Author: Andre Coleman

Pastoral care in ministry is one of the most critical ministries found within the Church. Churches are full of individuals who have or are experiencing crisis, anxiety, devoiced, loneliness, lost, grief, sadness, and family issues. These prevailing crises make available to pastors opportunities to assist these individuals mostly by just encouraging and listening to those within their faith community. In many cases, pastors’ involvement in these crises may only require of them to listen whereas in other the need for trained pastors in specialized ministry of counseling is required.

Many individuals now-a-days continue to turn to their pastors as a first source when face with a crisis. Pastors are usually more immediately and directly accessible than some other counseling professionals they do not charge a fee, and they are every so often known and trusted within a community. Since pastors are perceived as generalist, parishioners as well as community residents often look to them for assistance in a wide range of needs, including counseling. A skill acquired by pastors from some useful classes in the area of counseling during their training in seminary as well as an important basic quarter in C.P.E. (Clinical Pastoral Education).

Personally, my study in pastoral counseling has given me the necessary tools to effectively counsel my congregants. Such training has led me into the following concepts: Clinical Pastoral Periderm, which focuses on relationship and individuals; the different kinds of Listening Skill introduced by Salvage; the dynamics of Loss & Grief with grief being the emotional reaction to loss; Family System Theory a self-regulatory system maintaining its own status, as well as the Family as an Emotional System along with the Eight Concepts of Bowen Theory; Congregational System Pastoral Care; Crisis Counseling which includes the A-B-C Method; Pastoral Issues in Illness; Pastoral for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse; Multi-Cultural Pastoral Care; Gender Difference in Pastoral Care; and finally, Pastoral Intimacy, Power and Professional Boundaries.

Pastoral care is the foremost task of ministry by most pastors as well as a majority of congregants, yet, there is a difference relating to pastoral care and the professional discipline of counseling. Some pastors are members of the American Association of Pastoral Counseling which has what one may refer to as an expressed Code of Ethics. The same is true of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, American Psychological Association, etc.

There are certainly many potential similarities in the relationship between pastors and professional counselors and the people they serve. All these relationships involve issues of exposure, familiarity and trust. There is an intrinsic disparity of control which some, particularly pastors, is uncomfortable acknowledging, but which exists whenever a person in distress seeks help from one viewed as more experienced. Healing is mostly a main concentration in any aiding relationship.

Likewise, borderline concerns must be taken care of so as to construct the safest likely environment in which a counselee or congregant can deal with his or her pain. Nevertheless, there are a number of possible distinctions between pastoral care and professional counseling. Professional counselors are trained to understand the transference and countertransference phenomena, double task tensions, and the boundaries of our trained competency.

Like professional counselors, pastors also have codes of conduct to guide our activities, which are spiritual in origin. These codes are based on religious beliefs except for exclusions concerning sexual wrongdoing; pastoral codes usually are more generalized in nature than professional counseling ethical codes of behavior.

In contrast to professional counselors, pastors often engage in their ministries in a variety of informal settings with a multiplicity of roles with parishioners. Our core functions as pastors are embedded in a spiritual restraint that touches on many facets of life and society. Although training in counseling can aid pastors to work more effectively with church members, yet our calling to such profession is very distinct. In one of his many writings, Eugene Peterson called on pastors to return to our distinctive, ancient calling which states that our pastoral work is a “ministry of Word and Sacrament.” [1]

People believe counseling is a great remedy. Yet many are reluctant says Hansen to see a professional counselor. Perhaps their reluctance is due to the costs of such visit besides, professional counselors ask hard questions.” He continues, “For me, trying to be a counselor is a mean of saving time and effort. It is a go between my people’s needs to have me do unspecific things for them rather than cautioning them to live through the thick forests of their lives by following Christ in discipleship.” [2]

This means that pastoral care is rooted in ‘word and sacrament’ not having its origins in various scientifically grounded personality theories but prayer, proclamation, and the word of God. Again, Eugene Peterson emphasizes, “pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God.” [3]

Like pastoral care, professional counseling by a pastor is a serious business. Pastors who engage in professional counseling without being trained are treading on dangerous ground, because such is not included within the authority of their ordination. When we do away with what is the ancient activities of pastoral care and engage in professional counseling methods without the necessary training, we are then held to the same standard to that of a licensed counseling professional. Standing before the law, pastors will not have the benefit or protection they have within the ancient practice of pastoral care.

Here are several shielding legal guidelines for the practice of ministry: Pastors are to be clear about the expertise offered. We are to refer to our activities in clearly religious terms, not professional counseling terms. Unless we are trained and are willing to adhere to all of the professional standards of licensed professional counselors, pastors are to stay with practices that we can identify as pastoral care. For if we hold ourselves out as “professional” or “psychological” counselor, the law of the land will treat us as one. Pastors are not to assume broader duties, which are not part of our competence or calling.

Although, the distinction amid pastoral care and professional counseling are clear in many situations, in others they appear less distinct. Yet a process of reflection and discernment is needed most to identify the pastoral role. So the following need to be addressed: Whom am I called to be in this particular ministry setting? What are my sacred functions as one who has a “set-apart” ministry? What distinguishes my role and relationships from those of psychologists, family therapists, and specialists in pastoral counseling? Where do I set the limits and boundaries to my pastoral activities? [4]

Pastoral Care in ministry in my estimate is the most important ministry next to the ministry of preaching of the Gospel. People who are hurting is seeking through the pastor from the Gospel a healing balm for their wounds. The Gospel itself addresses the totality of humanity: spiritual and body. When one part is addressed to the negligence of the other the total needs of that person will not be met. Pastors who are sensitive to, and addresses the hurts of members in their congregation through the appropriate counseling technique, are more likely to be successful in ministry then those who neglect these needs.

To conclude, Pastoral care is a vital resource that extends to a broader spectrum of individuals with a variation of needs. This opportunity comes with what I will refer to as a “wonderful challenge”, however; it is necessary for those ministering to such needs, to reflect wisely on their gifts as well as to recognize their limits of their profession.

Bibliography

Clinebell, Jr., Howard J. Basic Types of Pastoral Counseling (New York: Abingdon press 1984)

Hansen, David The Art of Pastoring ( Inter Varsity Press Downer Grove, Illinois 1994)

Paterson, Eugene H. Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI 1992)

Lynch, Gordon Clinical Counseling in Pastoral Settings ( Routledge New York, NY 1999)

Paterson, Eugene H. Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI 1987)

Ross, Kenneth. Hearing Confessions (London: SPCK Publishing, 1974)

Salvage, John Listening & Caring Skills (Abingdon Press, Nashville 1996)

An Incident in Ministry that illustrates my Approach to Pastoral Care

Luke and Nancy was the first inter-racial couple that sought membership at my present pastoral appointment, Spencer Memorial United Methodist Church. For eight years of being their pastor, I have watched them grow diligently in their spiritual walk with the Lord, but something always seems to be lacking within their relationship especially around the Thanksgiving holiday, something that they couldn’t get around to talk about but was bothering them. On one Wednesday after Bible Study Nancy asked if she could schedule an appointment so that she could meet with me. Sure I responded to her, so we went ahead and set an appointment to meet an hour earlier on the next Wednesday before Bible Study.

When we met following prayers on that Wednesday, Nancy begins by saying that they came to see me to discuss about the death of her father which loss she cannot seem to get rid of. The presenting problem is one in which Nancy’s father passed away almost immediately when she became a member of Spencer. This occurred rather suddenly after her father was diagnosed of cancer. When word reached her that her father was terminal and the doctors have given him up, she immediately went to be with her mother to assist her while they prepared for the inevitable. Two weeks later after her arrival on Thanksgiving Day, her father passed away leaving her with a sudden stricken grief that after seven years she is finding it very difficult to dealing with her feeling of loss.

Recently Nancy went back home to visit her mother because her visit back home had been infrequent since her father passed away. During her visit she was beset with her feelings of loss and now she tells me that she it has been such a long since the death of her father but the pain do not seem to go away. She and her father became close after a long period of estrangement between them and she describes their relationship developing over the years into more unique friendship than that of father and daughter. She tells me that the mode of her grief varies from day to day. On those days when she is so stressed up, she feels the pain of her loss strongly especially when she cannot pick up the phone and dial her father; for her father had grown to become her best friend in spite of their past history and he had been there for her over the last few years of his life. During this whole session, Nancy pattern of speech appears normal yet she wept throughout it. But what was helpful is that we kept good eye contact during our discussion until she became emotional which minimize it. Below are statements showing that during one point of the session empathy was for the most part effective:

Nancy: I guess this may sound crazy, but this past Thanksgiving, I went home and my Mom was able to convince me so that we can get rid of his clothes. Something that I said out loud to Mom that we were never ever going to get rid of his clothes because it was the only physical memory that I had of him. On Thanksgiving Day while going through his closet I could smell his distinct cologne (Kouros) on his clothes. It was too difficult; I broke down in the closet crying.

Pastor: I know that it must have been hard for you, because I also lost my father to sudden stroke.

Nancy: Pastor Morris, it was the hardest thing for me to do.

Pastor: It takes a lot of strength to carry that through.

Nancy: You can say that, it does. I break down whenever I begin to talk about him.

Pastor: You miss him

Nancy: Yes Pastor, I miss him so much (she begins to openly sob).

Nancy was referring to the feelings of her loss that never seems to go away after seven years. My intent during this session was to reflect on those feelings. In addition, she was critical of herself in the early part of our session for not having moved beyond her feelings of loss.

At this point in the session, I became aware of how much she was hurting. It is very important that pastoral wisdom include some general knowledge of grief and mourning process that is informed by those who have done researched and written about it. One of the most influential interpretations of the grief process for me has been Erich Lindemann’s study called “Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief,” [5] in it he affirmed grief as “work,” something necessary for life rather than something pathological that should be avoided. He also described five things that he had observed in acute grief: (1) guilt, (2) anger, (3) bodily distress, (4) being preoccupy with the deceased image and, (5) loss of customary of patterns of conduct. [6]

Lindermann theorized that there are discernible stages in the grief process that the grieving person and those who care for that person should be aware of. Recently when Nancy visited her parent home she was overwhelmed with renewed emotions of loss, perhaps as new as they were seven years ago when her father passed away. Furthermore, she expressed her frustration in still undergoing such strong feeling of grief when so much time has passed. This displeasure could be viewed as her inclination to move in an affirmative direction toward healing, and it was her self-actualizing tendency that was seeking to express it.

A likely hypothesis as to why Nancy has not moved past her present stage of grief might be that in her societal system the essential conditions that would allow her to discover the know-how in order to process her grief does not exist. She may also have family members in her family that deal with pain differently by discouraging open expression of emotions. If such be the case, then providing empathy might permit her to move past most of the pain that she was experiencing.

The below example shows during the session, where the grief focus was shifted:

Nancy: I was in denial when the news first hit me that my father was terminal. I got on the next available flight for Dallas. I went down immediately to be with him. Two weeks after my arrival he passed away.

Pastor: That was fast. And it seems that you possess lots of pleasant memories of your father

Nancy: Yes I do have a lot of good memories, but the hardest thing is the emptiness brought about by the loss.

In this example, she described her experience of losing her father. In response, I attempted to direct her focus on the good memories that she had of her father, rather than she dwelling on her loss. However, it seems to me that her focus was on her feelings of emptiness; it was when I regain control of the situation and saidaˆ¦.

Pastor: Nancy, as a pastoral counselor, I certainly am open to the grieving process for those who had lost a loved one but not for such a long period. However, I must honestly say that there is more to the grief that you are undergoing. Even though you have not explain what brought about your estrangement with your parents which may have something to do with prolonged grief.

Nancy: (Sobbing againaˆ¦) you are right pastor. 17 years ago after falling in love with Luke in College I took him to ask for my parents blessing because we had decided to get married since we were three months pregnant. Not telling them that he is an African American, we drove to my home time in Dallas Texas during our Christmas break. When we arrived, my parents did not receive Luke and forbid me to get marry to him. Because we love each other and were caring a child I went against their decision and got married to Luke thus being banished or ostracized by my parents. In view of this new revelation, I decided to reference the family- systems theory which offers better ways to understand and resolve such problem.

