as the Book of Scriptures.By contrast, those still wedded to a more traditional order in Church and State tended to be wary of natural theology a nd the forms of natural philosophy interlinked with it as obscurities from a theology based on Divine revelation . On the other hand, the significance of Natural theology is its ability to provide an analysis of the human situation and the question of God implied in it. One side of the traditional arguments for the existence of God usually does this, in so far as they elucidate the dependent, transitory, and relational nature of finite human existence.But, in developing the other side of these arguments, natural theology tried to derive theological affirmations from the analysis of man’s finitude . The natural theology concentrates mainly on the natural imagery of men as earthly beings being linked to God’s image. As for the theory, it mentions that every human being possesses the right to obtain revelation from God for everyone is from the same image, which is God. Somehow, these two rationales are deemed as the primary arguments that render the argument of the Natura l theology.First, natural theology should not claim to operate with an account of pure, objective, ahistorical reason . For man’s reasoning cannot be considered absolutely pure from intention for man by his own nature is deprived from complete purity; hence, contradicts the statement of natural theology itself. Second, natural theology should not offer a philosophical metaphysics as a way of mediating between faith and the world . From these concepts, the argument against natural theology settles in. Different theologians, most significantly Karl Barth realizes the wrong ideations brought by the theology.From the perspective of Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274), he claimed that there are certain truths that are attainable by the powers of â€Å"reason properly applied, and others that are beyond the reach of reason, and are known only through revelation†. From Aquinas’ theology, the concept attaining revelation and reason conjoins to further discover the truth a nd absolute reasoning . The concept of nature in the doctrines of theology can be misleading and contradictory for its very meaning can be a profound statement of obscurity, which can also contribute to the eclipse of God’s imagery .As for the theory of Natural origination, it is a major concept where philosophy of religion interrelates theological aspects. Philosophies of religion scrutinizes what the sheer existence of the universe entails what it forces us to conclude, and likewise what its order entails. Protestantism is usually against the concept of natural theology for they claim that God, whose existence is demonstrated, is not the Christian God. For Protestants, God Himself should not concern in Himself in providing His existence for He in fact exist above all.Whether natural theology is to be dismissed and why is a major area of investigation in Christian theology. Roman Catholic somehow defended the concept of natural theology for they believe that there are essent ial differences between what we can know of God by means of natural theology and what we know of God by revelation. Currently, natural theology tends to act and to be used as a tool that metaphorically provides clergy and students some rigorous proof to demonstrate God’s existence .Emil Brunner In 1914, Brunner published a work entitled Nature and Grace wherein his main argument coincides mainly on the generational theology’s task of reverting back to the concept of natural theology . Brunner, being one of the main characters of natural theological concept, obtained his idea of natural theology from the concept of imago Del or in translation would mean, â€Å"Image of God†. Human nature is constituted in such a way that there is an analog with the being of God .Considering the sinful nature of human beings as installed already in their instinctive characteristic, Brunner stated that the ability of human beings to discern the presence of God is still there by the concept or reasoning that God remains in the natural environment. Within the context of human beings as sinners, still their innate nature are capable of recognizing the presence of God and are still aware of their guilt before God. All these linkage are brought by the concept of natural stand present in man from the time of his creation and image pattern.Hence, as Brunner concluded, this linkage brings forth revelation to every man with no special disposition present, such as sinner or holy, rich or poor, or any other means. Brunner significantly pointed out that God can manifest His revelation to anyone with no consideration on human characteristic since human beings are all created out of his natural image . As per Brunner’s defense on natural theology, greatly point out the significance of the doctrine of the incarnation to revelation: in Christ may be seen the personal self-disclosure of God .From Brunner’s ground basis, it is the story of creation that serves as the fore ground of this theological belief. He reasoned that there are considerably three rationales that offer support for the theory of Natural theology namely, human reason, and order of the world and beauty of the world . In the argument of Human Reason, considering that God’s existence can be found in His creation, and then it is acceptable to use the idea that God can be most likely found in the highest peak of His creation, which is human reason .The next argument Brunner introduced is the ordering of the world, wherein the prime philosopher concerned is Thomas Aquinas. Considering that the natural pattern in the environment is unquestionably and extremely organized, this phenomena been emphasized to be from God . Brunner did no go as far in denouncing the philosophical approach to God. Nevertheless, Brunner stated that the attempt to derive knowledge of God from creation, which is the theology of natural religion, is ultimately not being helpful in theological doctri ne.He even admitted that the knowledge of the Creator forms as a component of our existence. However, Brunner concluded that this knowledge component placed to human beings as God’s creation does not follow that human beings know God completely, since such philosophical intelligence does not end in communion with God . Brunner’s theology has been linked very much within an existentialist, dialectical framework and focused mainly on the uniqueness of existential, personal understanding. He even continued with basically anthropological starting point.Lastly, the concept of beauty present in the world has also been emphasized as an argumentative statement in Brunner’s ideologies. According to these theologians, the presence of beauty in surrounding world is the primary depiction of God’s existence through the nature’s beauty . Another focus entailed by Brunner in his beliefs is in faith of having personal encounter between the one who hears the Word, believer, or human being per say, and the God who speaks and draws near in grace, as distinct from an acceptance of abstract propositions of belief.Christianity thus sets forth â€Å"truth as encounter†, Brunner’s primary effect and influence thus far had come through his writings of â€Å"The Mediator and The Divine Imperative† and in Brunner Oldham perceived the chances and events for creating an innovative and urgently required dialogue between evangelical theology and the contemporary human sciences — vital if the churches were to address seriously the current world context . Enveloped in Brunner’s appeal to nature is an idea, which can be traced back to Luther, known as â€Å"the orders of creation. †The generation Nineteenth-century German Liberal Protestantism had utilized this perspective as their basis, and further developed a theology, which permitted the German culture, including a positive assessment of the state, to become of pr imary significance theologically . Brunner had used this idea of the â€Å"point of contact† back in 1927, and it is integral to his understanding of human nature. For Brunner, human nature is constituted in such a way that there is a ready made point of contract for divine revelation. Revelation thus addresses itself to a human nature, which already has sonic Idea of what that revelation is about.For example, take the gospel demand to â€Å"repent of sin,† Brunner argues that this makes little sense, unless human beings already have some idea of what â€Å"sin† is. Karl Barth: Analysis of the Argument During the twentieth century, Karl Barth (1886—1968) initiated the so called spiritual argument or attack in the theoretical concept of natural theology. For this reason, the theologian ties between him and another leading ‘neo-orthodox theologian, Emil Brunner (1889—1966) broke due Barth’s attack on Brunner’s theological concepts .Such action is very much important for Barth’s perspective in that it shows the importance of natural theology’s attempt to further provide an illustration of Christianity’s attaining its peak on German civilization; hence, the sole purpose of Barth is to negate the ally status of natural theology to the concept of Nazism . Barth’s criticism is that it goes beyond any rejection of natural theology that is based on claims that it is invalid, unpersuasive, or unnecessary .From Barth’s argument, he exemplified that God has indeed revealed His identity to human beings; hence, it should be natural for humans to be convinced on God’s existence. It is already insignificant to have God’s existence justified in other forms for He already chosen to be revealed in the form of His triune son, which is Jesus Christ . A natural theology that proceeds from a different starting point must inevitably compromise and distract in relation to the primar y theological task.Even worse, it may threaten to subvert the true nature of the faith by the introduction of foreign and ethically dangerous materials . Barth’s last consideration to reject the principles of natural education lies with the fact that such form of theology is a potential ally to compensate the needs of German ideations against Jews and other racial backgrounds. By far, the theoretical principle of Natural theology hinders the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ. From the perspective of Barth’s argument, natural theology is a human attempt to initiation subversions for human’s necessity for revelation.The theology, by its very purpose and significance, attempts to learn more about God in a manner and under conditions specified by humans’ ways and not by God Himself . In Barth’s view, the concept of natural theology is very much compromised in historical, philosophical and theological significances. The great Scottish theologian Hugh Ross Mackintosh once summarized the questions centering on revelation as follows: â€Å" religious knowledge of God, wherever existing, comes by revelation; otherwise we should be committed to the incredible position that a man can know God without Has willing to be known .†The main idea embedded in Barth’s desire to counter the theology of natural perspective is for the purpose of safeguarding the integrity present in divine revelation against human attempts to Construct their own notions of God. As for Barth’s perspective, he argues that revelations from God do not simply occur to anyone, unless God chose to. It is neither inborn nor chosen to be possessed by me, but it is God’s choice to reveal Himself to an individual. Revelation, indeed, is out of human’s power but solely rely to God’s preference.Although deeply distrustful of all apologetic instincts, Barth appears to make a minor but important concession in his discussion of natural theol ogy. In its proclamation of God’s self-revelation, the Bible does not ignore the details of the cosmos or the physical world as these are known from empirical observation and human experience. In their own way, they attest the divine truth . However, this event does not simply occur or free for man to manipulate. It is not a separate line of enquiry that can simply alter or displace human perspectives from the original faith .On the contrary, its function in Scripture is to incorporate within a single framework all that attaches to human existence in the cosmos. The argument of Barth provides an extended and systematic criticism of natural theology. The main conflict thrown by his argument argues that such theology, â€Å"which comes to humanity from nature†, expresses the humanity’s â€Å"self-preservation and self-affirmation† in the face of God . Barth views the concept of natural theology as a safeguarding perspective to cover human being’s lon ging to justify self against God and for the provision of independent intellectualities.His conflicting idealism against this theology rests on his fundamental belief that it undermines the necessity and uniqueness of God’s self-revelation. From the logical statement introduced by Barth’s argument, if knowledge of God can be achieved independently of God’s self-revelation in Christ, then it follows that humanity can dictate the place, time and means of its knowledge of God. The perspective of Barth against natural theology institutes a close relationship between the theology itself and the subject of human independence against religion and divine supervision.Considering Barth’s familiarity in the concept of natural theology, he confirms and expresses the human desire to find God on our own terms . The central concept on Barth’s argument had been scrutinized by the religious community; hence, considering his argument against natural theology. Howeve r, other theologians have been having this assumption of Barth’s initiating a scientific theology despite of his overcorrection of the Reformed theological position, and that an informed recovery of an older position is overdue.A scientific theology offers such reappropriation and the second of these merits dose attention . It is a simple fact of historical theology chat the Reformed theological tradition has not, on the whole, opposed natural theology. Conclusion The argument of Barth and Brunner with the subject of natural theology has been present from and long influenced the condition of catholic beliefs and perception against the occurrence of God’s existence and the value of human self-justification and intellectual identity.The natural theology mainly states that the existence of God is in the physical form of nature itself, considering its organization, beauty and man’s intelligence, which are derived from God’s imagery. However, Barth refuted thi s theology and stated that God’s existence is in the form of Jesus Christ. He contradicts the theology due to its self-justification, and tendency to form ally with Nazism.BibliographyAllen, D. and Springstein, E. O. Philosophy for Understanding Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) p. 19.Clements, K. Faith on the Frontier: A Life of J. H. Oldham (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1999) p. 272.Gonzales, J. L. Essential Theological Terms (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005) p. 118.Grenz, J. Theology for the Community of God (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000) p. 50.Huyssteen, W. V. and Shults, F. L. The Evolution of Rationality (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006) p. 392.Kenny, P. and Kenny, A. . The God of the Philosophers (Oxford University Press, 1979) p. 2.Kraemer H, Religion and the Christian Faith (James Clarke & Co., 2003) p. 356.McGrath, A. E. An Introduction to Christianity (Blackwell Publishing, 1997) p. 162.McGrath, A. E. Christian Theology: An Introducti on (Blackwell Publishing, 2006) 170.McGrath, A. E. The Science of God: An Introduction to Scientific Theology (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004) p. 84.Porter, et. al. R. The Cambridge History of Science (Cambridge University Press, 2003) p. 270.Scott, P. A Political Theology of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 2003) p. 40.Tilich, P. Systematic Theology (University of Chicago Press, 1963) p. 14.

