A History Of Christianity In Egypt Essays - Ethnic Groups In Egypt

A History of Christianity in Egypt A History of Christianity in Egypt The history of Christianity in Egypt dates back verily to the beginnings of Christianity itself. Many Christians hold that Christianity was brought to Egypt by the Apostle Saint Mark in the early part of the first century AD. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastic History states that Saint Mark first came to Egypt between the first and third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, which would make it sometime between AD 41 and 44, and that he returned to Alexandria some twenty years later to preach and evangelize. Saint Mark's first convert in Alexandria was Anianus, a shoemaker who later was consecrated a bishop and became Patriarch of Alexandria after Saint Mark's martyrdom. This succession of Patriarchs has remained unbroken down to the present day, making the Egyptian Christian, or Coptic, Church one of the oldest Christian churches in existence. Evidence for this age comes in the form of the oldest Biblical papyri discovered in remote regions of Upper Egypt. These papyri are written in the Coptic script and are older than even the oldest Greek copies of the Bible ordered by Constantine in AD 312. The Egyptians before Christianity had always been a deeply religious people, and many readily embraced the young religion, having had their old beliefs effectively destroyed by the coming of the Roman Empire and the final dethroning of the god-king Pharaohs. Many of the concepts of Christianity were already familiar to the Egyptians from their ancient religion, such as the death and resurrection of a god, the idea of the judgement of souls and a paradisiacal afterlife for the faithful. The ankh too, the Egyptian symbol for eternal life, is very similar to that of the cross revered by Christians (especially in the form of the Coptic cross, seen at right), itself also a symbol for eternal life. Furthermore, the belief that God had chosen Egypt as a safe place for His infant son to hide him from Herod was a great source of pride to the Egyptian Christians. It was through Christianity that the Egyptian culture survived the Roman Dominion. The Church Suffering and Victorious Yet these formative years were not without problems. Throughout this time Christianity in Egypt was locked in an often deadly struggle against the polytheistic religions of the Greco-Roman culture as well as the Hellenistic movement that began in Alexandria spread to other large cities. To counter Hellenistic philosophy that often criticized the young religion the Christian leaders in Egypt established a catechetical school in Alexandria, the Didascalia, founded in the late second century AD. This school became the heart of what can only be called Christian philosophy, and great teachers and orators such as Clement and Origen were able to battle the Hellenistic philosophers on their own ground and advocate Christianity in an orderly and intellectual manner. It was also in this great university of Christian learning that Christianity first underwent rigorous studies that created its first theology and dogma, as well as making the new faith accessible to all. Pantaenus, the founder and first dean of the Didascalia, helped the Egyptian people bridge the gap between Dynastic Egypt and the new era by promoting the use of the Greek alphabet instead of the Demotic ("cursive" hieroglyphics) in translations of the Bible as well as in the writing of religious theses and letters. Additionally, the school educated everyone who came to it in Greek, opening the study of religion to just about everyone, and making as many people as possible literate. Yet the greatest persecutions on the young religion came at the hands of the Roman government. Emperor Nero had set the precedent in AD 64, about the same time as the martyrdom of Saint Peter. It was unusual, for the actual offense was simply to be a Christian or to profess the Christian faith, rather than any kind of criminal acts that might go along with it (such as those later falsely attributed to Medieval heretics). An arrested Christian could receive a pardon simply by offering incense on a Roman altar, but many refused to do so, citing scripture passages urging faith in the one God. Thus the true "crime" of the persecuted Christians was their refusal to do homage to the Roman gods, including the emperor. Those who did refuse to bow to the Roman religion were imprisoned, often tortured, thrown to the wild animals in the coliseum, or suffered execution by any number of other means. Rather than discouraging the Christians, these actions encouraged them and reinforced their faith, echoing

Bulimia and Anorexia Essays

Bulimia and Anorexia Essays Bulimia and Anorexia Essay Bulimia and Anorexia Essay One of the hardest aspects of these disorders is figuring out who could possibly be suffering from them. Some of the easiest ways to detect an eating disorder is if they are complaining of constipation or stomach aches, mood swings, social withdrawal, excessive exercise, and concern about weight. Those can both be associated with both anorexia and bulimia. But they also hold their own set of symptoms particular to themselves. For example, people suffering from anorexia may complain about eyeing fat, have dramatic weight loss, and are usually extremely underweight. Whereas bulimics eat secretively, loose and gain a lot of weight, and have yellowed teeth. The causes for anorexia and bulimia have not officially been found. Researchers have done numerous studies and can pin point certain factors. For Anorexia they believe that it is caused by biological, psychological and social factors. It could also have to deal with family problems, standards, rules, or disturbed communication. Bulimia, because it is usually found in young people in their early asss, researchers eave pinned that the most likely cause is from stress at school or leaving home. Bulimia, like anorexia as well, has a lot to do with psychological factors too. As any disease, only professionals should handle treatment. One of the most successful treatments was founded by the American Psychiatric Association (PAP) and has a structure similar to what AAA members go through. They have a 12 step program for both bulimia and anorexia. Along with the program they usually use ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. One of the most crucial aspects of reading these diseases is making sure that the treated are only with patrons of the same disease, they should not be combined. One of the main reasons to knowing the causes, symptoms, and treatments for bulimia and anorexia is if you are entering the physical education field. This is because anorexia and bulimia are found quite often in young women who perform in the symptoms are so they can keep an eye on their athletes and make sure they stay healthy and fit in a good way. Sometimes it may be difficult to figure out exactly what ease they may have because of their many differences, but because they are similar in what they do to the body. The outcomes may be grave if not taken care of right away. Bulimia nervous and anorexia nervous are two very sickly diseases. While not all die that become sick with these diseases, they are very detrimental to your body. They can very easily harm your physical body by putting a lot of stress on certain organs, and they can be very detrimental to mental health as well. So next time you step on that scale, if you think you need to lose weight, think twice about owe you are going to go about doing it.

Intercultural Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Intercultural Communications - Assignment Example However, I am of Asian origin, which is also my race. I am a student which is based on my vocation. Social Identity has a great impact on how I view other people and how they view me. These identities have impacted how I view the world in terms of associating myself with a group. For example, at school I can relate myself with other people as a group of students. This has given me a sense of belonging in this social group. These social identities have also had a positive impact on how other people view me. Even though I am of a different race, this has never been an issue in this country. Other people regard me and have accepted me as their fellow student. Knowledge on social identities has helped people appreciate the similarities and differences among people. Social identity has influenced the people’s view and how they interact with each other where they are able to identify with a particular group and feel closer to the group. The more uniform that individual are, the more likely that they are going to be regarded as members of that group. They will have the positive and negative attributes of the particular group. Social identity is crucial in making social interaction more understandable by categorizing people in various ways based on their similarities and differences (Deaux, 2001). It can be able of point similarities among people in a social