Jesus Christ's Church | Mormon.org Jesus Christ's Church What was Jesus Christ’s original Church? Seeking divine guidance or help is among the most fundamental of human instincts. It is how we know we’re not alone. It is how Jesus Christ’s Church was returned to His people. God loves us and has consistently revealed light to His children. The embodiment of that light came to earth in the form of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ—whose birth had long been foretold by prophets. During His mortal life, Jesus declared His gospel, appointed Apostles, gave righteous men God’s priesthood, and directed followers in the performing of specific ordinances, such as baptism by immersion. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice fulfilled ancient promises made by God, promises that included the establishment of Christ’s Church on earth. But during the time after Christ’s Resurrection, there was considerable chaos and dissent; Apostles were martyred, and the foundational principles of Christ’s Church became diluted. As a result, the members of His Church were scattered. Left with only remnants of the original truth, each generation of earnest followers strayed further from the true teachings and doctrine of Christ’s Church until the priesthood authority was eventually lost to the world. Expand Text In the 16th century, faithful religious reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin brought considerable enlightenment to a world darkened by apostasy. Luther proclaimed his “95 Theses,” where he outlined how Christianity had strayed. The movement spread all over Europe and created a crucial momentum of fervor for religious freedom. It became the rallying cry for pilgrims colonizing the New World, a place unique on earth for many reasons. Some 1,500 years earlier, Jesus Christ had visited people in the Americas before leaving this earth, teaching them as He did the people in the Old World. A record of His visit and the history of these faithful followers were recorded on golden plates and buried in the earth by an ancient prophet who lived on the American continent. It was here, in a land blessed with religious freedom, that Jesus Christ chose to restore His original Church. In 1830, He did just that through Joseph Smith, a young man who was called of God to bring forth the ancient record and, through the divine gift of translation, transcribe it. This work is called the Book of Mormon. This book of scripture bears witness to the divinity and teachings of Jesus Christ. It calls us to repentance and helps us lead better and happier lives. We have a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers. Our Heavenly Father answers the kinds of prayers where we earnestly petition Him for insight, wrestle with doubt, or implore Him for mercy. Sometimes when we pray, we do all of these things at once. It is through prayer that a boy named Joseph Smith came to a grove of trees in upstate New York in 1820, asking God to know which church to join. Earlier he had come across a scripture in the Bible, James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” As many of us do, Joseph was seeking light, and he found it, literally. He later related, “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17). Joseph was told that through him Jesus Christ would eventually restore His original Church, which had been lost through the apostasy of the previous millennia. Joseph was also told that in the coming years he would be called as a prophet. God chose Joseph Smith as a prophet much as He chose the ancient prophets—often from among the most humble and unlikely of candidates. With the clear-eyed dedication of youth, the farm boy from upstate New York


What is the name for a person who is a member of the Church of England?

Frequently asked questions about confirmation in the Church of England   Q. What is the right age for confirmation? There is no right age for a person to be confirmed. Anyone may be confirmed who has been baptized, if they are old enough to answer responsibly for themselves. In many dioceses, however, the diocesan bishop has set a minimum age for Confirmation. If this is the case your parish priest will be able to tell you what the minimum age is. As a general rule anyone who is over 10 years old and can answer for themselves could be ready for confirmation but the right time for you might be at any age. Q. How can I tell if I am ready for confirmation? A. Young people mature in their faith in different ways and at different ages. It is important that you come to Confirmation with firm personal conviction that it is right for you at this point in your life. You should pray about this and ask others in your church to pray for you. You should talk to your vicar and even if you are unsure about being confirmed you may wish to participate in the confirmation course to explore your faith further as you think about it. Q. Can I receive communion without being confirmed? Confirmation is about so much more than receiving the bread and wine. Anyone in preparation for the confirmation can receive communion as part of that preparation. In some dioceses children are admitted to Holy Communion when they reach an age at which they can understand the meaning of the Eucharist or Holy Communion (to the extent as any of us ever can understand it). This means that some young people will come to confirmation having been participating in Holy Communion while others will receive their first Communion after Confirmation. Q. I was baptized as a child, why do I need to be confirmed? If you were baptized as a child, in confirmation, you are confirming the promises your parents made on your behalf at your baptism about your commitment to a journey of faith. In confirming this faith you are becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family. In turn the Church will promise to support and pray for you. In confirmation we recall the promises made at baptism, we are thanking God for his gift of life and publicly acknowledging his love. We are acknowledging that we all need to turn away from selfishness and evil and to accept God's offer of a new start. Q. I'm not a regular churchgoer. Can I still be confirmed? A. Confirmation is about becoming a committed member of the local and worldwide Christian family. If you would like to make this commitment we recommend you visit your local church and discuss this with your local vicar. Details of your local church may be found at www.achurchnearyou.com Q. Why Does the Church of England baptize babies and children rather than adults as in some other denominations? The Church of England baptises children and adults. Usually adults seeking baptism are encouraged to explore a combined baptism and confirmation. There are four reasons why the Church of England, unlike some other Christian traditions, has retained the practice of infant baptism. First, infant baptism is a practice that goes back to the very earliest days of the Church and is therefore something that the Church of England does not feel free to discard. Secondly, the Church of England believes that God's merciful love, what Christians call God's 'grace', always precedes our human response and enables it. Personal confession of faith following on from and responding to the grace of God received in infant baptism is consistent with this fact. Thirdly, we read in the gospels that Christ welcomed and blessed those infants that were brought to Him (Mark 10:13-15) and the Church of England believes that infant baptism is a way He continues to do this today. Fourthly, the Bible as a whole tells us that the children of believers are themselves part of God's family and therefore The Church of England feels that it is right that they should have the sign of belonging to the family just as Jewish boys in the Old Testament had the sign of circumcision (


What is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States?

The 15 Largest Protestant Denominations in the United States - ThomRainer.com ThomRainer.com The 15 Largest Protestant Denominations in the United States Share this: The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches assembles various data on churches and denominations across North America. I recently gleaned the top 15 denominations by membership in the United States from their reports: Southern Baptist Convention: 16.2 million members The United Methodist Church: 7.8 million members The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million members National Baptist Convention: 5.0 million members Evangelical Lutheran Church, U.S.A.: 4.5 million members National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million members Assemblies of God: 2.9 million members Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): 2.8 million members African Methodist Episcopal Church: 2.5 million members National Missionary Baptist Convention of America: 2.5 million members The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS): 2.3 million members The Episcopal Church: 2.0 million members Churches of Christ: 1.6 million members Pentecostal Assemblies of the World: 1.5 million members The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: 1.4 million members Neither the Yearbook list nor this blog infers that bigger is better. To the contrary, I have noted on a number of occasions how church membership, unfortunately, is fast becoming a meaningless number. Only the Assemblies of God on this list reported membership growth from the previous year, and their growth rate was only one-half of one percent. Nevertheless, the numbers are interesting. Does your church belong to one of these denominations? Are you in a non-denominational church? What are your reflections on this list?


"What Arabic word means ""struggle"" but is often interpreted as ""Holy War""?"

Jihad: holy struggle or holy war? | CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry Jihad: holy struggle or holy war? by Matt Slick Among most Westerners, the term "Jihad" ("struggle" in Arabic) often brings up images of Muslim terrorists killing people who disagree with them. Jihad is an emotionally charged word that is heralded by the Western news media in descriptions of Middle East activities. People need not wait long to hear the term used during nightly news and see the affects of present-day Islamic struggles in vivid pictures of destruction beamed to our televisions. But is this a fair assessment of the Muslim community as a whole? Jihad has been interpreted by Muslims in different ways. The Muslim sect of the Kharijites has elevated Jihad to one of the Five Pillars of Islam --making it Six Pillars. This kind of belief is seen in the extremist Muslim groups we call terrorists. They use the concept of Jihad as a justification for killing anyone who isn't a Muslim. However, most Muslims disagree with this extremist position of some Muslims and advocate peace. These Muslims view Jihad as a spiritual struggle against evil in a metaphorical sense. 1 For the most part, there is the Greater and Lesser Jihad. The Greater Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle of the Muslim toward submission to Allah. The Lesser Jihad is Holy War against non-Muslims based on principle of belief. It is this latter that has caused the most concern among Westerners. Is that concern warranted? Many think so. Islamic scholar Jamal Badawi, chairman of the Islamic Information Foundation in Halifax, insists that a jihad is 'permitted only in self-defense or against tyranny and oppression--not as a tool to promote Islam.' But, experts added, the ancient Islamic empires were built as much by force as by persuasion. Islam's founder, Mohammed, frequently used force, or the threat of it, to unify the nomadic tribes of the Arabian peninsula. The caliphs, who succeeded Mohammed as leaders of the Arab world, successfully took up arms against the Christian Byzantine Empire in Egypt and the Holy Land. By the end of the ninth century, Arabian armies had extended Islamic power from Spain to the borders of India. 2 Anyone who has studied Islamic history must surely notice how frequently the Muslims were involved in battle after battle. Within 200 years after its inception, Islam had spread through a huge geographical area, and many converts were made by the sword. What does the Qur'an say about Jihad? The Qur'an is the single most important authority in all of Islam. It is the scripture given from Allah through the angel Gabriel. Does the Qur'an teach Jihad? Absolutely yes. As you will see in the following quotes from the Qur'an, Holy War is definitely taught and encouraged. "Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure," (Surah 61:4). "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress limits . . . 191And slay them wherever ye catch them. and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for persecution is worse than slaughter; But fight them not at the sacred Mosque unless they (first) fight you there; But if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who reject faith. 192 But if they cease, Allah is oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 193And fight them on until there is no more persecution. And the religion becomes Allah's. But if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression" ( The Qur'an , Surah 2:190-193). "O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter.  Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least. For Allah hath power over all things," (Surah 9:38-39). See also Surah 4:74-76; 61:10-12. What does the Hadith say about Jihad? The Had


What Jewish relic contained the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written?