Anthem by Ayn Rand

To be in full control of a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. A man’s mind and the knowledge that a man has is his most powerful weapon. By depleting the mind of knowledge, a man cannot be in control of his own self and therefore is more easily conquered. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, the leaders and society in her book seek to accomplish control by choosing the jobs for the people, keeping the word â€Å"I† unknown, and maintaining a sense of unity from birth. In Anthem the leaders of the society in the novel, the High Council, examine the students and based upon their observations, give the students their jobs accordingly. In Anthem’s society, students are given jobs not to who will fulfill them the best, but based on how intellectual the student is. A smart and eager student such as Equality 7-2521, the protagonist in the story, receives a job that will dull his brain. Equality 7- 2521 is given the job of a street sweeper; he is extremely smart and the council recognized what he is capable of. The High Council gives the more important jobs, such as Scholar, to the students who are unintelligent so that the High Council can more easily control them. By destroying the smart student’s mind, the council can control them and cause them to become more unintelligent. To have complete control over the society in Anthem, the High Council keeps the word â€Å"I† unknown. By keeping this word unknown, the High Council is not only causing the society to think of themselves as one, but they are also causing the people to fear what is outside their world. Each person believes that without each other, nothing is possible and that thought instills fear into the society’s mind. By implanting fear into the minds of the people, they are afraid of what would happen if something in society were to not be the norm. The society, together as a whole, rejects anything that violates their comfort level and they destroy it. We see this happen when Equality 7-2521 goes to the World Council and presents to them his inventions, electricity and the light bulb. The World Council decides that since this invention was created by one person and not a group of people that it would ruin their society and they threaten to kill Equality 7-2521 and obliterate his inventions. By maintaining unity from birth, the dictators and society in Anthem create a sense of constant longing for another person; this leads to the fear of being alone. Each year, the new group of babies born go into the Home of Infants, then they are transferred into the Home of Students and then are given their jobs. Because each person believes that he cannot live alone, it keeps the society together. Equality 7-2521 spent time alone while he was experimenting so he realizes that man can accomplish things alone. The people in the society are dependent on each other to create a sense of security. Without that dependence, the society would split apart and each person would do how he wishes. Just as a man’s knowledge is his greatest power, it is also his greatest enemy. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, the society is ridded of knowledge and that is what causes the leaders to have total control over the people. They accomplish control by choosing the jobs for the people, keeping the word â€Å"I† unknown and maintaining a sense of unity from birth. By doing these things they not only enslave the bodies of the people, but also destroy their minds.

