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Should an age limit be placed on child beauty pageants? Every Wednesday night, millions tune into TLC to see Toddlers & Tiaras and of course their ‘Crazy Pageant Mums’. The series has run for 6 seasons so far and follows the preparation before the pageants and the contests. The TLC hit has failed to show the dark side of child beauty pageants and the dangers that come with it. The show doesn’t show the 6am starts and the near starvation beforehand. This puts immense stress on the children and that is why I believe there should be a law which stops parents entering children into pageants under the age of 8. On one hand, many parents, promoters and judgers of such competitions believe that the beauty version of the Hunger Games is good for the young children. They believe that it creates confidence in the girls and helps them embrace themselves. It also is good for their self-esteem and attitude. It gives the girls a sense of structure and routine in their lives and prepares them for adult hood. On the other hand, people believe that it sexualizes children far too early and puts them ...

Tertullian’s the Prescription Against Heretics

The early Church was birthed through perseverance against intense persecution: (i) physical persecution by the governments of the time which lauded the oppression, imprisonment, torture and death of Christians for their new religious doctrines; and (ii) intellectual persecution by opposing religious sects who sort to denounce the doctrines of Christianity. The Prescription Against Heretics was written in response to the latter – to defend the tenets of Christianity against the false teachings of heretics and religious-based philosophers.Heretics promoted controversial views which were in opposition to those offered by Christian doctrine, with the intention of creating followers of their beliefs. Religio-philosophers were quasi-Christians who promoted the use of intellect and logic to understand Christianity and in doing so, never becoming Christians. Tertullian saw the end of philosophy as heresy and categorizes both as the same. Tertullian defends Christianity by describing h eresies as powerless, fallible and only expressive of a lack of faith; he therefore provides a rule of faith as a measure and the authority for Christianity.Tertullian was born in the city of Carthage, North Africa, around 160 C. E. He was raised as a pagan, was able to read and write in Greek and Latin and received an excellent education in grammar, literature, philosophy, law and rhetoric. He became a Stoic but later converted to Christianity at the age of forty years. Within medieval Christian history, Tertullian is classified as an Apologist – a theologian who, during the era of violent persecution of Christians, used writings to defend Christianity against its challengers.His apologetic writing, The Prescription Against Heretics, reads as a legal defense argument against philosophers and influential heretics such as Marcion, Plato, Valentinus, Zeno and the Stoics. Many of these were using logic to question Christianity and created doubt in some of the believers, which at tracted Christians away from the Faith. In chapter fourteen of The Prescription, Tertullian stated that he felt morally obligated to counteract the teachings of heretics.This was perhaps because he had firsthand experience with the flaws of religio-philosophical reasoning and now, through his conversion, experiencing the personal joys of faith in Christianity. Tertullian’s first line of defense against heresies was to show that they are indeed powerless and inconsequential to the strength of Christianity. In doing so, he is able to circumvent the trepidation that the early Christians may have had regarding heretical influences. Any advance of a heretical teaching against the Church would be only temporary and unsuccessful; much like a short-lived, passing illness.According to Tertullian, heresies are only powerful in appearance because of the few individuals who were already weak in their faith and allowed themselves to be ensnarled in the whims of false teachings. For these individuals to be drawn away has no effect on the veracity of Christianity. Airing confidence in his argument, Tertullian says, â€Å"Heresies derive such strength as they have from the infirmities of individuals – having no strength whenever they encounter a really powerful faith†, his new found faith, Christianity.As a shepherd expects and accepts that wolves will after his flock and in fact capture a few, in like manner Tertullian parallels the existence of heresies in Christendom. He uses this allegory to encourage the second century Christians with the view that not only did the Lord forewarned the Church that heresies will arise and believers some will indeed be loss but also that they should celebrate their proven faithful to God by not allowing themselves to be trapped by the heretics.Continuing to promote the authority of Christianity, Tertullian asserts that heresies only exist because God is using them to train and strengthen the faith of the believers. Othe r than that, they are simply â€Å"foolishness†. Tertullian clears the slate of all the popular supposed intellectuals by revealing their fallibility – no matter how well-intended, all of their teachings amount to the same questions repeated in different ways by different the men, but producing the same answer – that is, there will never be an answer until you accept the overarching authority of the Scripture of God.Tertullian asked the question, â€Å"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? †, to point out that philosophical methods of inquiry have nothing to do with teaching by the authority of scripture and the church alone has the authority to declare what is and what is not orthodox Christianity. Perhaps Tertullian had discovered this reality in his personal search for truth based upon intellectualism and saw that he had to relinquish his intellect to the ultimate authority of God and in doing so he found fulfillment.Tertullian is covering every argume nt that a heretic may use to justify himself, especially in their passion for attempting to juxtapose philosophy with Christianity, and using scripture to support their continual questions. He is using his legal background and training in rhetoric to give support to the Church. In The Prescription, Tertullian directly identifies the â€Å"seek, and ye shall find† scripture (Matthew 7:7) as a prominent passage misunderstood and misused by heretics to justify their continual questioning of the Word of God.He argues that heretics take this scripture out of context and interpret what was meant literally for the Jewish community of Jesus’ time as the same for the heretics of his day. Tertullian supports this argument from the position that, like him, the heretics are Gentiles and in the time of Jesus, Gentiles did not have access to salvation. Therefore, they had no knowledge of what to seek, where to knock or who to ask. This access only came through the instruction of the apostles by virtue of the Holy Ghost.His conclusion was that this Scripture was only to be used as a figurative example for the heretics and therefore they should cease to question divine scripture. This misinterpretation only adds to the unreliability and the inadequacy of the human intellect of heretics as sources of truth compared to the church which has access to Divine Truth. According to Tertullian’s argument, because heretics continue to seek it means that they have found what they were looking for, if they have not found, they cannot believe and if they do not believe, they are not Christians.And if they are not Christians then they have no right to quote or discuss the Bible – inside or outside the Church. To separate his intellect from those of the heretics and to show himself to as a true Christian with divine permission to use the Bible, Tertullian draws many of his examples directly from the Scriptures. Tertullian argued that Christians and heretics use t he Bible for different reasons. Christians use it to access truth in God and to increase their faith while oppositely, it was the use of philosophy which drove heretics to continual curious inquires of the Scripture.But, in reality these inquires amounted to a lack of faith by the philosophers. His position was that once an individual had sought and found truth in the teachings of Christ, that person need not seek anything further and should fully believe in that which he had found. To keep seeking meant that the individual had not believed or had faith in what they had found in Christ. This would be core measure between a Christianity and heresy. A Christian seeks the word of God, finds it and believes – this is faith and this is therefore a Christian.For a heretic, he goes into the scripture without knowing what he is looking for and questioning everything he finds in the scripture – this is a lack of faith and this is not a Christian. For Tertullian, the solution wa s a complete expulsion of philosophers because they will never know for what they are seeking, where they are knocking or to whom they are asking, and to have them around would only give possibilities for them to destroy the Church. He urges Christians to not get involved in discussions with philosophers and heretics and to only discuss matters related to Christ with other Christians, without weakening the rule of faith.He offers a summary of the Christian creed, the rule of faith, as the basis for inquiry and once an individual had found truth in the rule regarding the role of God, The Son and the Holy Spirit, there should be no further searching. In his writing, Tertullian uses Luke 18:42 to assert that it is the faith of individuals that would save them and not their ability to debate Scripture. The truth of their belief lies in the rule of faith and to go outside of the rule would be to enter into heresy; which inevitably will lead to destruction.In this period of questioning an d persecutions, Tertullian felt that all Christians must know what they have obtained through God and through the scripture. With this faith, they will not be shaken by threats of violence from the government and the threats of corruption by the heretics. Tertullian’s position in the separation of Christianity from philosophy and heresies is that the latter two have no connection with the former. Philosophy is not based upon faith but rather distracts away from it and induces heresies.In turn, heresies induce further heresies and it is the intention of these heretics to seduce Christians away from their original doctrinal beliefs. He illustrates this by purporting that intellect cannot understand the spiritual and the people who believe in intellect cannot be considered a part of the church. To unite the two polarities, Christianity and philosophy, would be to create a polluted doctrine. Christians must not allow themselves to be swayed by the religio-philosophical practice o f using scripture.He also offers that there is nothing more enjoyable that Christianity and because of the pleasures from Christ’s teachings there was no need to search for anything further. Whether in sympathy or in condemnation, Tertullian attempts to use his Prescription Against Heretics as an uncontestable argument in defense of his Christianity against the vices of heretics and religio-philosophers. According to Tertullian, everything that an individual needs can be found in the rule of faith – the most enjoyable belief, which he has discovered and now vigorously defend.