101 Myths of the Bible Chapter 78 SAMPLE CHAPTER: 78. Moses Gave Israel the Ten Commandments. (NOTE: The following material is a draft of a chapter from 101     Myths of the Bible and may vary slightly from the published version.) The Myth: And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD     thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the     house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of     any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,     or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down     thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous     God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the     third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy     unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the     LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou     labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of     the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy     son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy     cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days     the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and     rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day,     and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the     land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house, thou shalt not covet     thy neighbours wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,     nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbours. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the     noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people     saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. (Ex. 20:1-18.) The Reality: The bible has several contradictory accounts of     what laws the Israelites were given, how many they received, and     where and when they got them. The traditional version of the Ten     Commandments as given above was a late invention created no earlier     than the seventh century BC. The traditional view of how Israel received the Ten Commandments goes     something like this. God verbally announced Ten Commandments to the     people of Israel and they were later reduced to writing on stone     tablets. Moses received the tablets on Mount Sinai and brought them     down to the people. When he returned to the Israelites he saw the     golden calf built by Aaron, became angry and smashed the stones. He     returned to the mountain and obtained a new set of tablets. These he     passed on to the people, placing them in the Ark of the Covenant for     safekeeping. Thereafter, the Ten Commandments served as a sacred bond     between the Israelites and the Hebrew god. Unfortunately, this picture is pieced together from a number of     threads that contain inconsistent claims and alternative scenarios.     The bible integrates at least four different law codes within the     story of the Ten Commandments, two of which contain similar versions     of the traditional Ten Commandments, one of which contains a     radically different version of the Ten Commandments, and one which     contains over forty commandments, incorporating variations of the     laws listed in the other three documents. The Hebrew or Greek word translated as commandment actually means word. So, despite the rather verbose     content of the Ten Commandments, originally, there should have been


What Jewish king is credited with building the first temple of Jerusalem?

The First Temple - Solomon's Temple | Jewish Virtual Library The First Temple - Solomon's Temple Tweet The crowning achievement                   of King                    Solomon's reign was the erection of the                   magnificent Temple (Hebrew- Beit haMikdash)                   in the capital city of ancient Israel - Jerusalem . His                   father, King                    David , had wanted to build the great Temple a generation earlier, as a permanent                   resting place for the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments .                   A divine edict, however, had forbidden him                   from doing so: "You will not build a                   house for My name," God said to David, "for you are a man of battles and have                   shed blood" (I                    Chronicles 28:3 ). Artists rendering of Solomon's Temple The Bible's description of Solomon's Temple (also called The First Temple) suggests                   that the inside ceiling was was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50                   feet high. The highest point on the Temple that King Solomon built was                   actually 120 cubits tall (about 20 stories or about 207 feet). According                   to the Tanach ( II                    Chronicles ):        3:3- "The length by cubits after the ancient measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits".        3:4- "And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according                   to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred                   and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold." Solomon spared no expense for the building's creation. He                   ordered vast quantities of cedar wood from King Hiram of Tyre ( I                    Kings 5:2025 ), had huge blocks of the choicest stone quarried,                   and commanded that the building's foundation be laid with hewn stone.                   To complete the massive project, he imposed forced labor on all his                   subjects, drafting people for work shifts that sometimes lasted a month at a time.                   Some 3,300 officials were appointed to oversee the Temple's erection                   ( 5:2730 ). Solomon assumed                   such heavy debts in building the Temple that he is forced to pay off                   King Hiram by handing over twenty towns in the Galilee ( I                    Kings 9:11 ). When the Temple was completed, Solomon inaugurated it                   with prayer and sacrifice ,                   and even invited nonJews to come and pray there. He urged God to pay                   particular heed to their prayers: "Thus all the peoples of the                   earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel;                   and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that                   I have built" ( I Kings 8:43 ). Sacrifice was the predominant mode of divine service                   in the Temple until it was destroyed by the Babylonians some four hundred years later, in 586 BCE . Seventy years later, after the story of Purim , a number of Jews returned to Israel - led by the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah - and the Second Temple                   was built on the same site. Sacrifices to


Pele is the volcano goddess of what island chain?

MrPsMythopedia - Pele Pele Story by Brandon L. Parsons (2015) PELE: The Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano! The Hawaiian Islands; a cluster of smallish volcanic islands pushing up above the vast surface of the Pacific Ocean, and home to a rich culture that goes back to long before the islands were ever discovered or settled by the first people to find it. Hawaii is only but one of many island groups settled by the large and diverse Pacific islander groups who long ago explored the Pacific in their small but incredibly sea-worthy boats. and they brought their culture, stories and gods with them when they first set foot onto the Hawaiian Islands' black, sandy shores. Sure, its a small place, but never underestimate the power of creativity, spirituality and a desire to explain the universe, because the Hawaiians developed their own interesting group of gods and goddesses to explain every part of nature that could be found on and around their new island paradise! The stories set around the great and mighty active volcanoes that still dot the island chain are all tied to one of Hawaii's greatest goddesses, the spicy, temperamental and passionate PELE (Pay-Lay), the goddess of the volcano, or "She who Shapes the Land," as named by those who worshiped her! And of course, a crazy set of stories they are, explaining the beginnings of Hawaii itself! Pele Vs. Namaka: Sibling Rivalry! Pele was born to the goddess Haumea, the fertility goddess (she who makes the babies happen!), who in turn had been born from the two original creator gods of Hawaii, Hina (Mother Earth) and Papa (Sky Father). As a child and later as a young woman, Pele was known for being quite moody, jealous, volatile, and rather free-spirited in her ways, which was never a good thing to her older and equally boisterous sister, the sea goddess Namaka, who was, quite literally the polar opposite. Pele was fiery and hot tempered and Namaka was cool and usually collected (unless she decided that storms and huge waves were necessary!). What they both were though were rivals; their extreme personalities did NOT mix well, and it would eventually lead to Pele being expelled from their childhood home of Kuaihelani, a mystical floating island that was the home of the gods before they came to Hawaii. Namaka feared that her sister's fiery, lava-erupting ways would smother and cover the island, destroying it (plus she just couldn't stand Pele) and so she chased her away from the island, threatening to flood her with her own supernatural sea-powers (a total cancel-out for Pele's forces of fire!) Namaka pursued Pele across the ocean (Pele only had a magical canoe and a few of her sympathetic brothers to keep her company) and into the newly discovered island chain, which is where the two sibling-rival goddesses first made their mark. Pele, who only wanted to settle down and rest after being pursued by her sister, plunked herself down on the smallest and first island she came to. Using her o'o (digging stick), Pele tried to dig out a foundation for a house on her newly discovered island. That is, until Namaka found her and used her oceanic powers to swamp any new holes Pele would dig. Pele would hop from island to island in a vain attempt to escape her relentless sister, and all to no avail. Every place Pele stopped, working her way from the smallest islands up to the largest, Namaka would be sure to trash the place in a giant storm wave. THAT'S a serious rivalry! Eventually, Pele found herself on the last and largest of the islands, what the Hawaiians today call the Big Island, on the peak of Mauna Loa (Long Mountain), the world's biggest mountain peak (at least when you measure it from the bottom of the ocean floor!) Mauna Loa today. Haikili: God of Thunder... Here is where Pele's luck began to change; Mauna Loa was plenty high enough and away from the ocean where Namaka's fury couldn't flood the weary goddess out! And so it was here that the fiery, hot-to-trot goddess set up shop, along the slopes of the Long Mountain. Though rivals with her sister, she was fairly close with her bro


What religious group places a great importance on wearing the turban?