Strategic Financial Management for Global Markets Dissertation

Strategic Financial Management for Global Markets - Dissertation Example Importance of strategic financial management: The Global business situation and their substantial impact have promoted the need to implement multi-disciplinary concepts in the field of management. The strategist is no longer permitted to have a restrictive approach to enterprise solutions. The economic resources, the availability of funds in particular are limited, and can be utilized alternatively. Due to this fact, it becomes all the more important to administer them and only then an organization can function efficiently in competitive business environment. In recent times the fields of strategic management and financial management have undergone a fusion to originate a contemporary discipline, named significantly as, strategic financial management. This involves a prolific blend of the two management disciplines to present a strategic approach towards managing the financial resources of an enterprise. The knowledge of finance professional as strategists will aid in countering the challenge of sustenance and growth for compan ies in the years to come. As foresaid by J. P. Jakhotiya, strategic financial management refers to both financial implication and aspect of various business strategies, and the strategic management of finances. It is very much necessary that the finances of the institution are managed strategically in order to accelerate profit at a sustainable growth rate. In order to accelerate wealth successfully, a strategic mix of specifically three performance factors.

Honeypots and Firewalls Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Honeypots and Firewalls - Assignment Example hen services needs to be deliver through proxy whereas a multiple screen subnet can be deployed where packages or packets are required to pass through the network into the grid (Zwicky, Cooper and Chapman, 2000). Worms, malware, and viruses are common issues facing companies every day. These can be prevented through the use of antiviruses. An antivirus is software that identifies threats and hence blocks them from attacking a computer, an antivirus is also able to delete viruses, worms, and malware that has already attacked a computer system. Worms, viruses, and malware are sometimes used by hackers to illegally access other peoples’ computers. Ensuring all computers within an organization is therefore important as it will prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing private and confidential information in other peoples’ computers. The value of a honeypot can be sold to a CIO through elucidating its benefits, values, as well as the potential issues and downsides. Based on its simple design, a honeypot has the capability to gather and assemble trivial and minute cliques and arrays of statistics and information. Honeypots are created with the main objective of intermingling and networking with aggressors of the system. Therefore, through assembling and gathering each and every information and statistics, novel gizmos used by hackers and other attackers are identified and dealt with amicably. One of the downside off a honeypot is the fact that it can only identify threats that networks or associates with it. Honeypots can also be hijacked by aggressors and hence be used to cause more damage to the system (The Government off the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2008). There are diverging characteristics associated with firewalls and honeypots. According to Zwicky, Cooper and Chapman (2000), a firewall is characterized by diverse security ranks on the basis of the position and situation of the computer, security or safeguarding of wireless grids and

The History Of Christopher Columbus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The History Of Christopher Columbus - Essay Example Prior to hardcore revelations made by Bigelow regarding the extraordinarily respectful public hero Columbus, the American nation strongly believed that Columbus was the courageous navigator who took great pains to travel around the world and discover the land of America, where he found the local people to be extremely co-operative, friendly, and understanding. The fresh and riveting information introduced by Bigelow in his revisionist history based on the voyage made by Columbus in 1492 has turned many persons’ heads and rustled up hot debates regarding which version of the voyage made by Columbus is weighty and credible, the old traditional one or the new not-so-pretty version. Comparing the conventional and modern versions regarding Columbus’s historical journey, one remains dumbfounded as to what to believe and what to reject as a fake piece of information. If on one hand, the conventional historical version presents an extremely noble, well-mannered, compassionate, and heroic version of Columbus, then on other hand, the modern version introduced by Bigelow is enough to fervently shake one’s beliefs about various actions made by Columbus to the point that one starts seeing oneself as a submissive fool, who readily took what was taught in the schools at mere face value. Traditional historical version is so designed as to overlook all the deficiencies in Columbus’s character and present him as a man of larger-than-life vision who was dedicated to the native residents of America and treated them with remarkable dignity, while taking great care to give them their space so that they could live their lives the way they were prior to the di scovery and arrival of Columbus and his men. Bigelow claims that first of all, the word discovery is in itself a laughably loaded word that does not relate in any way to Columbus, who was just travelling for personal gain and certainly ambitious to search for riches and gold that could be enjoyed by him and his heirs. It was just a mater of co-incidence that he came across the land which was to be named America later. Columbus’s main intention never remained traveling for the sake of discovery, rather he travelled in an order to search for ways that could make him powerful. T hunger for power and money is just proved by the way Columbus and his men treated the native residents of America. Columbus forced the native people to choose him as their governor and unjustifiably demanded 10% share in everything that was shipped to Spain. It was Columbus who actually initiated the slave trade and like a brutal tyrant that he was, demanded large amounts of gold from the native people. The conventional and modern historical versions differ so hugely that one finds oneself entrapped between the two utterly opposite schools of thought. Speaking of Columbus, (Bigelow) says that â€Å"he also deserves credit for initiating the trans-Atlantic slave trade, albeit in the opposite direction than we’re used to thinking of it.† In an attempt to get more and more students acquainted with the modern version of Columbus’s history, Bigelow lays stress on the fact that taking any piece of information at its face value is a highly detestable attitude which should be despised by every student. Bigelow encourages students to explore and contemplate at length nearly every widely accepted belief because only in this way, fresh and crisp facts can be exposed before the public. He deliberately chose the historical issue of Columbus and his actual intentions because he knew this would prove to be the most interesting way to get hold of the

Ancient Roman Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ancient Roman Architecture - Essay Example The Etruscans inspired the pedestal or podium below the early Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in 509 B.C. The true arch may or may nit have come to Rome from Etruria, but both peoples often used the corbel arch and both liked decorative terra cotta. The Punic wars I and II, during the third century B.C., brought Rome into contact with Greek culture of southern Italy and Sicily; and with the conquest of Corinth, in 146 B.C., Rome subjugated Greece itself. From the Hellenistic and later Greeks, the Romans adopted the orders of architecture but modified them. They added a base to the Doric column and lightened its proportions to eight lower diameters in height. They joined the volutes of the Ionic capital with straight lines instead of the delicate Greek curves. The Corinthians was their favorite order. To the three Greek orders they added the Tuscan, a simplified version of the Structurally, the most important innovation of the Roman was the arch, which they used widely although they had not invented it. Next to the post and lintel, arch construction is historically of greatest importance. An arch is made of wedge-shaped stones that are arranged with the small side of the wedge turned down toward the opening. When the stones have been put in place by means of scaffolding or centering, their shape keeps them from falling, just like in the aqueduct of Segovia. Each stone of the arch, by its weight, exerts constant pressure on the stones an each side of it and the arch is held in position only by an exact balancing of these pressures. If that balance is upset, the arch collapses. As an old Arabic proverb has it â€Å"An arch never sleeps (The World Book Encyclopedia, p.640).†

