Analyzing the Experience of Humanities

¶ … Qur'an similar to and different from the Holy Bible? Give examples from each work to illustrate their similarities and differences The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam, the religion established by Muhammad while the Holy Bible is the sacred book of Christianity. There are a number of ways in which the Qur'an is similar as well as dissimilar to the Holy Bible. For starters, both of them consist of chronicles, teachings, poetry, and reprimanding. Several chronicles encompass the similar basic occasions and individuals.

The Qur'an and the Bible both teach the creation of the world by a distinct almighty, all-knowing God who commands human beings to follow the morality set out for them. First of foremost, one of the key similar doctrine is that God, referred to as Allah in the Qur'an, and Yahweh in the Bible, is the only creator of all things in the universe and whose power, supremacy and wisdom cannot be matched, let alone be surpassed.

In addition, both sacred books agree that God commands human beings to be moral, and acting different from this has its own consequences. One of the major similarities between these two sacred books is that they both teach monotheism, which is the total supremacy and knowledge of God, divine mercy and forgiveness, human weaknesses and sins as well as faith. In a similar manner to the New Testament of the Bible, the Qur'an does accept Jesus as a prophet.

However, dissimilarity is perceived, as it denies that Jesus is the son of God. On one hand, the Holy Bible points out the concept of the Holy Trinity, which is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, on the other hand, the Qur'an believes in only one true God. In both of the holy books, the greatest sin in the world is that of idolatry.

Jeremiah and Abraham in the Bible and Qur'an, respectively, make the argument of the judgement of not worshipping a wordless idol who a human being creates on his own as the creator or maker. In the New Testament within the Bible, Jesus makes the declaration that He and God, the Father, are one, and whoever has seen Jesus Christ, has seen God.

Jesus goes on to tell the congregation that "before Abraham is, I am." In addition, it is imperative to remember that within Torah, after Moses questioned God, what his name is, God responded "I am" (Matthew 26:63-68). In accordance to the Qur'an, Torah is identified as a revelation from God to Moses. In particular, the Torah encompasses the group of the first five books of the Holy Bible. However, the Qur'an does not give any kind of specific identification of what Torah is.

Despite the fact that the Torah in itself does not provide a specific author, the New Testament does refer to them as the Torah of Moses. In another aspect, different from the Holy Bible, the Qur'an does not have any chronological structure and does not tell its stories in a lined arrangement. This can be perceived in the sense that the lives and stories of prophets, for instance, Moses, Abraham and also Jesus, are disseminated across the suras.

Secondly, in as much as the Qur'an developed out of the experiences as well as traditions in the Arab realm, its notions were allocated in a great deal towards Judaism and to a lesser extent, to Christianity. The story of creation and the sin by humanity is also a narrative that points out the similarities and differences between the two sacred books. The similar narrative is that God created man from dirt, giving him life emanating from His mouth.

God tells the man to eat any food of the garden they desire, apart from a single tree. Subsequently, God creates a woman out of the man. A force appears upon them and tempts them to have food from the tree, trying to assure them that they will become like God, once they eat from the tree. In turn, both the woman and the man eat from the forbidden tree. As a consequence, they come to be ashamed and try to cover their nakedness with leaves.

God questions both man and woman, retelling them that He had already commanded them not to eat of the tree. God makes the man leave the garden and commands them to till the land and fill the earth. However, there is a difference between the two. For starters, in the Bible, the Garden of Eden is on earth whereas the garden in the Qur'an is in heaven.

Secondly, the Bible asserts that God created man by breathing into man "the breath of life," whereas in the Qur'an Allah creates Adam by stating "Be." Third of all, in accordance to the Qur'an, the forbidden tree is referred to as the tree of eternity or immortality, while on the other hand, in the Bible, it is referred to as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In addition, in the Bible, there is also the Tree of Life, which was not prohibited.

The Qur'an and the Bible have more than fifty individuals in common, characteristically in the similar narratives. Prophets such as Enoch, Job, Ishmael and Imramare, are recognized in the Qur'an, however they are not handed any story or narrative. Similarly, in the Bible, these individuals are recognized as righteous men of God, but not as prophets. The exception is Ishmael who is not written of positively. On the other hand, on several instances, these two sacred books have common occurrences, but take place in dissimilar narrations.

One of these instances include Gideon and Saul. With respect to the Holy Bible, Saul as well as Gideon are depicted as military leaders of Israel between the period of Exodus and Exile. In particular, in the book of Judges, Gideon is perceived as being uncertain regarding leading the Hebrew people to battle.