For instance: From a Bowenian family-systems perspective, there have been some key emotional cutoffs [7] in Nancy family system when she was banished. It’s not entirely clear how these things work, but family-therapy research indicates that Nancy present dilemma is somehow connected to this cutoff; moreover, it is only by repairing it and reconnecting with the long-lost, left-behind, and thrown-out members of her family that her “presenting problem” [8] will resolve itself. Therefore, one aspect of a “treatment plan” recommended would involve my “counseling” her toward a “self-differentiated” [9] balance between these two extremes (guilt and grief).

Finally, Nancy realized that her prolonged grief was because of her guilt after shifting her guilt back and fro. [10] I believe my ability to provide empathy [11] through reflection was my strength. What was of greater substance was my ability to offer advanced empathy, moving away from her stated words to the indirect emotions beyond her words.

Quite a few films have been produced by now which focus on the interracial, intercultural and interethnic issues between couples and a relationship can be made or marred in the process. Ae Fond Kiss directed by Ken Loach, starred Atta Yaqub as Casim and Eva Birthistle as Roisin. This movie is an intricate demonstration of religion, culture and self-identity in all spheres of life. Loach has tactfully painted a love story in the premises of Glasgow, showing the collective problems from a Pakistani family background to a Catholic religion. Ina nutshell, the movie ends uniting the lovers when Casim leaves his family and prefers Roisin as the love of his life.

The movie can be viewed critically from many aspects it highlights indirectly through various characters. Firstly, we will analyze how Islam and West have been portrayed generally in comparison to each other. The father, Tariq and Mrs. Khan have been portrayed as devout Muslims who carry out their religious obligations on an individual and community level as well. However, they as parents have been unable to inculcate the same values in their children despite their wishes. Casim, Tahara and Rukhsana have core Islamic beliefs but each child varies in religious practice. Islam in the West is looked down at by British; the reputation of Islam has been mucked by the unfortunate aftermath of 9/11. The true message of Islam has been distorted in the West due to the practices of weak Muslims. The Westerner’s have made sure that they pinpoint Islamic controversies in the context of these practices instead of going by the book. Islam is a code of life which takes into consideration emotional, social, political, economic, psychological and spiritual needs of a human being. It does not differentiate between society and religion whereas in the West, society and culture are distinct entities. The second generation immigrants in foreign countries end up in an identity crisis due aforementioned issues. For them, religion is not clearly defined neither acted on according to the Sunnah perfectly. Tahara and Casim in Ae Fond Kiss, were definitely suffering from an identity crisis on a personal and social level. The reasons for this do not lie in Islam being intolerant of other cultures and religions rather the reason is in the youth and the parents in not having scientifically concrete knowledge about all practices in Islam (Richardson, 4-8).

Casim’s father and mother tried somehow in making their children God-conscious and fearing. Analysis of the movie suggests that Roisin was not as religious as the Pakistani family. She belonged to a Catholic background however; she was not in a state of stereotypical regret that Christian women are after being divorced. When Casim and Roisin were on the Spanish coast trip, they talked about the similarities that existed between their religions. However, Casim’s verbatim demonstrates that he had spiritual values in bits as compared to Roisin. Casim’s family firmly believed in the Oneness of God Almighty where as Roisin was detached from religious activities. The only main link that has been shown is when Roisin was uncertain about the relationship as for a full-employment job, she was asked by the Parish Priest to give up on Casim. Roisin coming from an individualist society did not believe whole-heartedly in God as the Creator and Sustainer of the people on the planet. Rather, to her in a relationship, self-respect and dignity were more important than anything else. Casim, had a more perpetual view of the relationship as per his belief in God. He wanted a life partner who he could grow old with. It has always been seen that Muslim authorities are called the bad cops rather than any other religious authorities. By writing about the cruelty and arrogance of Parish Priest, Paul Lavetry intended to show that it’s not always the perceived misconceptions about Islam that complicate a predicament, figures from the other culture or religion can equally worsen community relations and reputation. It is not just Muslims who are prohibited to marry people from another religion; vice versa should also be considering before stigmatizing Islamic teachings of forced marriages. Building his opinion in a historical context, Harold Coward says, “Muslims probably have a far greater knowledge of all other religions than any other groupaˆ¦”. Perhaps it can be said that second-generation immigrants or other Muslim youth and parents in various parts of the world do not know the potential they have as Muslims. In tolerating and respecting other religions, Prophet Mohammad p.b.u.h. set a paradigm for the believers and the non-believers to follow despite the fact that his main aim in life was to spread the light of Islam to non-Muslims (Schimdt-Leukal & Ridgeon, 17-60).

Islam values universal beliefs until they are in relation to Quran and Sunnah. The Muslims have to implement Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Fasting and Hajj as the four pillars of Islam. They have to believe in the prophets who brought messages to humanity at various junctures in history. The socio-economic issues in a Muslim community are solved according to Shariah and handed by the Ulema and Fuqaha. However, the Catholic beliefs are dissimilar in some ways. The common grounds are fasting, charity and belief in the unity of God. Beliefs related to humanity that spring out of Islam and Muslim practice can be concluded as follows:

No matter which religion or race, human beings have to respect and tolerate each other.

Religion cannot be forced on anyone under any circumstance.

God Almighty will determine what is right and wrong in the Hereafter. In this life, the believers are commanded to search for the truth and fulfill their spiritual needs which will ultimately lead them to the Quran as the Last Scripture.

The Muslims should employ principle of reciprocity when it comes to intercultural dealings; however, Islam always teaches piety and goodness hence, forgiveness has to be practiced.

There is no enmity between believers and non-believers in daily life encounters; the differences should be embraced and the right to equal citizenship awarded in any part of the world. God says in the Quran, “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do” (The Noble Quran 5:8).

The Muslim British Pakistani family did not want a goree for their son as marriage with a non-Muslim is not allowed in Islam. However, religious beliefs are blurred into cultural beliefs. The second immigrant youth viewed this forced arranged marriage. Casim when frustrated with life could only think of ‘should, should and should. . .’ requirements that were exacted on him. Seen from a pristine, Islamic point of view, Casim’s parents had promised the Jasmine’s parents back in Pakistan that their son will marry their daughter. Casim under religious obligations only had to listen to his parents for an eternal reward if he could. However, Islam does not mandate marrying the partner parents choose. Tariq and Mrs. Khan were more worried about the social consequences i.e. the name of the family when they found out that their son liked an Irish teacher. This movie is set out to challenge the prejudiced and gendered beliefs that Muslims and Christians alike hold.

The concept of Muslim masculinity and femininity are often discussed through heated arguments. Liberal and progressive Muslims, in the light of their limited knowledge and insight of comparative religion tend to favor other religions. The liberty and freedom Islam gave to women 1400 years ago cannot be denied. Islam still teaches those values to the believers which can heal the ills of the society. Divorce is disliked and harmony is preferred. Casim’s father was shown to be an authoritative figure in the house while in Casim, British Pakistani lover has been portrayed. The way Casim disapproved of her sister going to Edinburgh and the way her father refused the offer outright cannot only be judged from a religious lens. Boys by no means have more freedom than girls in Islam when it comes to inter-gender mingling, clubbing and outdoor gatherings. Prejudice cannot be generalized as a weak point of Islam as these are not typical teachings rather stereotypical practices of weak Muslims (Shira,).

Islam takes a very logical towards art and music. The argument on music can be traced back to Islam’s birth. Anything which has a tendency to make the believer go astray or distract him from obedience to God is not allowed in Islam. Perhaps, one of the main reasons why Tariq hated Kasim’s choice was that she was a pianist in Tahara’s school. Poetry in Islam has an exalted level; the Prophet Mohammad allowed only that poetry which talked about the wonders of Islam and the magnificence of God Almighty. Many a traditions have been reported in Sahih Muslim, one of the most authentic sources after the Quran, which validate the existence of poetry but which are done to seek the pleasure of God.

To conclude, Ae Fond Kiss has represented the real-life problems that come with an inter-cultural relationship that too with different backgrounds. Loach ended the movie in a very thought-provoking manner; the audience has been forced to redefine the boundaries of culture and see religion as a whole rather than sum of the parts of culture. Islam can be seen a civilization which serves as revolutionary religion throughout the history. Perhaps, the audience and the critics of Ae Fond Kiss now know that they have to look into their prejudiced perceptions again as Asad Fyzee puts it that Islam has to ‘interpreted afresh and understood anew’ with respect to time, place and people (Omid, 98).

The autonomous author portrays several human conditions in the morality play, Everyman. The human characteristics are rendered by the character, Everyman, who is a representative of mankind. Everyman soon learns of God’s plan when he meets the messenger Death, who has come to claim his soul in order to bring him for final judgment. Everyman’s portrayal of ignorance is evident when Death says, “Full little he thinketh on my coming; His mind is on fleshy lusts and his treasure, And great pain it shall cause him to endure Before the Lord, Heaven-King” (lines 81-84). Death’s adherence to his tasking from God is evident in “For before God thou shalt answer and shew, Thy many bad deeds and good but a few – How thou hast spent thy life in what wise Before the Chief Lord of Paradise” (lines 107-10).

Society as a whole often divulges in a life of sin whereas at that time the sin is being committed, it seems innocently enough and not as bad. Humans try to rationalize sins as being ok but do not realize that it leads them to damnation in the end on judgment day and in the eyes of God. The messenger Death best captures this by what he had said, “Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet, Which in the end causeth the soul to weep (lines 12-14).

Humanity is called upon to come forth once his journey from birth to death commences in order to see God and stand for judgment. In the beginning of the play, God instructs his messenger, Death, to find Everyman and take him on his pilgrimage to judgment. No man can escape God’s judgment and accountability. God says, “Go thou to Everyman, And show him, in my name, A pilgrimage he must on him take, Which he in no wise may escape; And that he bring with him a sure reckoning Without delay or any tarrying (lines 66-71).

In capturing society’s penitence and repentance, we see Knowledge assisting Everyman in the cleansing of his soul while he undergoes a physical and mental change by playing out the enduring contrast of the earthly and divine worlds. His body suffers for the sins of the flesh and lust while his soul is redeemed while undergoing a worldly pain which leads him to a spiritual salvation. “In the name of the Holy Trinity My body sore punished shall be; Take this, body, for the sin of the flesh (lines 611-13)! “Therefore suffer now strokes of punishing! Now penance I will wade the water clear, To save me from purgatory, that sharp fire (lines 616-18).

In recent events and aggressive reporting by the social media, our society has become aware of the impending misbehaviors of certain church officials around the world that suggests that the Church has swept these reports of misconduct under the table. As seen with the newly appointed Pope, he inherited a church facing serious challenges and allegations. In this story, there is a debate between Knowledge and Five Wits concerning priests. Five Wits praises the priests while Knowledge denigrates certain priests as being too concerned with earthly pleasures and forgetting the pilgrimage of spiritual growth. Here we see another example of the constant battle between the “earthly” and “divine” worlds. Knowledge says, “Sinful priests giveth the sinners example bad; Their children sitteth by other men’s fires, I have heard, And some haunteth women’s company, With unclean life, as lusts of lechery (lines 759-63). Five Wits fires back with, “I trust to God no such may we find. Therefore let us priesthood honor, And follow their doctrine for our souls’ succor. We be their sheep and they shepherds be, By whom we all be kept in surety (lines 764-86).

The morality play, Everyman, depicts mankind and anthropomorphizes their constant plight of relationships, devotion, and responsibility until their pending death. Everyman is represented by almost every character except for God, Death, the Angel and the Doctor. I think that most societies of today can relate with this play in some way. Everyman was written when people’s lives centered on the ideals of the traditional medieval church. Upon a Christian’s death their lifelong activities, achievements, sufferings, and problems are reviewed in front of God on judgment day. The characters in this story represent the many elements of a society’s existence and personified discernments. During the Medieval Age, it was common for people to try to survive life’s obstacles and hindrances while maintaining an ethical or divine growth as a Christian disciple. This piece captures and humanizes a society’s fight in achieving true salvation and preparation of one’s soul for impending death. Upon facing death, most people usually find themselves authenticating their lives and trying to ensure that their life meant something good. Most people do not tend face death with open arms. Everyman represents mankind in their cleansing of one’s sins before he can transcend into their afterlife. The medieval Christian believed that the only way to achieve salvation was through the Seven Holy Sacraments, priests, and the medieval church.