Breach of Confidentiality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breach of Confidentiality - Essay Example This means that a physician cannot reveal any information of the patient during the course of treatment unless under the patients approval. The essence of physician’s responsibility is to preserve patients’ confidentiality, and help them to be open and able to give all the information regarding their health status. This is done with the assurance that the physician will safeguard such personal information. The honest revelation by the patient provides for a proper and effective treatment of the condition. There are, however, exemptions, for instance, if a patient may hurt others or himself or herself. A breach of confidentiality refers to the revelation of the patients’ medical information to another person without the patients’ permission by a physician or medical health expert. The revelation can be electronically, through word of mouth, or through writing. Thus, the physician’s responsibility of safeguarding the patients’ medical records sometimes has to relent to the interests of the whole. Â  In Estate of Behringer v Princeton Medical Centre (1990), the late Behringer, working as a surgeon at the medical centre, suffered from AIDS. Behringer received treatment from the same hospital. His chart containing information about his diagnosis was not safeguarded at the nurses’ location on the floor where it was kept. The exposure of the information on his diagnosis revealed his medical condition, making the hospital necessitate his patients to sign a form recognizing the dangers to their health. Eventually, this resulted to the deferral of the doctor’s surgical rights (McHale, 1993). The inability of the hospital to protect his personal medical information led to Behringer’s estate suing the hospital for breach of confidentiality. The breach of confidentiality occurred in the sense that the hospital was supposed to safeguard the chart containing the surgeon’s diagnosis information. However, they instead left the chart

CASE STUDY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Case Study Example The handheld solution was a lot better than the laptop solution because of various reasons. First reason being that the time needed to boot the laptop, login to the VPN and access the information was same as that needed to call CSRs. This meant that salespersons would rather call the CSR than use their laptop. This was not the case with Smartphone, information was accessible in seconds. Second was the portability and simplicity factor of the Smartphone. It was lot easier to carry and simpler to use when compared to laptops. The other types of information, besides inventory, that the salesperson might like to have access to over their BlackBerry phones are customer database, product catalogue, price details, order status information, sales forecasts, sales targets, sales force route planning and navigations, internet, market research, etc. There are numerous security issues that arise when there is mobile access to private corporate information. The company’s confidential information can be now accessed by anybody who can get through the network. Crackers can easily break into networks if there aren’t strict security policies. This information can be used against the company in numerous ways. Apart from access to information various changes can be made to the network that can make a deep impact on the company. Barriers that exist in businesses that hamper the adoption of enterprise 2.0 are traditional business culture and the belief that social networking leads to generation of huge amounts of worthless data. According to traditional business culture the time spent on social networking sites eats from the actual productivity. The best way to make a case for the implementation of Enterprise 2.0 is to highlight the effectiveness in communication among different departments of the company. It makes it even more attractive if the company has an international presence. Also, the wrong notion that Enterprise 2.0 applications

Legalizing marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Legalizing marijuana - Research Paper Example A number of possible arguments for its legalization are also refuted in support of the actual and feared social, health and economic effects. The more immediate social effect of legalization marijuana production and use would be the higher chances for more crimes which could really have its related health and economic effects. If sins are the enemies of heaven, crimes are the enemies of a just and peaceful society. Thus legalizing the marijuana would have the effect of increasing the number of drug-related crimes. It is argued by those who favour legalization of the marijuana argues that the use and production domestically were not addressed by long practice of prohibiting the same. It is claimed by some supporters that despite the use of criminal penalties to prevent the use of hemp or marijuana for three quarters of a century, there still existed millions of users, which to them should be considered an evidence of such failure of prohibiting its free use and production (â€Å"420 Campaign – Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal†). Said claim essentially rested on the premise that people will not fear what is beneficial even in the eyes of threat of imprisonment. The validity of the above claims by the supporter of legalization become doubtful when the fallacy of the claim is exposes. The continued number of users via illegal means cannot be evidence of its failure since choosing to violate existing laws is still part of human. The fact that the substance is being used by a number people despite its being prohibited does not mean that prohibiting the same has become less effective. On the other hand, claims of success for such prohibition can be supported with crimes continued to be drug-related. It could therefore be countered that had there been no prohibition on the use and production of marijuana the greater would have been the number of crimes and therefore social effects would have been