Identity - Sikh Coalition Sikh Coalition Identity A public commitment to maintaining the values and ethics of the tradition, including service, compassion, and honesty Since the formative moments of the tradition, Sikhs have maintained a physical identity that makes them stand out in public, even in the context of South Asia. This identity includes five articles of faith — kesh (unshorn hair), kanga (small comb), kara (steel bracelet), kirpan (religious article resembling a knife), and kachera (soldier-shorts) — and distinguishes someone who has formally committed to the values of the faith by accepting initiation. While many have attempted to attribute a specific function to each article of faith, these understandings do not capture the connections that Sikhs have with these articles. Perhaps the best analogy (though admittedly an imperfect one) is that of a wedding ring: one cannot reduce the significance of a wedding ring to its instrumental value; rather, one cherishes the wedding ring because it is a gift of love from one’s partner. Similarly, Sikhs cherish their articles of faith primarily because they see them as a gift from their beloved Guru. Trying to understand these articles on the basis of their function is missing the point. Perhaps the most visible aspect of the Sikh identity is the turban, which can be worn by men and women alike. The turban was historically worn by royalty in South Asia, and the Gurus adopted this practice as a way of asserting the sovereignty and equality of all people. For a Sikh, wearing a turban asserts a public commitment to maintaining the values and ethics of the tradition, including service, compassion, and honesty. MASH-UP AMERICANS 11 Things You Wanted to Know About My Turban But Were Too Afraid to Ask - Winty Singh


Hinduism and Caste System Hinduism and Caste System by Jayaram V Hinduism is a universal religion. Its primary emphasis is on universal brotherhood. It views the world as one family. It believes that man is divine in nature and realization of that supreme truth as the primary aim of all human activity. It is therefore unfortunate that for a very long time this religion of great antiquity has been in the clutches a few privileged castes. It would be a great service to the cause of Hinduism if the present day Vedic teachers identify bright children from the lower castes and start teaching them the Vedas and the Upanishads and allow them to serve God in the temples of India. The strength of Christianity stems from dedicated missionaries who come from all sections of society. The weakness of Hinduism and of Hindu society is caste system, which divides people into divergent and bickering groups and keeps them apart. Perhaps there is no other nation in the world that is as openly and shamelessly as racial as India. To be born in an upper caste is a matter of pride whether the family to which a person belongs deserves it or not. A number of Indians who visit foreign countries often complain about being treated differently on account of their skin color or accent. They overlook the fact that a vast number of people in their own country exhibit a far greater obsession with accent, skin color and caste. Indian film stars put on white makeup, on the screen and off the screen, even if they are black, to look acceptable and desirable. The country's democracy is not a true democracy, but castocracy, where people vote and leaders are elected on caste lines. The Indian political parties thrive and succeed by appealing to this base emotion of people. There are countless scholars who justify Hindu caste system quoting chapter and verse from the scriptures, ignoring the fact that they were convenient interpolations or authored by bigoted scholars in an otherwise sacred lore to justify a cruel and unjust system using the very authority of God. Caste System has been the bane of Hindu society for centuries. In terms of impact, it did much greater damage for a much longer period to a great many people than the slave system of the western world or the witch-hunting practices of medieval Europe. The Hindu caste system was a clever invention of the later Vedic society, justified by a few law makers. The upper castes found it convenient to retain and perpetuate their social and religious distinction and political and economic advantage. With the exception of Saivism and a few ascetic traditions, most of the ancient sects of Hinduism were caste biased. The idea of staying away from unclean people is understandable in a society that was obsessed with the concept of physical and mental purity. There is nothing unusual with people who are selective in choosing their friends and relationships. It is normal behavior to stay away from people who are found to be socially deviant, untrustworthy or unfamiliar. It is an expression of our social intelligence and self-preservation instinct. Personal hygiene, family background and financial status do matter today in society as it was thousands of years ago. But what was wrong with the Vedic society was it recognized inequalities among men based on birth and family lineage and proclaimed it to be the will of God. This line of thought was perpetuated by Vedic scholars for centuries through the authority of scriptures and fear of divine retribution. They wrongfully created human stereotypes to justify a social structure that favored a few at the expense of many, denying a vast majority of people opportunities to use their inborn talents and pursue their own dreams and aspirations. What is the Caste System ? The Hindu caste system is unique in the world, but resembles in some ways Plato's ideal society of philosophers, warriors and commoners. A caste is a division of society based on occupation and family lineage. Hindu caste system recognized four distinct classes or divisions among people based on these criteria


"In what religion can you become an ""Operating Thetan""?"

What is meant by Operating Thetan (OT)? » FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WHAT IS MEANT BY OPERATING THETAN (OT)? Operating Thetan (OT) is a spiritual state of being above Clear. By Operating is meant “able to act and handle things” and by Thetan is meant “the spiritual being that is the basic self.” An Operating Thetan, then, is one who can handle things without having to use a body of physical means.  Basically, one is oneself, can handle things and exist without physical support or assistance. It doesn’t mean one becomes God. It means one becomes wholly oneself. Basic levels of Scientology help a person deal with his personal relationships and day-to-day problems, to free his attention to address higher aspects of existence. At the level of Operating Thetan, one deals with his own immortality as a spiritual being. Like any other spiritual level in Scientology, the state of OT is attained by proceeding through a series of gradient steps, each one slightly more advanced than the last and each with its own ability gained. The precise sequence is firmly established and variations from that sequence are unproductive. Thus, it would be fruitless to try to move somebody onto the OT levels before he is ready for them. One might as well demand that a baby run before learning to crawl and learning to walk. Similarly, in Scientology individuals can only receive the benefits of the counseling that brings one to OT after completion of more basic steps. At the level of OT, Scientologists study the very advanced materials of L. Ron Hubbard’s research. According to those who have achieved OT, the spiritual benefits obtained surpass description.


What name refers to a priest in ancient Celtic religions?

Female Druids The  Power of Women in Celtic Society: Female Druids               In ancient Celtic society the Druids and Druidesses composed an intellectual  elite, whose knowledge and training placed them as priests of the Celtic religion.  Their training normally lasted over twenty years and consisted of the memorization  of literature, poetry, history, and Celtic law as well as astronomy.  The  Druids mediated for their people, preformed sacrifices, interpreted omens, and  presided over religious ceremonies.  They believed that the soul did not  die with the body, but passed on to another. The mistletoe and the oak tree  are great symbols for them.  In fact, the word Druid was derived from the  word for oak, which in Gaelic is darach and in Greek drus (Spence,  p.14).  According to Pliny's accounts "The Druids held nothing more  sacred than the mistletoe and the tree that bears it, always supposing that  tree to be the oak.  They chose groves formed of oaks for the sake of the  tree alone, and they never perform any of their rites except in the presence  of a branch of it," (Spence, p.79). The first observations of  the Celts by ancient sources do not speak of the presence of women as priestesses  or seeresses (Jones, p.84).  "The Druids and their associated male  colleges, the Vates and the Bards, seem to have monopolized the field"  (Jones,  p.84).  These Roman observers, products of a male dominated culture which  may have marred their observations, may not have taken note of the Celtic females  in roles of power. The Roman men thought of women as possessions so as a result  the thought of women in public positions, such as ruler or chieftain, was preposterous  to them.  Finally in the first century CE, Tacitus reported "that  the Celts made no distinction between male and female rulers" (Jones, p.85). Since Druids committed very  little to written forms until after the introduction of Christianity, there  are few, if any, first-hand accounts by Celts themselves.  Only the myths  that have been transmitted through the accounts of the Romans and Christian  monks have survived.  Legend has mystified many of the female rulers of  ancient Celtic society; giving them mystical powers and making their lives seem  too extraordinary to seem true.  As a result it is very difficult for people  today to know if these women truly did have such powers or if they were indeed  Druidesses.  Women such as Boudica , Onomaris ,  and other nameless rulers/Druidesses whose burial tombs were found at Vix and Reinham show that Celtic women, in some instances,  may have wielded power as much as men, but the evidence remains difficult to  decipher. Druidesses are most often  mentioned through fictional references such as the myth of Finn.  He was  raised by a Druidess or "wise  woman" (term that refers to a "females seer) along with another woman by the request  of his mother and their "bondwoman", Muirna.  "The Druidess  and the wise woman taught Finn war craft, hunting, and fishing (the survival  arts), and also acted as guards and advisors, warning him of danger" (Green,  p.101).  According to Green the position of these women is curious since  most Irish Druids lived mainly to serve religious duties and held great authority  among their people while these women were obviously in a subservient position.  This may be so because of the almost divine rank of Finnï¿½s family (Green, p.102). In other instances, however,  the only reference to women with great power is through the term sorcereress.  Fedelma, a "woman from the Fairy, or the Otherworld" (Green, p.102)  was a part of the mystical Queen Medb of Connachtï¿½s court.  "Fedelma  first appeared to Medb as a beautiful young girl, armed and riding in a chariot" (Green, p.102) wearing a red embroidered tunic, sandals with gold clasps and  a "speckled cloak."  She informed the Queen that she had studied  poetry and prophecy in Alba, "a supernatural land belonging to Scáthach" and then warned her of


Ganesh is depicted as having the head of what type of animal?

