Discuss critically Paul's treat of grace in chapter 6 of Romans Essay

Discuss critically Paul's treat of grace in chapter 6 of Romans - Essay Example The epistle thus introduces grace based on the fact that human beings and sin are acquaintances, yet there is salvation that comes from the grace of God, but it is a choice. In this chapter, Paul acknowledges that sin has to be absolved by God for one to have a chance in eternal life, but it is not mandatory that grace is offered, yet it does not give one a free pass to the sweetness of sin. Based in Paul’s approach to grace and sin, the latter is quite compelling and is associated with a life that has earthly pleasures, which should not be what a Christian aspires due to the repercussions that are associated with engaging in the acts that contradict the life of a Christian and Christianity principles1. Analysis The introduction of grace in the Christian life is based on the choices an individual makes. Sin as described by Paul is unavoidable and Christians shall find themselves in it, but through grace, a Christian can be saved from sin and gain eternal life. The chapter addr esses sin as a life of slavery and Paul goes on to further states that without proper knowledge and insight, it would be impossible to live a life devoid of sin. The epistle faults humanity and introduces the element of human weakness in saying that â€Å"we are dead to that master† (6: 7& 8), which is a life of sin. ... The context of the epistle is trying to establish a logical flow that paints salvation as a process where the Christian has to make choices. The choices that are made in a Christian’s life have spiritual consequences as painted by Paul. Though we are given the ability to choose and dominion over God’s creations, we have an obligation to him. Part of that obligation as suggested by Paul is avoiding sin. This abstinence from sin is based on the idea that the body, being earthly shall compel us to sin. The body shall be compelled to the evil desires since it is mortal, but as a Christian, one should rely on the spiritual to avoid falling trap to the associations of sin. The grace of God can save our spiritual form, although Paul does not create a great disparity between body and soul. In grace then our spiritual being shall have the capability of putting up defense against the challenge of earthly desires. Grace is important to Christian life since as Paul describes the bo dy has an influence on the spirit and the spiritual being shall suffer from the transgressions of the body3. The Christian thus must make a decision as to whether their preference lays in being an instrument of righteousness or the contrasting wickedness. As discussed by Paul, life consists of several challenges, which are earthly and are part of what can be described as sin. Every Christian shall face challenges in life which should be overcome through staunch faith and living in the footprints of Christ. Different parameters of earthly life contribute to the choices one makes and contribute to spiritual and bodily adherence to Christianity. Conversion to Christianity involves several steps that must get the believer to accept

Free Will, Determinism and Moral Responsibility Term Paper

Free Will, Determinism and Moral Responsibility - Term Paper Example The paper tells that on one hand, free will can be defined as an ability that an individual harnesses or on the other, free will can be constructed as a possession inherent in a person. The reasoning faculty of humans facilitates and empowers free will. Causal events are attributed to the exercise and natural outcomes of free will. If rational human actions are assumed to arise from free will, then that would mean that free will is contingent on those events. That position leads to the belief that a person acting freely essentially manifests the working of his or her free will. The implications of free will are moral responsibility, legal accountability and self-determinism. Self-determinism is a principle founded on free will and self-influenced decision and action. In religion, the possession and exercise of free will places man in a position to either follow the divine will or go against it. Free will makes man liable for his choices and answerable to an authority. Free will also frees man to a certain extent from passivity of man, seing that he is characterized an active moral agent who can make changes in his life and that of others. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes asserts this theory by stating that all free-willed actions are based or influenced by external factors compelling an individual to act. However, one might dispute this approach because these actions are spurred by two distinct types of freedom: freedom of will and freedom of action. The disparity between freedom of will and freedom of action in the context of causality is underlined by the fact that agents can have free will but no freedom of action.3 For example, if a person wants to go to the store and buy an item at the mall, he or she is free to do so. However, if the said individual is tied fast to a chair or does not have the money to buy anything, these conditions directly hinder his liberty to act on his free will. The individual still has the free will to steal the item or attempt to break f ree from restraint. According to Hobbes’ theory, external factors such as the person’s pressing necessity for that item or someone else’s request have influenced the individual to come to the decision to go to the mall. In both cases, the individual retains the free will to execute the action, nevertheless agencies outside the individual’s control impacts on the final outcome. The fundamental question here is the leveling of responsibility at an individual for actions arising not from his own free will, but from exterior environmental factors over which he has no control. The simple answer would be these individuals are not responsible for their actions, however unpopular this view may be. If one were to introduce a system of reward and punishment to instigate or control action, then, no one can be praised or blamed owing to the incentive or disincentive. 4 However, an exception to Hobbes’ theory lies in the premise of causal determinism proposed b y the British analytic philosopher Galen Strawson. The premise implies that current events are fixed outcomes since events are actuated by a cause and the cause

