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Title: personal statement for law school

Total Pages: 2 Words: 808 References: 0 Citation Style: APA Document Type: Essay

Essay Instructions: Prepare a personal statement, pretend you are applying for law school in England.

The personal statement is your opportunity to tell universities and colleges about your suitability for the course(s) that you hope to study. You need to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment, and above all, ensure that you stand out from the crowd.
• Why you have chosen the course(s) - this is particularly important when you're applying for a subject that you have not studied before.
• The reasons why that subject area interests you.
• Evidence that you understand what is required to study the course, eg if applying for psychology courses, show that you know how scientific the subject is.
• How your current or previous studies relate to the course(s) that you have chosen.
• Any activities that demonstrate your interest in the course(s).
• Why you want to go to university or college.
• Details of jobs, placements, work experience or voluntary work, particularly if it's relevant to your chosen course(s).
• Hobbies, interests and social activities that demonstrate your skills and abilities.
• Details of accreditation achieved for any activities in preparation for higher education, for example through the ASDAN Aimhigher Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE qualification).
• Any other achievements that you are proud of, eg reaching grade 3 piano or being selected for the county cricket team.
• Positions of responsibility that you hold/have held both in and out of school, eg form prefect or representative for a local charity.
• Attributes that make you interesting, special or unique.
• Whether you have any future plans of how you want to use the knowledge and experience that you gain.

* Why do you want to study in the UK?
* How can you show that you can successfully complete a higher education course that is taught in English? Please say if some of your studies have been taught or examined in English.
* Have you taken part in any activities where you have used English outside of your studies?

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: exam 1

Total Pages: 10 Words: 3132 Works Cited: 1 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: here I am including you the material that you need to use to answer the questions the paper has to be a single space in the paragraph and double space between the paragraph.

PART 1: CHURCH POLITY
Knowledge of Christian church polity (church government) during the first century AD provides the necessary framework for understanding the rise of the monarchical episcopate that occurs during the Late Roman Republic and the Middle Ages.

The Head of the Church

The Christian Church, whether in heaven or on the earth, has only one leader, Jesus the Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23: 5:24; Colossians 1:18, 24). Jesus himself said, ?I will build my church . . .? (Matthew 16:18; emphasis mine). For the Christian, Jesus alone has absolute authority on matters of faith (Biblical teaching) and Christian living (ethical conduct). The Bible is God?s final written Word because Jesus exercises his authority through his divine Scriptures.

THE ROCK IS JESUS
NOT PETER
The gospel writer Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, ?And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it ? (Matthew 16:18; see also Isaiah 28:16). Jesus called Peter a petros, a small pebble, but then said on this petra, he would build his church. A petra is the massive underlying bedrock of the earth. Because of his confession, Peter is only a small pebble. No human could be the foundation of the Christian Church ? only Jesus can be the petra.
DID YOU KNOW IT: 1 Peter 2:4-8, Ephesians 2:19-22, and Psalm 118:22 emphatically state that Jesus is the chief cornerstone. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, ?For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which his Jesus Christ.? And King David said, ?It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man? (Psalm 118:9). The Christian Church can only be based on the solid rock, the petra?Jesus.
THE KEYS HAVE
ALREADY BEEN USED
The gospel writer Matthew says that the ?keys of the kingdom? were given to Peter (Matthew 16:19). Peter first used the keys when he preached the plan of salvation to the Jewish people on the day the Christian Church began, the Day of Pentecost in AD 30 (Acts 2). He used them again when he preached to Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, in AD 40 (Acts 10-11). Peter?s ?keys of the kingdom? opened the doors to all mankind, both to Jews and Gentiles, and are no longer needed.

The Servant-Leaders
of the Church
The Temporary Offices

The Christian Church began with two temporary offices of leadership: the apostles and the prophets (Ephesians 2:20-22). The men who held these two leadership positions established the Christian Church and wrote the New Testament by the divine inspiration of God the Holy Spirit (Romans 3:22; Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; 3:16).

THE APOSTLES OF JESUS

When Jesus ascended back into heaven, he left his Church in the hands of men of power?the Apostles. The word apostle, meaning ?one who is sent forth? by a divine call and commission, appears 119 times in the New Testament, most often in the writings of Luke and Paul. Because of their divine commission, the apostles acted with divine authority in place of Jesus. But unlike all previous men and women of power like Caesar Augustus, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra VII, Alexander the Great, and Thutmoses III, the Apostles power did not derive from themselves, but from the Triune Christian God. They built no monumental buildings, exquisite sculptures or paintings, to themselves, but lived and worked for the glory of their divine King?Jesus.

From his many faithful disciples, Jesus chose twelve men to serve as his apostles (Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19). Judas Iscariot, one of the original twelve, betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself. Jesus selected Matthias to take Judas? place (Acts 1:26). These men, known as the Apostles of Christ, were personally chosen, called, and commissioned, by Jesus himself. He gave them the ?things that mark an apostle ? signs, wonders and miracles? (2 Corinthians 12:12).

Two Qualifications

Luke records that Judas? replacement had to meet two qualifications to serve as an Apostle of Christ (Acts 1:21-22). First, he had to have been with Jesus from the time of his baptism until his physical ascension. Second, he had to have seen Jesus alive after his physical resurrection from the dead. Only those who lived at the same time of Jesus could meet these specific qualifications. The death of the Apostle John, around AD 100, ended the apostolic line. There were and are no successors.

Paul Was an Apostle of Christ

Paul became an apostle by God?s grace and Jesus? call and commission. Unlike the other apostles, Paul met the second qualification for being an apostle before he met the first qualification. Jesus appeared to Paul when he was traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians. After his conversion in AD 34, Paul went to Arabia and was taught by Jesus for three years. It seems that Jesus? ministry, from his baptism to his ascension, was revealed to Paul. His unique commission was to be ?an apostle to the Gentiles? (Romans 11:13; Acts 9:17, 27; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 9:1; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1, 11-12, 15-18; Ephesians 1:1; 2:20; Colossians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1; cf. Galatians 1:16).

No Apostolic Succession

The early church needed the temporary office of Apostle of Christ while the New Testament was being written. The Apostles infallibly communicated God?s message to mankind. Their only successor was and is the completed New Testament, God?s final and authoritative Word.

THE PROPHETS

The Apostle Paul wrote of another temporary leader in the first century AD church, the prophet (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 3:5, 4:11). Old and New Testament prophets were spokesmen of God?s revelation and enforcers of God?s commandments. A prophet of God always spoke God?s truth. A prophet who was incorrect even one time was a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).

Luke mentions several prophets in the book of Acts, including the following:

? Agabus and others from Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-28);

? from the Christian Church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul (Acts 13:1); and,

? Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32).

The Servant-Leaders
of the Church
The Permanent Offices

The Christian New Testament and first century AD history conclusively show that each local autonomous Christian Church had two permanent offices, elders and evangelists. These servant-leaders trained Christians to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).