Ganesha - the Elephant Headed God, Art and Mythology Ganesha Ganesha - the Elephant Headed God, Art and Mythology Article of the Month - October 2000 Share Viewed 1557020 times since 2nd Oct, 2008 The                  beloved elephant-faced-Deity popularly known as                  Ganesha has intrigued thinking men all over the                  world, all through the ages even unto the present                  day. The sacred texts give a variety of stories                  narrating the sequence of Ganesha's birth. The                  most popular being the one mentioning that Ganesha                  was created by Goddess Parvati as a guardian to                  her privacy: Incensed by the refusal of her husband to respect her privacy,  to the extent of entering her private chambers even while she was having her  bath, Parvati decided to settle matters once and for all. Before going for her  bath the next time, she rubbed off the sandalwood paste on her body and out  of it created the figure of a young boy. She infused life into the figure and  told him he was her son and should guard the entrance while she bathed.   Soon after, Shiva (Lord of destruction and husband of Parvati,)  came to see Parvati but the young boy blocked his way and would not let him  in. Shiva, unaware that this lad was his son, became furious and in great anger  fought with this boy whose head got severed from his body in the ensuing battle.  Parvati, returning from her bath, saw her headless son and threatened in her  rage to destroy the heavens and the earth, so great was her sorrow.       Shiva pacified her and instructed                  his followers (known as ganas) to bring the head                  of the first living being they encounter. The                  first creature they encountered was an elephant.                  They thus cut off its head and placed it on the                  body of Parvati's son and breathed life into him.                  Thus overjoyed, Parvati embraced her son.       The son of Parvati was given the name Ganesha by Shiva. The  word Ganesha is made up of gana (followers of Shiva) and isha (lord), thus Shiva  appointed him the lord of his ganas. Ganesha is usually depicted either as a pictograph or as an  idol with the body of a man and the head of an elephant, having only one tusk,  the other tusk appearing broken. His unique feature, besides the elephant head,  is the large belly practically falling over his lower garment. On his chest,  across his left shoulder, is his sacred thread, often in the form of a snake.  The vehicle of Ganesha is the mouse, often seen paying obeisance to his lord.       His pot belly signifies the bounty of nature and also that Ganesha  swallows the sorrows of the Universe and protects the world. The image of Ganesha is a composite                  one. Four animals viz., man, elephant, the serpent                  and the mouse have contributed for the makeup                  of his figure. All of them individually and collectively                  have deep symbolic significance. The image of                  Ganesha thus represents man's eternal striving                  towards integration with nature. He has to be                  interpreted taking into consideration the fact                  that though millenniums rolled by, man yet remains                  closer to animal today than he was ever before.       The most striking feature of Ganesha is his elephant head, symbolic  of auspiciousness, strength and intellectual prowess. All the qualities of the  elephant are contained in the form of Ganpati. The elephant is the largest and  str


What type of bird returned to Noah's ark with an olive branch?

Genesis 8:11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. Matthew Henry Commentary 8:4-12 The ark rested upon a mountain, whither it was directed by the wise and gracious providence of God, that might rest the sooner. God has times and places of rest for his people after their tossing; and many times he provides for their seasonable and comfortable settlement, without their own contrivance, and quite beyond their own foresight. God had told Noah when the flood would come, yet he did not give him an account by revelation, at what times and by what steps it should go away. The knowledge of the former was necessary to his preparing the ark; but the knowledge of the latter would serve only to gratify curiosity; and concealing it from him would exercise his faith and patience. Noah sent forth a raven from the ark, which went flying about, and feeding on the carcasses that floated. Noah then sent forth a dove, which returned the first time without good news; but the second time, she brought an olive leaf in her bill, plucked off, plainly showing that trees, fruit trees, began to appear above water. Noah sent forth the dove the second time, seven days after the first, and the third time was after seven days also; probably on the sabbath day. Having kept the sabbath with his little church, he expected especial blessings from Heaven, and inquired concerning them. The dove is an emblem of a gracious soul, that, finding no solid peace of satisfaction in this deluged, defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest. The defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest. The carnal heart, like the raven, takes up with the world, and feeds on the carrion it finds there; but return thou to my rest, O my soul; to thy Noah, so the word is, Ps 116:7. And as Noah put forth his hand, and took the dove, and pulled her to him, into the ark, so Christ will save, and help, and welcome those that flee to him for rest.


At what religious gathering were over 700 people killed in 2015 due to a stampede?

The Hajj Stampede: Why Do Crowds Run? - The Atlantic The Atlantic The Hajj Stampede: Why Do Crowds Run? It usually isn’t about “panic.” Muhammad Hamed / Reuters Print Text Size On Thursday, more than 700 people were killed in a stampede outside the holy city of Mecca. The disaster took place during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which draws about 2 million Muslims to Saudi Arabia each year. Although this was the deadliest Hajj episode in a quarter-century, it is a story that is sadly familiar . In Mina, where Thursday’s disaster took place, stampedes killed more than 360 people in 2006 and 244 in 2004. In the worst Hajj stampede, 1,426 pilgrims were crushed in a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca in 1990. Related Story Reviewing Safety at the Hajj Worldwide, human stampedes are so common—and so confounding—that they’ve inspired their own body of academic research within the larger field of study on crowd behavior. According to one 2010 study led by Edbert Hsu of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 215 human stampedes took place worldwide between 1980 and 2007, leading to more than 7,000 deaths and 14,000 injuries. Stampedes have been evaluated as a public health issue , and as a sociological phenomenon . Others have asked whether the right algorithm could help identify dangerous crowd surges before they turn deadly. Large religious gatherings are a particular stampede danger in the developing world. A 2013 paper out of India, for example, found that 79 percent of stampedes in that country have taken place at religious events, as opposed to political or entertainment-related events. In 2014, 178 people were killed in various Indian stampedes, and the country’s annual total death toll from stampedes has topped 300 four times in the past decade. According to Hsu’s research, the deadliest stampedes are concentrated in Southeast Asia and in Africa, and at religious events. But they can and do occur anywhere, as evidenced by the notorious New York stampede at a 2008 Wal-Mart Black Friday sale, which killed a store employee. With a growing global population concentrated in crowded cities, Hsu and his team found in 2010 that stampede incidents were on the rise. Stampedes are captivating in part because, though somewhat common, they are also unpredictable. Here’s how John Seabrook described them in a harrowing 2011 article in The New Yorker: The transition from fraternal smooshing to suffocating pressure—a “crowd crush”—often occurs almost imperceptibly; one doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late to escape. Something interrupts the flow of pedestrians—a blocked exit, say, while an escalator continues to feed people into a closed-off space. ... At a certain point, you feel pressure on all sides of your body, and realize that you can’t raise your arms. You are pulled off your feet, and welded into a block of people. The crowd force squeezes the air out of your lungs, and you struggle to take another breath. For remote observers, the terror of the phenomenon is compounded by the fact that it’s so hard to know whom to blame. In Saudi Arabia, the country’s health minister chalked up the latest incident to a failure to follow instructions, and the head of the Central Hajj Committee blamed “some pilgrims from African nationalities.” But others pointed to the Saudi government’s failure to manage the event. (It doesn’t help the Saudis’ claims of competence that a crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque killed 109 people just a few weeks ago.) Crowds often take the blame for what are actually failures of planning and logistics. The current discussion echoes what Seabrook concluded: Crowds often take the blame for what are actually failures of planning and logistics. Press accounts, he found, often characterize stampedes as “panics,” with a frenzied mob surging forward with no regard to whom they trample. But one recent analysis of crowd disasters, which focused on 2010 stampede that killed 21 people at the Love Parade music festival in Germany, found that the disaster had more to do with physics than psychology: “Video recordin


What country once worshipped a sun god named Ra?

Egypt: Gods - The Great Aten, The God and Disk of the Sun Contact Us About us Tour Egypt aims to offer the ultimate Egyptian adventure and intimate knowledge about the country. We offer this unique experience in two ways, the first one is by organizing a tour and coming to Egypt for a visit, whether alone or in a group, and living it firsthand. The second way to experience Egypt is from the comfort of your own home: online. Egypt: Gods - The Great Aten, The God and Disk of the Sun The Great Aten The God and Disk of the Sun In connection with the Sun-gods of Egypt and with their various forms which were worshipped in that country must be considered the meager facts which we possess concerning Aten, who appears to have represented both the god or spirit of the sun, and the solar disk itself. The origin of this god is wholly obscure, and nearly all that is known about him under the Middle Empire is that he was a small provincial form of the Sun-god which was worshipped in one little town in the neighborhood of Heliopolis, and it is possible that a temple was built in his honor, in Heliopolis itself. It is idle to attempt to describe the attributes which were orginally ascribed to him under the Middle or Early Empire, because the texts which were written before the XXIIIrd Dynasty give us no information on the subject. Under the XVIIIth Dynasty , and especially during the reigns of Amen-Ra-Heru-khuti, Horus, etc. but it does not follow that they orginally belonged to him. In the Theban Recesion of the Book of the Dead , which is based upon Heliopolitan, we find Aten mentioned by the deceased thus :--- "Thou, O Ra, shinest from the horizon of heaven, and Aten is adored when he resteth {or setteth upon this mountain to give life to the two lands. Hunefer says Ra, Hail, Aten, thou the lord of beams of light, {when thou shinest all faces {i.e., everybody lives. Nekht says Ra, O thou beautiful being, thou doest renew thyself and make thyself young again under the form of Aten; Ani says Ra, Thou turnest thy face towards the Underworld, and thou makest the earth to shine like fine copper. The dead rise up to thee, they breath the air and they look upon thy face when Aten shineth in the horizon;------I have come before thee that I may be with thee to behold thy Aten daily: O thou who art in thine Egg, who shinest from thy Aten," etc. These passages show that Aten, at the time when the hymns from which they are taken were composed, was regarded as the material body of the sun wherein dwelt the god Ra, and that he represented merely the solar disk and was visible emblem of the great Sun-god. In later times, coming to protection afforded to him by Amen-hetep III , the great warrior and hunter of the XVIIIth Dynasty, other views were promulgated concerning Aten, and he became the cause of one the greatest religious and social revolutions which ever convulsed Egypt. After the expulsion of Hyksos, Amen , the local god of Thebes, as the god of the victorious princess of that city, became the head of the company of the gods of Egypt, and the early kings of the XVIIIth Dynasty endowed his shrine with possessions, and gave gifts to his priesthood with a lavish hand. In spite of this however, some of these kings maintained an affection for the forms of the Sun-god which were worshipped at Heliopolis, and Thothmes IV, it will be remembered, dug out the Sphinx from the sand which had buried him and his temple, and restored the worship of Ra-Harmachis. He was not the only monarch who viewed with disamy the great and growing power of the priests of Amen-Ra, the "king of the gods" at Thebes. Amen-hetep III, the son of Thothmes IV, held the same views as his father in this respect, and he was, apparently, urged to give effect to them by his wife Thi, the daughter of Iuaa and Thuau, who was a foreigner and who was in no way connected with the royal house of Egypt. Having married this lady, he gave her as dowry the frontier city of Tcharu, and her natural ability, coupled with the favor of her husband, made her chief of all the royal wives, and a grea


