Paris and London

Paris and London are two of the greatest cities in the world, and have been for centuries. Paris, the permanent capital of France, has a long history of movement and defeat but survived and is now one of the premier cities in Europe. London, the capital of England, also has a history of movement and is one of the most beautiful, inhabitated cities in Europe. These two magnificent cities hold great splendor and great history.
Paris was first given the name in 360. one of its first attacks was by Attila the Hun who tried to enter in 451 but was stopped by the Prayer of Genevieve. The first main conqueror of Paris was King Clovis 1 who succeeded in capturing the great city in 508, making it his capital. Clovis also built two glorious sculptures of the Apostles Peter, and Paul after his conversion to Christianity. He was the first great ruler of Paris.
The second astonishing ruler was Charlemagne, ruler of the Carolignian Empire. His conquest of Paris began in 768. He built many churches and monestaries making Paris a great religious city within his empire. Paris reached its high point of growth in the 8th century under Charlemagne. This short reign of Paris was still magnificent considering the growth in such a short time frame.
London also had two great eventful rulers in its history. The first, was Queen Boudicca of the Iceni Tribe. She sacked the city in an attempt to revolt against the Roman Empire. The Emperor Paulinus, tried desperately to save his beloved city but the size of Boudicca's army was simply too large to fight against. He retreated and the city was taken over by the Iceni Tribe.
The next powerful ling of Paris was the great Christian Emperor Diocletian. he again reorganized Britain to become a universal Christian capital of his Empire. London still was known as the financial center of Britain, but it was now a Christian city. He is also known for keeping a watchful eye on his troops and spreading his empire to create a massive rule.
These two astounding cities will be known for many years to come. They are both incredibly beautiful and attract thousands of tourists a year. Being one of the tourist capitals of Europe, these cities are often used but still retain their luster as they hopefully will forever.
Wilson, A.N. London. Modern Library. 2004. New York.
Druon, Maurice. The History of Paris From Caesar to St. Louis. Hart-Davis. 1969. Michigan

Salah Al Din

Salah Al Din was an influential leader and led an inspirational life as the sultan of Egypt and Syria. His life impacted many and has even led some to live their lives to accomplish the things that he did, such as Saddam Hussein. Saladin, as he is better known today, is recognized for his chivalrous actions toward those he captured and to those who lived around him.
Saladin was born a Kurdish Muslim and practiced as such. He was led by his uncle, Sherrga, into war and came out the leader of his country after the death of his uncle. After the death of Sherrga, Saladin was appointed vizier of Egypt in 1169. This event caused his glorious reign to begin, and not stop until 1193 . This reign is known as one of the most chivalrous times in history because of the acts of Saladin. "Saladin is one of very few personages of the time of the Crusades that has managed to be positively described in both Western and Eastern sources. With his high position among his Western opponents, he has become a figure that have fascinated Western writers."
The first interaction Saladin is faced with is when his uncle, the present vizier of Egypt, asks him to ride along with him into Egypt. Though Saladin does not want to go, he does so willingly. While on this trip, his uncle dies after a party from eating too much. This propels Saladin into power since he is the only heir left to the throne. He is still young, but he takes his responsibility as a man, and takes the crown and thus begins his reign over Egypt .
Saladin is most well known for his defense against the 3rd Crusade. As the Crusaders were invading attempting to defeat the Muslims, there was a truce made between the Crusaders and Saladin. Raynald, the leader of the 3rd Crusade, broke the truce by attacking the caravans of Saladin. After being asked to stop, he once again attacked a caravan. This caravan, however, carried with it Saladin's sister, whom Raynald captured and perhaps raped. This action launched Saladin over the edge in rage. His defense is to attack Raynald, crushing him, and eventually killing Raynald with his bear hands. He does so and therefore ends the 3rd Crusade.
This event is the one of the few points in history that we see the cruelty of Saladin. He is well known for being a kind, chivalrous leader while still conquering and spreading his kingdom. This man ruled well over Egypt, while still maintaining his kingdom and respect from his people.
Stanley, Diane. Saladin:Noble Prince of Islam. Harper Collins. 2002. New York.
Ali, Tariq. The Book of Saladin:A Novel. Verso. 1999. New York.