ELDERS

The New Testament tells us that the Christian Church is the household and dwelling place of the living God, committed to uphold and practice God?s truth (1 Timothy 3:15-16). The Greek word presbuteros, translated ?elder,? means an older man who has the responsibility of ruling and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17). The Bible clearly teaches that at least two elders are to serve in each local congregation. During Apostolic Age (in the first century AD), elders exercised their office only in their particular congregation and possessed no authority in any other Christian Church.

Elders, Bishops, & Pastors
are the Same Office

Two other terms are used in the New Testament to describe the function of the elders. The first, episkopos (?bishop?), describes the elder as one who oversees the flock of God, i.e., each local Christian Church (Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25). The second term, poimen (?pastor?), describes the elder as one who shepherds the flock of God. A proper translation of the Greek shows that an elder was an older man who oversaw and shepherded (or pastored) with other equal elders in a single Christian Church (Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; 21:18; 22:5; Ephesians 4:11; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:1-2; James 5:14).

According to the New Testament, the elder and bishop were not two different offices. Paul told Titus to appoint elders in the Christian Church at Ephesus. He called these same elders, ?bishops? (Titus 1:5, 7). Elder or presbyter, bishop or overseer, shepherd or pastor ? these are all different names for the very same office. Neither Scripture nor any first century AD document indicates that a single elder exercised authority in more than one Christian church. Just the opposite!

Qualifications of Biblical Elders

The apostle Paul lists the mandatory qualifications for men who desire to become Biblical elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). The Greek word dei (?must?) appears in 1 Timothy 3:2, 4, 6 and in Titus 1:6-9. Jesus used this same word in telling Nicodemus that he ?must? be born again if he wanted to see the kingdom of heaven. Dei is absolute! A person who wants to go to heaven dei (must) be born again. A man who desires to serve as an elder dei (must) meet all of the qualifications.

For the first hundred years of the church?s existence, Jesus was its only head. The only leadership offices were the temporary ones of the Apostle and the Prophet. These offices did not continue after the completion of the New Testament and after the death of the Apostle John.

The permanent office of elder is held by a plurality of leaders in one local congregation. After the first century Apostolic Age, Church polity dramatically changed to one ruler over all of the Christian churches.

READ ABOUT IT

G. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (Joplin, College Press, 1996); F.F. Bruce, New Testament History (Galilee/Doubleday, 1983); The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? (Wilder Publications, 2009); G. Reese, New Testament History: Acts (Joplin, MO: College Press, 2005); J. Cottrell, Baptism: A Biblical Study (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1989); The Faith Once For All, (Joplin, MO, College Press, 2002); K. Aland & B. Aland, Der Text des Neuen Testaments: Einfuhrung in die wissenschaftlichen Ausgaben sowie in Theorie und Praxis der modernen Textkritik (Deutsch Bibelgesellenschaft, 1982); K. Aland, M. Black, C. Martini, B. Metzger, and A. Wikgren, eds. The Greek New Testament. 3rd ed. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1975); L. Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960); N. Geisler, A Popular Survey of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2008); Decide for Yourself: How History Reviews the Bible (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1982); N. Geisler & W. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago: Moody, 1986); and The Mishnah, trans. By H. Danby (Oxford: Oxford University, 1933), Reprint. 1958, 1983.

PART 2
A NEW MAN OF POWER

Between the close of the Apostolic Age (AD 100) and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451), changes in church polity began to occur. Church leaders gave authority over each local congregation to one elder (bishop). This elder was called the bishop and the other elders were designated as presbyters. These ?super-bishops? became known as the Church Fathers, and the time from AD 117 to 451 is called the Patristic Age.

The writings of the Church Fathers are important because they tell us a great deal about the Christian Church and world events from the second through fifth centuries AD. But the writings aren?t Scripture and Christians shouldn?t use them as a basis for their beliefs. The Church Fathers made numerous theological mistakes that affected Christianity in later centuries.

THE RISE OF THE
MONARCHICAL EPISCOPATE

During the Apostolic Age (AD 30-100), each Christian congregation was led and shepherded by at least two men known as elders or bishops. This organizational model followed Paul?s instructions in his New Testament letters to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and Titus (Titus 1:5-9).
DID YOU KNOW IT: Early in the second century, Ignatius of Antioch proposed a different model and elevated one elder in each congregation above the others. Ignatius? head elder, or bishop, held all authority for that local Church. The other elders, called presbyters, were given less authority. This new teaching contradicts the Biblical and historical evidence that there are to be a plurality of equal elders in each church.
This is the beginning of the Monarchical Episcopate (one-man rule of the eldership). Over time, the bishops of the more prominent cities gained control over a number of congregations in an area or region. Eventually, the bishop of Rome, the pre-eminent city, became known as ?papa? or ?pope? and held authority over all the Christian Churches. A new man of power was created.
Ignatius

Ignatius was the very first to teach that one elder, the bishop, had authority over a group of lesser presbyters (Ad Mag. iii). He gave the bishop the same authority as Jesus and the Apostles (Ad Mag. (viii). He even went so far as to say that those Christians who didn?t follow the bishop served the devil and didn?t have pure consciences (Ad Mag. ix; Ad Mag. vii). Amazingly, the bishop in each church was to be regarded like a type of God the Father (Ad Mag. iii).
Ignatius? views on church polity are not found in the pages of the New Testament or in the apostolic precedents of the first century AD churches. But Ignatius says nothing about the pre-eminence of the Roman bishop over all the other churches. That?s because a pre-eminent bishop, as the supreme head of all the churches, didn?t exist in the second century AD. Literature from this time period makes no mention of an apostolic succession from the apostle Peter to the Bishop of Rome.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Most churches in the second century ignored Ignatius and continued to follow the Biblical pattern of a plurality of elders in every local autonomous church.

Eventually, though, Ignatius? view became dominate as the monarchical episcopate (a church and its clergy ruled by a single bishop). As time went on, this developed into the Patriarch where a single bishop held authority over a number of churches in a sizeable region (Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople). More time went on and the Papacy began ? now a single man demanded power over all the other bishops and all Christian churches.

Super-Bishops

Many second century AD writers were apologists who attempted to reasonably defend New Testament Christianity against pagan defamations. Prominent among the early writers Ignatius (AD 50-100), and Polycarp (AD 69-155). Both Aristides (AD 140) and Justin Martyr (AD 100-165) wrote lengthy apologies (defenses) to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pious. Justin Martyr also wrote a well-reasoned dialogue designed to convince unbelieving Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Tatian (AD 110-172) compiled the first harmony of the four gospels and argued for the superiority of Christianity over Greek philosophy in his Address to the Greeks.

Irenaeus (AD 130-200) wrote against Gnosticism in his Against All Heresies. Gnosticism attacked the very foundations of Christianity by combining elements of Greek philosophy, Oriental philosophy, and a few Christian words reinterpreted into a false belief system.


Tertullian (AD 150-220) contended against the heresy of Monarchianism, which denied the doctrine of the Godhead or Trinity. The Biblical teaching of the Godhead is that one God is three distinct, divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.