Spoken and Written Language, the Dual Route Model Case Study

Spoken and Written Language, the Dual Route Model - Case Study Example 1197). Thus, Coltheart and Rastle attempt to offer evidence to the utility of dual-route theory in analyzing the reading performance of young normal readers as well as children with reading impairment. Another significant article on the applicability of dual-route theory, Rapcsak, et al. offer establish with evidences that dual-route equation as well as a related multiple regression model can â€Å"accurately predict both reading and spelling performance in adult neurological patients with acquired alexia and agraphia. These findings provide empirical support for dual-route theories of written language processing.† (Rapcsak, Henry, Teague, Carnahan, and Beeson, 2007, p. 2519). Therefore, both the articles deal with the effectiveness of dual-route models to analyze the reading performance of people with reading impairment, although the strategy as well as the focus of these articles differs. It is essential to realize that both the articles deal with scientific studies about th e usefulness of dual-route models and they offer detailed information about the participants of the study, including the age, speech and language abilities, cognitive status of the participants, etc. In short, the articles deal with a common topic, i.e.

Terrorism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Terrorism - Term Paper Example Its history has been long and significant. This paper shall now seek to study and trace the history of terrorism in America. First, a general overview of the significant events in American terrorism shall be discussed. Secondly, a more specific discussion of relevant terrorism attacks in America shall be carried out. Lastly, this paper shall be summarized and concluded with specific points of discussion for future studies. This paper is being carried out in order to establish a clear picture of terrorism in America. It is being conducted as a means of understanding the patterns of attacks as well as the impact of these events in the life of the American people. Body Overview Terrorism in the United States is said to be caused by the various issues and conflicts which exist within and outside its borders. The country is a unique country because of its ability to contain the masses in a state of relative peace and harmony (Kelly, 2012). On further evaluation, terrorism in America is bo rne out of an extreme distrust of the American democratic ideals and of the illusion that people from varied backgrounds can all live loyally under the US political system (Kelly, 2012). In effect, despite significant variations in the expressions of terrorism, terrorism in the US can sometimes be explained as a violent claim on American values. The distrust is based on various expressions from different groups and in different time periods. The earliest manifestation of terrorism was seen in the early republic time period. The Boston Tea Party is an incident which is not considered terrorism in the technical sense (Kelly, 2012). The incident was a staged rebellion launched by colonists as a means of pressuring Britain into shifting its policies on the US (Kelly, 2012). Although this incident is not significantly violent, it can be placed in the category of terrorism as it was an act which sought to secure the goals and styles of national liberation groups. After the Civil War, terr orism came in the form of white supremacy movements and activities. The first form of terrorism seen in the United States was based on the ideals and activities of white supremacists (Kelly, 2012). These supremacists were Protestant Christians who believed that they were superior to other races and ethnicities and that general society must also exhibit such superiority. Before the Civil War, American society displayed such supremacy, especially as slavery was a legal practice (Kelly, 2012). Only after the Civil War ended was slavery made illegal, and white supremacy was soon to emerge. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the most infamous white supremacist group formed. This group used various means of terrorism and harmful activities against African-Americans and other sympathetic whites (Kelly, 2012). This group was later outlawed by Congress and the group branded as terrorists. Various incarnations of the group have become apparent over the years and various similar violent and terrorist acts have been perpetuated by these incarnations. The Ku Klux Klan still exists, but in a less violent fashion, however it has since grown in membership and continues to support its white supremacist ideals, not just against African-Americans, but against other minorities as well, including Asians, Arabs, and Jews. The Bolshevik revolution which later led to the establishment of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on revolutionaries all over the world, including America (Kelly, 2012). The