Studying the Bible in context Essay Example for Free

Studying the Bible in context Essay 1, a. In helping readers to understand the various meanings of passages in the scripture, and for purposes of categorizing the bible literature in various narratives, the bible authors have develop various techniques which include the use of exegesis, which is essentially a systematic process that is used by an author in order to arrive at a coherent and reasonable meaning of a certain passage in the bible. This technique helps a reader to know the historic setting and the original meaning that the passage gave to the original recipients of the message. The rhetorical and progression devices have also been applied. In a rhetoric device, the author puts a lot of emphasis on a point that a leader is intended to grasp, while the progression device creates a story by developing events from the background to the climax of the story. All these are meant to helps readers to understand the context clearly. The paradox technique has been applied where two contradictory statements are used for instance, when Jesus stated that whoever wants to save their life must lose it. These and many other techniques have been applied to help understand and categorize bible literature as well as making the bile interesting to read. In the interpretation of bible narratives, it is important to be cautious by ensuring that an alert and careful reading of the text is done to avoid misinterpretation. A reader is supposed to visualize the whole story, and look for the literal meaning of words in order to attain the correct meaning. 1, b. Genesis chapter 17 talks about the appearance of God to Abraham when he was 99 years old. It was at this time when God renewed his covenant with Abraham and made renewed his promises to him including the promise of a son and that Abraham would become a father of a great nation. God also that, Abraham and all his descendants must be circumcised. From a theological perspective, (2006) stated that, the appearance of God this time was in the person of Christ Jesus. Where God told Abraham that he was â€Å"the Almighty,† this was meant to portray the real character and nature of God, by the use of the name Elshadai. Various scholars have however given different meanings to the name Shadily including an all-sufficient God, abundantly, one who pours out blessings, one who is rich among other meanings. By God asking that Abraham appear before him blameless, it shows how God would want the people to appear before him wholly and with total commitment. God appeared to reaffirm the covenant he had made with Abraham close to 25 years ago, and proved that he was faithful to whatever promises he makes to the human nature. God made a change of names for both Abraham and Sara as a way of encouraging their faith and to show that he would indeed make a father and a mother of a great nation. Abraham was in turn supposed to get circumcised and to circumcise all his descendants, this portrays the need for Christians to make sacrifices and to keep holy if they are to realize the promises of God. 1, c. Theologians have argued that, just like other historical books, the book of Acts is predominantly descriptive other than normative. The argument is that most of the events that have been explained in the book of Acts may not necessarily take place today and that some of the things which happened to people during the time of writing the book of Act, may not happen today. Acts 5 explains the story of Sapphira and Ananias and how they were struck down to death because of lying to God, this however does not mean that if Christian lie to God today the same punishment will be applicable to them. If Acts would be viewed as normative, does it mean that Christians should take the example of Acts 8: 16? which stated that leaders were then elected by way of ballots, the statement is therefore better viewed in the descriptive manner other than in the normative form. Acts 28: 36 talks about the early Pentecostals who were snake handlers, if Christians were to view this statement as normative, it would therefore mean that such snake handling actions are justified. Theologians have approached the book of Acts from the literal meaning, they have interpreted word to word, and passage to passage, and have then applied the teachings to the modern time in order to determine whether the book should be viewed as normative or descriptive. The literal approach is good as it helps leaders to first understand the meaning of a passage in the scripture and then look at the applicability of the context in the present time. 2, a. Theologians have stated that, the gospels are to be accepted as the reliable historical source that explains about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. The gospels consist of four books in the new testament which are Luke, Matthew, John and Mark. The gospels are also referred to as the good news books, they talk about the birth and life of Jesus. The scholars of the new testament have agreed that, the gospels cannot be said to be biographies, because they are not presented in a way that a biography is set in the modern time, theologians have also stated that, the gospels only focus a little on any issues that are of significance to the theological studies. It is therefore proper to take the gospels as history. 2, b. Parables are interpreted as the allegories. Theologians have stated that, there is need to search into the hidden meaning that is to be found behind the words in a certain parable, so that a person may be able to get the right meaning of the passage and the intended teaching of the parable. This technique of interpretation has been referred to as the hardening theory. The first principle in the interpretation of parables states that, the parables should be looked at by the setting of the good example shown from Jesus life. This sets the point of view from which parables should be approached. Another principle states that, parables should be approached from the scenery point of view, where the interpretation should not be done on word to word or from line to line, but rather by looking at the whole story after which a reader can then be in a position to derive the hidden meaning. 2, c. Luke 16: 19-31 is a bible parable which tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived in luxury while on earth while at the same time Lazarus lived in poverty and much suffering. When the two died Lazarus went to heaven where he rested in the chest of Abraham, while the rich man was tormented in hell. The rich man cried for help but could not be assisted because his time of repentance had gone. This parable explains what happened during that time, and closely relates the story to the events in the present day. In the interpretation of the parable, the rich Christians are supposed to take care of their poor brothers. When the rich man requested that Lazarus be sent on earth to warn his brothers, Abraham stated that, those who could not listen to Moses and Isaac would never listen to Lazarus if he was to come today to give a warning. This relates to the Christians who hear the word of God but do not pay any keen attention to it. The parable has therefore set the biblical teaching on the way of life which should be adopted by Christians. 3, a. The bible scholars have argued that, the moral standards of God did not change even after he gave the law to Moses. The Mosaic law is clearly studied as it states the laws that were given to the Israelites and the standards which God set for the Israelites to observe. The Mosaic law was delivered to the Israelites through Moses. The new covenant that was given to Abraham did not negate the moral standards that had been set earlier in the Mosaic law (Galatians 3:18-21). The only difference is that, in the mosaic covenant, the faithfulness of both parties was required where man was to be faithful to God and would in turn receive receive the promises of God, this is called a bilateral covenant, the Abraham covenant has only God who has promised to be faithful in fulfilling his promises, and is therefore called a unilateral covenant. The new covenant had Paul, James and Jesus emphasizing that Christians should keep and observe the whole law. Christians have therefore been urged to observe the Abraham law that has similar moral standards set by God in the Mosaic law. 3, b. Exodus 22:18, expresses how a witch and a sorcerer is viewed in the kingdom of God. The witch and the sorcerers may be representing all the evil people in the community who are not valued in the eye of God and in the Christian community, as their ambition is to confuse the faithful and to cause problems in the society. The meaning of exodus is not that the faithful should kill the witch and the sorcerer, but rather, they should pray for them and help them to repent and change their ways. 4, a. The epistles are the letters that were written to various individuals in the early church and their authorship is acknowledged to Paul. The epistles begin by mentioning the name Paul in their first wording. The epistles are to be read historically in that, they give a lot of descriptive details about the way the early church lived and how the church was conducted. On the bigger part, the epistles mostly have the theological studies, where the letters that were written to the various churches and to the various individuals addressed specific situations such as, a social wrong that needed people to correct or a poor interpretation of the scripture that needed to be corrected. The letters would also be written where there was a misunderstanding in the early church that needed to be resolved. The epistles contain a lot of theology that require proper interpretation, but at the same time of of the interpretations goes back to the historical settings in the church. 4,b. Collosians 1:13 can be interpretation from the historical sense in that, it takes about it talks a bout a historical past where human beings were living in the darkness, this period can be explained by looking at how it looked like, before human beings got to the grace period when Jesus Christ brought salvation. From the theological point, the verse calls for a lot of theological interpretation where the statement addresses the way in which Christians should live in the life of Christ Jesus. 4, c. Romans 14 together with 1 Corinthians 8, talks about the issue of Christian faith. Paul expressed to the Christians that, they had the liberty to eat anything including the food that was offered to the idols. In stating this, Paul explained that there was only one God and therefore, a Christian who examines their heart and felt it right to eat such food did not commit any sins. Drinking of wine is also not prohibited in the teaching of Paul and he even stated that a little wine for the stomach was good. Christians should always inquire into their conscience and mind to determine whether their faith allows them to do certain action. However, where an act done by a strong believer may ,mislead a weaker believer, it is good for the strong believer to avoid the action.