Origen (AD 185-250) argued against Gnosticism and Monarchianism. He wrote Against Celsus, a rejoinder against a pagan work that attacked Christianity. He also created the Hexapla, a document with the Hebrew text of the Old Testament in one column and the corresponding Greek translation in a second column.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Unfortunately, Origen fused Greek philosophy with Christian teachings to come up with a number of aberrant teachings. He was the first person to coin the phrase ?original sin? and insisted that infants needed to be baptized (a teaching not found in the New Testament). The Roman Church branded Origen a heretic in AD 553.

Historical documents written by several super-bishops during the fourth century AD still exist. For example, at the Council of Nicaea, Athanasius (AD 296-373) eloquently and passionately argued for the true deity of Jesus against the heretical views of Arianism.

Jerome (AD 340-420) spent twenty-three years translating the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into the Latin Vulgate, the common Bible of the early Western church.

Preachers like Ambrose of Milan (AD 340-397) introduced the singing of hymns and chants into Christian worship.

John Chrysostom (AD 347-407), of Constantinople, earned the name ?Golden Mouth? because of his powerful speeches explaining the Scriptures.

Augustine (AD 354-430), the super-bishop of Hippo, is considered one of the greatest of the church fathers. After studying grammar and rhetoric, Augustine joined the Manichaean religion, a heretical cult, in AD 373. In AD 387, he became a Christian.

DID YOU KNOW IT: In his work Confessions, Augustine writes about his sinful life before his conversion. His monumental work, City of God, explains history as the parallel growth and development of two cities or societies, one of God in heaven and the other of man on earth. He explains how a God-centered life is superior to a man-centered life.

Augustine mixed his Manichaean beliefs with Christian teachings. He disregarded Scriptural teaching that souls are created ex nihilo at the time of conception, teaching instead that souls are generated through one?s parents (On the Soul and Its Origin 33). He erroneously taught that babies are totally depraved (evil) at birth and their wills are in total bondage. He believed that a newborn inherits the sin and guilt of Adam and is condemned to hell (On the Merits and Remission of Sins 14). Because humans? wills are in bondage, they are unable to respond to the gospel so God chooses (predestines) whom he will save. Everyone else is predestined to hell. According to Augustine, salvation is not an individual choice, but God ?makes? the chosen ones believe in him. These teachings are not found in Scripture.


Heresies Threatened to
Corrupt the Biblical Canon

During the second and third centuries AD, a number of destructive heresies crept into the churches and threatened to corrupt the Biblical canon (the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments). False gospels and letters, purporting to have been written by the apostles, began to circulate. These heretical books were proven to be fabricated stories that disregarded history and contradicted the Biblical documents.

GNOSTICISM

The Gnostics (dating from the second century) believed that all physical matter is inherently evil. Therefore, the perfectly good Jesus couldn?t have had a physical body. This heresy appeared shortly after the first century AD began because the apostle John condemned a pre-incipient Gnosticism as false teaching. The apostle says that he and others saw and touched Jesus? physical body after the resurrection (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1).

DOCETISM AND ADOPTIONISM

The adherents of Docetism denied that Jesus had a physical body, but believed that he seemed to appear in one as a human.

The heretical beliefs of Adoptionism stated that Jesus was a mere man whom God adopted and promoted to sonship.

APOLLINARIANISM

Apollinarianism taught that Jesus? physical body was made of divine matter instead of bone, flesh, and blood (cf. Luke 24:38-39). They also said that he didn?t have a human soul or mind.

THE SO-CALLED
GOSPEL OF THOMAS
In 1945, a manuscript of disorganized and haphazard 114 sayings, written in the Coptic language, was found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These sayings, dubbed the ?so-called Gospel of Thomas? are falsely attributed to Jesus, but in reality were written by a dangerous anti-Christian cult called Gnosticism. This ?false gospel? was universally condemned as false teaching and a forgery. Such a work is part of the pseudepigrapha, false documents from the second through fifth centuries AD.
These fabricated sayings have ZERO historical contexts. Not one city or one place-name is mentioned.
DID YOU KNOW IT: There were a number of ?so-called? gospels discovered that were attributed to people who lived hundreds of years before the real people lived. Names such as Thomas, Mary, and Judas, were falsely attached to heretical sayings. We have known about these false gospels for about a century.
There are two accounts of this bogus gospel. The first is an entire Coptic account that was written sometime from AD 350 to 380. This forgery resembles the second century AD Diatessaron by Tatian, which was a harmonization of the four New Testament Gospels and was written after AD 170.
The second is a group of Greek fragments (16 of the 114 sayings plus an extra one) written around the beginning of the third century AD.
THINK ABOUT IT: The ?so-called gospel of Thomas? is claimed to be written by Thomas, one of Jesus? Apostles. But, Thomas who died in the early part of the first century AD, was quite dead when this ?so-called? gospel was written going on two hundred years later.
In saying 114, Simon Peter makes a sexist comment: ?Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life.? Jesus said, ?Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.? In this false gospel, women cannot go to heaven unless they are turned into men! There is nothing like this saying in any of the New Testament Gospels.
All Heresies Were
Condemned

When gatherings of scholars met in councils to debate theological issues, they condemned the false beliefs of Gnosticism, Docetism, Adoptionism, and Apollinarianism as heresy. In these councils, the proponents of these non-Christian groups presented their arguments for their beliefs. But in every instance, these arguments contradicted the teachings in Scripture and were easily refuted.

Because of the false teachings of these and other non-Christian groups, the Church was compelled to fight all false teaching. The Council of Nicaea convened under the leadership of Constantine the Great, the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian.


The Origin of Sickbed
(Clinic) Washings

The first case of affusion in church history was done to a man named Novatian in AD 251. Novatian wanted to become a Christian but was seriously ill and church leaders agreed that he could not be immersed (baptize) in water. Since, in their minds, baptism was necessary in order to be saved, something needed to be done before Novatian died. The church leaders decided to pour water over him as he lay in bed. What they did was to pour the water around Novatian to simulate being covered like an immersion.

These church leaders erroneously called this application of water on Novatian ?clinic baptism? (baptismus clinicorum) from the Greek word, kline, which means ?a bed.? Was Novatian baptized? No. The word ?baptize? means only to immerse, and a pouring of water around a person is not the same thing.

Plus, Dionysius of Alexandria (AD 200-265) disallowed the poring of water on Novatian because it subverted the faith and profession, which goes before it (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vii, c.8). Clinic or sickbed washings were done when a person?s illness or weakness confined them to bed, and proximity to death prevented the individual from being immersed in water.

The Council of Nicaea

The Council of Nicaea, convened in AD 325 by the order of the Roman Emperor Constantine, to defend against the false teaching of Arianism and did not determine the New Testament canon. All twenty-seven New Testament books were collected and used in the first century AD.

DID YOU KNOW IT: From records of the council, we know that the Council of Nicaea did not even discuss the New Testament canon. In fact, the first council to discuss the Biblical canon was held at Carthage in AD 397.