The word Islam is derived from the root word “salaama” means peace, obedience, purity, and submissions. Islam means abiding peace and obedience to the will of God. While other religions derive their name from either a tribe, or a geographical area or a founder, and Islam derives its name from the central ides of peace and submission to god. The followers of Islam call them as Muslims or Musalmans. The word “Hindu” is derived from the Sanskrit root word “Sindhu” and used by Persians, ancient Greeks and many foreigners to denote the people who lived beyond the river Indus. The word Hinduism was invented by the british scholars in 1830s to denote the religious traditions of the native Indians to distinguish them from the other recognized religions.

The message of Islam came to Muhammad for the first time through the angel Gabriel in 610 A.D., in a cave on Mount Hira. He kept on receiving the answers to his questions rest of his life and then he put all together in the book called Qur’an, which is the only holy book of Islam. Qur’an is the only book in the world which cannot be ever translated. Hinduism considers Vedas as their teachings of God. The Vedas are the earliest sacred books of Hinduism. The end part of Upanishads, which constitutes the philosophical base of Hinduism known as Vedanta and contains the elements of monotheism and description of God as the supreme deity of universe. Other important sources of Hinduism are the Vedanta’s, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, Tantric texts, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. As Aldous Huxley once said “The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.”

The muslims practices the following so called Five Pillars, which are mentioned in the Qur’an. Shahadah is also known as the daily recitation of “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger” (Qur’an). Salat is the rituals performed Five times a day: dawn, at midday, mid afternoon, sunset, and nighttime. Zakat which is the amount of money from a person’s total income donated to the poor and the needy. Sawn which is a period of fasting from dawn to dusk in the ninth month of muslim calendar. During this fasting muslims avoid all food, liquid, sex and tobacco. The final pillar is called Hajj which is the pilgrimage to a sacred city of Mecca once in their lifetime. In Hinduism God is worshipped in many different ways. The daily rituals are performed by an individual several times a day in which offerings are made to gods, the elements, ancestors, animals and the humans. Many people also worship by visiting the temple everyday in the morning. Ramayana states that “Wealth springs from dharma, from dharma comes happiness and one gets everything from dharma. Dharma is the essence of this world”(Valmiki). Pooja is the popular form of worship in which prayers, chants, flowers, incense sticks, and others things are offered to gods, like said in Ramayana “Whatever is one’s food, the same food shall be offered to one’s gods” (Valmiki 2.103.30)Some Hindus also participate in satsangs or religious gatherings and perform the singing and chanting of the names of gods. Many Hindus practice fasting on specific days of the weeks or on some festivals. Hindus also visits certain sacred places and temples for their own beings. A visit to Varanasi for a dip in Ganges is considered very purifying and spiritual uplifting. There are many festivals celebrated by hindus out of which some are Diwali, Navaratri, Uttarayan, Ganesh Chaturthi and many more.

Muslims deny believing or worshiping any other god but Allah, who is their almighty. He is not only the highest god of muslims, but also of all the people in the world. He is close to his loyal worshippers, whom he forgives their sins and blesses them with peace and happiness. They believe in free will and fate. According to muslims, Allah knows everything that happened, that has been happening and that will happen. He made humans responsible for their actions and choices. Anyone can convert to Islam easily. According to their traditions, anyone who follows Allah and takes Muhammad as his messenger becomes a muslim because Qur’an says that “He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah” (al-Nisa’ 4.80). Hinduism believes in existence of Brahman, the supreme Lord of the universe who is eternal and stable. Three gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are his three main forms which are endowed with their work of creation, preservation and destruction. According to Hindus, god can be worshipped in too many different ways. Many Hindus worship gods into their personal forms chosen by themselves. Hinduism believes in worshipping god as in the image or the statue or an object. They also believe in peaceful life lived with truth and honor, like once said in Mahabharata, “Should even one’s enemy arrive at the doorstep, he should be attended upon with respect. A tree does not withdraw its cooling shade even from the one who has come to cut it” (12.146.5). And Mahatma Gandhi also said “I have no other wish in this world but to find light and joy and peace through Hinduism.”

Hinduism and Islam believe in the God as a supreme Lord of the universe, and as a creator of the whole system. Both religions believe that god has blessed humans with free will which make themselves responsible for their actions and choices. Allah is known by 99 names and the person who learns them all by heart goes in the heaven. The Brahman of Hinduism also has many names and by chanting them a person can attain him. Both believe that god responds to all the people who worship him and blesses them. Hinduism believes in karma. Islam believes that good rewards for good deeds and punishment for bad dreams. And Qur’an states “Whoever does good deed, he shall be repaid ten-fold; and whoever does evil, and he shall be repaid with evil” (5.32). Both religions believe in non-violence and killing no human life. In Hinduism the path of truth is far more important than the belief or disbelief in god. Islam does not recognize any other religions other than they are specifically mentioned in Qur’an. ” We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to him do we submit” (29.46). Muslims believe that they in something that is been revealed to them and believe that everybody’s god is same. Both religions believe in praying gods and reciting their name and ask for god’s forgiveness.

Muslims believe in praying only one god Allah, where as Hindus pray to one god but in different forms and incarnations. A person can be converted to Islam by praying to Allah or by taking Muhammad as their own messenger. Whereas in Hinduism a person becomes a Hindu by birth or by personal choice, without taking any messenger or following particular god permanently. Islam does not accept anyone between humans and god and in Hinduism there is a presence of priest for the right directions. Islam does not have any high priest or gurus, whereas Hindus has like the highly respected gurus who people follow and seek for more knowledge from them. Islam does not believe in rebirth. Hindus believe going in heaven or hell but they believe that the soul gets its freedom back through rebirth. Hinduism does not have the concept of messengers like Muslims have Muhammad as their messengers to god. Muslims laws are well versed in Qur’an as to punish the one who oppose the commands of Allah, and in Hinduism the laws are not imposed by the religious groups or people but are through the government. Islam does not accepts god as his own creation where as Hindus accept that god is a supreme Lord of his creation and also as an individual as atman in every human-being as it is stated in The Bhagwad Gita, “The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.” Hinduism does not see any difference between god and other living beings. In Islam man can only be the true follower of god and the others are made just to benefit man. In Islam there is no concept of Trinity. They believe that god is one and only. Hinduism has three highest forms of god known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

The belief system in Hinduism and Islam has a great effect on the present day society. There is a great development and change in Hinduism over the centuries and has spread all over the world. Islam has also spread over the years and has mostly spread by trade and the people conquered by them. Hinduism and Islam are two major religions in modern world with a great amount of people following in the various parts of the world.

Work Cited

Huxley, Aldous. “Quotes About Hinduism.” (30 Quotes). Goodreads Inc., n.d. Web.

04 Oct. 2012. .

Gandhi, Mahatma. “Hinduism Quotes.” Refspace.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2012.

.

MuhI?ammad, ZI?afr-AllaI„h H. The Quran. London: Curzon, 1978. Print

VaI„lmiI„ki, , and Ramesh Menon. The Ramayana. New York: North Point Press, 2003. Print.

PrataI„pachandra, RaI„ya, and Mohan G. Kisari. The Mahabharata. Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884.

Print.

Gupta, Prashant, M D. Gupta, and N K. Vikram. Bhagwad Gita. New Delhi: Dreamland Books,

1996. Print.

On account of the growing Arian controversy, that was causing a rift in the church. Emperor Constantine assembled the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. The purpose of the council was two-fold. First, the council was to discuss the teachings of Arius of Alexandria a very popular presbyter in the Alexandrian church. Arius had a problem with the deity of Jesus Christ. Second, Emperor Constantine wanted to mend the growing rift in the church and form a united church front. From this historical gathering The Council of Nicaea was able to produce a theological confession called the Nicene Creed.

The Arian conflict began because of a fundamental difference over the deity of Jesus Christ. The Church had always confessed their belief in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ. The church believed that God was divine and therefore Jesus was divine. The act of water baptism was performed in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. This belief spoken of in the Apostles Creed, boldly states, “We believe in God the Father, Almighty . . . and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord.” The church also spoke out against all pagan beliefs.

The Apostle’s Creed appeared to be too much for the Arians, for their interpretation of the deity of Christ was much different than the views of the church. The Arians led by their leader Arius of Alexandria, simply could not get over the “philosophical difficulty that one who is man cannot be also God.” The Arians believe that “Christ can be worship as the begotten Son of God, who became flesh, died and rose again, and who sits at the right hand of the Father.” Arius did everything in his power to try and show the general council that Jesus could not be equal to God. Arius quoted “John 3:15 to show that Jesus was referred as God’s only begotten Son, he also referenced Hebrews 1:5-6 which speaks of Jesus being begotten of God. Finally probably out of frustration Arius stated flatly, Jesus is in no way part God” The Arians just could not support the deity of Christ because if they did it meant that Christ was God. Arius and his followers held firm to their belief that “Jesus the Son of God, was created before the foundation of the world by God; thus Jesus is not eternal, He is but a creature.” Despite the backlash that was coming from the church and its followers the Arians continued to preach their message of heresy. Arius continued to teach to anyone that would listen that “the dignity of being the Son of God was bestowed on Jesus as a gift from the Father; however it is the Father we must worship for He alone is God.” It was because of these teaching that Arius and his followers were excommunicated from the church.

THE PURPOSE OF THE COUNCIL

The 15th chapter of Acts gives a good example of a council coming together to discuss a problem that was causing a division within the church. In the Christian church when “bishops and pastors and other elected leaders of the church assembled together to consider and rule on questions of doctrine, administration, disciple, and other matters,” this group is usually referred to as the general council. The Nicaea general council did not operated on any regular schedule, whenever there was a need to meet the council would assemble. The general council did not react to everything that might have come up within the church. However, “if something was important, the issue found its way into the general council’s meeting.” According to Socrates this “council was convened at the request of Constantine, the current emperor of Rome, because the Christian sovereign hated discord, and he therefore set three tasks that he want to resolve during this gathering.” Constantine officiated the meeting and he told the bishops that were in attendance. “You are the bishops whose jurisdiction is within the church. But I also am the bishop, ordained by God to oversee those outside the church.” The three issues Constantine wanted to resolve were the issue of the deity of Christ, establishing a date for Easter and to bring

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unity to an already fragile church body. “The assembling of the council was a sign that Christianity had assumed a new mode of government, as well as a new position in the empire.”

CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE TRINITY

In John 10:30-Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.” According to the Jews, Jesus had just committed blasphemy, and for that, the Jews were ready to stone him. How could Jesus and the Father be one? This question was becoming a headache for Constantine and the general council. To this day the deity of Christ is a hot topic among many in the secular world. There are those who still have a hard time grasping this theory. To the secular world Christ was just “a humble rabbi, or insightful teacher, or just a good man. Others go as far as to insinuate that Jesus was radical, egotistical, or even insane.” However, this growing controversy was more of a theological issue than anything. The relationship between the Father and the Son was the main issue and there was no easy way to explain this unique process. Arius, himself a Christian, now found himself at odds with Bishop, Alexander of Alexandria. Arius “did not want to lower the person of God or to refuse him worship, but to defend from the charge of polytheism (many Gods).” It was the concept of many God’s that was keeping Arius and his followers from accepting the deity of Christ. Arius and his followers failed to see the spiritual significant of the Trinity. Which was “God is one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each

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member of the Trinity is completely God. As part of the Trinity, Jesus Christ who is God the Son is deity. ” “This is the Christian doctrine of the trinity. God in his infinite mercy looked up his finite creatures and knew that they would have a hard time comprehending him and believing in him. So, he revealed himself to everyone in three different aspects.”

THE NICENE CREED

“A Creed, or Rule of Faith, or Symbol is a confession of faith for public use, or a form of words setting forth with authority certain articles of belief, which are regarded by the framers as necessary for salvation, or at least for the well-being of the Christian Church.” The creed may cover the whole area of the Christian doctrine and process, or embrace only such points as believed to be essential and acceptable. Creeds are generally used at baptisms, or used for instructional purposes; they can be more elaborate and theological, for ministers and teachers. Creeds give everyone a chance to speak out with a loud voice what they believe. The Nicene Creed would go on to become one of the most important Christian texts ever to be produced. The Nicene Creeds goes as followsaˆ¦..