Spoken and Written Language, the Dual Route Model Case Study

Spoken and Written Language, the Dual Route Model - Case Study Example 1197). Thus, Coltheart and Rastle attempt to offer evidence to the utility of dual-route theory in analyzing the reading performance of young normal readers as well as children with reading impairment. Another significant article on the applicability of dual-route theory, Rapcsak, et al. offer establish with evidences that dual-route equation as well as a related multiple regression model can â€Å"accurately predict both reading and spelling performance in adult neurological patients with acquired alexia and agraphia. These findings provide empirical support for dual-route theories of written language processing.† (Rapcsak, Henry, Teague, Carnahan, and Beeson, 2007, p. 2519). Therefore, both the articles deal with the effectiveness of dual-route models to analyze the reading performance of people with reading impairment, although the strategy as well as the focus of these articles differs. It is essential to realize that both the articles deal with scientific studies about th e usefulness of dual-route models and they offer detailed information about the participants of the study, including the age, speech and language abilities, cognitive status of the participants, etc. In short, the articles deal with a common topic, i.e.

The Half Brothers Essay Example for Free

The Half Brothers Essay The two short stories The Half Brothers and News of the Engagement differ in terms of tone and emotional feeling between a mother and son and the authors portray this in different ways, however they both use the theme of widows and marriage. News of the Engagement differs from The Half Brothers in many ways. The author in News of the Engagement uses a completely different tone to the other short story. Its tone is slightly humorous and self-mocking. The mother states, Thats Mrs Dawsons new servant, but she neednt think Im going to lend her my best, because Im not. I shouldnt if I were you I supported her. This shows a short of kind and loving bond between the mother and son, at the same time with a sense of happiness about them. There is also a sense of intimacy and shared experience between them. The relationship between the mother and son in News of the Engagement is also very open and nothing is kept from each other. The son discusses, She knew all my friends by name. This shows that they never kept anything from each other. However it also shows that the mother was protective, as she knew of everybody that her son mixed with, inferring that as a mother she felt it was important that she protected her son. The relationship between the mother and son from the outside seems perfect and faultless. However it really is not like that. Even though the mother and son think that they know everything about each other they really do not. The son notes, I was all that my mother had. This shows that the son felt that all his mother had was him and that she had no other feeling for anybody else, but really she did. He did not believe that she would be able to love somebody ever again, because of what she had been through in the past, but he forgot that she was also a human who could have feelings for other people as well. It shows that he is self-centred and unconcerned with his mothers feelings. The son declares, I liked Mr Nixon, but I was not too well pleased by this information, for I wanted to talk confidentially to my mother. This is a great example of the son being completely self-centred. The thought that his mum may have had something to tell him important did not even cross his mind. The love between the mother and son is very clear in News of the Engagement. The son states, I said nothing about my own engagement that night. I had never thought of my mother as a woman with a future. I had never realised that she was desirable, and that a man might desire her and that her lonely existence in that house was not all that she had the right to demand from life. This shows that even though the son is selfish and self-centred and did not believe, up until now, that his mother had a life to live, he still does not mention anything about his engagement. This is because he would rather let his mother be the woman of the moment, instead of him spoiling it with his news. This shows the great love he has for his mother. The tone of The Half Brothers is completely different to the one of News of the Engagement. It is very sad, regretful, remorseful and confessional. The little sister dies very early in the story, which basically sets the tone for the rest of the story. The relationship between the mother and the son was one of true love. The son does not really know his mother, because she died so early in his life but it is clear that there is a very loving feeling between them. We know that the love between the son and the mother is so great, because he gives up his life so that he can see her. This also shows the strong bond between the mother and son and their his willingness to do anything in his power to see his mother. One night Gregorys half brother does not return from an errand of his fathers and Gregory goes out onto the moors to find him. He does so and gives up his own life in order to save his half brother. All this was done out of love for his mother and brother. Gregory was thought to be the idiot in his family and his mother was the only person who loved him. This is something that brought him and his mother even closer, because he was not liked by anybody else apart from his mother and Adam the shepherd, however Adam the shepherd was not someone he could turn to in a serious crisis. When his mother died his love grew even more towards his mother. Overall I feel that the two short stories have some similarities in the way the author writes about the theme of mothers and sons, but there are also many differences between them both. In News of the Engagement the author portrays the theme of mother and sons with a slight sense of humour and in The Half Brothers the author portrays the theme of mothers and sons on a sad and more serious note. The tones of the two stories are also very different, because News of the Engagement has a lighthearted tone, whereas The Half Brothers has a sombre melancholy and remorseful tone. They both show the tremendous love between the mothers and sons, which is something that can be recognised between nearly every mother and son. In both of the short stories the mothers are widows and get married again. However in News of the Engagement the mother marries a man out of free will and in The Half Brothers the mother is forced into marriage, because of her poor financial situation. This would have affected the sons in different ways. The son in News of the Engagement was brought up by his mother and the son in The Half Brothers was brought up by his father. Overall the two short stories do deal with the theme of mothers and sons, but mainly in very different ways.