Orthodox Religion In Comparison With Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox Church is an attraction to those who love history as well as an exciting religion. Orthodoxy bases much of its value on historic lineages and relation. This concept is odd because there is not much depth or intrinsic value in lineages compared to events or miraculous occurences that happen in other faiths. As with Christianity, many events occur which together, are powerful to give us hope and righteousness and to save us. As we look at these two faiths, keep in mind that this is not a presentation but simply, rather a description of the two.
First of all, the core of the Orthodox Church is the same as the Christian Church, which is that Jesus is the head of the church and the church being his body. This idea is spelled out in Ephesians 5, saying that Jesus is the husband and His bride is the church. This gives us a framework of marriage as well, being that Christ gave Himself to the church and she submitting to Him. This should be the example that mirrors the Christian marriage. This concept is at the heart of Orthodoxy.
The Orthodox Church traces themselves back to great names and titles from Biblical history. Each person of the faith traces himself back to one of the apostles in a direct lineage. As well as these people, each city is governed by a bishop. These bishops are directly are believed are to be traced to Jesus Christ Himself. This historical lineage is the basic reason that they believe makes thier beliefs valid. This is a concept with not much proof because lineage has value, but not truth. There is no truth and no proof and no glory in lineages for obtaining power! There must be events and actions that differentiate this religion from others
This faith also claims that they are the true recievers and obtainers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe that it was passed from the Apostles to them without flaw or demeanor and that they are the true chosen nation and people of God and that he chose them from the beginning. This is clearly not truthful for God personally claimed Israel, the Jews as His chosen people, and that is why salvation comes from the Jews as Jesus states in Matthew 15. This idea gives light on the concept that The Orthodox Church has not been truly chosen by God as a people.
The Greek or Eastern Orthodox Church has been established since Jesus and His Apostles established Christianity. They believe they are the true recievers of this faith and that they are truly traced back to them. This idea is widely debated and discussed around the world, and will be done so for years to come.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages was a time of grand building and exsquisite artistry. But, very few writing took place during the years of the Middle Ages. Through these years, an event took place called the Reformation. This is by far my favorite time period of the Middle Ages. The Reformation was headlined by Martin Luther, a German monk and theologian, who challenged the church by posting a theses of 95 acts that he felt the church was committing that were sinful. This action by Luther led to the split of the church forming the Reformed Catholic church.
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483. He was born to Hans and Margaretha Luther and was baptized the day after his birth. Hans Luther was a peasant man who wished only to see his son to go beyond the life of a peasant into civil service and becoming a educated man. Martin Luther obeyed his father's wishes and graduated with his master's degree in only 4 years of college. After recieving his degree, Luther began attending law school. One day, Luther was on his way home when a lightning bolt struck quite near to Him. In deep fright, he shouted, "St. Anne! Spare me and I will become a monk!" Later regretting his words, Luther kept his promise and went into the monestary.
The Catholic Church in the 16th century was much like some churches today. The priests and bishops lived in luxury and comfort while the lower church employees struggled financially. The aristocracy and poverty clashed within the church walls and arose tension in the early 1500's. Seeing this anger build, Martin Luther began to compile a list of sinful traditions the church leaders were now executing with the congregation. These rituals included indulgences. This is the practice of using monetary value to earn salvation during and after your life. Many other occurences of sinful deeds soon angered Luther causing him to post his list on the door of the Wittenburg church in Germany.
After the posting by Luther, many things changed in the Catholic Church. Several artworks and sculptures were destroyed by the Protestants along with parts of churches that signified the glory of man himself. Some of the gorgeous windows and crosses that represented were torn down as the Protestant Radicals did as they believed was right. Though we can no longer see this great history because of the acts of the Radicals, the point of Luther was firmly made clear to all that God is the ultimate power in thes world, not man.
MacCullough, Diarmaid. Reformation, The. Viking Publishing. 2004. New York
Bainton, Roland Herbert. The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Hodder and Stoughton. 1953. New York.