“We believe in God the Father almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only- begotten of the Father, that is, begotten of the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true, begotten God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father, through whom all things were made, in heaven and earth; who for us humans and our salvation came down, took flesh, and was made human, suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit.”

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By citing the Nicene Creed the general council and the followers of the Christian faith were affirming their belief in the deity of Jesus Christ.

THE MEN OF THE COUNCIL

At the invitation of Emperor Constantine three hundred and eighteen bishops assembled for what would become the first official gathering of the Nicaea Council. The council “lasted for two months and twelve days. It was held in the spring of AD 325 in what is now northwest Turkey.” “The church had waited for over “three centuries to officially call its first general council meeting, because Christianity was still officially outlawed.” This moment has been declared the first ecumenical council of the Christian church and “historically it marked the end of early church history and the dawning of the middle Ages.” The Council of Nicaea was held during the first year of the reign of Constantine the Great. Out of all the men in attendance at the council there were few men who stood out.

EMPEROR CONSTANTINE

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Besides being called Constantine the Great, the emperor was also known as the first Christian Emperor. There have been some debates by historians whether Constantine was even a Christian at all. He was born in Illyria, a region around the Balkans in A.D. 280. His father Constantius Chlorus, was already a Roman official who was moving up the ranks. His mother was Helena, the daughter of an innkeeper. Constantine was in line to become emperor of the western empire by the time he was 31. Spring of 311 Constantine and his army of 40,000 soldiers rode toward Rome to confront an enemy who had four times the men he did. The battle was for supremacy in the west. “While riding into battle it is said that Constantine saw a vision in the sky: a bright cross with the words By This Sign Conquer. Constantine believes that this was a sign from God telling him to take the cross into battle so he ordered his men to mark their shield with the now famous cross which became known as the Chi-Rio ” With renewed hope Constantine was victorious over his enemy. He would enter Rome as the new ruler of the west; Constantine became the first Roman emperor with a cross in his crown. Once Constantine had established himself as emperor “he met Licinius, the ruler of the Balkan provinces, and he issued the now famous Edict of Milan that gave Christians the freedom to worship.” “The reign of Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion from under persecution by the secular government to union with the same; the beginning of the state-church system.” For fourteen years Christians under the rule of Constantine enjoyed the freedom of worship however Constantine wavered back and forth with his faith, because he was considered a friend of the

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Christians, and because his Christian convictions grow over the years Constantine now proclaimed himself a Christian. Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end, and it ended with a resounding thud. Controversy had to rear its ugly head around A.D.325. A fundamental issue regarding the deity of Christ was threatening to divide the church, after Constantine had worked so hard to establish unity. To settle the matter Constantine, called together a council of bishops at Nicaea to discuss the matter. Constantine told the bishops that “division in the church is worse than war.”

ATHANASIUS

“Athanasius of Alexandria was born in the last decade of the third century AD and he died in May of 373. He lived during a period where considerable change was happening in the Christian church.” Athanasius grew up in a fatherless home, his mother a very rich woman; was a worshipper of idols. Once Athanasius had become an adult his mother’s desire was that he would marry, Athanasius had no desire to get marry. As with most mothers she continued to press her son to get married even suggesting that he get with a young lady that was a sinner so maybe she would be able to convince to get married. Again Athanasius refused “for the Lord was keeping him for great.” His mother didn’t give up for she found different women to send her son’s way but each time he would refuse them. She finally stopped trying to get him to marry someone after a magician told her that her son might be a Christian. Maybe it was hearing that

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her son might be a Christian that changed her heart. She immediately took Athanasius to see Alexander, once there she told Alexander everything that she had done to get her son to marry and how he refused. That day Alexander baptized both mother and son. Athanasius lived during the period of pagan worship nevertheless; over time he saw how Christianity was having a major effect on the Roman Empire, mainly due to the conversion of Constantine the Great. While under the rule of Constantine the Roman Empire increased in size, wealth and the Christian church increased in popularity. However, during this time of prosperity for the church there were some significant changes taking place. The fourth century saw the redefining of Christianity, church architecture, liturgy, clerical hierarchies, doctrinal creeds, and the canon of Scripture.” With these changes came some resistant which eventually led to divisions within the church. Through all these changes Athanasius saw himself suddenly being thrust into the spotlight when he became bishop of Alexandria in 328. “It was during his time as Bishop of Alexandria that he would fight for his vision of Christianity, his conception of correct Christian belief and practice, and his leadership of the Egyptian Church.” Athanasius did not know what trouble was until Arius, a presbyter from Libya started to speak out against the deity of Christ. Arius announced, “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not” The argument caused a fundamental split to rise up within the church. Athanasius spoke out against Arius and his belief, by saying that it would deny the Trinity. Athanasius was not going to stand for this

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type of heresy; there was no reason to question the deity of Christ. When you see Christ you see God because they are of the same substance. Arius’s view begin to catch on and soon he had followers and soon word got to Constantine about the growing divide in the church. It was at the council that Alexander and Athanasius signed a letter attacking Arius’s statement regarding the deity of Christ. While at the Council of Nicaea, Arius was exiled from the church and it was a major offense if anyone was found in possession of his writing. After few months Arius’s exile was lifted. While everyone was still at the council a statement of faith called The Nicene Creed was written and everyone in attendance agreed to sign the creed even Arius. Athanasius was ordered by Constantine to restore Arius to full fellowship, however Athanasius refused and because of his refusal false rumors started to spread around the empire. These rumors eventually made their way to the emperor and because of the rumor of treason Athanasius was sent into exile. When in exile the Constantine died and Arianism had taken over.

ARIUS

“Arius, the North African priest who gave his name to one of Christianity’s most troublesome schisms, was born ca. 250, apparently in Libya.” He was a pupil of Lucien of Antioch. Under the bishopric of Peter of Alexandria, he was made deacon. However, Arius’s path up the ranks of the Christian ladder was a rocky one. It started off with him being excommunicated for his involved with Melitians (a self-proclaimed movement with no church authority), being restored back to the fellowship by Bishop Achillas of Alexandria and given

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priestly orders in the church of Baucalis. It appeared that things may have been going well until Arius decided to speak out against Bishop Alexander over the deity of Christ. In deciding to speak out against the theology of the church Arius took to the streets and he started teaching his views to those who would listen. Now the church had just gone through some major transitions, the Christians were no longer being persecuted; they were allowed to worship freely, the emperor himself proclaimed to be a Christian, was considered a friend of the Christians. The church was seeing some of the best times it had ever seen. Well this did not sit well with the Bishop Alexander and he started to speak out against the teaching of Arius. What was Arius teaching that was causing this big of a divide in the church? The church had decided that Jesus and God was one, Arius said this cannot be true because the Son was the begotten Son of God. The debate went on for a while with each side gaining support the longer it went on. “Bishop Alexander enlisted support of various bishops throughout Palestine and Syria. For his part Arius gained the backing of several high-placed churchmen, including Eusebius of Nicomedia.” As the debate grew Arius’s teachings became known as Arianism and his followers became known as Arians. This debate went back and forth until it made it was to the ears of the emperor. A meeting of the general council was called to address this heresy. At the council Arius stated his case and to no avail he was exiled. During the meeting of the council Eusebius of Caesarea, whose name means faithful, attempted to mediate of behalf of Arius. It did not matter because the council had already made its decision and Arius was anathematized. Eusebius was not too happy with this decision and he even had some reservations about signing the statement of faith document that the council had drawn up. In the end Eusebius signed the document because

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The council said “Peace is the object which we set before us.”

CONCLUSION

It is really amazing how something as trivial as the interpretation of a Scripture can cause so much chaos in the church. The word of God does not produce confusion. Confusion comes about because people refuse to accept the Word as being true. There is nothing wrong with a person having a different view, however when it brings confusion and chaos into the house of God it is wrong. Confusion is what the Emperor Constantine was trying to avoid by assembling together the general council. With prayer, faith and patience the council was able to over this confusion and bring peace once again to the church body

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The objective of this paper is to identify the effects and degree of hedonism in Malaysia. The study is conducted using secondary sources. The finding of this paper is indicated that hedonism occurs in Malaysian entertainment industry via the excessive of exposure persuasive advertisements and tremendous amount of reality show in local television.

1. INTRODUCTION

Entertainment is any activity that is designed to delight and, to a smaller degree, enlighten through the exhibition of the fortunes or misfortunes of others, but also through the display of special skills by other and or self (Bates & Ferri, 2010). It has been part of cultures. People from different cultures have different ways to entertain themselves. For instance, the traditional Malaysians tend to amuse themselves by playing congkak, gasing and many more. Thus, entertainment has become the identity of one’s culture. As the life goes on, entertainment and media industry have been developing since the introduction of electronic television in the late 1920s (Maggie, 2008).

However, this transformation has resulted to several impacts toward the local entertainment industry. For instance, the recent analysis on Malaysian entertainment in electronic media specifically has showed that this industry has adopted excessive element of Western cultures or in other word it has been westernized (Shriver, 2002). As a result of this process, most local television programs tend to exhibit the element of hedonism implicitly. Recent researchers have proved that one of the hedonic needs is entertainment (O’Brien, 2010). Hedonism basically derived from the ancient Greek term which is “hedone”. It means pleasure, joy or lust (Mees & Schmitt, 2008). Hedonism as defined by Crisp (2006) is the view that human action is motivated by a concern for the greatest expected balance of pleasure over pain. Further, according to hedonist, what is good for any individual is the enjoyable experience in one’s life and what is painful considered as bad. Therefore, the life best for an individual is that with the greatest balance of enjoyment over suffering.

Entertainment in Islam

Entertainment in Islam is an issue which has been debated across time. It has no certainty whether it is prohibit or permissible or in Islam is called dhan (O?U†US.(. However, this issue should not be the reason Muslim being divided and separated. According to Yusuf Al-Qaradawi in his book al-halal wa al-haram fi al-Islam, entertainment can be permissible and prohibited according the situation. It is nature of human being to be entertained and entertaining others. Entertainment is prohibited when it is associated with things which forbidden then it is prohibit. It is in line with an Islamic legal maxim which says “what lead to haram than it is haram”. With the advent of technology, the entertainment industry has flourished and become immensely popular. Combine this with the exponential advances in technology, and the result is an increasing number of ways to amuse ourselves. According to Pahrol (2011) in Solusi, Entertainment in Islam generally can be divided into two; primary and secondary. Primary entertainment is the entertainment that is aims to pleasure Allah such as prayer, zikr, reciting Al-Qur’an and more. Secondary entertainment on the other hand is entertainment that intends to please oneself in permissible way. Nonetheless, how Muslims scholars define entertainment? In Malaysia, the entertainment has its own guidelines or regulation to be followed. According to Perlis Islamic Legislation Council (1970) entertainment is include the singing and music with instruments or without that is permissible as long it is not against the few conditions; i) The programs were organized has good benefits, ii) Dress modestly and cover themselves, iii) Not to mix boys and girls up to mischief and disobedience stimulate, iv) Lyrics quality and does not conflict with Islamic law and v) Place of performance that does not invite evil. If these guidelines is broken then it has reach the status of prohibition or haram. Thus, from these conditions we should be cleared whether the entertainment today is according to Islam or not. This fatwa was done on Malaysian culture but is it still applicable nowadays?

2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Hedonism requires leisure time and personal wealth. No nation in all of world history has ever been as hedonistic as the United States now is. Americans now spend more money on pleasurable pursuits of all types than on religion and education combined (as cited in William S. Banowsky, 1969). Hedonism also occurs in Malaysia. Hedonism makes Muslims easy prey for Christians, growing hedonism, materialism and liberalism among Muslim have weakened their faith and made them easy for Christianization. (Malaysian insider 4 April 2012). Many research have been conducted to study hedonism, little is known about the drive behind their behaviour. Thus it is necessity for a study to be conducted to identify the manifestation of hedonism especially in Malaysia.

3. RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the effects of hedonism toward Malaysian entertainment?

To what extent Malaysian society involve in hedonism?