What was the profession of Joseph, Jesus's father?

Bible Study Online: Joseph - Husband of Mary, mother of Jesus Bible Study Online Joseph - Husband of Mary, mother of Jesus Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-15, 19-23      There is a Hebrew word which means: "to scratch, engrave. This term was often connected with the word for wood. When it was, it meant carpenter. The same word when used with words for various metals is translated "SMITH." Isaiah 44:13 lists some of the carpenter's tools: compass, pencil, plane, saw, hammer, axe, adz, chisel, plumb line, drill, file, square, etc. Many of these were made of stone and in the latter periods bronze and iron. Both dowels and nails, as well as mortised, dovetail, and mitered joints, were used to join wood together.      The early Israelites were probably backward in the skill of carpentry because of their nomadic origin. David and Solomon both imported Tyrian carpenters to work on the palace and the temple. Later, native carpenters were skilled enough to repair the temple. In the latest OT times there were guilds of carpenters. Less skilled workers in wood were the timber cutters. The most skilled craftsmen were engaged in carving and practiced inlay.      At the time of the birth of Jesus, a betrothal was as binding as marriage. The one difference was the residence of the woman. The time of the betrothal was in the case of a maiden, one year and a day. For a widow, it was a month.      During that time Mary lived with her parents. Apparently it was not uncommon that a child might be conceived during the engagement. While it may not have been the most acceptable occurrence, it was also not a disgrace. If a woman's fiancé died during the period of the betrothal, she was considered a widow. The betrothal could only be broken by a writ of divorce issued by the man. Because of the binding nature of the betrothal, it is not unusual to see a woman referred to at one moment as betrothed and the next as wife.      Fatherhood could be a stern role in the days of Jesus. A father could beat a disobedient child. A father could sell his child into slavery. Death could be the penalty for cursing a father or striking him. If a father decided members of his family were enticing him away from his faith, he could destroy them.      These were not the kind of fathers that Jesus talked about.     He surely knew them. But the fathers he spoke of were daddies who could be trusted to love their children beyond reason or expectation.      It’s not difficult to believe, then, that Jesus had known a wonderful earthly father.      We don't know very much about Joseph the Carpenter and a lot of what we do know, or think we know, is inference and speculation.      For example: He is not mentioned in the stories of Mary and the brothers and sisters of Jesus. And, it is unlikely Jesus on the cross would have entrusted his mother into the care of a fellow disciple if her husband was still alive. It is therefore assumed that Joseph died some time before Jesus began his public ministry.      Joseph had a name long honored in Israelite history. The first known Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, the Patriarch. His brothers disliked him and in jealousy sold him as a slave. He ended up in Egypt where he eventually rose to a rank second only to the Pharaoh. In that position he eventually forgave his brothers.  During a famine he enabled his family to survive and become residents of Egypt. Many generations later, after a period of slavery, the Israelites were set free. They carried with them the bones of Joseph so that they might bury him in Israel.      Names were important in the ancient world. Joseph the Carpenter would have been very aware of the character and history of his own name. No doubt it influenced his identity in some way.      Joseph was a carpenter. Recent studies show that carpenters probably did not have a high rank or an honored place in society.      A carpenter was a craftsman who built yokes, plows, threshing boards, benches, beds, boxes, coffins, boats, and houses, and worked on the temple and the synagogues.      Joseph practiced his trade and was kn


Who gained enlightenment sitting under a Bodhi tree?

Holy Sites of Buddhism: Bodh Gaya - Place of Enlightenment   Seat            of Enlightenment: The Diamond Throne, Vajrasana. "Bodh Gaya is the place where          Gautama Buddha attained unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment.          It is a place which should be visited or seen by a person of          devotion and which would cause awareness and apprehension of          the nature of impermanence". Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha-to-be, had been dwelling on the          banks of the Nairanjana River with five ascetic followers for          six years practicing austerities. Realising that austerities          could not lead to realisation he abandoned them. His five ascetic          companions disgusted at his seeming failure, deserted him and          left for Sarnath. He then moved towards the village          of Senani where he was offered rice milk by a Brahmin girl,          Sujata. Accepting from a grass-cutter a gift of kusa grass for          a mat, the Bodhisattva took a seat under a pipal tree facing          east. Here he resolved not to rise again until enlightenment          was attained. "Here on this seat my          body may shrivel up, my skin, my bones, my flesh may dissolve, but my body will not move from this seat until I have attained Enlightenment, so difficult to obtain in the course of many kalpas". As Gautama sat in deep meditation,           Mara, Lord of Illusion, perceiving that his power was about           to be broken, rushed to distract him from his purpose. The           Bodhisattva touched the earth, calling it to bear witness           the countless lifetimes of virtue that had led him to this           place of enlightenment. When the earth shook, confirming the           truth of Gautama's words, Mara unleashed his army of demons.           In the epic battle that ensued, Gautama's wisdom broke through           the illusions and the power of his compassion transformed           the demons' weapons into flowers and Mara and all his forces           fled in disarray. The Maha Bodhi           Temple The           historical place at which the Enlightenment took place became           a place of pilgrimage. Though it is not mentioned in the scriptures,           the Buddha must have visited Bodh Gaya again in the course           of his teaching career. About 250 years after the Enlightenment,           the Buddhist Emperor, Ashoka visited the site and is considered           the founder of the Mahabodhi Temple. According to the tradition,           Ashoka, as well as establishing a monastery, erected a diamond           throne shrine at this spot with a canopy supported by four           pillars over a stone representation of the Vajrasana, the           Seat of Enlightenment. The temple's architecture is           superb but its history is shrouded in obscurity. It was constructed           with the main intention of making it a monument and not a           receptacle for the relics of the Buddha. Several shrines were           constructed with enshrined images for use as places of worship. The basement of the present temple           is 15m square, 15m in length as well as in breadth and its           height is 52m which rises in the form of a slender pyramid           tapering off from a square platform. On its four corners four           towers gracefully rise to some height. The whole architectural           plan gives pose and balance to the observers. Inside the temple there is a           colossal image of the Buddha in the "touching the ground           pose", bhumisparsha m


What is the name for a system of law based on Islamic principles?