Growth Hormone In Tooth Development Health And Social Care Essay

Growth Hormone In Tooth Development Health And Social Care Essay Tooth development is the process where teeth are formed from the developing tooth bud, growing and maturing until it erupts into the mouth. This process is known as odontogenesis. There are several stages to odontogenesis which include the development of the tooth bud and the formation of hard tissue (Thesleff 2006). Within this paper, I will be discussing whether growth hormone has an effect on the development of the tooth bud and formation of hard tissue (in particular enamel and dentine formation). Growth hormone (GH) is produced by the pituitary gland, which is stimulated or inhibited by growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin respectively in the hypothalamus. GH stimulates the liver, for the production of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) (Laron et al citied by Laron Z. 2001); this has an effect on bones (particularly long bones) and muscles and other tissue growth. Gotz el al (2006) says that IGFs are growth factors controlling pre- and post natal development and growth processes. Furthermore, IGF-1 and GH are able to induce bone morpogenic proteins (BMP) messenger RNA (mRNA), in particular BMP-2 and 4 mRNA(Li et al 1998). The study that was carried out showed that GH and IGF-1 increased the production of BMP-2 mRNA by up to 5-fold and BMP-4 mRNA by up to 4-fold. In the developing tooth bud, there are four main stages; these include: the bud stage, the cap stage, the bell stage and crown stage. Figure 1: A schematic drawing of the bud stage the arrow shows the formation of the tooth bud (tb) within the dental lamina (dl) where dental mesenchyme (dm) has condensed around the tooth bud (Adapted from Joseph et al 1994) dl dm The bud stage is the tooth bud appearance, however, there is no arrangement of the cells figure 1 illustrates this stage showing that this stage is just a group of cells by the dental lamina. Li and colleagues (1998) carried out a study which showed that BMP-4 mRNA was present in the dental epithelium during this stage until the cap stage. This suggests that BMP-4 is needed for the cells so that they are able to combine and form the dental papilla from this unorganised arrangement. In addition to this, GH and its receptor was reported to be involved in allow process like induction, epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, cellular proliferation (Zhang et al 1997). The study was able to show that GH was present at embryonic day 17/18 in the rat, which represents the bud stage of odontogenesis in the rat. However, a study conducted by Zhang and colleagues (1992) brought up a very important point. This being that the pituitary gland is still forming when tooth bud formation occurs. Thus, if the gland is still forming, GH would not be able to play a role during the bud stage. Therefore, it is possible that a GH-like molecule might be involved during the bud stage; however, it has not been confirmed. The cap stage is when ectomesenchymal cells combine and become the dental papilla. Additionally, the tooth bud begins to grow around the ectomesenchymal cells, combine producing a cap appearance and becomes the dental (or enamel) organ. Eventually the dental papilla will produce dentine (and pulp) and the enamel organ will produce enamel. It is shown that during the cap stage numerous cells of the dental epithelium and mesenchyme were intensely immunoreactive for GH (Zhang et al 1997). This suggests that GH is involved in the formation of the enamel organ and dental papilla, which are needed to form enamel and dentine respectively. Furthermore, studies (Joseph et al 1994) found out that GH receptors were Figure 2: A schematic drawing of the late cap stage showing the dental follicle (df) containing the dental/enamel organ and dental papilla (dp). The dental/enamel organ is starting to differentiate into the outer dental epithelium (ode) and inner dental epithelium (ide). (Adapted fro m Joseph et al 1994) dp expressed in the epithelium (where the enamel organ is located) and also in ectomesenchymal cells (where the dental papilla is located). Thus, showing that the receptors for GH are present indicating that GH is able to activate the receptors which are needed to activate the cells. This evidence both support the idea that GH is needed for the differentiation of ectomesenchymal cells to form the dental papilla and dental organ. Figure Figure 3: A schematic drawing of the bell stage: Differentiation of the dental/enamel organ and dental papilla (dp) occurs. The enamel oragn differentiates into the outer dental epithelium (ode), inner dental epithelium (ide), stellate reticulum (sr) and stellate intermedium (si). The dental papilla differentiates into the outer and central mesenchymal cells of the dental/enamel organ. The bell stage (named because the dental organ is shaped as a bell) is when histodifferentiation and morphodifferentiation of the dental papilla and enamel organ take place. Joseph and his colleagues (1994) showed that in the early period of the bell stage, there is growth of the dental organ, as cubical inner epithelium differentiates into columnar cells. Additionally, immunoreacitivity for GH receptor/binding protein found that the outer and inner enamel epithelium and stratum intermedium were positive, signifying that the growth hormone receptor is involved in the differentiation of the enamel organ. This in turn allows the inner enamel epithelium to differentiate into ameoblasts, outer enamel epithelium to provide a protective barrier during enamel production and finally, stratum intermedium is needed for enamel production to occur. However, the dental papilla and stellate reticulum were negative for immunoreactivity of GH receptor/binding protein. This suggests that dental papil la does not need GH to differentiate nor does the stellate reticulum which is needed as support for enamel production. The tables below (table 1 and 2) summarises the immunoreactivity expression of growth hormone at various stages of tooth development, including the bud and cap stage. It is clearly shown that in the stages for developing tooth germ, GH, its receptor and binding protein are expressed in various cells throughout the stages. Table : Immunoreactivity expressed in the epithelium of a embryonic rat mandible showing the presence of GH, GH receptor and GH binding protein during embryonic day 17, 16, 20/21 and post natal day 9. The results are recorded show the intensity of the expression: +++ STRONG, ++ MODERATE, + MILD +/- EQUIVOCAL (Zhang et al 1997) Table 2: Immunoreactivity expressed in the mesenchyme of a embryonic rat mandible showing the presence of GH, GH receptor and GH binding protein during embryonic day 17, 16, 20/21 and post natal day 9. The results are recorded show the intensity of the expression: +++ STRONG, ++ MODERATE, + MILD +/- EQUIVOCAL (Zhang et al 1997)The finally stage of the developing tooth bud is the crown (or maturation) stage. This is when the hard tissue (enamel and dentine) start to develop. Thus, the inner enamel epithelial cells start to change shape and differentiate into ameloblasts and the dental papilla changes in both size and shape and differentiate into odontoblasts to form dentine. This leads to the two processes commonly known as amelogenesis (formation of enamel) and dentinogenesis (formation of dentine). Symons et al (2000) showed that there immunoreactivity of the IGF-1 receptor present during the maturation of the ameloblasts. Thus, it indicates that IGF-1 (via its receptor) is involved during amelogenesis. This shows that IGF-1 is needed for the ameloblasts to remove organic material and water (Nanci et al 1987), with increased