Renaissance Essay Example for Free

Renaissance Essay We mark Italian societys rebirth from the medieval period with the changes that occurred during the Italian Renaissance. Civilization was changing and what we consider the modern world was about to begin. The renaissance activity that happened in Europe outside of Italy is called the Northern European Renaissance. Italys humanist ideas and values moved out of Italy and throughout Europe, which spurred on the Northern European Renaissance. The Renaissance period began in the early 14th Century and lasted until the late 16th Century. Renaissance† comes from the French word that means â€Å"rebirth. † This time period is named and studied because of its unique art, literature, and music. It is also known as societys modern age. The Renaissance was a period of great cultural and technological changes which swept Europe from the end of the 13th century. It was integral in developing Europe was subjected to different changes there were two primary renaissance which were most notable. They were the Italian and the Northern renaissance. Both of the renaissance had a profound impact on Europe. But they also had some typical differences among them and each was unique in its own way. Early in the 14th Century, Italian scholars started to study the ancient cultures that preceded them, like those of Greece and the Roman Empire. This scholarly interest would lead to the Italian Renaissance. Italy and Europe was ready for change after the harrowing destruction of the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Florence, Italy, was the home of the start of the Renaissance. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, culture, politics, and the arts had only been in decline. Petrarch advocated learning about Italys Latin and Roman history. The Pope and the royalty liked this idea, so other scholars begun to study in the same vein. These scholars valued the accomplishments of the Romans, but they wanted to improve on their society instead of blindly trying to recreate the same thing. These scholars wrote books that would stimulate Italians thinking and give them a new purpose. Italy was divided into distinct city-states, which gave them a more modern, and regional, cultural outlook. The city-states thrived, banking increased, and trade became more important. As Italian society became wealthier, they could strengthen their culture and their ideologies became entrenched. Wealthy people had the means to patronize and fund artists. Scientific development spurred Humanism as well as some of historys most important artists. Architecture evolved beyond the Gothic. The Renaissance period is considered the intellectual birth of modern society. Most thinkers were concerned with humanity and how to become a good and honorable person. The European, but not Italian, renaissance period is called the Northern European Renaissance. Similar growth in society and culture happened in Northern Europe as occurred in Italy during this time. This architecture did not change munch in the beginning, and did not stray far from the Gothic style that preceded it. Humanist changes resembling those in Italy also happened in the culture of Northern Europe. The Italian Renaissance focused its questions on humanity and mans ability to grow and develop. The Northern European Renaissance, though, focused on the secular reform of society and government. As Italian society changed as a result of their Renaissance, the people of Northern Europe became uneasy with Rome and the Popes control of their church. They thought that Italian powers had slipped away from traditional, strict, Christian belief and dogma. They began to strive to reform the church. The Italian Renaissance and the Northern European Renaissance did not happen in exactly the same ways. Italy grew and prospered with their city-state governance, while an aristocracy still controlled Northern Europe. Wealthy Italians patronized the arts, while in Northern Europe the arts were funded by the rulers and the church. Renaissance period art was bright and realistic, and the art of the Northern European Renaissance also followed this Italian style. Artists in Italy tended to work on paintings, sculpture, and architecture. In Northern Europe, artists created furniture, tapestries, and manuscripts. Europes wealthy had a lot of homes; they needed a lot of furniture and decorations. Literature in both regions was concerned with humans and humanity. Italians explored the idea that man was rational and decided rationally how to be a good person. Literature in Northern Europe was more concerned with the Catholic Churchs humanity and how to reform the church. Both areas wanted to reform the church – Northern Europe was more concerned with religion. Art in the Italian Renaissance was paid for by wealthy people. This art was concerned with nature. This art used a contrast between dark and light, 3D perspective, and human images. Northern European art used similar methods as Italian artists, but they were more concerned with depicting religion. Italian art used scenes from religion, mythology, the natural world, and eroticism. Northern European artists made portraits, scenes from the Bible, and tapestries. Aristocrats and the church owned most of the artwork. Below and to the left is a tapestry woven during the Northern European Renaissance called The Wedding Dance. This tapestry was made by the artist Peter Brueghel from the Netherlands. Not many pieces focused on the lives of everyday people as this one did – most were religious in nature instead. The work below and to-the-right is emblematic of the Italian Renaissance. It was pained by Giorgio Vasari.