The Origins of Islamic Law - Constitutional Rights Foundation The Origins of Islamic Law The Origins of Islamic Law Islamic law represents one of the world's great legal systems. Like Judaic law, which influenced western legal systems, Islamic law originated as an important part of the religion. Sharia, an Arabic word meaning "the right path," refers to traditional Islamic law. The Sharia comes from the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, which Muslims consider the actual word of God. The Sharia also stems from the Prophet Muhammad's teachings and interpretations of those teachings by certain Muslim legal scholars. Muslims believe that Allah (God) revealed his true will to Muhammad, who then passed on Allah's commands to humans in the Koran. Since the Sharia originated with Allah, Muslims consider it sacred. Between the seventh century when Muhammad died and the 10th century, many Islamic legal scholars attempted to interpret the Sharia and to adapt it to the expanding Muslim Empire. The classic Sharia of the 10th century represented an important part of Islam's golden age. From that time, the Sharia has continued to be reinterpreted and adapted to changing circumstances and new issues. In the modern era, the influences of Western colonialism generated efforts to codify it. Development of the Sharia Before Islam, the nomadic tribes inhabiting the Arabian peninsula worshiped idols. These tribes frequently fought with one another. Each tribe had its own customs governing marriage, hospitality, and revenge. Crimes against persons were answered with personal retribution or were sometimes resolved by an arbitrator. Muhammad introduced a new religion into this chaotic Arab world. Islam affirmed only one true God. It demanded that believers obey God's will and laws. The Koran sets down basic standards of human conduct, but does not provide a detailed law code. Only a few verses deal with legal matters. During his lifetime, Muhammad helped clarify the law by interpreting provisions in the Koran and acting as a judge in legal cases. Thus, Islamic law, the Sharia, became an integral part of the Muslim religion. Following Muhammad's death in A.D. 632, companions of Muhammad ruled Arabia for about 30 years. These political-religious rulers, called caliphs, continued to develop Islamic law with their own pronouncements and decisions. The first caliphs also conquered territories outside Arabia including Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Persia, and Egypt. As a result, elements of Jewish, Greek, Roman, Persian, and Christian church law also influenced the development of the Sharia. Islamic law grew along with the expanding Muslim Empire. The Umayyad dynasty caliphs, who took control of the empire in 661, extended Islam into India, Northwest Africa, and Spain. The Umayyads appointed Islamic judges, kadis, to decide cases involving Muslims. (Non-Muslims kept their own legal system.) Knowledgeable about the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad, kadis decided cases in all areas of the law. Following a period of revolts and civil war, the Umayyads were overthrown in 750 and replaced by the Abbasid dynasty. During the 500-year rule of the Abbasids, the Sharia reached its full development. Under their absolute rule, the Abbasids transferred substantial areas of criminal law from the kadis to the government. The kadis continued to handle cases involving religious, family, property, and commercial law. The Abbasids encouraged legal scholars to debate the Sharia vigorously. One group held that only the divinely inspired Koran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad should make up the Sharia. A rival group, however, argued that the Sharia should also include the reasoned opinions of qualified legal scholars. Different legal systems began to develop in different provinces. In an attempt to reconcile the rival groups, a brilliant legal scholar named Shafii systematized and developed what were called the "roots of the law." Shafii argued that in solving a legal question, the kadi or government judge should first consult the Koran. If the answer were not clear there


Who Is the Pope? | by Eamon Duffy | The New York Review of Books Who Is the Pope? Bloomsbury, 227 pp., $20.95 (paper) Pope Francis; drawing by James Ferguson On December 22, 2014, Pope Francis delivered the traditional papal Christmas speech to the assembled ranks of the Roman Curia. This annual meeting with the staff of the church’s central administration offers popes the opportunity for a stock-taking “state of the union” address. In 2005, his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI had used the occasion to deliver a momentous analysis of the “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” that he believed had distorted understanding of the Second Vatican Council by presenting it as a revolutionary event, and to which he attributed many of the ills of the modern church. The phrase “hermeneutic of rupture” was eagerly seized on by those seeking a “reform of the reform,” and became a weapon in the struggle to roll back some of the most distinctive developments in the church following the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, which had been presided over first by John XXIII and then by Paul VI. The scope of Pope Francis’s 2014 address, however, was far more local and specific. Having briefly thanked his hearers for their hard work during the previous year, the pope launched into an excruciating fifteen-point dissection of the spiritual ailments to which people in their position might be prone. It was a dismaying catalog of “curial diseases”—the spiritual “narcissism” that, as part of the “pathology of power,” encouraged some to behave like “lords and masters” (in Italian, padroni); the “Martha complex” of excessive activity, which squeezes out human sympathy and renders men incapable of “weeping with those who weep”; the “spiritual Alzheimer’s” that besets those “who build walls and routines around themselves” and forget the spirit of the Gospel. The pope’s tally of curial sins also included cliquishness, acquisitiveness, careerism, competitiveness, and indifference to others; the “existential schizophrenia” and “progressive spiritual emptiness” of many who abandon pastoral service and “restrict themselves to bureaucratic matters”; the “theatrical severity and sterile pessimism,” the “funereal face” that often attend the exercise of power; and the “terrorism of gossip” by which the cowardly “are ready to slander, defame and discredit others, even in newspapers and magazines.” Though presented by Francis as a pastoral aid to a seasonal examination of conscience, the speech was widely perceived, not least by many in his audience, as a scathing critique of the current papal administration. Such excoriation of the Curia by a pope is unprecedented in modern times, yet there was nothing in its substance that need have surprised. The conclave that elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope in March 2013 was beset by a sense of scandal and dysfunction at the heart of the church. The cardinals met in the wake of the startling resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and under a rain of revelations about corruption and money laundering in the Vatican bank, clerical sexual abuse, and the failure of the church authorities to confront it—all given lurid coloring by the “Vatileaks scandal,” the leaking to the press by Pope Benedict’s own butler of hundreds of confidential documents revealing corruption, maladministration, and internecine feuding within the Curia itself. In the run-up to the conclave, cardinal after cardinal demanded a pope who would purge the church of these ills, starting with the reform of the Curia. Francis was elected largely because he was perceived as someone who would deliver this. His pastoral emphasis on the missionary proclamation of the mercy of God to fallible people in difficult situations seemed to point away from sterile preoccupation with ritual and doctrinal niceties, bureaucratic obstructionism, and the ignoble protection of the church’s institutional interests. One of Francis’s first major acts was the establishment of a commission of eight (subsequently nine) cardinals charged with the radical overhaul of the church’s central s


What term refers to foods that Jewish people are allowed to eat?

Jewish Food Cheat Sheet - InterfaithFamily Jewish Food Cheat Sheet By InterfaithFamily If you are new to a Jewish family, you may be offered ethnic food that is special to that family. We thought it would be nice to have a basic guide to some of the foods you might see, and to terminology. We recognize this can't possibly be comprehensive, and we're anticipating a lot of comments. If you want to contribute more information or recipes, we welcome that! Looking for interesting recipes to add to your table? Visit our food blog . For a short explanation of why Jewish food is the way it is, read Understanding Jewish Food Traditions . A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Apple kuchen What's that mean? Kuchen is German for cake. It usually means a coffee cake. In my family, it was always apple cake. What's in it? The version I grew up with was a yeasted coffee cake with apple filling and streusel topping. When do you eat it? For dessert with tea. What's it like? Yeasted coffee cake is a delicious, satisfying sweet. Since kuchen just means "cake," other people might have another supernal example of cake in mind when they say this, like a plum torte or an apricot cake. Do not hesitate to comment and share yours. Babka Chocolate babka with streusel topping. Photo: Wikimedia/Hanina . What's that mean? It means grandmother in Polish, probably because the Polish version of the cake looks like a tall hat that someone associated with their grandmother. What's in it? The Jewish version is a yeasted cake with chocolate or cinnamon-sugar filling swirled through it. Why/when do you eat it? You can't have too many kinds of yummy cake to have with hot drinks. On the TV situation comedy Seinfeld, there was a famous sketch about buying babka to bring to a dinner party . What's it like? It's a very sweet cake with a breadlike crumb. Bagels What's that mean? Bagel comes from a Yiddish word meaning ring. What's in it? Bagels are hard rolls with a hole in the middle. To get them properly hard and chewy, bakers make them with high-gluten wheat flour and boil them in water before baking. Traditionally, bagels were flavored with onions, garlic or seeds on the outside of the bread. The raisin, blueberry and (horrors) chocolate chip versions may be tasty, but they are not traditional. When do you eat it? Bagels are not associated with any holidays. Many North American Jews have a tradition of eating bagels on Sunday mornings as part of brunch. A bagel with a schmear is a bagel with cream cheese. A bagel with lox usually has cream cheese too. Bagels are also good with hummus. What's it like? Authentic bagels are crusty, hard and chewy bread. Bialys What's that mean? Bialy is short for Bialystoker kuchen, Yiddish for Bialystok cakes or rolls. (Bialystok is a city in contemporary Poland, on the border with Belarus.) What's in it? A soft yeasted bread dough similar to pizza, baked in small rolls with onion and poppy seeds in the center. When do you eat it? Not associated with any holiday, bialys are a special regional bread. You can eat them when you'd have a bagel or any bread. Bialys from Kossar's Bialys in New York. Photo: Flickr/Xeyedblonde . What's it like? A softer bite than a bagel, bialys are fragrant and oniony. Mimi Sheraton wrote a book about them, The Bialy Eaters, that tells their history and how to make them. Blintzes What's that mean? The Yiddish word blintzeh comes from a Slavic word (in Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, etc.) for a thin pancake. What's in it? Blintzes are usually thin pancakes made with wheat flour, eggs and milk that are fried on one side, filled with fruit, cheese or potato filling, and then fried again once filled. Unlike Russian blini, Jewish blintzes are not usually made with yeast. When do you eat it? Because they are fried, some Jews like to eat them on Hanukkah . Because they are usually dairy, some eat them on Shavuot . Because they are yummy, you can have them any time! In the 1970s there was a fad for making blintz soufflé--cheese or fruit blintzes, bound together in a casserole with a sweet custard, a


What former country was ruled by the Dalai Lama?