flux of calcium and phosphate ions (Borke et al 1993) Caviedes-Bucheli et al (2009) study was investigating real time PCR in mouse pulp cultures. The found out that IGF-1 can enhance the mineralisation of enamel ( dentine). The way it was able to do this was by inducing expressions of specific genes (Caton et al 2005) In addition to is, Caton et al (2005) was investigating the effect that IGF-1 would have on tooth development in vitro. The results showed that the samples treated with IGF-1 had an increased enamel extracellular matrix, when compared to the control samples. This shows that there is increased enamel and dentine when IGF-1 was present, indicating that IGF-1 has a positive effect on the enamel and dentine formation. The majority of the studies show the presence of GH and its receptor within cells. Smid and colleagues (2007) carried out an experiment when mouse molar teeth had a GH deficiency. The results shows that when there is a deficiency the crown dimensions were affected as the total crown area and the mesiodistal width at the cement-enamel junction (CEJ) was significantly smaller, when compared to when GH was present. This indicates that GH is needed to ensure growth of the tooth enamel and dentine, and when there is a deficiency, it affected the size of molar teeth. Crown formation is finished when the inner enamel epithelium and outer enamel epithelium forms a double layers of HERS. This starts to proliferate apically and starts root morphogenesis. Yamashiro et al (2003) found out that BMP-2, -3, -4 and -7 were expressed during root formation and was associated with the differentiation of hard tissues. In particular, BMP-4 and -7 were expressed in ameloblasts which indicate that they are needed for formation of enamel. Furthermore, expression of BMP-4 was also noted in cementoblasts which is needed for the production of primary acellular cementum and secondary cellular cementum (where acellular cementum is found on the cervical third and middle of the roots and attaches to principle fibres in the periodontal ligament and cellular cementum is located on the apical third of the root Cho Grant 2000 citied in Yamashiro et al 2003). The purpose of the cementum, which is a thin layer of mineralised tissue, is to attach the periodontal ligament in the gingiva to the surface of the root (Smid et al 2004) One of the final stages of tooth development is the eruption of the tooth. Studies were carried out on rat incisor teeth which showed that when the incisor tooth erupted, IGF-1 was expressed in the odontoblasts and ameloblasts, as well as its receptor (Joseph et al 1993, 1994, 1996 citied in Fukunaga et al 2008). Thus the evidence suggests that IGF-1 is needed during the final stages of the amelogenesis and dentinogenesis. A major limitation within the researching of the papers was the fact that experiments and studies were carried out on rat teeth. Thus, there teeth are not the same to human teeth. Moreover, a small proportion of the papers were based on human teeth, were the study was carried out on teeth belonging to people with a defect (for example Fukunaga et al 2008 had their study carried out on a patient with leprechaunism). However, from researching the papers, it is evident that GH or GH-like molecules (like IGF-1 and BMP 2 and 4) are present within the different stages of odontogenesis, depicts the lack of information relating to human teeth. Evidence has shown that expression during various stages of tooth development. Furthermore, when there is a deficiency of GH, there are changes within the tooth structure when erupted. Thus, I can conclude that GH does play a role in tooth development, in particular during the tooth germ stages, amelogenesis and dentinogenesis. However, more research n eeds to be conducted to clearly show GH expression and its role in human teeth during its development pre and postnatal.