The Council of Nicaea was an open forum to affirm and protect (not invent) the Biblical teaching of the deity of Jesus as the God-man and that God is a Triune God, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit who are co-equal and co-eternal persons. This Biblical teaching had come under attack by the false teaching of Arianism that taught Jesus was a created being. Arianism was conclusively shown to be heresy and was condemned as such.

Leo I

The Christian Church dramatically changed in AD 445 when the Roman Emperor Valentinian III established Rome?s super-bishop as the universal papa (pope) of the Christian Church. Valentinian gave the super-bishop a Roman pagan title ? pontiff. His name was Leo I (AD 400-461), the ?father of medieval papacy.?

In AD 452, Leo met the dreaded Attila the Hun on the banks of the Minceo River and persuaded him, with a gold bribe, not to sack Rome. This success, which Leo attributed to the power of God, increased Leo?s own power as the highest sovereign of the Church. Thus began the official incipient reign of the Roman Catholic pope. Unfortunately, he didn?t have the gold bribe to prevent Genseric, the barbarian Vandal leader, from sacking Rome in AD 455. He could only persuade the Vandals not to use incendiaries or resort to murder after they sacked the city.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Though it?s true that Leo, along with Gennadius Avienus, a politician, and Trigetius, the Praetorian Prefect, ?persuaded? Attila from sacking Rome, they did so with a king?s ransom in gold! Attila postponed his planned sacking of Rome for a year. Fortunately for Rome, he died before he could return.

Historical letters written by Leo assert that, as Rome?s super-bishop, he had universal jurisdiction. This dogma is called ?Petrine Supremacy.? He proclaimed his teachings were the ?voice of the Apostle Peter.?

Leo and his successors didn?t concern themselves with only spiritual issues. To curtail the secular power of the spiritual super-rulers, Pope Gelasius I (reigned AD 492-496) decreed the eminent dogma of ?Two Swords.? This doctrine, which separated secular and ecclesiastical power, made a fundamental distinction between the church?s spiritual authority and the state?s earthly authority. The Pope was to be the supreme leader in spiritual matters only, not in civic ones.

Gregory the Great

Though the Two Swords doctrine continued through the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476, the popes gradually became more powerful than the secular Western emperors. In AD 495, Pope Gregory the Great (AD 540-604) refused the title of ?pope? but did not relinquish the position and power of a pope. He expanded his power against the secular rulers, which weakened the doctrine of the ?Two Swords.?

Gregory reestablished missionary work and was instrumental in sending Augustine of Canterbury to England to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. Though he called himself Servus Servorum Dei, ?the servant of the servants of God,? he was not above using force to convert pagans to Christianity. His theology was heavily influenced by Augustine?s The City of God. He reformed the Mass (Lord?s Supper), supported monasticism, and unified the pope?s administrative machinery.


DID YOU KNOW IT: The Christian Church had become the Roman Catholic Church, an immense bureaucratic institution based on pagan Rome?s geographical divisions of dioceses and parishes. An inflexible hierarchical structure of power and authority was created that placed the pope, a spiritual-secular leader, at the apex of supreme power. The pope, a new man of power, copied the secular and pagan imperial title of pontifex maximus, declaring himself the ultimate ruler on earth.

MONASTICISM

Monasticism, the choosing of a religious life or vocation to God, began in the third century AD. Some Christians believed the best way to serve God was to completely dedicate themselves to a spiritual and communal life (called cenobitic). They left behind the corruption of sinful cities and gathered in isolated communities. Over time, these building complexes became monasteries and convents. The education provided by the monasteries led to new agricultural techniques and was the forerunner of the modern university.

The Hermit

The monastic life involved the pursuit of godliness and an exclusive devotion to God. Monks renounced their wealth and gave all their possessions to the Roman Church. The Church became very wealthy from these gifts.

The first Christians to practice a monastic life were hermits in wilderness areas. They believed they attained favor with God by isolating themselves, practicing celibacy, fasting for days on end, depriving themselves of sleep, praying for hours, and even torturing themselves.

ANTHONY

Anthony (born AD 251) is the Father of Monasticism. At the age of twenty, Anthony?s parents died leaving the care of his unmarried sister to his custody. Anthony left his sister to the care of a group of Christian virgin women, the first proto-nunnery.

He then spent much of his adult life living in a tomb in Fayum, Egypt and later when he was thirty-five years old he moved to an old fort on a mountain on the eastern side of the Nile of River called Pispir. Anthony then isolated himself for the next twenty years. Pilgrims would throw food over the walls to Anthony. These pilgrims became disciples and lived in huts and caves close to Anthony begging him to teach them. Anthony eventually did teach these colonized disciples for about six years. He then isolated himself again for the next forty-five years of his life.


PACHOMIUS

At the age of twenty, Pachomius (AD 292-346) was in the Roman army, held captive, and treated very well by Christians. Once no longer a soldier, he became a Christian and became a disciple of the ascetic Palaemon in AD 317. Pachomius later organized group-cells (?larves?) of men and women to live in as a community or cenobitic group. These men and women had all possessions in common and were led by an Abbot?being derived from the title of ?Abba? (father) given to Pachomius. Pachomius found nine monasteries with a following of 7,000 disciples.

SIMEON STYLITES

One of the most famous hermits was the ascetic Simeon Stylites (AD 390-459). He vertically escaped the world by sitting on top of a fifty-foot stone pillar near Aleppo, Syria for thirty-nine years. Small boys climbed the pillar with bread and goat?s milk for the hermit. Since he never bathed, various bugs infected his body.

THINK ABOUT IT: The followers of Stylites treasured the worms that fell off his body and onto the ground below. Once when a worm fell off of Stylites, he placed it into an open wound and said, ?Eat what God has given you.?

The Monastic Life

The solitary life of the hermit was replaced by the gathering of monks into isolated communities called monasteries. In the tenth century, women began living together in convents. Within these communities, the monks and nuns followed a highly structured way of life and followed unyielding rules (orders).

The Benedictines

An Italian monk named Benedict (AD 480-543), the founder of western monasticism, founded twelve autonomous congregations before establishing a monastery at Monte Casino in southern Italy. He required his Benedictine monks to take a lifetime vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the monastery?s abbot. Possessions were allowed only if they benefited others.

The Benedictine monks lived by a regula, a book of strict precepts that ruled their daily prayer and worship. These were first written, not for the clergy, but for laymen so that they could fully live the Christian life. Benedict?s rule, which was later applied to the clergy, provided Europe with the foundational concepts of democracy, a written constitution, and the rule of law.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Many of the monks failed to keep their vows and were obsessed with sexual immorality. They didn?t take baths so as not to inflame lust. The monks mistakenly thought of Eve as representing sexuality and blamed her for all sin. Females weren?t allowed in the monasteries ? not even a hen!

In the thirteenth century AD, monasticism transformed into a different kind of lifestyle for the monks.