Tibet profile - Overview - BBC News Tibet profile - Overview Read more about sharing. Close share panel Tibet, the remote and mainly-Buddhist territory known as the "roof of the world", is governed as an autonomous region of China. Beijing claims a centuries-old sovereignty over the Himalayan region. But the allegiances of many Tibetans lie with the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, seen by his followers as a living god, but by China as a separatist threat. International attention was focused on the territory in 2008 during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. Fatal clashes between anti-Chinese protesters and the authorities in Tibet were given wide publicity and the torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco was dogged by pro-Tibet protests and stunts. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Tibet has supporters of independence around the world Tibet has had a tumultuous history, during which it has spent some periods functioning as an independent entity and others ruled by powerful Chinese and Mongolian dynasties. At-a-glance Sovereignty: The Dalai Lama says Tibet was independent and has been colonised. China says its sovereignty over Tibet goes back centuries. What is Tibet? China considers this to be the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Dalai Lama says it should include neighbouring provinces with Tibetan populations. Repression: Dalai Lama says 1.2 million people were killed under Chinese rule. China disputes this. Culture: Dalai Lama says China actively suppressed Tibetan identity. China acknowledges some abuses but says it is helping the revival of Tibetan culture. Development: China says it has brought improvements in health and the economy. Dalai Lama says development has favoured Han Chinese immigrants. International response: No country openly disputes China's claim to sovereignty, and China has blocked all UN Security Council resolutions on Tibet since the People's Republic took over the China seat in the UN in 1971. The free-Tibet movement: The Tibetan cause has won the sympathy of individuals and groups, many of whom campaign for an independent Tibet. Profiles are compiled by BBC Monitoring China sent in thousands of troops to enforce its claim on the region in 1950. Some areas became the Tibetan Autonomous Region and others were incorporated into neighbouring Chinese provinces. In 1959, after a failed anti-Chinese uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and set up a government in exile in India. Most of Tibet's monasteries were destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s during China's Cultural Revolution. Thousands of Tibetans are believed to have been killed during periods of repression and martial law. China accused of repression Under international pressure, China eased its grip on Tibet in the 1980s, introducing "Open Door" reforms and boosting investment. Beijing says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule. But rights groups say China continues to violate human rights, accusing Beijing of political and religious repression. Beijing denies any abuses. Tourism and the ongoing modernisation drive stand in contrast to Tibet's former isolation. But Beijing's critics say Tibetans have little say in building their future. China says a new railway link between Lhasa and the western Chinese province of Qinghai will boost economic expansion. The link is likely to increase the influx of Chinese migrants. 'Reincarnation' Buddhism reached Tibet in the seventh century. The Dalai Lama, or Ocean of Wisdom, is the leading spiritual figure; the Panchen Lama is the second most important figure. Both are seen as the reincarnations of their predecessors. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has lived in exiled most of his life The selection of a Dalai Lama and a Panchen Lama has traditionally followed a strict process. But the Dalai Lama and Beijing are at odds over the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama, having identified different youngsters for the role. The Dalai Lama's choice, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, has not been seen since his detention by the Chinese authoritie


What is the primary language of Hinduism?

Fast Facts on Hinduism - ReligionFacts ReligionFacts Hindu statistics, history, beliefs and practices at a glance. Names Hinduism; Hindu; hindoeïsme; hinduismo; Hindoo; sanatama dharma Etymology Persian hindu, Sanskrit sindhu, literally "river," meaning "of the Indus Valley" or "Indian." First used by British writers in the 19th century. Adherents 1 billion History Indigenous religion of India as developed to present day. Earliest forms (Vedic religion) date to 1500 BCE or earlier; major developments 1st-9th centuries CE. Beliefs One Supreme Reality (Brahman) manifested in many gods and goddesses. Reincarnation based on karma. Practices Yoga, meditation, worship (puja), devotion to a god or goddess, pilgrimage to holy cities, live according to one's dharma (purpose/ role). Main Holidays


In what country is Vodou commonly practiced?

��ࡱ�>�� Y[����X��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������` ���Tbjbj�� -b����{L ���������������,,,8dx  �~�(�������|~~~~~~${h���������������TTT�"����|T�|TT��T�� P* 7��,"Tp �0�T�""�T��T ��T�������D��������   $ ,   ,��h����������      Vodou Practices: Culture, Misconceptions, and Beliefs Stephanie Vouis Fullerton College Cultural Anthropology Friday AM Session      Vodou Practices: Culture, Misconceptions, and Beliefs Anthropologically speaking, organized religion, and by extension the performance of religious and ritual practices, function in societies on several levels. Nanda, Warms, and Hogan-Garcia (2006) cite three primary functions of religion; they are providing meaning and order to one's life, the reduction of anxiety and feelings of increased control over one's own destiny, and lastly it functions to reinforce or modify social control (pp. 323-24). When considering some of the worlds mainstream religions with which we are more familiar, such as Christianity, Judaism, or even Islam, it might be somewhat easier to understand these ideas in the contexts of their histories. However, for religions outside of the mainstream, such as Vodou, many misconceptions abound, and so it is a safe assumption that little is truly understood about its ritual practices and beliefs. By researching Vodou through the lens of Hogan-Garcia's aspects of culture/ethnicity (mainly history, healing beliefs and practices, religion, art, and diet/foods), it is my hope that I'll be able to gain a better understanding of the cultural aspects of Vodou, and perhaps dispel some of my own fears regarding the religion.  As a student in college of both religion and psychology I was always curious about the reasons behind why a person believes as they


What is the most common Protestant denomination in Scandinavia and Germany?

Religion in Sweden Church weddings account for roughly two-thirds of all marriage ceremonies in Sweden. Photo: Adam Haglund/Folio 10 fundamentals of religion in Sweden Sweden is relatively secular and has a high population of atheists, but it is far from an irreligious country. Religion still plays a ritual and cultural role, and with immigration, the religious landscape becomes more diverse and complex. Here are ten takes on religion in Sweden. #1 Separation of church and state The Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan) is Evangelical Lutheran and has its secretariat in Uppsala, a city that has been the centre of the Swedish church since the Middle Ages. The Church of Sweden has been separated from the state since 2000, which means that Sweden no longer has an official state church. While most countries in the world have no official religion, Sweden is in fact the only Nordic country without a state church, as Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland have all retained theirs. Sixty-four per cent of the Swedish population are members of the Church of Sweden. It is only since 2000 that Swedes don’t automatically become a member at birth and record numbers of Swedes have left the church in recent years. A continued decline in membership is predicted as young Swedes fail to take the place of older members. Surveys also indicate that only eight per cent of Swedes attend any religious services regularly. #2 The ritual role of religion The presence of religion and the church in many Swedes’ lives is most visible when traditional rituals or ceremonies are performed. Chief among these are christenings, marriages and funerals. The celebration of powerful Swedish cultural traditions such as Lucia can also include a church service and hymn singing. The presence of religious heritage in Sweden can also be seen in the several Christian holidays that still pepper the Swedish calendar. Though they are seldom celebrated by church attendance, Twelfth Night (6 January), Ascension , Pentecost and All Saints’ Day are each official holidays in Sweden, as is the common collection of Easter days . Like elsewhere in the West, Christmas in Sweden follows the Christian tradition and Advent is central to the Swedish festive period and the countdown to Christmas Eve. However secular modern-day Sweden may be, these holidays are certainly welcomed by religious and non-religious Swedes alike. The Swedish tradition of Lucia is celebrated on 13 December, one of the non-religious highlights before Christmas. Photo: Lena Granefelt/ imagebank.sweden.se #3 Secular Swedes Rituals aside, Sweden is a highly secular nation and Swedes appear to see little connection between religiosity and happiness. According to The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism (2012) , only 29 per cent of Swedes claim to be religious, compared with 59 per cent globally. These figures rank Sweden as one of the least religious countries in the world. Not all Swedes are comfortable with the at times prominent cultural role of the church either, and many people pursue alternative forms of ritual. With marriages on the rise in Sweden, civil weddings now account for nearly a third of all marriage ceremonies. In addition, secular ‘name-giving’ ceremonies (namngivningsceremonier) for infants also exist, with the aim of celebrating the arrival of a new child without the religious overtones of a christening. #4 Other big religions in Sweden While membership of the Church of Sweden is declining, recent years have seen the membership of other churches and religions increase. It should be noted, however, that reported numbers on religious affiliations in Sweden are estimates only, since Swedish law forbids the registration of people on the basis of their religion. Next to the Church of Sweden, the most prominent Christian churches are the Free Churches (frikyrkor). Although also Protestant, the Free Churches are independent of the Church of Sweden and are characterised by Evangelical, Pentecostal, Methodist and Baptist elements. The area around the city of Jönköping in Småland is sometimes even referred


What river was Jesus baptised in? (Hint: It is on the eastern border of modern-day Israel)

