Why did the early church grow so rapidly and what impact did this Research Paper

Why did the early church grow so rapidly and what impact did this success have on the church - Research Paper Example A good number of early religious believers and evangelists were stoned to death while others were imprisoned for failing to renounce their belief. However, despite of the endless critics and attempt to exterminate Christianity, the religion survived all attempts to get rid of it existence and is at present the leading religion in the world in terms of followers, wealth, and infrastructural development1. Just like in any other part of the world, Christianity in South Korea faced infinite resistance and denunciation from a section of the country’s population. However, the development of Christianity in South Korea was to a great extent facilitated by the support from the country’s elites and a good section of members of the general public. In the field of religious study, the research on growth and development of churches in South Korea is one of the most interesting and less studied topics. In addition, the South Korea churches are commonly known for their expansive grow th and adverse number of mega churches. The number of protestant followers has in the last few years grown significantly and is current more than 30% of the total South Korean population. Most religious believers are however for the view that, the development and growth of churches in South Korea and in the entire world is greatly facilitated by the work and power of the Holy Spirit. Scholars and thinkers hold different opinion on the factors that contributed to the significant growth of Churches in the world and especially in South Korea. According to modern scholars, contemporary development of churches all over the world is a contribution of cataclysmic economic, social, and political crises in the world. Others facets recognized for the success of Christianity are the contributions of indigenous religious tradition. The paper therefore focuses on the causes of early rapid growth of churches in the world and its impacts on churches. The essay will also seek to evaluate the lesson learnt after the 20th century Korean experiences. The utmost rationale behind the rapid development of churches was its appeal to the masses. Most of the people who were transformed to Christianity were Gentile as opposed to reformed Jews. Initially, Christianity started as a small group in Jewish community. The expansion of Christianity believers was however accelerated by consistent transformation of Gentiles into Christianity. The Gentiles were unwilling to accept Judaism due to its Strict Kosher Dietary Laws and their circumcision practices. Christianity lacked strict laws therefore it was more applying to the population at that particular historical time. The increase in the number of Christian followers therefore led to construction of more churches in the world and most specifically in areas that were densely occupied by Gentile community2. Christianity accommodative teachings were as well associated with rapid growth of churches in the world. The perception that, all people are equal in the eyes of God played an incredibly decisive role in the spread of Christianity in the world. At this historical period, people were divided into several classes according to their wealth and power. Christianity promised and preached equality to everyone in the society. Additionally, there were significant similarities in beliefs and practices between pagan religion and Christianity. As a result, Christianity incorporated approximately the entire pagan beliefs. The identification of correspondences between

English Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English - Research Paper Example In this paper, I will seek to prove that Franz Kafka’s work has been to some extent influenced (directly or indirectly) by A Thousand and One Nights (Kafka, The Metamorphosis 67). The Research To come up with this, I had to do a lot of in depth research on all books and writers. This required me to re-read the book, A Thousand and One Nights, first. Next, I researched on the themes of the various books and the stylistic devices employed by the two writers in their books. I read reviews, journals, documentaries and watched movies made from all of the books mentioned above. While most of what I read seemed to confirm my idea, most materials did not share this idea, and I had to differ from them. The main challenge I encountered in my research is that no previous material has been written regarding this topic. As such, I had to start my research from scratch to confirm my ideas. This required extensive and intense reading which kept me awake for days. Luckily, the two books have many reviews on themes and stylistic devices, and I was lucky to refer to them (Foulkes 23). The comparison Transformation as the main theme In my research, I discovered that transformation has been employed in changing the behavior and attitude of the characters. In A Thousand and One Nights, the story of The Merchant and Hind has transformation as a major theme. This is observed when the witch’s wife goes on a journey leaving his witch-wife with the adopted son. The witch-wife, who is extremely ungrateful, uses her witchcraft to transform the adopted son into a calf. She also goes ahead to transform her husband’s other wife into a cow. When the husband returns, the witch informs him that his adopted son disappeared while his slave woman passed on. In the next eight months, the woman remained in the state of a cow without the husband having any idea about it. During the feat of Bairam, the husband asked the servant to choose any fat cow for their sacrifice. The cow he chose turned out to be her beloved wife. Although the woman was now transformed into a cow, she still possessed human consciousness. She lowed piteously in a bid to beg for mercy. â€Å"With eyes streaming with tears†. The husband tried to kill her but was unable. The servant killed her. Upon slaughtering her, they discovered that she was nothing but bones and skin, despite looking so fat. In Metamorphosis, the main character, Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect (Kafka 13). This transformation serves to change his entire family. Prior to this, they all depended on him for their financial needs. However, when he becomes an insect and can no longer work, they are forced to start working to earn their own money. The similarity between this transformation and the transformation of the woman in the story above shows that Kafka borrowed from A Thousand and One Nights (O'Neill Pp. 408-409). Use of animal characters One of the aspects used in poetry is t he use of animal characters. This helps to criticize human characters in a more acceptable and friendly way (Sperling Pp. 70-84). â€Å"The Husband and The Parrot† is one of the stories in A Thousand and One Nights that uses animal characters. In the story, the wife offends her good husband. The parrot is aware of this and tells the husband of this offence. The husband scolds the wife. To revenge this act, the woman lies to the parrot that it was raining. The parrot informs the