The Friars

Unlike the monks, friars were not cloistered ascetics living in self-contained communities. The friars preached and taught in their local towns. Many traveled as missionaries throughout Europe and were supported by charitable donations. These friars didn?t hesitate to crush any heretical views or people that opposed the Roman Catholic Church.

THE FRANCISCANS

Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi (AD 1181-1226) founded the Franciscans, also called ?Friars Minor? or ?Gray Friars? in AD 1209. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment, took care of lepers, and preached from village to village.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Francis once was a stowaway on board a ship traveling to North Africa. The Muslims arrested him as a spy, but he was not convicted. The Sultan permitted Francis to tour the Christian sites in Israel. Today, many of the Christian sites in Israel are managed by the Franciscans.

Little Flowers

After Francis died in AD 1226, a collection of legends were written called the Fioretti or ?Little Flowers.? In one such legend, Francis preached to birds, calling them ?sister birds.? In another, he calls a wolf, ?brother wolf.? In his poem, the Canticle of the Sun, he addresses the sun, moon, and fire as his brothers and calls the earth his mother.

THE DOMINICANS

Dominic

Dominic (AD 1170-1221) founded a preaching order to combat heresy in AD 1216. The Dominicans were called the ?Friar Preachers.? Sometimes they were called the ?Black Preachers? because they wore black mantles. Even at an early age, Dominic loved learning and was known for his charitable acts. Dominic and his order were on a constant quest for an unwavering and intimate relationship with God.


THINK ABOUT IT: Dominic gave up all his worldly possessions, including a prized collection of books (manuscripts). It is reported he said: ?Would you have me study off these dead skins when men are dying of hunger??

Dominic Created the Rosary

It is believed that the rosary, meaning ?rose garden,? was initiated because of Dominic?s devotion and veneration of Mary, Jesus? mother. It is said that Mary appeared to Dominic and gave him the rosary at the Church of Prouille, France, in AD 1214. The church was afterwards called Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Dominican Pope Pius V, in a papal bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices, officially decreed the rosary in AD 1569. Rosaries are prayer beads that are used to count the repetitions of devotional prayers made while meditating.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The rosaries are still believed by Roman Catholics in the twenty-first century AD to be a vital means for communing with Mary who is claimed to be the only mediator to Jesus. The rosary is a central tenet of Dominican belief and practice.

THE CARMELITES

The Carmelites were founded on Mount Carmel, Israel, the mountain of the prophet Elijah, in AD 1155, perhaps by Benedict. Because of their devotion to Mary, they were also known as ?Friars of Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel? and, because of their white cloaks, the ?White Friars.? The Carmelites? focused on meditative prayer.

THE AUGUSTINIANS

The Augustinians were established on the writings of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) in AD 1244 and were known as the ?Black Canons,? the ?Hermits of St. Augustine,? and the ?Austin Friars.? Martin Luther was a well-known Augustinian.

The monasteries became centers of learning. By copying ancient manuscripts, they preserved important literature for modern-day study.

The Powerful Gregory VII

The power of the papacy declined after the sovereignty of Pope Nicholas I (reigned AD 858-867). Previously, emperors and nobles dominated the popes? and curtailed their power. But in AD 1059, a determined monk named Hildebrand, the true power behind Pope Nicholas II, manipulated him into declaring that only cardinals could select the pope. This effectively increased the power of the papacy as an independent leader.


Later, Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII (AD 1028-1085). He craved a world subjugated by the Roman Catholic Church and dominated by the papacy. In a new decree, Gregory VII stated:

?That the Roman Church was founded by God alone; That the Roman pontiff is alone to be called universal; That all princes should kiss his feet; and his alone; That he may depose emperors; That he himself can be judged by no man; That the Roman Church has never erred, nor, according to Scripture, will ever err.?

THE POWER OF AN APOSTLE?

Gregory VII misappropriated the ?keys to heaven? passage from Matthew 16:19. This passage only applied to the apostle Peter when he opened the doors of salvation to the Jews in AD 30 (Acts 2) and then to the Gentiles in AD 40 (Acts 10). Gregory decreed that he alone held the keys to heaven.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The earthly, and now the eternal, lives of common people were at the whims of one powerful man. Gregory prohibited priests from marrying and made celibacy compulsory.


THE SOLE POWER TO
APPOINT CHURCH OFFICIALS

Gregory?s increasing papal authority was opposed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. Gregory finally eradicated lay investiture in Germany, the power of the secular king and/or emperor to appoint church officials, claiming that right belonged only to him. Gregory utilized a new weapon that would bring even the most powerful secular rulers to their knees?excommunication. Gregory excommunicated Henry and removed him as emperor. Henry journeyed to the pope?s castle in Canossa, slammed his fist on the door, and begged for forgiveness. Gregory left the barefoot Henry outside in the snow for three days before removing his excommunication and deposition.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Gregory?s policies effectively established the underpinning for papal absolutism. Prohibition on all lay investiture was accomplished by a later pope named Urban II (reigned AD 1088-1099). The unending clash between pope and secular ruler persisted through the centuries and ultimately set the stage for the Reformation.

THE BREVIARY

The Roman Catholic Church forbade anyone but a priest to own a Bible. Laypeople were only allowed a ?breviary,? a liturgical book containing the Psalms and interpretation lessons from the Bible for everyday use. Gregory?s abridged order of prayers and simplified liturgy was also called a breviary. Through the years, the Roman Church devised four sources of authority for all Christians: papal pronouncements, decisions from Councils of Super-Bishops, the writings of the former super-bishops (such as Augustine and Jerome), and lastly, the Bible.

The Most Powerful Man
in the World
Innocent III

Innocent III (AD 1160-1216) was the most powerful man in the world at his time and the most powerful pope in history. He constantly intruded in politics, twice excommunicating Emperor Frederick II and once excommunicating King John of England. He also issued interdicts (ecclesiastical penalties), subsidized the Fourth Crusade that resulted in Constantinople being destroyed in AD 1204, decreed a crusade against an emperor, and decreed a horrific bloody crusade against the Waldensians in AD 1208.

THE VICAR OF CHRIST

Innocent III added to Roman Church dogma when he decreed: ?The successor of Peter is the vicar of Christ: he has been established as a mediator between God and man, below God but beyond man, less than God but more than man; who shall judge all and be judged by no one.?

THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL

In AD 1215, Innocent convened the Fourth Lateran Council that endorsed the doctrine of transubstantiation as the only accepted interpretation of Christ?s presence in the Lord?s Supper.

THE INQUISITION

Innocent III created a special court, an institution of punishment called the Holy Office of the Inquisition that had the authority to judge those accused of heresy. A heretic was defined as a baptized Roman Catholic who opposed the pope, his papal pronouncements, or any Roman Church teaching.

DID YOU KNOW IT: In AD 1233, Pope Gregory IX appointed Dominican friars as exclusive inquisitors who acted in the name and authority of the pope. The friars served as the prosecutors, judges, and juries. They probed all matters of heresy, offered rewards to informers, forced family members to testify against each other, conducted secret trials, and inflicted torture on the accused.