In order to illustrate the supremacy and power of God, God communicates to Gideon, telling him to spot when the troops get to a river and whoever drinks water without his hands was to be sent home by Gideon. Subsequently, the Hebrew people have victory. On the other hand, in the Qur'an, the similar event ensues with respect to Saul while on the way to meet Goliath. Similarly, in the Biblical version, Saul is hesitant as well with regard to the battle against Goliath's army.

Another point of dissimilarity is with regard to Mary and Miriam. With regard to Miriam, the mother of Jesus, she is referred to by the Qur'an as the daughter of Imram and the sister of Aaron. "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" (Yusuf Ali 19:28). On the other hand, in the book of Exodus in the Bible, Miriam is depicted as the sister of Moses and Aaron as well as a prophetess.

She is also the daughter of Imram, but she lived almost 1000 years prior to the depiction of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is imperative to note that in the Holy Bible, Mary and Miriam are two different women. On one hand, Miriam, was the sister of Aaron and Moses whereas Mary, who is the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Eli (Luke 3: 23).

In conclusion, the Qur'an being the holy book for the Muslims, and the Holy Bible being the sacred book for the Christians, have a great deal of similarity with regard to their key contexts and message being communicated. However, there are differences with regard to a number of beliefs and also differences in the narrations within the two books.

What is Dante's rationale for the punishments meted out to sinners? Discuss some of the types of sins and their punishments Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, the opening part of a spiritual passage that will take the poem's storyteller, the "pilgrim Dante," through torment and into heaven.

In particular, Dante considers the whole passage as a process of learning for its main protagonist and for the audience, with the audience acting as a form of Christian every person whose position as a sinner and necessity for restoration is mutual amongst all human beings. Inferno refers to the nine circles of Hell and the punishment meted out to the sinners apprehended within their domains. The outline of Dante's Hell is exceptionally intricate.

The netherworld is separated into nine circles, and every one of them is purposed for a different variation of sin, and the lower circles are additionally pronounced into sub-realms. As a result, the eighth circle, "Malebolge" is made up of ten distinct "bolgia," with every one of them being purposed or meant for a dissimilar kind of fraud, fluctuating from pandering to fortune-telling to the provision of evil guidance. Inferno is chock-full with poetic justice, as the multitudes of sinners undergo a destiny apt and fitting to their crimes.

For example, the lustful, are flung around in a violent storm. They are inept to control their bodies here as they were not capable of controlling them when they were overwhelmed by their sexual desires. In the meantime, the storm beats down on their aberrant flesh. In a different place, the heretics, who did not have any belief in life after death, are placed in blistering tombs. They are doomed to spend the rest of their life after death in their graves.

Sycophants, on the other hand, are positioned in a ditch complete with human filth, whereas those who actually instigated violence on individuals and material goods boil in a river of blood. The fourth circle of Hell is filled with both the greedy who hoarded wealth as well as the prodigious who misspent and wasted it. In a fitting manner, these two sets of persons share the same place, colliding into each other while forcing great burdens in an endless tussle.

The fifth circle is made up of the wrathful and the sullen. In this hell, this group of sinners is covered by mud and their ability to see is substantially concealed. More so, the souls of these sinners eternally attempt to hurt each other by using their tarnished teeth as munitions. Even more worse, beneath these souls, is another group of sinners. These sinners include those who are being punished for the crime of being sullen.

In essence, during their lifetime, these individuals encompass those who had taken for granted the gift of life, without appreciating the splendor of being alive and also not being grateful to God. As a result, the fitting punishment for these individuals is to sing songs unrelentingly without stopping, having their mouths packed with slime that they have to swallow. The sixth circle, which is further into hell, consists of heretics.

This level divides the upper level, which encompasses circles, one to five and the lower level of hell, which consists of circles six to nine. It is in these lower levels of hell that the worst offenders are held. The heretics found here are those individuals who go against the Catholic doctrine. In addition, Dante comes across Phillippo Argenti, a member of the Black Guelph party who was against his return from exile.

This repulsive soul is eternally punished by being plunged into the River Styx, where he is confronted by others, not only sinners, but also goes pugnaciously against himself. Within the gates of Dis, Dante stumbles upon the Furies who consist of three women. The first, known as Megeara castigates persons who commit crimes, for the most part, crimes of infidelity. In particular, she is the one who instigates jealousy and resentment. The second woman is referred to as Alecto and requites moral crimes, particularly unrestrained anger.