Secondary Air Damper Control in Boiler

Secondary Air Damper Control in Boiler In this proposed work, design and development of controlling Secondary air dampers in a draft system of a power plant which is presently working on DCS technique has been accomplished by using high computing software ARDUINO and results has been shown with suitable simulation in VISUAL BASICS. The goal of this work is to control the air dampers in a different way according to the unit load thereby increasing the boiler efficiency and to reduce the pollution. A set of six interlock conditions were provided for this purpose. Since DCS is applicable only for big system not less than 5000 input and output but this is costly. It consists of separate server, processor and computers where as ARDUINO does not require a separate processor, no workstation, no operator station here directly connect interfacing card with computer itself. Keywords- Secondary air dampers, Draft system, ARDUINO, Power plant (TTPS), Software control. I. INTRODUCTION In power plant boilers, the draft is obtained by means of fans namely Forced draft and Induced draft fan. The FD and ID fans develop enough draft to move the tremendous volume of air and gases through the flue gas ducts and stack to atmosphere maintaining a balanced draft in the furnace. The secondary air for combustion primarily enters into the windbox. The wind box assembly is a tall structure divided in its height into thirteen compartments which houses 6 no. of Coal nozzles and 5 auxiliary air nozzles alternatively at different elevations from top to bottom. Louvre dampers named as secondary air dampers each of which is operated by an individual damper drive cylinder located at the side of the wind box. The coal nozzle elevations are designated as A,B,C,D,E,F elevation from bottom to top, the bottom end air and top end air elevations as AA and FF respectively. The auxiliary air nozzles in between coal elevations are designated as elevations AB,BC,CD,DE,EF. The furnace corners are designated as corner 1, 2, 3 and 4 in clockwise direction. The heat released in the furnace is received by the Water/steam/air to the maximum extent to have boiler efficiency of the order of 86%. II. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE OF SECONDARY AIR The operation of the auxiliary and fuel air dampers in the windbox assemblies are affected by the FSSS. A. Auxiliary air dampers: During the furnace purge period and initial operations up to 30% boiler loading all elevations of auxiliary and end air dampers modulate to maintain a predetermined (approx. 40 mmWC) set point differential pressure between windbox to furnace. 30 to 40% of total air flow to have an air rich furnace will be supplied during the above period to avoid unhealthy furnace conditions. When the unit load exceeds 30% MCR, the differential pressure set point is changed and ramps to a higher setting (approx. 100 mmWC). Simultaneously, the auxillary air dampers associated with coal or oil elevations not in service close in timed sequence starting with the upper elevation of dampers and progressing to the lowest elevation. When the unit loading is reduced below 30% loading, the auxillary air dampers open in a timed sequence starting with the lowest elevation of dampers. Simultaneously, the differential set point changes to its lowest setting. All the auxillary air dampers maintain the status quotient upon a boiler trip and will open fully when both the FD fans are off. The bottom end air damper is normally kept open to a fixed predetermined position to reduce unburnt coal dust fall out. B. Fuel (oil) air dampers: Elevation AB, CD and EF dampers modulate according to the oil header pressure when heavy oil is being fired. Otherwise they open and close with the rest of the aux air dampers. Elevation AB dampers are kept at a fixed opening when light oil is being fired. C. Fuel (coal) air dampers: Their operations are independent of Boiler load. All coal air dampers are normally closed. They open fifty seconds after the associated feeder is started, and modulate as a function of feeder speed. Fifty seconds after the coal feeders are removed from service, the associated fuel air dampers close. The fuel (coal) air dampers open fully, when both FD fans are off or when the boiler trips on master fuel trip. Importance of secondary air: Protect Boiler Equipments Control the Pollution Improve the Efficiency of the Boiler III.METHODOLOGY This project is to automatically control the air inlets that are termed as dampers which are operated using pneumatic valves. The pneumatic valves are controlled by sensors depending on the windbox to furnace differential pressure. Thus this project controls dampers based on arduino coding And its visually displayed in visual basics. This forms the basic methodology for this project. A. Hardware Description: The hardware components consist of 4potentiometers of range 10kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. These are assumed to be the coal mills/diesel input i.e. inputs for coal. Secondary air dampers are present near all coal and diesel elevations. The percentage opening of a damper depends on the amount of coal/diesel input. Therefore variation of potentiometers indicate amount of coal/diesel input. The damper opening depends on the variable point of the potentiometers. 4 potentiometers are so connected for explanation and they are connected to the A/D convertor pins of AT MEGA 8.0 controller. Then the freeduino board in which the AT MEGA 8.0 is fixed is connected to PC and arduino coding is uploaded in the controller. Then VB shows graphical representation of percentage of damper opening and all other factors. B. Software Description: The software coding was developed based on several conditions on which the secondary air damper openings depend. These form the base for developing a program. These conditions are based on some fixed values and formulas. As already mentioned the percentages of secondary air damper opening depend on the amount of fuel input to the furnace. The algorithm for visual basics coding are as below. 1) Operation Of Coal Elevation Dampers: (A, B, C, D, E, F) The coal dampers at elevations A, B, C, D, E and F will be fed with coal depending on the load of the power plant. Feeding (30 tonnes per hour) any three of these coal elevations is sufficient enough to supply the predetermined full load (210 MW) of the unit. All dampers always have a minimum opening of 30%. In general,less than 20% of the secondary air to the fireball will maintain substoichiometric combustion which limits the flame temperature of the fireball and provides the curtain of secondary air over the walls. The curtain of secondary air militates against the formation of slag on the furnace walls. All this proportioning of the air requires tools of adjustment available to the furnace operator. The dampers modulate according to coal input in three different ways as: When coal is fed into a particular(own) elevation ,the corresponding air damper starts modulating based on the fuel input to let the secondary air required for the combustion of given input. Rather when coal is fed into an (auxillary) elevation adjacent to a particular damper, the damper modulates to maintain the windbox to furnace differential pressure, thereby controlling the constant negative pressure essential to create swirling fireballs of combustion in tangentially fired boilers. When the condition of tripping the whole unit arises, all the six coal elevation dampers are opened to100 % (maximum). When there is no fuel input in any of the above elevations then the dampers will be in minimum opening position. (0%) 2) Operation of oil elevation dampers (AB, BC, CD, DE, EF): Oil is used as fuel input during startup and during scarcity of coal. Each pair of coal nozzle elevations is served by one elevation of oil burners (4 nos. /elevation) located in the auxiliary air nozzle. Thus 12 oil guns, non retractable type, are accommodated in the three elevations AB, CD and EF. Heavy fuel oil can be fired at the oil guns of all these three elevations, whereas light fuel oil (High speed diesel oil) can also be fired at AB elevation. Each oil gun is associated with a retractable high energy arc (HEA) igniter, arranged at the side of the oil gun in the auxiliary air compartment and they directly light up the oil guns. The dampers modulate according to oil input in three different ways as: When oil is fed into a particular(own) elevation ,the corresponding air damper starts modulating based on the fuel input to let the secondary air required for the combustion of given input. When steam input is higher than 30% with adjacent elevation opened then windbox to furnace differential pressure is maintained. Rather when oil is fed into an (auxillary) elevation adjacent to a particular damper, the damper modulates to maintain the windbox to furnace differential pressure, thereby controlling the constant negative pressure essential to create swirling fireballs of combustion in tangentially fired boilers. When the condition of tripping the whole unit arises, all the oil elevation dampers are opened to 100 % (maximum). When there is no fuel input in any of the above elevations then the dampers will be in minimum opening position. (0%) 3) Operation of AA, FF elevation dampers: The AA elevation of air damper is always fully (100%) opened and the FF elevation is always closed to enhance combustion. Thus the coding for the project is developed based on  the conditions of the coal and oil inputs. IV. SEQUENCE OF OPERATION The opening of dampers depends on the load and coal input. The above table I illustrate the percentage of coal input in each mill for given percentage of load. Here 30 Tonnes/Hr of coal is the 100% input and 10 Kg/cm2 of oil is the 100% input of oil. When unit load is 50%, then coal mills A, B are in full operation and C mill operates 10% with AB elevation having oil. For a load of 60%, coal mills A, B, C will operate till 30% and mill D has 10% input. AB oil elevation is fed with full percentage of oil. If the load is 70%, then there is no need for oil but coal mills A, B, C, and D are fed with maximum input. For 90% ,there is no need for oil but the coal mills A, B, C, D is fed with maximum input and E with 20% of fuel input. For 100% load, all the coal elevations are fed with maximum input. V. SIMULATION RESULTS Visual Basic is a third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft for its COM programming model first released in 1991. Visual Basic was derived from BASIC and enables the rapid application development (RAD) of graphical user interface (GUI) applications, access to databases using Data Access Objects, Remote Data Objects, or ActiveX Data Objects, and creation of ActiveX controls and objects. VBA is effectively the same language as Visual Basic but VBA-code is tied to Microsoft Office and can only run within that environment. A programmer can put together an application using the components provided with Visual Basic itself. The four fuel inputs are received via the potentiometer to the AT MEGA 8 microcontroller. The variation of potentiometers indicate amount of coal/diesel input. The damper opening depends on the variable point of the potentiometers. The controller board is connected to PC and arduino coding is uploaded in the controller. Then VB is used for graphical representation of damper opening. The simulation results showing the air dampers status variation according to the various input set points is as follows: The amount of coal input given is shown in the above fig 5. This show the percentage of input given, timer, coal mill that is active, amount of load, steam input set point and steam input in percentage. This form shows all the elevation of dampers and denotes the damper that is open and the percentage of damper opening is also shown. In addition to that reactive power produced for corresponding load is also calculated. VI CONCLUSION Based on the graphical programming language and the data stream operating mode, the software instead of apparatus, the use of virtual instrument technology has opened up our new field of control. Compared to the traditional control it has obvious advantages. Programming is simple by the graphical programming language. A form of visual basics personalizes button design and layout, with the virtual knobs and switches to struck the friendly human, intuitive control interface makes vivid, so that the operators are involved in the operation easier to control the process and results at a glance. The main advantage of controlling secondary air dampers by using arduino is lesser cost as compared to DCS technique, since the interfacing of inputs and outputs are directly given to the PC (which works as work station i.e. block panel and operator station i.e. front panel) .This paper was made in a Coal Based Thermal power plant at tuticorin, TTPS as the existing is running on DCS system. VII ABBREVIATIONS: DCS Distributed Control System FSSS Furnace Safeguard Supervision System FD fan Forced Draft Fan ID fan Induced Draft Fan ADC Analog to Digital converter PC Personal Computer VB Visual Basic 6.0 Draft difference of pressure causing flow of air Elevation -position of dampers Windbox -secondary air storage compartment between FD fan and furnace.