By the end of the twelfth century AD, an official known as the Grand Inquisitor led the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The indicted heretic was not permitted a lawyer, but was given a less severe penalty for confession. Those who didn?t confess were tortured. The second time a person was accused of heresy, he was put to death.

The Seven Sacraments

The Roman Catholic Church created seven sacraments (sacramentum), or means of grace, by the twelfth century AD. As their model, the Roman Church used the pagan Roman sacramentum (?a thing set apart as sacred?), which was originally a military oath of obedience and loyalty dispensed by a military commander. Later, it came to mean a visible word or an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. The new Catholic sacraments were seven visible and infallible pledges or effective means of receiving saving grace. The number of sacraments was set at seven at the Council of Lyons in AD 1274.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The Roman Church also copied the Roman practice of having their pagan pontiffs performing rituals and ceremonies in a very precise matter. This meant that the result of saving grace came ?ex opere operato,? or by performing the ritual in a precise manner. The personal faith or holiness of the bishop was unimportant.

The seven sacraments are: baptism, confirmation, the Lord?s Supper (later called the Mass), penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony. The Roman Church also created sacramentals such as holy oil, crucifixes, statues, baptismal water, and blessed ashes that cause grace ex opere operantis (through the faith and devotion) of those using them.

Through the Roman Church?s properly ordained super-bishop, salvation could be dispensed to the common people, who esteemed the church officials as being divine instruments of power. The threat of excommunication (being ousted from the Church and condemned to hell) hung over anyone who refused to obey the officials.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The Mass was the most important of the seven sacraments. In the ninth century AD, Paschasius Radbertus (AD 785-865), in his De Corpore et Sanguine Domini (On the Body and Blood of the Lord), originated the belief called transubstantiation. He said that a miracle takes place during the Lord?s Supper. The bread and wine are transformed into the actual physical body and blood of Jesus, even though the outward forms or accidences remain the same. The bread still looks like bread; the wine still tastes like wine. Transubstantiation was first officially spoken at the Fourth Lateran Council in AD 1215.

During penance, a sinner confesses his sins to a priest who gives him works to perform to earn forgiveness.

Boniface VIII

The ultimate power of the popes occurred in AD 1301 when Boniface VIII sent King Philip of France the Ausculta fili (?Listen, My Son?), a papal bull that said in no uncertain terms that God had place popes over kings and their kingdoms.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Dante Alighieri?s (AD 1265-1321) famous epic poem Divine Comedy includes an allegorical vision of the medieval view of the afterlife. Dante envisioned hell as having eight circles. Popes who committed the sin of simony, the crime of paying for one?s office or position, were relegated to an exclusive pit. In his poem, Dante depicted BonifaceVIII as fated to this horrific place.

The power of the popes climaxed in AD 1302 when Pope Boniface VIII (AD 1235-1303) decreed one of the most famous papal bulls, the Unam sanctam, which stated that there is no salvation or forgiveness of sins outside of the Roman Catholic Church and that anyone who opposes the pope is resisting God. Every person was subject to the Roman pope for salvation. This placed the supremacy of the papacy over temporal, secular rulers, such as emperors and kings.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Between AD 1054 and 1305, the papacy was the most powerful and dominant institution in western Europe. Popes had power over all rulers, instigated crusades, and amassed vast wealth through taxes, the lands controlled by their noble lords, and obligatory financial support of the Roman Church.

Relics

The most common relics are called brandea. They were everyday objects, such as a piece of cloth that may have been worn by a saint or even dirt from the Garden of Gethsemane. The brandea were often kept in reliquaries, which are boxes specially made to hold the chosen relic. These could even be worn as good luck charms if they were small enough.

DID YOU KNOW IT: St. Anthony?s coffin is at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy. When it was opened, his body had decomposed. All, that is, except his tongue. Apparently, it looked normal. St. Anthony?s gift was preaching, so this was seen as a tribute to him. His tongue remains at the Basilica.

After about the seventh century AD, another type of relic became popular. Churches began collecting a saint?s body parts, such as the bones or locks of hair. The saint?s spirit and grace was believed to be a part of the saint?s body. That made these body-relics more valuable than the common brandea.


The Roman Catholic Church approved and advocated the sale and worship of relics. Even though Jesus? physical body ascended to heaven, this didn?t keep Roman churches from claiming to have his umbilical cord, his baby teeth, Mary?s breast milk, the three nails used to crucify Jesus, clothing from dead saints, physical body parts of Jesus? disciples and apostles, and many other unsubstantiated artifacts.

During the Middle Ages, the vending of relics was forbidden. This practice was known as simony after Simon the sorcerer who was rebuked by the apostle Peter for trying to buy the ability to perform miraculous gifts (Acts 8: 9-25). The only exception was if buying the relic would prevent it from being desecrated. Relics couldn?t be auctioned because the price would be driven up by the bidding.

DID YOU KNOW IT: When St. Bernadette Soubirous died in AD 1879, her body was placed in a glass coffin at her convent in Nevers, France, like a modern Snow White. When the body didn?t decompose, it was designated as ?incorrupt.? Often the phenomenon of incorruptibility is accompanied by a sweet fragrance called the ?oder of sanctity.? Sometimes a liquid, the ?oil of saints,? exudes from the body.

The Cult of Mary

In AD 431 at the Council of Ephesus (AD 431), Mary was declared, for the first time, to be the mother of God (Theotokos) and not only the mother of Christ (Christotokos). Common people were afraid of the Roman Church?s portrayal of Jesus as a stern judge, so Bernard of Clairvaux (AD 1090-1153), ?the Hammer of Heretics,? decided that the people needed a mediator between them and the fierce Jesus. He selected the merciful Mary as that mediator. In Bernard?s Mariology, Mary became Mediatrix of the graces of salvation and assumed the title ?Star of the Sea.? This referred to her role as a guiding star of hope for Christians. People began praying to Mary and asking her to intercede for them to appease the wrath of Jesus. Christians were also taught to pray to dead saints for intercession.

DID YOU KNOW IT: In the twelfth century AD, worshipers counted three sets of fifty ?Hail Mary?s? on rosary beads. They also participated in the angelus, a recitation of prayers to Mary when a bell sounded in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

DID YOU KNOW IT: In AD 1854 Pope Pius IX added a new teaching to the Bible when he said of Mary ?the most blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin in the first instance of her conception.? There is no scripture passage that claims Mary was sinless. Another new teaching was decreed in Pope Pius XIII in his 1950 constitution Munificentissimus Deus ?The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever?Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.? According to Pius XIII, this new teaching has to be believed in order to go to heaven. Unfortunately, this teaching is not found anywhere in the Bible.