God. Yes or No?

On the night of April 25th, I had the oppurtunity to see and hear the debate between the ahiest Peter Singer, and the Christian Dinesh D'Souza. Both men have a long sheet of credentials and have studided their way into being some of the great minds of our generation. The debate was on the issue of the existence of God and a sub-topic of human and animal suffering. As these two brilliant minds duked it out, I went on a learning journey of my own. This was by far one of the most interesting conversations i have heard.
Peter Singer was born in Australia and has studied at the University of Oxford and the University of Melbourne in Australia. He has also published many books on his beliefs and spoken to many different types of audiences. Dinesh D'Souza was born in India and did the majority of his studying at the University of Dartmouth. He has also written many books and many national bestsellers. His ideas have caused some of the most controversial battles over thoughts of any one man.
The debate had a different vibe to it then i thought of when I decided to attend. Peter Singer mostly brought up the idea of suffering and how a all-loving, all-knowing God could allow such suffering to occur in our universe. Dinesh D'Souza responded in a hidden matter by saying that in a Darwinian universe nobody would care about suffeing, after all we're simpy machines. This thought was rebuddled by Singer as one of the hardest topics of the night. Neither man really gave an objective answer to the problem of suffering nor the problem of evil. This non answering technique muddled me that even the topics I struggle with, as do these men.
Many people had the oppurtunity to ask questions to either Singer or D'Souza. The main questions were still on the problem of suffering and the problem of evil. My viewpoint on these two issues is this: Suffering was caused by man's choice to reject the Father's leadership and thus caused a perversion of the human creative order and a distortion of man's relationship with God. The same is to be said about the problem of evil. Man's choice to reject led to the evil in this world. Now a common argument to this idea is that, in that case God must have created evil. My response is no, because God gave us a free will to choose Him, instead of forcing love upon Himself from us. God did not create evil. Though He may have created the potential for evil, in giving us free will and choices. This issue I myself do not have the knowledge o explain. Only God knows the exactness and the details of His creation. Scientists may come closer and closer to knowing the world we live in, but only the Father knows exactly.
As the debate came to a close, each man had a concluding statement. Singer cleaned up his argument by saying that neither man had answered the problem of suffering and evil. Dinesh refuted by syaing that Peter had not answered the idea of compassion coming as a Christian moral. These two men I believe, got so caught up in beating the other, that the Gospel had an oppurtuinty to be shared, and it was not. D'Souza had some amazing ideas and arguments, but in the end, they were all technical aspects of the spectrum that he based his debate upon. Singer was the same way, his arguments were all based on the physical aspects of this world instead of the deeper idea, of does God exist?

Roman Roads

Rome was one of the most powerful empires this world has ever seen. At the base of this great empire, were the infamous Roman roads. "The road system of the Ancient Romans was one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of its time, with over 50,000 miles of paved road radiating from their center at the miliarius aurem in the Forum in the city of Rome. Although the Roman road system was originally built to facilitate the movement of troops throughout the empire, it was inevitably used for other purposes by civilians then and now." (source) These roads were the main source of transportation, and without these roads, Rome never sees the glory that it once held at the peak of its empire.
The Romans were the first to build paved roads that did not prohibit them from travelling after a storm or any other type of bad weather. The roads were mainly used for trading. "The Romans had exceptional nautical technology for their time; however their network of roads, even with the perils of land travel, was unparalleled in convenience and was often the only choice for travel or shipping goods." (source) These roads let them go anywhere within the empire with ease. Paved roads were often the only means for transportation and shipping as well.
The most impressive part of the Roman roads was the quality of the building. The key to having quality roads is the ability to get rid of waste on the roads. These roads were higher in the middle as to let the water flow off the sides of the road. This created a clean environment for travelling and shipping. This ease of travel and shipping and trading made the Roman roads famous because they were easy to travel upon.