Living And Dying Essay -- essays research papers

Living And Dying   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tuesdays With Morrie was an excellent book in many ways. It opened my eyes up to how I would like to die and what I would like to pass on to my loved ones. I don’t always tell my parents and brother that I love them, although very rarely do I tell my closest friends. After reading this book it has helped me be more open with my feelings. After all I will never know when I will die; it could be today or it could be in 70 years. I need to start living life like there may not be a tomorrow. If I do this, even half the time, then it will make me a better person. There are several topics of life that I need to start doing to make sure that when I die I feel complete.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I die I would like to know that I have done most everything that I would like to have done. Obviously, I will have some regrets but who doesn’t. I would like to make sure that my family is taken care of. That my grandkids have enough money to pay for college. I liked when Morrie talked about how people are always buying new cars, but all they really need is people to love them. Before I die I would like to make sure that my friends and family know how much that I care for them. In order to do this I need to make sure that I communicate to them. I shouldn’t be afraid to share my feelings. But for some reason it is hard for me to express what I feel. Although I’m working on it, it will take some time. My attitude on the baseball f...

Summary and Analysis of The Summoners Tale :: Canterbury Tales The Summoners Tale Essays

Summary and Analysis of The Summoner's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Summoner's Tale: The Summoner was enraged by the tale that the Friar told. He claims in response to the Friar that friars and fiends are one and the same. He tells that a friar once was brought to hell by an angel and remarked that he saw no friars there. However, Satan lifted his tail and thousands of friars came out from his ass and swarmed around hell. Analysis The Summoner becomes insane with anger upon hearing the Friar's Tale, which, although it was told with great vitriol against summoners, had a measured manner and refrained from personal attacks. Where the Friar was intensely contemptuous yet civil, the Summoner becomes a brutish and ill-tempered barbarian. Rather than combating the image that Friar's Tale had given of his profession, the Summoner confirms the worst about the low qualities of his kind. The Summoner's Tale: A friar went to preach and beg in a marshy region of Yorkshire called Holderness. In his sermons he begged for donations for the church and afterward he begged for charity from the local residents. He went to the house of Thomas, a local resident who normally indulged him, and found him ill. The friar speaks of the sermon he gave and essentially orders a meal from Thomas's wife. She tells the friar that her child died not more than two weeks before. The friar claimed that he had a revelation that her child had died and entered heaven. He claims that his fellow friars had a similar vision, for they are more privy to God's messages than laymen, who live richly on earth, as compared to richly spiritually. He speaks about how, among the clergy, only friars remain impoverished and thus close to God, and tells Thomas that his illness persists because he has given so little to the church. When Thomas remarks that his wife is angry, the friar launches into a tirade about the ill effects of i re in men of high degree. He tells the tale of an angry king who sentenced a knight to death because he returned without his partner and automatically assumed that he had murdered him. When a third knight lead the condemned knight to his death, they found the knight that he had supposedly murdered. When the third knight returned to the king to have the sentenced reversed, the king sentenced all three to death: the first because he had originally declared it so, the second because he was the cause of the first's death, and the third because he did not obey the king.

Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl Essay -- essays research papers

Using the pseudonym Linda Brent, Harriet Jacobs wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, to alert Northern white women to the dangers faced by enslaved African American women in the South. The narrative details her experience of slavery, emphasizing the sexual harassment she experienced working in the home of Dr. Flint (Dr. James Norcom). Because Linda Brent's Aunt Martha (Molly Horniblow, Jacobs' grandmother) was well known and respected in the community—and lived nearby—Flint was afraid to force himself on Linda where it might be discovered and relayed to the rest of the community. When he tried to secretly sell Aunt Martha to eliminate her interference, she forced him to do it at public auction; he was humiliated and her freedom was purchased by one of her many admirers. Flint th...