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

1. To identify the effect of hedonism toward Malaysian entertainment.

2. To examine the degree of hedonism in Malaysian society.

5.1 THE EFFECT OF HEDONISM IN THE CONTEXT OF MALAYSIAN ENTERTAINMENT.

Malaysia is considered one of Islamic world most modern and open societies. Although Malaysians fully embrace their own cultural and Asian values, influences from foreign cultures and values such as those of the West transmitted by the media are generally accepted. In Malaysia, these influences from the media are considered part of the media globalization process. More influences from the West, which conflict with Asian values, began to be transmitted in forms of Western television genres with the launch of Malaysia’s first government controlled satellite television station in 1997. Although the content is censored by the television station, there are still very strong Western influences in these programs which invite the Malaysian audiences to adopt Western practices. Unconditionally, it may affect the nature of Malaysia entertainment and may lead to hedonism.

All products have a certain degree of hedonism. This is because all products have some degree of symbolic meaning that arouses at least some degree of hedonic motivations among individuals (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982a, 1982b; Kleine, Kleine and Kernan, 1993; Schlosser, 1998). If products are varying in the extent of inherent symbolism, then one can expect that the hedonic value would vary across product categories. This is supported by research examining the extent of hedonism in different products (Batra and Ahtola, 1991; Bloch, Sherrell and Ridgway, 1986; Babin and Darden 1994; Lofman, 1991). Hedonic value across products seems to vary depending on the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of the product (Dodds and Monroe, 1985).

All products used advertisements to attract buyer. Advertisements or commercials are an important aspect of television broadcast. Merrill,et al. (1994) indicated that television lives and dies by advertising because sponsors directly or indirectly provides all of the station’s revenue. Generally, television makes profits from advertising revenues. Thus, television station devote considerable effort to structure their programming in order to hold the larger desirable audience possible (Saenz, 2001). Higher and ranked program, for instance program with larger audience size, attract more advertisement compared to lower ranked program.

Therefore, advertisements play an important role to instil information to the viewer directly or indirectly. It may influence viewer thinking and behaviour. In relationship with the concepts of hedonism, this excessive exposure of persuasive advertisement may lead to the act of unnecessary spending of money. It is because; frequent exposure may increase the likelihood of alteration in people’s perception toward the act of excessive spending. Those tempting advertisements may implicitly illustrate such wasteful act of using money as a means for to attain pleasure or to release their tension and stress.

Based from this phenomenon, the tremendous increasing of entertainment industry profit may clearly indicate the raising of hedonic lifestyle among Malaysians without they realize it. Those people are actually blinded by the motivation to satisfy their hunger for pleasure. Thus, they are willing to spend huge amount of money just to watch their favourite contestant win the show. However, without they realize, those irresponsible television station companies are actually manipulating these reality TV shows as a means to seize viewer’s money for the sake of their earnings.

Psychological View on Effect of Hedonism

This relates to behaviourism concept, as behaviourist James Watson (as cited in Elliot & Covington, 2001) suggested that, pleasure and pain can be regarded as “springs of action”. He further that, pleasure can be considered as a “tremendous reinforce” and pain as the “tremendous inhibitor” of behaviour. In other word, the experience of pleasure may represent reinforcement for an individual to repeat a specific action. Meanwhile, the experience of pain may represent the punisher for an individual to avoid the act. While according to Freud (as cited in Elliot & Covington, 2001), he presumed that humans are like lower animals and constantly seek pleasure and avoid pain. He also viewed this hedonistic tendency as the motivational basis of psychodynamic and it is regulated automatically by the principle of pleasure (1939).

Islamic Perspective

5.2 THE DEGREE OF HEDONISM IN MALAYSIA

In Malaysia, television is the most popular among components of media. It has become an indispensable household item and watching television is a past time activity (Rahmah, 1996). I supporting this nation, Media Guide (2004) indicates that among the media available in Malaysia, television is the most popular as it is able to reach 96% of adult population. Adult populations are those above 15 years old.

Reality TV gains its popularity in the Malaysian television industry with the introduction of the highly acclaimed American reality TV, Survivor in year 2000. After the success of the programme, Malaysia television industry has introduced its own local reality TV show, known as Explorace broadcast on TV3. The first season of the programme managed to attract an average of 2.3 million viewers and was billed as one of the most successful reality adventure/game show programme in Malaysia (Utusan Malaysia, 23 February 2005). A turning point in the Malaysian television industry came with the creation of Akademi Fantasia (2003) broadcast on ASTRO. Akademi Fantasia is an adaptation of La Academia, one of the most successful musical/ singing talent reality TV show originated from Mexico (Utusan Malaysia, 7 August 2005). For the first time, ASTRO through Akademi Fantasia has created the first interactive TV phenomenon that became a huge craze to almost every level of Malaysian society. Home and studio audience are invited to vote for their favourite contestants. Audience through short message service (SMS) vote were given a hundred percent of deciding power to determine the winner (Utusan Malaysia, 6 July 2005).

The first season of Akademi Fantasia in 2003 drew in profits through the votes made by audiences throughout the nine weeks of the show. All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator (ASTRO) managed to collect 2.5 million ringgit as a profit in return for their services to entertain the audience. In 2004, 15 million SMS were sent to ASTRO, and the profit made for the second season amounted up to 7.5 million ringgit, all made possible by the voting system created for the audiences (Utusan Malaysia, 6 July 2005).

Psychological View on the Degree of Hedonism

Islamic Perspective

6. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

The enemies have flocked towards us by using various approaches such as schools and creeds, theories and philosophies, organizations and institutions, states and countries. They have all gathered to fight Islam and the Muslims. Some of them are driven by a hidden hatred and some by an old animosity. The Twentieth Century has witnessed one of the fiercest blows inflicted upon our Ummah by our enemy such the collapse of the Khilafah. They did not stop there but to the extent they went on to indoctrinate Muslims with strange, foreign ideas and concepts, in order to confuse our understanding of our religion (Deen). Once we wake up and try to return to our original religion (Deen), we will be confronted with an intellectual perplexity, in which evil and good is mixed. Hence, the truth will be ambiguous and we will go astray, and lose the true understanding of Islam. It is clearly show in the philosophy of hedonism whereby it connotes the being pleasure is the ultimate goal of human being aside that it is used for avoiding pain. According to psychoanalysis we are born with sexual desire and the behaviourist tend to believe that we are promoted to hedonism due to reinforcement with the purpose of avoiding pain which is categorise as negative reinforcement. However, Islam does not put that ultimate desire or pleasure as the highest aim. We are born we sexual desire but we can educate or nurture it toward purity. Allah mentioned in the Qur’an that we are sent to this land to worship Him not to devote ourselves to only pleasure.

“I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.”

(Az-zariyat 51:56)

Then, for this purpose Allah has sent prophets to educate people with the knowledge how to worship Him. The Pleasure of Allah, Mighty is He, is an objective before which all other objectives diminish in importance:

“And Allah is better [as regards reward in comparison to your reward], and

more lasting [as regards punishment in comparison your punishment.”

(Surah Ta-Ha 20: 73)

Nevertheless, human being can seek pleasure as they want but within the boundary of Islam. According to Alias (2008) a lot of verses in the Qur’an defining or explaining about how we can use our sensation and perception to seek pleasure. It is our as His servant to fulfil our responsibility by using this senses to seek permissible pleasure. As we know, we are granted by Allah with lust (nafs) which defines by Al-Ghazali (as cited in Najati, 1993) the powers of anger and sexual appetite in a human being. Although being has sexual appetite we not should only fuel ourselves with sexual activities but by educating it to pleasure only Allah. In addition, this only can be change but purifying one’s heart. Imam Al-Ghazali and Ibn Qayyim (as cited in Najati, 1993) even mention that heart (Al-Qalb) is the governor of the senses which if pure will make our perception cleaned and if it dark or dirty than it can make our perception polluted. Allah mentioned,

“Have you seen the one who chooseth for his god his own lust?”

(Al-Furqaan25:43)

“He followed his own lust. Therefor his likeness is as the likeness of a dog; if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out”

(Al’Araf7:176)

and about the person who controlled the passion of his ego God says:

“But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, Lo! The garden will be his home”

(An Nazi’at79:40-41)

Hence, the total devotion to desire or pleasure is not being accepted in Islam but we need to put our ultimate goal to only pleasure Allah. By pleasuring Allah, the negative reinforcement which leads to seeking worldly pleasure will diminish because it is change by Allah with a lot of sustenance. As mentioned above, psychoanalysis only focus on sexual desire and hedonism explained about the avoidance of pain. In Islam, as Allah stated in the Al-Qur’an:

“And We send down of the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss”

(Al Isra’17:82)

In this verse Allah reminds us that the cure of the pain is in the Al-Qur’an. In order to reduce or cure the illness it is better for human being to follow what has been prearranged by Allah SWT. In addition to that, the most important things in Muslim life are prayer. The importance of prayer actually mentioned by Allah:

” Verily, prayer prevents from Al-fahsha(i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual

intercourse etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed etc.)”

(Al-Ankabut 29:45)

Hence, from this verse we can see that as psychoanalysis believed that human are born with sexual desire and they need to fulfil it by doing sexual related behaviour which if not done conflict will arise. However in Islam it is prohibited to do sexual related behaviour in illegal way such as adultery that is the effect of hedonism. Thus, prayer eventually is one of the medications that have been provided from Allah to human being. Allah adds:

“O mankind! There has come to you a good advice from your Lord (i.e. the Quran, ordering all

that is good and forbidding all that is evil), and a healing for that ( disease of ignorance, doubt.hypocrisy and differences, etc.) in your breasts, – a guidance and a mercy (explaining lawful and unlawful things, etc.) for the believers.”

(Yunus 10: 57)

This verse mentioned the healing process that give into the breast. Breast here can be defined as heart. According to Murad (1985) heart is not only mere part of flesh in your body, but the centre of all your thoughts, emotions, motives, drives, aspirations, memory and attention. It can be softened and can be hardened. Allah states:

“aˆ¦their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah.s praises. Such is the guidance of Allah. He guides there with whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide.”

(Az-Zumar 39:23)

“Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like a rock and even worse in hardness. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.”

(Al-Baqarah 2:74)

The Prophet also said narrated from Abu Nu’man: “Lo! Verily, there is in the body a small piece of flesh; if it is good the whole body is good and if it is corrupted the whole body is corrupted; lo! it is the heart.”

Thus, it is our responsibility to take a good care of our heart as it governs our body and mind. Therefore as Imam Al-Nawawi explained in al-Majmu`a”as for the knowledge of the heart, it is knowing the diseases of the heart, such as envy, conceit and the like.” Imam al-Ghazali said in ihya’ ulumuddin: “Knowing the definition of these diseases, their causes and their cures, and remedies how to fix them, is personally obligatory (fard `ayn) on every Muslim. “Hedonism only can be taken care by turn back to the only source of Al-Qur’an and Al-Sunnah however, the questions is the Muslim and non-Muslim which do not know it. How can it be possible to overcome this matter? We need to bear in mind and heart that the Qur’an and prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah and teachings is not only for Muslims but to entire universe. As the prophet mentioned:Abu Sa”id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) had said: “Whoever amongst you sees anything objectionable, let him change it with his hand, if he is not able, then with his tongue, and if he is not even able to do so, then with his heart, and the latter is the weakest form of faith. “Narrated by Muslim.

This hadith actually explain the way of dealing with evil deeds and hedonism is one kind of evil deeds. First, it is the responsibility of the authority which has been commentary by Muslims scholars that the hand it the one who with power. For instance, the government of Malaysia should realize their task is not only making development but also to instill the faith or creed of Islam in Muslim specifically and society generally by doing some changes in entertainment industry, educational system and media. Second, the role of society is basically taken from the word tongue in the hadith. The society should not only talk about the issue but eventually take opportunity to invite or promote good health lifestyle to their family and friends since hedonism only will lead to bad health lifestyle. Healthy lifestyle is not only limited to Muslims but also should be practiced by all races.

7. CONCLUSION

As discussed above the concern about manifestation of hedonism in Malaysia revolved around the effect and the degree of hedonic values in the Malaysian entertainment industry.

Since its inception in the first century, Christianity has been evolving as a social institution, changing its organizational shape, redefining its mission, and creating new expressions of worship. Since then there has been a vast change in denominations, where some decline and revival has been witnessed through the years.

