Life After Death Introduction classical point of departure in defining Death seems to be Life itself. Death is perceived either as a cessation of Life - or as a "transit area," on the way to a continuation of Life by other means. While the former presents a disjunction, the latter is a continuum, Death being nothing but a corridor into another plane of existence (the hereafter). A logically more rigorous approach

Exposure to an Outgroup I am spiritually inclined though I have never been part of an organized religious group. That is, I believe in God, or as the Native Americans refer to Him, "The Great Spirit," the enormous and mysterious power that is responsible for the "Big Bang" and for everything that has evolved in the Universe and on Planet Earth. But as to heaven and hell and the rituals that

Pascal's Wager Pascal's "wager" is a fundamental philosophical argument defending belief in God. Through logical analysis based on a punishment-reward premise, Pascal shows that believing in God is preferable to not believing. The argument is called a "wager" because Pascal phrases it as a sort of bet: the individual has a better chance of being rewarded through belief than through denial. Therefore, Pascals' wager defends belief in God through reason and

Relationship of "The Old English Baron" and "Vathek" to 18th Century English Gothic Fiction The rise of Gothic fiction in English literature coincided with the advent of the Romantic Era at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century. Gothic masterpieces such as Shelley's Frankenstein, Lewis's The Monk, and Stoker's Dracula would capture the imagination by fueling it with the flames of horror, suspense, other-worldliness and mystery.

Heroic The Nature of Evil Evil is portrayed in a variety of ways in Genesis A and B. Of the Junius Manuscript. Evil manifests despite God's attempt to give those who are loyal to him everything they need. The first manifestation of evil is in Heaven, when certain angels become proud and rebellious. When God decides to create Earth and human beings, evil also infests this. The phenomenon can then be

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I