Analysis Of Nelson Mandela And Socrates - 1226 Words

Character is not a personality someone claims they have. Character is how people see you. If you flaunt and boast saying you have character there is is no consistency neither direction. True character is not going around saying or boasting you character, but by living it. The best way to be an example is to live one and that will speak for itself. True character is having integrity and not just when others are watching but when you are alone; are you still going to behave the same way. Nelson Mandela and Socrates both exhibited true character. Whether to take a stand for what they believe or to go against the status quo of society even if it meant death through their beliefs, values, and actions. Two world refined leaders in history today are Nelson Mandela and Socrates. Nelson Mandela fought for an end to an apartheid in South Africa which segregated black and white African people. Socrates fought for his life after the accusation of corrupting the youth and creating his own gods. Even though obstacles presented themselves in the face of these two men they knew they had a purpose and destiny in life. If they would have stopped or become discouraged, who knows where our world might be.They had followers who put their faith, hope, and trust in them and if they would have accepted offers presented to them many lives would be lost today. Black South African people adored and still adore Nelson Mandela for his political courage in office first for becoming the first blackShow MoreRelatedThe History of Art, Literature, Music and Philosophy Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pagestone, colour, lighting and brushwork to create the three-dimensional effect of the picture. Part 2 Literature Read the sonnet by Anna Seward (1742 - 1809), Sonnet. December Morning (Resource book 1, A27). Write a continuous analysis of the poem, using the questions below as the focus for your answer) Questions 1. Explain, using your own words as far as possible, lines 1 to 9, up to the word given. 2. Elaborate what the main purpose of the sestet isRead MoreA Critical Review of â€Å"the Ambiguities of Football, Politics, Culture, and Social Transformation in Latin America† by Tamir Bar-on.14147 Words   |  57 Pagesa major influence on politics, nationalism, and culture and those professionals in the soccer industry should be using that influence to bring awareness to crucial social and political issues. †¢ Research Method: Bar-On uses secondary analysis as a means of research, that is, he refers to a variety of research techniques that make use of already existing sources, or publicly accessible information and data. This method is not the most effective research method in the sense that when aRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesLine 58 Understanding and Appreciating Individual Differences Important Areas of Self-Awareness 61 Emotional Intelligence 62 Values 65 Ethical Decision Making and Values 72 Cognitive Style 74 Attitudes Toward Change 76 Core Self-Evaluation 79 SKILL ANALYSIS 84 Cases Involving Self-Awareness 84 Communist Prison Camp 84 Computerized Exam 85 Decision Dilemmas 86 SKILL PRACTICE 89 Exercises for Improving Self-Awareness Through Self-Disclosure 89 Through the Looking Glass 89 Diagnosing Managerial Characteristics