Map of Ancient Israel - Jordan River - Bible History Online http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/J/Jordan/    Jordan River esh-Sheri'ah el-Kebireh. River. (Heb. generally with article hayyarden, "the descender," probably from the rapid descent of the river). It is now called El Urdan, or Esh-Sheri'ah, or the watering-place, and is the main river in Palestine. It flows along the geological Syro-African Rift and is formed by the merging of three streams at the base of Mount Hermon which are 250 feet above sea level. It descends extremely rapidly to the Huleh region and dividing again into several streams. Before it descends into the Sea of Galilee it drops 850 feet with extremely rocky banks. From the Sea of Galilee The river descends south on a windy course for 104 miles into the Dead Sea, although the straight distance is only 65 miles. On its descent southward it is met by the Yarmuk River and the Jabbok River both from Gilead. The Bible mentions the plain through which the River flows as "the plain" (Josh 2:11), or the Plain of Jordan (I Kings 7:46). The Plain forms to shelves, with one above the other, the southern Plain was referred to the Bible as the Plains of Moab (Num 21:1) and the Plains of Jericho (Josh 4:13). Genesis refers to "the cities of the Plain" (Gen 19:29). The Jordan valley contains thick vegetation and was filled with wildlife, including wild boar, and lions, as mentioned in the Bible (Jer. 49:19). In biblical times there were a few natural crossing places, and there were no bridges back then. The crossing of the Jordan in the Promised Land was as much of a miracle as a crossing of the Red Sea (Josh 3-4). The Bible mentions that the Jordan River was with divided the eastern tribes of Israel from the western tribes (Judg 5:17). The Jordan River was held as sacred since the earliest of times. The Bible records that Elijah divided them when he smote the waters with his mantle, and so did Elisha (II Kings 2:8, 13-14). Naaman the Leper who was captain of the armies of Syria dipped seven times in the Jordan River and "his flesh came again likened to the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (II Kings 5:14). John the Baptist prepared the people for the coming of the Messiah when he baptized them in the waters of the Jordan River (Matt 3:5 ff; Mk 1:5 ff). Jesus Himself was also baptized by John in the Jordan River near Bethabarah (John 1:28-33). Click on the Map More About Ancient Jordan River Jordan River Scriptures Judges 7:25  - And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side  Jordan .  Joshua 13:23  - And the border of the children of Reuben was  Jordan , and the border [thereof]. This [was] the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof.  Jeremiah 12:5  - If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of  Jordan ?  Joshua 18:12  - And their border on the north side was from  Jordan ; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Bethaven.  Joshua 22:25  - For the LORD hath made  Jordan  a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.  Numbers 35:14  - Ye shall give three cities on this side  Jordan , and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, [which] shall be cities of refuge.  Joshua 4:23  - For the LORD your God dried up the waters of  Jordan  from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:  2 Kings 2:6  -


What is another name for the devil, starting with the letter L?

Other Names for the Devil and his Demons Other Names for the Devil and his Demons Other Names for the Devil and his Demons Review the Lists of Terms From the Five Books of LDS Scripture Design Pics/Don Hammond/Getty Images By Krista Cook Updated May 14, 2016. Whether you choose to believe in him or not, the devil is real . The lists below can help you identify references to him in scripture . Some Facts to Consider About Terms for the Devil As used in the King James Version English, the word devil is used for three Greek words (slanderer, demon, and adversary), as well as one Hebrew word (spoiler). Throughout the Old and New Testament , the devil is referred to as the dragon. Sometimes this term refers to the devil. However, it comes from two separate Hebrew terms that can also be translated as jackel, whale, serpent, large snake, snake like creature or sea monster. Sometimes the term is also used figuratively. For usage hints, check the footnotes in the LDS edition . For example, see the footnote in Isaiah 13:22b. References to the name Lucifer are few. There are no references to the name Lucifer in the Pearl of Great Price or in the New Testament. How to Use the Lists Below Many of the terms found below are used with articles , like the word the. For example, devil or adversary are usually termed the devil or the adversary. No articles are included in the lists that follow. However, sometimes the distinctions are important, because Satan is the devil; whereas the term devils or a devil usually refers to the evil spirits who follow Satan. Sometimes in scripture, common terms for the devil, such as liar, do not seem to refer to Satan at all. This can only be inferred from the context and reasonable people can disagree on the interpretation. However, this is why the word liar is not in the Old Testament list, but it does appear in other lists. Names From the Old Testament Although the largest book of scripture we have, the Old Testament has surprisingly few references to the devil. The list is short and the total references are few. adversary tempter Names From the New Testament From the Bible Dictionary , we learn that Abaddon is a Hebrew term and Apollyon is Greek for the angel of the bottomless pit. This is how the terms are used in Revelation 9:11 . Usually, the letter d in the word devil or the phrase the devil is not capitalized. However, we do find some references to the devil capitalized in the New Testament, but not anywhere else. The only two references are both in Revelations (See Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 ). The list below notes both uses. Only the New Testament refers to the devil as Beelzebub. In the Old Testament, Baal-zebub is a Philistine god and a derivative of Baal , a name used for idol worship in several cultures. The word mammon is an Aramaic  word that means riches and that is how the term is used in the New Testament. However, it can refer to the devil in other scripture, especially when the M is capitialized. Abaddon Prince of Darkness Demons We know that the spirits who followed Satan in the premortal life serve him and help tempt mortals in this life . These list items come from all books of scripture. Angels to a devil may seem to be a logical term, but it is only mentioned once in the Book of Mormon. The term, devil's angels, does not appear anywhere in scripture. The reference to angels that did not keep their first estate is only found once in the New Testament. The term, false spirits , is only found once in the D&C. angels to a devil


In Jewish folklore, what is the name for a monster made of clay?

Golem | Monster Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit An average golem is a large, tall monster; it is humongous and heavy, and its forehead is marked with holy words. It follows whatever its creator tells it to do. Golems in the jewish tradition have no souls; they are like robots. It is on very rare occasion that they can speak. They receive orders either verbally or through magical slips of paper put under their tongues or in some myths in compartments in their heads. In some fiction stories (such as Discworld), Golems gain their freedom by slowly buying themselves. More modern interpretations of golems are shown to be more based on creation, with the life put into a golem the unwilling psirit of an aspect of nature. As such, these modern golems can go wild when the spirit breaks free, causing them to go on a rampage if not controlled or destroyed. While stone and clay golems are the most common, other kinds of golems are still prsesnt, mainly Flesh Golems. In some legends, golems are helpful, but if the magic words are not erased, they will eventually grow bigger and more violent. In one such story, a young wizard finds a Golem and brings it to life by putting an ancient spell in his ear, but when he can't think of anything else for it to do, it becomes violent, until two children start asking it to answer their questions, such as whether the chicken or the egg came first, where babies come from, etc. overwhelmed by their energy, the Golem takes the paper out, and some say the statue is still there. Popular Culture


What nickname refers to followers of Sun Myung Moon?

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon Location of death: Gapyeong, South Korea Cause of death: Pneumonia Nationality: South Korea Executive summary: Head Moonie Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church are probably best known in America for their huge weddings, where hundreds or thousands of couples are married in a single ceremony. The couples are matched by church elders, and in many cases have never met until their betrothal. In 1995 he officiated at a mass marriage ceremony uniting, his church says, 360,000 couples. He was raised in what is now North Korea, while the area was under Japanese colonial rule. His family's religion was Confucianism, but his parents converted to Christianity when he was about ten years old. When he was 15 years old his life took its first turn toward the peculiar when, he said, he received a vision from Jesus on Easter morning, informing him that he was supposed to complete Jesus' mission and take over as the new Messiah. After World War II, the newly communist government of North Korea outlawed all religious activity, and Moon was imprisoned at least twice for preaching, serving several years at hard labor. In 1950 he made his way to the more tolerant South Korea, where he held his first church services in a cardboard hut. After claiming to have had extensive consultation with other religious figures including Abraham , Buddha and Moses , Moon put together the basic doctrines of his Unification Church, or as it is more formally known, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. In the words of Rev Moon, "I gave all the individuals in the world cause to kneel down in front of me." He brought his church to America in the early 1970s, and was granted permanent resident status in 1973. He spent 13 months in federal prison in the early 1980s, convicted of conspiracy to evade taxes and filing false tax returns. From his prison cell he founded a new newspaper, The Washington Times, which does not proselytize his religion, but instead preaches conservative political perspectives. Moon's mission was replacing democracy, which he called a "failed system", with a theocracy, with himself as the head of both church and state. "The time has come when the whole world must be concerned about me," Moon said. "From now on, American Christianity must follow me." Early in his ministry -- during the 1950s -- Rev Moon reportedly spread sexual purity by having intercourse with female followers [1] , and he was reportedly jailed in Korea for having sex with young members of his church. He saw himself and his wives as humanity's "true parents", described the Holocaust as partial payback for Jewish leaders who did not support Christ, and said homosexuality is "where all different kinds of dung collect". His first wife left him after thirteen years of marriage, repulsed by his strange religious teachings. Moon was a major contributor to any politician who shared his anti-communist fervor, from Richard M. Nixon to Ronald Reagan . In the 1980s, Moon was the first donor to Oliver North 's Nicaraguan Freedom Fund, which grew into the Iran-Contra scandal. In the mid-1990s Moon paid former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush high fees -- believed to be at least hundreds of thousands of dollars -- for delivering speeches to Moon-connected audiences. In a 2004 party held in the US Senate offices in Washington DC, several Congressmen and Senators of both parties were present to toast him as Moon was coronated "humanity's savior, messiah, returning lord and true parent". There was a time when alleged Christian leader Jerry Falwell spoke out against Moon's excesses, describing him as "like the plague", but the criticisms ended after his Falwell's Liberty University received a $3.5-million gift from Moon. He spent more than a billion dollars underwriting the Washington Times, which has never come close to making a profit, but the paper did become a widely-read resource among prominent Republicans and right-wingers. In 2009, Moon's "much-anticipated" autobiography As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen rec