The year 1906 brought new recoveries into a different type of worship in United States of America (USA). In USA, Los Angeles newspapers reported as gathering of people of different races and cultures describing them to involve the poor and rich, blacks and whites, men and women, young and old in a temple in Azusa Street displaying a new form of worship, praying, singing in unknown languages, dancing and clapping. Audiences gathered to witness what was happening. This was the biggest revival of the time in USA. [2] Testimonies, diaries, articles were written by those involved and those who witnessed this great event. This was the beginning of what is called Pentecostalism today, the major driving engine of Christianity to its origins, the first century. [3] Although, most scholars have debated whether Pentecostalism had multiple almost simultaneous origins in different countries the same time it originated in North America, there is no doubt that that it is the strongest Christianity today in the third world. [4] This essay aims to examine its origins and its main three chosen characteristics which are spiritual gifts, personal encounter with God and the power over demons and Satan.

Definitions

Allan Anderson’s explanation on Pentecostalism is that it is perceived as a movement of believers who affirm to the work of the Holy Spirit and the exercising of the spiritual gifts as evidenced through speaking in tongues with foundation grounded on the emphasis of the acknowledgement of salvation attained through Jesus Christ. [5] David Martin and Peter Mullen state that “speaking in tongues consists in the utterance of unintelligible sounds, often in rapid sequences, by persons who seem to be in conditions of varying degrees of dissociation.” [6] Pentecostal is linked with the doctrine of ‘subsequence’ and ‘initial evidence’ which originated from USA in the beginning of the twentieth century, referring to the experience of the baptism by the Holy Spirit. [7] Therefore, those devoted to this theology are called Pentecostals.

However, a change happened during the 1960s, when some Christians within main-line denominations started to accept the Pentecostalism phenomena as part of the worship experience. [8] This new form of Pentecostalism became known as the Charismatic Movement. Charismatic describes any form or experience of Christianity that emphasises the “charismata” which means spiritual gifts (such as tongues, prophecy and discernment) listed in for example 1Corinthians 12, as well as a dynamic experience of being baptised or filled with the Holy Spirit. [9] A highly significant proportion of Christians and churches that have emphasis on this dynamic renewing experience and the operation of gifts of the Holy Spirit are called charismatics. The charismatic movements widely penetrated the traditional historical churches from the 1960s, Protestant and Catholic, Church of England (C of E), Methodist, Baptist or URC churches, or the Roman Catholic Church in what has been termed the charismatic renewal. [10] Therefore Renewal describes the expression of this new form of spiritual life within these previously existing historic mainline churches or denominations.

The difference between charismatics and Pentecostals is the aspect of the initial evidence like signs and wonders as well as the encountering of power which charismatics deny hence agreeing in the tongues. Whereas, Pentecostal denotes the identity maker of tongues as the evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism whilst the Charismatics denote the Holy Spirit gifts, the teachings of prosperity and spiritual warfare. [11]

Consequently, the word “Pentecostal” shifted from just refereeing to a particular group of denominations to any denomination whose worship experience includes some sort of “Pentecostal” phenomenon such as speaking in tongues. Since the rise of the Charismatic movement, traditional Pentecostals are usually referred to as “Classical Pentecostals”. The term Classical Pentecostal refers to a person or organization which believes that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second work of grace subsequent to conversion, and that the initial physical evidence of this experience is speaking in other tongue that is the languages unknown to the speaker. [12]

Origins

During the centuries from the Early Church’s time about 1500 plus years to the 20th century there were Christians traditions which influenced the formation of Pentecostalism such as the Reformation tradition, specifically the Anabaptist and Arminians, the Holiness and Evangelical Movements. [13] The historical survey of the development of Classical Pentecostalism will cover the years from 1738; John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience’ time when he emphasised the Holy Spirit in His teachings. [14]

The advancement of Pentecostalism can be dated back to a January the 1st 1901, a charismatic revival at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas USA. As Charles Parham, a former Methodist minister’s students had questions about the evidence of baptisms with the Holy Spirit after his Spirit baptism teaching, following the Book of Acts. There was an experience of this baptism following a fervent prayer with students resulting in the experience of speaking in tongues. [15] The enthusiasm of the students following Charles Parham teachings brought an amazing Pentecostal experience as of the Apostles in the Book of Acts. Cox stated that Pentecostalism rose among a group of people who were waiting for it. [16] Charles Parham’s’ teachings opened the doors to what was later called Pentecostalism. Robert Gromacki called Charles Parham “”Father of the Pentecostal movement.” [17]

From Parham’s bible school, the movement became the worldwide movement following the Azusa Street revival mentioned above. This was through a black African American preacher called William Joseph Seymour who was also a student at Parham School who longed for the Spirit baptism and witnessed the first experience of speaking in tongues. His meeting with Parham had a big impact in William Seymour’s belief about the Holy Spirit baptism. [18] He contributed to the spread of Pentecostalism; he did not just believe but took the message further.

Cecil M. Robeck gives the brief background of the journey William Seymour took to promote what is today called “Pentecostalism.” In his account he mentioned that William Seymour was invited to Los Angeles to be in charge of one ministry. After preaching about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he was denied the position to pastor that congregation. He ended up living with black friends Edward and Mattie Lee who sympathised with him where he conducted prayer meetings in their house. This was the beginning of the great movement as they started to pray together and later invited other people to join them. The number increased and they moved to a bigger house. It was in the house of Richard at Ruth Asberry on the 9th of April 1906 as they were studying the bible that they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. In this meeting, an eight-year-old black boy began to speak in tongues and soon crowds were attracted to the house. After this experience the house could not accommodate the growing large numbers of people who were coming to join in prayers and worship. They had to move to Azusa Street, were the greatest revival took place. Then Azusa Street became the house for the world Pentecostal movement. [19] Therefore the Azusa story is exceptional when the roots of Pentecostalism are discussed. Cecil M. Robeck labelled the “Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles aˆ¦ the birth place of Pentecostal movement.” [20] Harvey Cox acknowledging the root of Pentecostalism’s origin to be understood with reference William Joseph Seymour. [21]

From Azusa Street, Pentecostalism spread to the other parts of the world by members who experienced the Pentecostal revival and formed Pentecostal Churches. [22] Congregations spread around USA extending to Africa through missionaries that went preach this Pentecostal experience to other parts of the world “By early 1907 aˆ¦ entered Mexico, Canada, Western Europe, the Middle East, West Africa and several countries in Asia”, spreading to Northern Russia, Southern Africa and Eastern and Central Europe. The Apostolic Faith Mission was the first Movement that Mr Seymour established consisting of different denominations with one agenda of Faith. [23] In 1914 was the first “official statement” of the Classical Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Assemblies of God in the United States.

They are hundreds of Pentecostal denominations and fast growing over the last forty years, David Martin, sociologist who has done a lot of work on the estimates of Pentecostalism has reported it to be the largest global shift in the religious marketplace. He quoted a total number of Pentecostals and charismatics worldwide to at least a least a quarter of a billion by 2002. [24] This has expanded to the West reaching other countries such as India, China and Chile. [25]

They are here main groups of Pentecostalism identified with their unique beliefs though some aspects might be similar. One of the group is identify by their belief in the work of the Holy Spirit, speaking, in tongues, baptism with the Holy Spirit, the works of grace, salvation and sanctification as continuous in their lives; the other group beliefs ‘entire sanctification’ over and above some aspects of the above group, called then Wesleyan Holiness; last but not least excludes themselves in the belief of the Trinity aspect of God, called oneness Pentecostals. [26]

Main characteristics
Spiritual gifts

The birth of the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century was evidenced by followers of Christ exhibiting the gifts of the Holy Spirit often referred to as the supernatural gifts. It got its roots from the Early Church with ecstatic phenomena gifts of the Holy Spirit. [27]

The experiencing of the Holy Spirit baptism resulting in speaking in tongues in Topeka, Kansas sprang up the twentieth century Pentecostal Movement in 1901. Dayton asserts that the eighteen century American revivalism, Holiness Movement played a part in its origins. [28] Charles Parham believed there was more on the entire sanctifications, the teachings of the Wesleyans, in his views. Therefore he bestowed sanctification and charismatic power as both part of the second blessing. His views were more extreme than many in the Holiness Movement. The teachings on investigations for signs of sanctification led to questions if this was related to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As the students were determined for the outward evidence signs of the baptism, speaking in tongues was the first sign of the spiritual gifts

To have a good understanding of what is meant by “spiritual gifts”, I would consider two definitions which defines spiritual gifts as “aˆ¦divinely given capacities to perform useful functions for God” [29] Similarly Deffinbaugh defines spiritual gifts as the God-given capacity of every Christian to carry out his function in the body of Christ. [30] The se definitions adequately purvey the Pentecostalism understanding of Spiritual gifts.

These spiritual gifts are believed to have originated at Pentecost as explained in the Book of Acts. Over the period of three years after the Azusa Street revival which sparkled the Pentecostal Movement, Seymour saw the restoration not just of speaking in tongues but all gifts of the Holy Spirit. [31] These are spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. These gifts can be; speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, prophesying and healing power. [32] According to Luke;

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability (Acts 2: 1-4 NRSV).

This was a physical evidence of being baptised by the Holy Spirit as they converted and believed in Jesus Christ.

Kenneth Boa describes the gift of tongues as the supernatural ability of a believer to speak in an unlearned language by the speaker enabled by the Lord. [33] This can be interpreted by someone who receives the gift of interpretation of tongues. This is interpretation into the language of the body in which the message is delivered not a strict translation, but an interpretation of the essential content of the tongues message. [34] Critiques of tongues – Thomas Aquinas believed to have been of the Apostles only in the early church to enable them to reach all nations as commissioned but presently it as to be done through language study. [35] There are also those with the gift of healing gifted to heal the sick. The variety of the gifts can be divided into different sickness, for example some specific gifts are to heal cancer or emotions, mental illness and many more sicknesses. [36]

Personal encounter with God

Access to God matters most to Pentecostals, life controlled by the Holy Spirit. They stress effectiveness the experience of God. What matters most is the felt power of the Spirit in the world, in the church, and in one’s own life. Their faith is experiential, living faith in the living God who can miraculously, substantially intervene in the world. [37] For Pentecostals, from history they understood the as direct and immediate and self-authenticating. [38] This is explained in simple terms that Pentecostals understanding of the baptism of the spirit grants the authority by virtue of the individual experience of this powerful encounter with God. Therefore, their belief is that though the Holy Spirit they have a personal encounter the authentic and legitimate experience of God.

Power over demons and Satan

Pentecostals stress the empowerment and the felt power of the Holy Spirit in the world. Their focus and faith is in God who miraculously substantially intervenes in the world. For example, Martin discusses how Pentecostalism unites its belief with the social inspiration and the experience of the Spirit. [39] That is the understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit over any social powers that could be powers of darkness. In short, it is a consideration of two different factors, external (demonic forces) and internal factors (Holy Spirit). These make Pentecostals feel part of the community, as they distinguishes the God and Satan, devil and divine, sickness and health. They believe they have power over demons, through the Holy Spirit, that they can obtain through prayer. That is power over sin, spiritual blindness, social oppression, and Sickness. They refer this as their spiritual weapons. One of the most factors which contributed to the Growth of Pentecostalism is their belief in deliverance from evil spirits. Anderson, for example, points out that “the main attraction of Pentecostalism aˆ¦ is still the emphasis on healing and deliverance from evil.” [40]

Their Theology extends to the apocalyptic belief of the coming of the Kingdom which includes the element of the final victory over Satan and death, which is a spiritual warfare. [41] The term “spiritual warfare” is referred to evil spiritual forces such as demons including Satan as mythological realities. Thus, the baptism of the Spirit enables the believers to conquer the spiritual battle and overcome the enemy. As Apostle Paul states, “we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholdsaˆ¦” (2 Corinthians 10: 3-4 NRSV). This is the belief that the Pentecostals have dependence on the Holy Spirit for power to enable them to fight the devil and any principalities of darkness. That is demonic attacks and possessions, physical and emotional sickness, evil spirits and so on.