The Treasury of Merit

Pope Clement VI, in AD 1343, created the concept of a ?treasury of merit? of the good deeds of Jesus, Mary, the apostles, and martyred Christians. Clement further decreed that the pope had absolute control over this storehouse. The merits were transferred to a Christian in exchange for a suitable amount of money. This practice developed into the sale of indulgences, and papal certificates that exempted a person from works of penance and reduced one?s time in purgatory. Purgatory, another concept originating with the Catholic Church, is a place in the afterlife where one?s sins are purged.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The notion of purgatory is not a Biblical teaching. The belief of a person?s soul having to pass through a purging fire is found in the Zend Avesta (?Book of the Law?), which is the primary literature of the religion called Zoroastrianism. The Zend Avesta is a collection of prayers, hymns, and other works, and includes the Gathas, or hymns of Zoroaster. Bundahis, xxx. 20 states, ?All men will pass into the melted metal and become pure; to the righteous it will seem as though he walks through warm milk.?

This view of Zoroastrianism is then found in the non-Biblical Jewish Apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 12:38-46. Then centuries later in the third century AD and beyond, this view of passing through a purging fire was developed and incorporated into a place called purgatory. This view is found in the theologies of the heretic Origen (Psalm xxxvii., Homily 3); Lactantius (Divinae Institutiones, vii. 21, 4-7); Jerome (Psalm cxviii., Sermon 20); and Commodianus (Instructiones, ii. 2, 9). Other individuals such as Tertullian (De Corona Militis, 3-4; De Monogamia, 10; Exhortatio Castitatis, 11), Augustine (Enchiridion ad Lauram, 67-69, 109), and Gregory I (Dialogi, iv. 57) incorporated and instituted prayers and offerings for the souls in this place called purgatory.

The Babylonian Captivity
of the Church

In AD 1296, Philip the Fair, the king of France (reigned AD 1285-1314), placed a fifty percent income tax on France?s bishops. Pope Boniface VIII threatened to excommunicate anyone who tried to collect the tax and any clergyman who paid it. King Philip responded by preventing the trade of gold from Italy. Boniface then issued a papal bull declaring that no one could go to heaven that wasn?t in total obedience to him. Philip ended the conflict by arresting Boniface.

In AD 1305, Phillip the Fair appointed one of his own men, a French archbishop, as the next pope, Clement V. The papal court in Rome relocated to Avignon, France. This transfer of power initiated the so-called ?Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy,? an allusion to the Israelites? seventy-year captivity in Babylon (605-535 BC). For around seventy years, the popes and cardinals were French and under the complete authority of the French kings (AD 1305-1378).

The Council of
Ravenna, AD 1311

In AD 1311 at the Council of Ravenna, Pope Clement V and the Roman Catholic Church added, legalized, and openly sustained the practice of sprinkling and pouring water as legitimate modes of baptism for reasons of convenience.

The Catholic priests believed that they were too dignified and important to have to get into the water themselves to immerse people, i.e., they did not want to get wet! The Greek Christians did not accept the decision of the Council of Ravenna in AD 1311, and did not cease the practice of immersion. This is a very striking testimony to the meaning of the Greek word for ?baptidzo?, since the Greeks are credited with knowing the meaning of words in their own language.

Also, to add or subtract to anyone?s work (in this case the biblical books) is a violation of the science of hermeneutics where one is looking for the author?s intended meaning. The Greek word ?baptize? has always and still means to immerse.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Once the Roman Church changed the practice of baptism they stated to ?baptize? in saliva, beer, wine, tears, and milk. The practice of inserting an instrument into wombs of women to squirt some water on the head/hair of the unborn babies was being done by some.

The Great Schism

The papal throne remained in France until Pope Gregory XI brought it back to Rome in AD 1378. After Gregory died, the tyrannical Pope Urban VI, an Italian, became the new pope. An assembly of cardinals voided Urban?s election and then, with French support, selected a pope from Avignon, Clement VII. The competition for supremacy between Urban and Clement began the Great Schism.

When Urban began to demonstrate a tyrannical attitude, a group of cardinals voided his election. With the support of France, they elected another pope, Clement VII, who resided at Avignon. These rival popes and cardinals created the ?Great Schism,? with countries siding with one or the other.

DID YOU KNOW IT: In AD 1409, the Council at Pisa elected its own pope. Now three popes competed for power. The Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund, summoned the Council of Constance in AD 1414-1418. The council elected Martin V as fourth pope. He now joined the other three in the competition for power.

Papal despotism and conflict among the Roman Catholic Church leaders would later be challenged by the men of the Reformation.

The Crusades

The Catholic Church taught that pilgrimages to holy places, especially to Israel, were a means of salvation. But Christians traveling to Israel were being persecuted by the Seljuk Turks. In response, Pope Urban II began a series of sanctioned military campaigns, the crusades, claiming that Christian pilgrims were being tortured and murdered. With such propaganda, he roused the Church to action ? it was time to take the Holy Land away from the Turkish Muslims.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Urban had another motive for attacking the Turkish Muslims ? he wanted to bring the Eastern Empire under his authority. He promised wealth and eternal life to Christians who participated in the crusade.

THE FIRST CRUSADE

About 20,000 farmers joined the unofficial preliminary crusade (AD 1095-1099), known as the Peasants? Crusade. The Turks wiped them out and the farmers? bones were left unburied as a warning against future crusades.

In the first official crusade (AD 1096-1099), 54,500 people secured the Eastern Roman Empire and Asia Minor. Virtually all of Jerusalem?s people ? men, women, and children ? were killed. The Middle East was partitioned into four small kingdoms: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa.

THE SECOND CRUSADE

The Muslims destroyed the County of Edessa in AD 1144. Pope Eugene III summoned Bernard of Clairvaux to persuade people to join the Second Crusade (AD 1147-1149), which was led by Europe?s most powerful monarchs, Louis VII of France and Conrad IIII of Germany. Conrad?s army was destroyed before his soldiers ever set foot upon the Holy Land. The French army was beaten at Damascus.

THE THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES

Saladin, a new and powerful Muslim ruler, captured Jerusalem in AD 1187. Pope Gregory VIII responded by inaugurating the Third Crusade (AD 1187-1192), the ?Crusade of Kings.? England?s King Richard I, France?s King Phillip Augustulus, and Germany?s King Frederick Barbarossa set off for the Holy Land. Phillip and his army deserted the crusade and returned to France.

DID YOU KNOW IT: Barbarossa drowned in Asia Minor. Only Richard of England engaged the Muslims. Because of his bravery in this crusade, Richard became known as the ?Lion-Hearted.? Richard secured an agreement with the great Saladin for control of the western coastal cities and the right of Europeans to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

The crusaders of the Fourth Crusade (AD 1202-1204) never set foot in the holy land, but journeyed instead to Constantinople. They pillaged the city and replaced the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire with the short-lived feudal Crusader state, the Latin Empire. Michael VIII Palaiologos conquered the Latin Empire in AD 1261.

THE CHILDREN?S CRUSADE

Thirty thousand French children and 7,000 German children participated in the Children?s Crusade. Many of the French children died on their way to the Holy Land. Those who made it back to France endured incredible hardships. Still others booked passages on ships, but slave traders took them prisoner and sold them. The German children also failed their quest. They marched over the Alps into Italy.