Sampedro

A Helping Hand Ramon Sampedro born January 5th 1943 in North Spain fought for his right to kill himself. At age 25 Ramon unknowingly dove into the shallows of the Atlantic Ocean and became a quadriplegic. Thats where this story begins. The Sea Inside follows Ramon in his few decades long battle with with Spanish courts to legally have someone help him kill himself. In the opening scene of the movie, Roman played by Javier Bardem, is listening to Gene ,his caregiver, lead him into meditation, having him imagine his favorite place, the ocean is pictured on the screen, she tells him to, â€Å"allow your whole body to relax†.A woman is introduced Julia, a lawyer in support of Ramon. Her first encounter with Ramon is moving, â€Å"I want to die because, I feel that a life in this condition, has no dignity. † Ramon admits, along with the fact that some other quadriplegics do not agree with him but begs that, â€Å"I’m not trying to judge anyone. Who am I to judge thos e who choose life, so why judge me or anyone who wants to help me die. † The next line struck me, and will always stick with me. He reminds us that,â€Å"Death has always been with us and always will.It catches up to all of us. Everyone. † Many more moving lines are proclaimed in the movie and help picture the debates cruelty in the viewers mind. Julia explores Ramons life, in search of support to present to the courts. She finds out how Ramon accidentally thrust this lonesome life onto himself. A new woman is introduced, Rosa, a hardworking mother of two who sees a story about Ramon on T. V. seeks him out to try and give him hope about life. Their relationship blooms and Ramon has found a friend.Julia too begins to show interest in Ramon. Julia, while living in the Sampedro house fell one day, that is when the audience finds out she has CADISIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, a hereditary stroke syndrome ). W hile in the hospital Ramon and Julia decide to write a book of his poetry and feelings entitled; Letters from Hell. Ramon reluctantly goes to the court hearing where his lawyer mentions, â€Å".. people who attempt suicide and fail are never subsequently prosecuted.However, when the help of another person is needed to die with dignity, the government intervenes and tramples a mans right to decide for himself. † The courts eventually deny his claim. The story continues with Julia leaving Ramon after publishing his book and a hesitant Rosa offers her help in his suicide. Ramon divided the tasks leading to his suicide into quaint actions, for example, picking up the potassium cyanide from the drugstore, mixing the substance in a glass of water, and placing a the glass next to him in bed with a straw.These actions in themselves are not wrong, all Ramon had to do was willingly drink the fatal mixture to peacefully end his life, which he did, on camera, to prove no one forced him t o do it. In 1998 at age 56 Ramon committed suicide. Weeks after his death in real life, a woman named Ramona Maneiro was arrested and charged, but let go just two days later. Our text,Medical Ethics: Accounts of Ground-Breaking Cases, explains, â€Å"Killing is not always wrong†, based on the metaphysics: that God exists, the scriptures do not specifically say unjustified killing is wrong. This movie presents several justifiable reasons.Ramon says, â€Å"It [death] catches up to all of us†, and our book reads, â€Å"dying for each of us is His Will†. Another scene in the movie shows Julia’s increasing interest in taking her own life, I believe this did not happen in real life but instead was added to show the possibility of others following Sampedro in his endeavor showing the slippery slope the book explains about. However, Julia ended up changing her mind. This bring up yet another idea to think about, if suicide is allowed and someone decided to go thr ough with it, what if one more week could have changed their mind?This is yet another argument that is mirrored in the book. The â€Å"Mistakes and Abuses† section of Chapter 3: Physician-Assisted Dying talked about Ana Pou and her decision to peacefully kill her patients in New Orleans. Maybe if she had waited one more day, relief would have come. Killing versus letting die, my final argument. Chapter 3 asks us if the patient is allowed to die, they are killed by their disease but if someone helps kill them, â€Å"isn’t that human agent the cause of death? †.In the movie, Ramon tried making himself the sole â€Å"cause† by drinking, willfully, the lethal concoction put in front of him. Ramon, a quadriplegic, had no way to kill himself besides maybe drowning in a tub, but even then someone had to put him there. The number 5 reason people commit suicide is terminal illness. Chapter 1 of the book provides these staggering statistics, â€Å"one in 50 attemp ts succeeded†. No matter how is it done, it will always still happen, I believe letting a person die on their own terms is more just than making them suffer till death.

SALAT

Prayer has always been an integral part of Islamic faith and is accorded a central place in the religious practices. Salat is the ritualized form of prayer laid out and codified in the Quran. Though Islam has formalized many practices in detail, salat has not been codified in detail in the Quran. The practices of Prophet Muhammed served as worthy of emulation and has been carried over into the religious practice in the form of oral reports called hadiths. In the early stages Islam and its rituals were in a state of constant change and hence scholars and jurists spent considerable effort in expounding the religious practices of Muslims. The Quran places great emphasis on prayer and the prayer finds expression in various forms like supplication, remembrance, repentance, glorification, litany and ritual (p. 8054). Salat is the ritual part of the prayer and needs to be understood in this overall context. Keeping up with the schism in early Islam and subsequent formation of Sunni and Shia sects, salat has incorporated the influences of these sects. Prayer is of such a paramount importance to the faith, it is also included in the Islamic jurisprudence and salat is one of the Five Pillars of Islam as defined in Islamic law ‘Shariah’. Salat can either be mandatory or voluntary. It is voluntary when one has reached the age of reason and obligatory when one has reached puberty (p. 8055). There are exact and stringent specifications for conducting salat and Islamic laws describe them in detail. Though men and women performed the prayers together in Muhammad’s time, the later hadiths have excluded or severely limited presence of women in the communal salat performed in the mosques. Islam stresses communal prayer and hence the mosque forms the central locus for salat. It is permitted to conduct salat on the street or elsewhere, if no mosque is available. In the early days of Islam salat was performed three times in a day, but later hadiths took reference to Muhammad’s night journey and increased the number of mandatory salats to five in a day. Muslims are called to prayer by muezzin fifteen minutes before the salat time and the muezzin calls out by glorifying God and his messenger Muhammad. Before the salat begins the followers of the faith should make themselves clean for the ritual by cleansing themselves with water. Shariah specifies both major impurities, which require a complete bath and minor impurities that require ablution at the mosque itself. Apart from the physical purity, one also has to purify himself mentally by declaring the intention to pray. Various schools of thought differ on this aspect i. e. some schools say that intention should be pronounced audibly and some say it should be silent. The very act of performing the salat is pretty simple and brief. According to Shariah â€Å"each salat consists of two or four cycles of bowing, called rak’ah† (p. 8057). It also specifies that at least seventeen cycles should be completed in a day during the five salats. Salat is performed by a series of steps accompanied by specified incantations. For example, salat begins with the incantation â€Å"God is great† followed by certain bodily movements. The Sunnis and Shias have different interpretations here as well. This is then followed by extolling the glory of God and finally the follower performs various other actions like asking for forgiveness or offers petitions to the God. Salat needs to be understood not only as a pure ritual form but also needs to be located in the historical context. Salat has played a fundamental role in forging a Muslim identity. It has also been interpreted as a path to spiritual encounter with God or merely as ritual observance and submission to God’s law (p. 8058). For the followers however salat denotes purification of mind and body and union with the God.