These claims are biblically based as Pentecostal believes in the true Word of God. Martin and Mullen clarified that “for Pentecostal the supreme authority is the Bible, the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God to which all else must be subject.” [42] Just to mention few examples of bible passages to support these claim of their belief; 1 John 3:8 which states that “the Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (NRSV), “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13 NRSV) and “Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness” (Matthew 10:1 NRSV) and many more. Therefore Pentecostals take the word of God seriously and base their belief on what it says.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the essay has examined the origins of Pentecostalism. It has looked at its roots from early church, through the Holiness movements with the teachings of doctrine of sanctification. The teaching about the Holy Spirit and the actual experiencing of its baptism contributed to how Pentecostalism spread to other places. It has also touched on the explanation of charismatic its difference with Pentecostalism. Last but not least, three characteristics of Pentecostalism have been discussed though this is not the exhaustive least, however due to the limitation of the essay, only three were discussed. We have discovered with reaches that Pentecostalism is a growing movement. It has contributed to the inclining of Christianity as it was declining in many parts of the world. Their emphasis being the baptism by the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts that can be received to believers by God’s will.

Without a doubt, with the love and spirit of Jesus Christ directing my life, I have experienced and a deeper relationship with Him and I have grown in my ability to trust Him. The love Jesus Christ gave to me is like the currency of God’s kingdom. And it is because of his selfless love that I think of my faith in Him as the act of holding out my hand in the darkness and allowing Him to hold me as I walk through life. I gave my life to Jesus at an early age of seven years old and rededicated my life in my late teens. And, it has not been an easy road, but every time I felt unworthy of His love, I remembered the way Christ suffered for our sins. There are still days that no matter how hard I work, I feel unappreciated and unproductive. At times, I will hide my tears and use my laughter to hide my pain. But, whenever I close my eyes in a moment of prayer, all I can see are my disappointments, my past sins, my actions and the carelessness of my words. But, above all, I remember His love, a love that has unselfishly nourished my soul, given me the light to dust off, spread my wings and fly, and a love that has made me to cry out for Him without fear, knowing that He will respond, and give me my heart’s desires. Indeed, the love of Jesus Christ has changed my life and I believe that in order for anyone to personally experience it like I have one will never truly understand. It is a love, that is so unselfish, pure, and every day as I reflect back on my personal relationship with Jesus, it is like am falling in love with Him more and more each day.

Discussion

I gave my life to Jesus Christ at an early age of seven and rededicated my life in my late teens. All my life, until I rededicated my life to Jesus, I always thought that I was supposed to live my life doing my own thing just following some rules and acknowledging that there is a God. I never really felt full, to be exact, spiritually content. I always thought something was not right, but I was not sure but today, I view acts of love as two pronged; one is an invitation from Jesus to seek out His love and two, it is an invitation from Jesus to seek Him out. The love Jesus Christ gave to me has made my faith in Him stronger. Numerous times, I reflect on faith. I strongly think that His love is the currency of His Kingdom. Whenever I think of His love as the act of allowing God to hold me as I walk through life’s challenges, I think of darkness. He is the father of lights, for darkness is as light to Him. Allowing Jesus to hold your hand is allowing love and light into your world.

My thoughts on how His love feels like morph every time depending on the situation. I constantly think of it as an adventure. It is because of the love that He gave to me that my faith has many manifestations. Whenever I have a moment of reflection or I am with my friends, I have come to the realization that people, step out and walk on thin ice. For some people, it is like stepping out of their comfort zones, and for others, it is inviting the love of Jesus Christ into your life, and for some, it is simply holding out your hand in the darkness fully knowing that He will hold it because His love is immeasurable. And for some, it is touching the hem of His shirt for His goodness to flow into their lives.

I think that at times, faith and His love do not make sense. And as I write this paper, I am tempted to think that if I question His love, then I am setting myself for frustration, and even failure. I have experienced conflicts with my faith. I believe this when I act contrary to His word and expect supernatural results. This is certainly when I at times try to author my own faith expecting Him to finish it. How often do we all author things in our lives then invite Jesus to complete them? My personal example is when I rededicated my life to God in my late teens; I got new friends and made myself believe that Jesus had authored it. Jesus was somewhat clear with me that it was not His will for me, but as sometimes we all do, I continued to insist on doing things my way, suffice to say, that my relationship with my new friends miserably flopped, probably because we were not reading from the same page. In my opinion, it is much worse dealing with a broken heart within the context of His love and faith. Here I was, sort of like a baby Christian, dealing with a broken heart, but I certainly learnt my lesson. Jesus loves me so much that He only finishes that which He starts or authors. It is because of His love that He will finish what He has started however we look at it.

After rededicating my life to Him, I also noticed because of His love for me, I had been given a deep love for everybody. In simple words, I found it easier to love everyone; this is not an emotional love, or that ‘lovey dovey’ kind of love, but it is a love that gives me a deep concern for the physical, mental and spiritual well being of other people. And it is because of this love that I am willing to sacrifice my prayers, money, effort, time, and so forth, for the benefit of other people. It is because of the love that Jesus gave me that I have enough love to risk being ostracized and misunderstood when I share the truth of His word. What’s more, since Jesus entered my life, I can no longer pass a beggar on the road. I normally feel compelled to stop and help out in any way I can. I have volunteered at shelters because the people sometimes need someone to talk to. Undoubtedly, my love is not perfect, but because of the love He gave to me, I would give everything that I have to help someone in need of help. Well, I am not there yet, but I have observed a dramatic and sudden difference in my behavior and attitude towards other people. In simple words, because of His love, my love for other people continues to grow.

Furthermore, the first thing that I noticed following my rededication to Him is that I started to have an inexplicable desire to read His word. Earlier, when I tried to read the Holy Bible, it was a challenging task probably because it did not make much sense to me as it does now. However, from reading the Bible and listening to sermons in my local church, I realized that for the joy and love set before Him, Jesus endured the cross for all of us. We, as children of the most High, are so precious to Him. We are all a blessed product that simply cannot fail, because of His love. He trusted the earth to bring forth plantation and vegetation. He also trusted the waters ability to produce all types of water animals and fish. This is simply too amazing. It is because of His love that I am able to bank on the inherent and potential ability of His plans to manifest that which He speaks over. Words have immense power, they are spirit. He creates by speaking. Say what I want to see and see what I say. I am on this spiritual journey and I continue to remain open to learning more.

Conclusion

In sum, it is very clear that God houses ultimate faith and love. For whatever reason, He needs us to only have a little faith just little enough to be able to seek His love and forgiveness. And once we do, His love will give us all the proof that we will ever need to fully understand the love He gave us. That is what happened to me, and I got the greatest gift and surprise in my life, His love.

Justification is Gods divine intervention in the life of his children. To be justified simply means to be forgiven and out of the line of fire of Gods wrath against us due to sin. We all have some areas in our lives that we need God’s grace to come in and not cover, but to forgive. God has a planned purpose for all of His people no matter what one’s past transgressions are. God’s aim is to have one to be in right relationship with Him and justification is the way that He accomplishes that. This is not to excuse one’s self to self-righteous nature, but it ushers in the utter importance of dependence upon Christ and forever keeping in mind his atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus death burial and resurrection is the basis in which this is accomplished.

As we embark upon the endeavor of wrapping our minds around the notion of not having to walk around burdened down by our sins burdensome guilt stain, we begin to live a life of one who is free. We have to learn how to lay aside the weight and sin that has kept us in bondage for years. Justification bridges the gap between our old nature to the new nature and identity that one has in Christ’s blood covering. No longer can we trade biblical standards for the ways of the world, for in doing so, we place ourselves back into our former mind state. A life in Christ is about forward progression and not a backwards digression. We have to learn how to persevere in the things of Christ without wavering. We have to show forth evidence that our mind has been renewed and our past no longer is a hindrance in our right now of life.

Without faith, justification would not be possible. Faith is the key that unlocks my identity in Christ’s planned will for our lives. It can be experienced by having faith and in submission to [1] salvation. One who has faith is one who’s actively tries to align their lives with the example of Christ. It allows one to come to see the destructive power of sin and turn from it through repentance. Faith causes one to seek out Christ on a much deeper level. Before one can understand faith, you have to understand the nature of God. As we are justified by faith, we experience a peace with God that is unexplainable. One who does not share in the justifiable faith brings about condemnation upon themselves.

We have neither the power nor the intellectual skill level in order to pronounce ourselves justified. Even at our very best, we still fall short when measured up against the standards of God. Without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, the gospel of Jesus Christ has no merit upon our lives. One whose mind is deeply rooted in sin cannot possibly seek after nor comprehend the things of the spirit. The spirit seeks after things of the spirit while things that are of the flesh seek after fleshly things. Sin will cause one to deny their inner awareness of the existence of God. We have evidences all throughout the Bible, yet sin still blinds the eyes of those who choose to develop a cognitively distorted views of who God is.

Understanding justification is one of the most critical parts of the Christian faith. Once one comes to the realization of the true essence of justification, one can experience the joy of the gospels message. There has been a great divide amongst those who favor a false view of works as being the source of justification while its true essence is derived by faith alone. Justification is explicit in the process by which God makes salvation applicable in the life of an individual. After God calls the individual unto himself through the gospels effectual pull, regeneration begins to usher one towards repentance as well as faith. Justification follows faith and righteousness in the viewpoint of God belongs to us.

In the sight of God, we are declared just and have no penalty charged for our past, neither present, nor future sins. As we find our identity in God, the guilt charge of condemnation is not applicable in the believer’s life as we are covered once and for all by the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ. As we are enlightened on the subject of justification and how it correlates with the sacrifice of Jesus, we discover that this is the third observation of impartation. This righteousness that is freely given in Christ is what God sees when He looks upon his people. Our goal in this life ought not to be to have a righteousness of our own, but rather we must allow Christ to be our wisdom, our knowledge, and our guide. Our righteousness depends on our faith.

The most essential heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ is his perfection in the area of righteousness. He commands of us to be you holy as I am holy. This command is not an option, but one that is of great importance if one would like to experience the fullness of Christ. Without justification, we would have no assurance of our forgiveness with God, and no confidence in our heart where the fullness of faith’s instrumental cause. If we were to rely on our own strengths and were not forever mindful of our weaknesses, there would be no room for God’s grace and will leave no room for error as our faith would lays upon our imperfect self’s. Faith solely in self clouds and confuses one’s view of God’s grace and ultimately destroys the heart of the gospel. [2]

Justification by Grace Alone

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Since we are not morally competent enough to forgive ourselves or save ourselves from utter depravity, God institutes His grace and favor upon a dying world that has not the ability to redeem itself. Salvation is a free gift through the grace of God that stands apart from any works that we human beings may be able to perform. “For it is by the grace of God that we are saved through faith and not by works lest any man shall boast “(eph. 2; 8-9). Grace falls in direct contrast with our works and merit in such a way that grace is the only thing that saves us while justification is in direct sequence with our salvific experience.

Justification through Faith in Christ

In order to be justified, we have to have faith in Jesus Christ, and not works of any law of sorts. We are not justified by any inherent reason goodness of our faith as our faith earns no favor with God. Faith is the determining factor in which the obtaining of justification is possible. There is a reason why God chooses faith as the vehicle on the road to justification. Faith in the true and living God and the sacrifice of Christ is the one thing that will keep one from depending on oneself. When we come to Christ in a total dependency upon him, it is a total act of submission to the ways and the will of God. It is to say that one is totally and whole heartedly dependent upon God solely. Jesus gives one a righteous standing before God. Faith is the [3] opposite of self-reliance and is a declaration in the hearts and minds of those who are covered under grace. One has to have an attitude that is in alignment with thankful adoration for God’s unmerited favorable choice.

The doctrinal implication of justification by faith is of upmost importance to salvation. This not only gives one hope within them, but it is a testimony to others who may be at the cross roads of unbelief. Life in Christ has an eternal cognitive. One who ministers Christ to another must attest an accurate depiction of the total submission and reliance upon what a life of faith looks like from an eternal view. When you are justified, you don’t have to worry about God taking out vengeance out on one’s past sins. As we come before the Lord, we shall hear not guilty as a result of the devils accusations.