Third of all, there is Tisiphone who follows murderers, exclusively those accountable for fratricide and parricide. At the time, for their heretical doctrine, they are chastised in Circle Six. As they go through the Gates of Dis, Dante perceived burial chambers, open tombs that have flames emanating from them. This in particular is the eternal punishment place for the Heresiarchs who are also referred to as the arch-heretics. These are the individuals who enthusiastically led other individuals away from the holy word of God.

This leads them to the seventh circle, which consists of the individuals who committed crimes against themselves through suicide. Dante justifies the punishment for this for squandering the gift of life that was granted by God. They are constantly reminded of this aspect for the rest of their existence in the afterlife. These souls are tossed into circle seven and devoid of any capacity to secure themselves they end up rooting themselves in whichever place they land. They continually face torture by being eaten by the Harpies.

The main punishment is that taking into consideration that they did not have an appreciation of their bodily forms during their lifetime; they will eternally appreciate what they freely squandered for the rest of their afterlife. Up until the time of Judgment, this is the fate that the souls that committed suicide face. In the center of the seventh circle, is the punishment of the individuals guilty of crime of blasphemy and also sodomites who had sexual activities with other men.

In this section of lower hell, the sinners constantly experience flakes of fire that rain down on them. Their punishment is extreme as it horrifies Dante due to their scarred and melting flesh. At the entrance of the eighth circle, Dante perceived a group of nude sinners who were walking through the shadowy fortification and their bare bodies were incessantly being whipped by demons who flock them continually along. This group of sinners was being punished for their sins of being panderers, seducers and flatterers.

Yet lower and deeper into the eighth circle, Dante and Virgil bear witness the most awful punishment yet meted out on sinners. These doomed souls included the Simonists, clergy who had peddled clemencies, that is, money salaried to priests that purportedly pardoned individuals of their sins or remunerated for other exceptional facilities in Heaven. Dante justifies their punishment as he proclaims that they prostituted themselves for money. The chastisement for the Simonists is horrendous.

They are submerged the wrong way up in baptismal basins and their protuberant feet are charred by flames. These sinners, at the same time, choke and burn. The fourth pouch of circle eight included diviners, magicians and astrologers. Their punishment is to line up as sinners with their heads faced backwards making it not possible for them to see what is ahead of them. Dante asserts that their grief and sorrowfulness is so immense to the extent that their tears roll down their rear end.

Lower into the fifth pouch of circle eight are the fraudulent politicians. Their punishment was for being guilty of corruption and taking money away from the rightful individuals. They are forced to walk in robes that are made of lead and that are incredibly heavy. In conclusion, Dante signifies the individual or man who has come to be unmindful to his sinfulness and need for repenting for such wickedness.

As is perceived, the will of God makes it possible for Dante and Virgin to go through all of the gatekeepers in the circles of Hell. Dante points out the difference of hell, which go hand-in-hand with the transgressions committed by the sinners. In particular, it is divided into the upper hell, which encompasses circles one to five while the lower hell consists of circles six to nine.

As shown in the section, Dante gives the justification of the punishments meted out to each group of sinners with regard to being intended to be apt for the crimes committed. According to Pico, what are the ways man can exercise his free will and what can be the results of using his free will? Count Giovanni Pico dellaMirandola is one of the renowned figures in philosophy who followed the principles laid out by Plato as well as those of Aristotle.

In his work "On the Dignity of Man," Pico dellaMirandola re-assesses humanism and humans in overall. One particular aspect that Pico places emphasis on is free will and the outcomes of using free will. In particular, Pico's work discusses the dignity of man and the manner in which man is different in comparison to other creatures, considering man is a creation with a distinctive and significant attribute, free will.

Pico employs several different arguments to support his assertion that human beings are able to choose their fate and in so doing, can attain perfection. The work presented by him offers a challenge against the medieval perception of human nature. In particular, there was a lot of emphasis and focus on human creative control in the course of the renaissance period.

During this era, humanists such as Pico, endeavored to indicate the manner in which man is great, and has the capacity to realize excellence through his own exertion and striving. This was a fundamental change of belief in comparison to the Augustinian perspective of humanity where human beings were considered to be entirely bound to experience divine will; not only were they unable to achieve excellence through their own determinations and abilities, but.