By AD 1291, the Muslims were again masters of the Holy Land. The crusades ended after nine major efforts.

RESULTS OF THE CRUSADES

There was nothing Christ-like about the Christian Crusades. The crusaders fortunate enough to return to Europe brought a wealth of treasures: diamonds, jade, ivory, sugar, cotton, spices, glassware, apples and oranges, Asian crops, and silks.

DID YOU KNOW IT: The crusades revitalized travel and spurred new inventions and scientific discoveries. A new middle class of merchants and traders founded European centers of commerce, replacing the old feudal system.

READ ABOUT IT:

A. House, Francis of Assisi (New York, 2001); A. Roberts & J. Donaldson, eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. 1884-86. Reprint (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956); B. Hamilton, The Crusades (Stroude, 1998); B. Hamilton, The Crusades (Stroude, 1998);C.H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism, 2nd ed. (London, 1989); E. Ferguson, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (New York: Garland Publishing, 1997); G. Lampe, ed. A Patristic Greek Lexicon, 5 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961); J. Gimpel, The Medieval Machine (Harmondsworth, England, 1976); J. Kelley, Early Christian Doctrines, rev. ed. (Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2003); J. Migne, Patrologia, Series Graeca, 166 vols. (Paris), 1857-66, Patrologia, Series Latina, 221 vols. (Paris), 1844-65; J. Quasten, Patrology, 3 vols. (Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1950); J. Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476-752 (Boston, 1979); J. Sayers, Innocent III: Leader of Europe, 1198-1216 (London, 1994); P. Schaff, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Ist series, 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956); The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 1, Origins to Constantine, ed. By M. Mitchell and F. Young (Cambridge University Press, 2007); The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2, Constantine to c. 600, ed. By A. Casiday and F. Norris (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

EXAM QUESTION. I order 10 pages because they are single space in the paragraph so this way I ca get 5 or 6.

This is the questions that I need to answer make sure that you fallow the space instructions. you have to write the question.

1. What did you learn from your reading material that made you say ?wow? and why?
2. Part 1 of your reading material showed you what the Christian church believed and taught in the first century AD. Part 2 of your reading taught you of the changes that were made. Discuss the changes.

Instructions:
1. SINGLE-SPACE your paragraphs and double-space in between your paragraphs.
2. DO NOT just repeat the material. Discuss it!

Excerpt From Essay:

Essay Instructions: Essay 1500 words, worth 40%,
Course =Bachelor of Nursing
Class = Sociology

References 7+
no reference to be more than 5 years old.

MUST BE RELEVANT TO AUSTRALIA ONLY
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Essay Question:
Critically examine the impact of medical domince on the profession of nursing. How is this profession challenging medical dominance and has this been or is it likely to be effective
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Marking criteria
1. (17 marks)
Information content of essay is relevant and material from a wide range of sources, (at least 7), is used skilfully and critically.

Relevence = 2 marks
definitions = 5 marks
sources/ref = 3 marks
discussion linked with definitions = 2 marks
evidence of beginning capacity to argue critically = 5 marks

2. (5 marks)Clear and logical thinking

Intro, body, conclusion = 1 marks
logical flow of arguements = 2 marks
clarity of thinking = 2 marks

3. (6 marks) Accurate interpretation of written topic. (students ability to interpret their readings of the topic by presenting their own views of the topic. Arguements to be relevent, expressed in students own words.

opinion based on readings expressed in own words = 3 marks
relevent arguements = 3 marks

4. Free from spelling errors (1 mark), grammar (1 mark), sentence structure (2 marks), referencing (intext = 2 marks)& reference list (2 marks)

5. (4 marks) Evidence of scholarly use of language and vocabulary ( or ability to use language; linkage and language; prefected by draft copies.

very good = 4 marks
good = 3 marks
mediocre = 2 marks
encouragement = 1 mark

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Helpful..but very basic.....information to assist in understanding the essay question:

medical dominance = medical in this case refers to doctors mostly. medical dominance is the decision making and power the medical profession has had over the nursing profession in all aspects,such as pay,conditions of work, patient care, policy making, proceedures,distribution of government and other funding etc. both past and present.

The beginnings of Medical dominance can be traced back to
the beginnings of modern nursing with florence nightingale.

Medicine has power and prominance in shaping health care and health care policy. Doctors are the major influence on Australia's health care cost.

Definition of profession:
According to the Australian Nurses? and Allied Health Dictionary profession is defined as ?a calling or vocation requiring specialized knowledge, methods and skills, as well as preparation in an institution of higher learning in the scholarly, scientific and historical principles underlying such methods and skills. Members of a profession are committed to continuing study, to enlarging their body of knowledge, to placing service above personal gain and to providing practical services vital to human and social welfare. A profession functions autonomously and is committed to higher standards of achievement and conduct?. (Australian Nurses? and Allied Health Dictionary, 2002, p. 359). Whilst, a professional is ?1.) pertaining to one?s profession or occupation. 2.) One who is a specialist in a particular field or occupation?. (Australian Nurses? and Allied Health Dictionary, 2002, p. 359).


The nursing profession challenging medical dominance I am not as read up on as of yet but I do believe that things like nursing setting up their own code of ethics, competencies and code of conduct is a way in which they are attempting to assert their own authority over their own profession, although doctors imput is sort when developing and modifying these....as nursing fundamentally does work hand in hand with the medical profession.

http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20030527.132438/

http://www.anci.org.au/

I have not read anything on how effective the challenges to medical dominance have or are going to be.

Hope this helps
Thanx

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: gun control essay

Total Pages: 4 Words: 1411 Sources: 0 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: You will write an argumentative paper about a social/political topic of your choosing. Your argument require facts, examples, evidence, strong reasoning, and should be presented in a well organized, logical manner in support of, organist an issue. As always, your analysis will be grounded in compelling, descriptive examples (from TV, media, and, or personal anecdotes) and all your paragraphs should have strong topic sentences and traditions. This paper will have a substantive introduction with a strongly articulated main claim regarding the social issue.

The paper must contain five different, recent, reliable sources, and one must be a book. Two of the sources should be from scholarly journals. Try to make use of the library databases for at least two online sources, do not just rely on Google. The in-text citations and works cited page should be in prefect MLA form.

The essay topic should be gun control.
Please use one or two resources from
1. State by Opensecrets.org ?Gun Control vs. Gun right?. N.P. web 28 Apr 2014
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/issues/guns/index_arch.php
2. State by Pew Research Center of the people & the Press. ?Why own a Gun? Protection Is Now Top Reason.? N.P. web 28 Apr 2014
http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/why-own-a-gun-protection-is-now-top-reason/
3. State by how stuff work. ?Do countries with stricter gun laws really have less crime or fewer homicides?? N.P. web 28 Apr 2014

http://people.howstuffworks.com/strict-gun-laws-less-crime1.htm

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