In conclusion, one has to be confident in God’s declaring a not guilty plea upon their lives. We are justified by faith in Christ’s unselfish sacrifice in which gives us a pardon from our past sins. “There is therefore no condemnation in those who are in Christ Jesus “(Romans 8:31). We can now live a life free of the guilt and stain of our sins. God’s unmerited favor is what allows us to be covered by the blood of Jesus. Christ made a sacrifice to justify.

Disclaimer: The following content is a critical analysis and presented for academic purpose, it is not meant to hurt the cultural and religious sentiments of any person.

For centuries now, cultures have understood the importance of the sun as the guardian of mankind, for without it, there would be no light, the crops won’t grow and there will be no vision. As far as the 10,000 BC, history is abundant with carvings representing the respect for the sun. Because of such powers of the sun, cultures have called it as the ‘God Sun’, the giver of life and the saviour of the humankind. Ironically, most of the cultures around the world have also created their own anthropomorphized versions of the sun, which we know today as the ‘Gods’. During the course of this essay, we will substantiate the claims.

The earliest representation of the sun as a mystic deity can be found in Egypt, by the name of ‘Horus’. Let us see a few high points in the life of Horus.

Horus (Egypt, 3000 BC)

Born of a virgin (Isis)

Born on December 25th

Star in the east

Adored by 3 kings

Prodigal teacher at 12

Baptized at 30

Had 12 Disciples and travelled throughout the world

Performed miracles (healing the sick, walking on water etc.)

A.k.a. “The Truth”, “The Light”, “The lamb of god”, “The good shepherd” etc

Crucified

Buried for 3 days

Resurrected

These attributes of Horus, seem to have permeated many cultures and many other gods around the world are found to have the same general mythological structure. For example:

Attis (Greece, 1200 BC)

Born of a virgin

Born on 25th December

Crucified

Dead for 3 days

Resurrected

Krishna (India, 900 BC)

Born of a virgin (Devaki, even though I strongly doubt how can she be a virgin on the time of the 9th childbirth!!)

Star in the east

Performed Miracles

Resurrected

Dionysus (Greece, 500 BC)

Born of a virgin

Born on 25th December

Performed miracle (turned water into wine, no wonder people loved him!!)

A.k.a. “Alpha and Omega”, “King of kings”

Resurrected

Mithra (Persia, 1200 BC)

Born of a virgin

Born on December 25th

Performed miracles

Had 12 disciples

Buried for 3 days

Resurrected

A non-exhaustive list of gods with similar mythological structures will also include:

Buddha

Salivahan (Bermuda)

Odin (Norse)

Crite (Chaldea)

Baal and Taut (Phoenecia)

Indra (Tibet/India)

Bali (Afghanistan)

Jao (Nepal)

Wittoba (Bilingonese)

Thammuz (Syria)

Atys (Phrygia)

Xamolxis (Thrace)

Adad (Assyria)

Beddru (Japan)

Thor (Gaul)

Adonis (Greece)

aˆ¦ and many more.

These striking similarities make us question the mythological symbols, why the virgin birth, why December 25th and what is the deal with the 12 disciples. For answers, we will turn to the latest in the long line of what I call, “The Solar Messiahs”, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ (Bethlehem, 30 BC)

List same as Horus, in page 1

We will now try to decipher the symbols, for doing so; we will start with the ones which is common to almost every one of them, the Birth Sequence.

Even though it might not seem so, but the birth sequence of “Born of a Virgin on December 25th with a Star in the East”, is completely astrological. The “Star in the east” happens to be Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius, on December 25th happens to align with 3 brightest stars in the Orion’s Belt. These 3 stars are called today, as they were called in the ancient times, “the 3 kings”. These stars, (3 in the Orion’s belt and Sirius, taken together) point to the point of sunrise on December 25th. Thus, the 3 kings ‘follow’ the star in the east, in order to locate, the sunrise, or the birth of the sun.

The virgin mother is the constellation Virgo, which is also known as “Virgo the Virgin”. Which in Latin, also refers to the “House of Bread”, ironically, Bethlehem, also refers to the House of Breads, thus, Bethlehem literally translates to a position in the constellation, rather than a place on earth.

From the perspective of the northern hemisphere (which is also a striking similarity, all of these gods belong to the northern hemisphere) December 22nd marks the day of the winter solstice, till this date, the sun moved constantly towards the south, making the days smaller and the nights longer. However, on December 22nd, the sun reaches its lowest position on the horizon and then stays there for 3 days (December 22-24) and starting December 25th, it starts its journey northwards, making the days longer and marking the beginning of spring. Also, for these 3 days, the sun is positioned near to a constellation known as the Southern Cross, or the crux. Thus, “the sun” died “at the cross”, was “buried” for “3 days” and thus, “resurrected”. It is actually the sun’s transition to the northern hemisphere bringing spring and thus, salvation. However, the resurrection of the sun is only celebrated on Easter, which marks the point of the spring equinox, hereafter, the days become longer, thus the darkness is overpowered and the revitalizing conditions of spring officially emerge.

The 12 disciples will now seem to be the most obvious astrological symbolism around the gods we have talked about till now. They simply represent the 12 constellations of the zodiac, which the gods, being the sun, travel about with. Also, the significance of the number 12 is striking throughout the mythological texts, specially the bible, for example, 12 sons of Jacob, 12 Judges of Israel, 12 princes of Israel, 12 great patriarchs etc.

“And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead” – Matt 28:6

The cross of the zodiac, the figurative life of the sun, is not just an artistic expression or tool to track the sun’s movement. It is also a pagan spiritual symbol, the short hand of which represents the pagan cross. This is the reason that Jesus, in early arts, was always shown with his head on the cross, as Jesus was the “Sun”, the “Son of God” and the “Light of the world”. This also explains the crown of thorns worn by Jesus, which is nothing but the sun rays, as depicted in any art form depicting the sun.

“As long as I’m in the world, I’m the light of the world” – John 9:5

http://xrystiann.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/cross-of-the-zodiac.jpg http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/CrossCeltic.gif

The mythological scriptures, specially the bible, have been riddled with the reference to the ‘ages’. Astronomically speaking, this is nothing but the phenomenon of the “Procession of the Equinox”. The Egyptians and the cultures before and after them were familiar with the fact that every 2150 years (approx) the sunrise of the spring equinox (Easter) will happen on a different sign of the zodiac (zodiacs are nothing but a specific constellation which have been anthropomorphised to a phenomena which is found in nature around that point of time, Aquarius, or the water bearer, only symbolises the melting of ice and the availability of fresh water and thus, signalling the inception of spring). The earth completes the entire cycle of moving through all the signs in 25,765 years, which is approx 2150 years per sign, which the ancient cultures referred to as the “Era”. Just for information, we are currently in the era of the Pisces and around 2150 A.D. we will move onto the new era of the Aquarius. The bible refers to a symbolic movement of 3 sign while foreshadowing the 4th. In the Old Testament, when Moses received the 10 commandments and came down from Mount Sinai, he found his people worshipping a golden bull. He was visibly upset and instructs his men to kill each other to purify themselves (Go in and go out from gate to gate, and slay every man and his brother, every man and his companion, every man and his neighbour .. – Exodus 32). Most biblical scholars tribute this anger to the fact that the Israelites were worshipping a false idol, but astronomically, it was a representation to the age of “Taurus”, the bull, and Moses represented the new age of Aries, the Ram. This can be substantiated by the example that Jews’, still today, blow the Ram’s horn. Similar symbolisms are prevalent in other cultures as well, for example, Mithra (Persia) killing the bull.

Jesus, follows us into the new age of Pisces, or the fishes, thus we can see the fish symbolism in abundance in the New Testament. For example, Jesus feeds 5000 people with bread and two fish (We only have five loaves of bread and two fish – Matt 14:17). When Jesus begins his ministry and he was walking with Galilee, he befriended 2 fishermen. This can also be substantiated by the Jesus symbol we see today on the back of people’s cars. Little they know that it actually symbolises a pagan astrological symbol of the sun’s kingdom during the age of Pisces.

http://jansimson.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/jesus-fish-cross.jpg?w=590

When the disciples of Jesus ask him here the last Passover would be, he answers “Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in” (Luke 22:10). This scripture is one of the most revealing among all the astrological references. The “man bearing the pitcher of water is Aquarius, the water bearer, he represents the age after Pisces, and when the God Sun, leaves the age of Pisces, it will go into the house of Aquarius, as Aquarius follows Pisces in the Procession of the Equinox. All Jesus is saying here is that after the age of Pisces, will come the Age of Aquarius. This actually leads us to “End of the World” theory, apart from the cartoonish description provided in the Book of Revelation, the source of this idea comes from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus consoles his disciples saying “I will be with you even to the end of the world”. But, in the King James version, the word “world” is a mistranslation, among many. The actual word used was “Aeon”, which literally means “Age” or “Era”, which makes the statement as “I will be with you even to the end of the age”. Which is nothing but the fact that Jesus’s solar Piscean anthropomorphisation will end as the procession enters the age of Aquarius. Thus, rendering the entire concept of end of the times or end of the world as a misinterpreted astrological allegory. Someone please tell this to the billions of fanatics all over the world who believes that the end of the world is coming. Also, the character of Jesus being a literary and astrological hybrid, is the most explicit and plagiarised version of the Egyptian God Horus (I so wish there was turnitin when the bible was written, it would have never got published!!).

Sun, being the supreme among all the celestial bodies and by virtue of being visible to the ancient astronomers, was instantly assigned the position of the greatest among gods. It also became a symbol of the supreme authority and synonymous to the creator itself. From a philosophic standpoint, the principles of the sun have lead to the concept of the trinity, as we understand it today. The concept of the triune divine is not only a tenet of Christian or mosaic theologies only, but it forms an integral part of all religions. The hindus, Persians, Babylonians all have their individual dogmas about the trinity. The origin of the trinity will become obvious to anyone observing the daily transgression of the sun. The solar orb, being the symbol of all possible light sources, has 3 very distinct phases, namely, rising, mid-day and setting. Taking a cue from this, the philosophers also divided the life-journey of all living things in 3 distinct phases, namely, birth, growth and decay. The time between the dawn and dusk represents the high-time, of glory, of prime. This phase is usually represented by the colour yellow, radiant and magnificent. The creation is symbolized by the dawn. Interestingly, the father god is usually shown in the colour blue, which is primarily because, the rising sun is covered in a veil of blue mist. The setting sun is represented in flaming red, before it settles into darkness. The Egyptians believed the sun to be a symbol of immortality, as it sets every day just to rise the next day to conquer the darkness.

Probably the only culture (or religion) which doesn’t acknowledge the power of the sun and doesn’t position it as their supreme deity, happens to be Islam, Qur’an doesn’t have any references to the sun and celestial objects having any sort of mystic symbolism or religious significance. Possibly due to the widespread practice of sun-worshipping among the pre-Islamic cults in Arabia, sun-worshipping is forbidden by the Muslim doctrine, Shariah. So, the rising and setting of the sun becomes just a daily astronomical routine incident.

The sun, has its own share of significance in the Hindu mythology as well, this is not only substantiated by the fact that sun is considered as one of the most kind and powerful gods among all and has his own temple, but because of the fact that the sun is the only deity who to whom the prayers need to be offered in a very specific style, the ‘suryanamaskar’. Also, according to both Hindu and Greek mythology, sun rides a chariot which is driven by seven horses. This number seven actually represents the constituent colours of light. What we know today as the primary colours, or the VIBGYOR.

The similarities are endless, but we can clearly see that no matter what religion we talk about, the sun plays a vital role in preserving life but also responsible for hale and hearty propagation of mankind. No wonder that Plato referred to the sun as a metaphor for ‘ultimate illumination’. In a more spiritual sense, sun is symbolised with the concept of the Soul. Similar to the sun, where we have only light, and nothing else, the soul, the nature of the true self, is also described to be pure and infinite. Like the sun, the soul is also full of love, joy, truth, peace and allness of good. For the sun, the only truth is the light, as the sun is the source of light; these qualities of the soul are the realities of our soul, of our being. Philosophers also believed in the existence of three suns in every universe, which is analogous to the dogma of three centres of life. These are, namely, the spiritual sun, the intellectual/soular sun and the material sun. in freemasonic cults, these are represented by lighting of three candles. The spiritual sun manifests power, the soular sun radiates life and the material sun is considered to the vehicle for manifesting the Holy Spirit.