Shifting Efficiency Essay -- essays research papers

Shifting Efficiency One of the most important and life-altering inventions in history is the creation of the automobile. The first model was built with a manual transmission, meaning the operator of the vehicle was responsible for manually changing gears to increase speed. This method of acceleration, while efficient, required the complete attention of the operator, and it sometimes took away the enjoyment of driving. This led to the invention of the automatic transmission, a method by which the operator of the vehicle no longer had to switch gears, as this was done automatically. Since the development of the automatic transmission, there has always been conflict about which method of acceleration is more efficient. Driving a vehicle with an automatic transmission allows for multitasking such as talking on a cell phone or eating a meal while driving. This, however, is not always a safe way to drive, especially in traffic when frequent stopping and going is necessary. This method of driving, though dangerous to many if it is not undertaken carefully, seems to be popular to most people who enjoy the freedom of multitasking. Driving a vehicle with a manual transmission makes it almost impossible for the operator to talk on a cell phone or do other tasks because the use of both hands is required to direct the vehicle and shift gears at the same time. To some people, this is a much safer method of driving, because it requires the driver to focus more, which reduces the risk of a...

Explain the contribution of Teresa of Avila to mysticism Essay

Transfer-Encoding: chunked i »? Explain the contribution of Teresa of Avila to mysticism (35) Mysticism is an aspect of religious experience that is little understood. This term has been used to describe experiences that reveal spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal understanding, from the mildly ecstatic to the occult. It has been said that there are certain features which accompany such experiences which enable their recognition, such as a sense of freedom from the limitations of time, space and the human ego. Believers may also experience a sense of â€Å"oneness† or unity with God, accompanied with bliss and serenity. Mysticism is seen as the closest a human being can ever come to actually meeting God in this life. Mystical experiences can also be classified into two areas: extrovertive, where one experiences unity in the world through the physical senses and introvertive, where the person loses their identity as a separate individual and slowly merges into the divine unity. A key introvertive mystic is Teresa of Avila. In examining her contribution to religious experience, a good place to start is considering her background. Teresa’s background may be key to understanding her enigmatic personality and experiences. She was a woman from a wealthy background and had a turbulent start in life. When she was seven her mother died, and when she was fourteen she ran away to seek martyrdom. She had an alleged love affair with her cousin that tarnished her reputation and effectively made her unmarriable. This, coupled with her obsession with books of chivalry, may have corrupted her view of what love really is. Her father decided to send her into an Augustinian convent where she was very unhappy. This sense of rejection played a major part in her later religious experience. It was while she was in the convent that her religious experiences began. In 1554 she had a deeper conversion when she saw a statue of Jesus after he had been whipped. She was deeply moved and wrote, â€Å"I felt so keenly aware of how poorly I had thanked him for those wounds that, it seems to me, my heart broke. I threw myself down before him with the greatest outpouring of heart. † After this experience she progressed into a life of intense prayer and the Catholic practice of mortification, so much so that he motto became, â€Å"Lord, either let me suffer or let me die. † She was also deeply influenced by the Confessions of Augustine and other theological books – although she did not have access to the Bible. Perhaps the single most influential experience she had was when she ‘came back from the dead’ after suffering from what is thought to have been malaria. This increased her notoriety. Moving on, Teresa was encouraged to write about her experiences and her books continue to influence mysticism today. Her two main writings are Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. Way of Perfection is considered her spiritual autobiography. Here she emphasises the importance of praying mentally as well as vocally. In sixteenth century Spain the common people were encouraged to restrict themselves to vain repetitions of learned-off prayers, Teresa rejected this in favour of a more personal relationship with God. Her superbly inspiring classic on the practice of prayer is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when she first wrote it. The Way of Perfection is a practical guide to prayer setting forth the Saint’s counsels and directives for the attainment of spiritual perfection. Through the entire work there runs the author’s desire to teach a deep and lasting love of prayer beginning with a treatment of the three essentials of the prayer-filled life — fraternal love, detachment from created things, and true humility. St. Teresa’s counsels on these are not only the fruit of lofty mental speculation, but of mature practical experience. In The Interior Castle she compares the soul to a castle with seven rooms, with the Trinitarian God residing in the inner room. Growth in prayer enables the believer to reach a deeper intimacy with God, symbolised by a progressive journey through the rooms of the castle. She also describes the resistance that the Devil places in various rooms, to keep believers from union with God. Throughout, she provides encouragements and advice for spiritual development. Teresa’s writings lack Biblical references due to the Spanish Inquisition restricting access to the scriptures, and this grieved her. William James identified four characteristics of religious experience: ineffability; noetic quality; transiency and passivity. All of these care clearly apparent with Teresa’s experiences. Starting with ineffability, this is when one experiences a feeling that cannot be described to anyone else. She wrote that, â€Å"the soul is fully awake as regards God, but wholly asleep as regards the things of this world. † Secondly, noetic quality is when the mystic experience gives insight into truths unobtainable by the intellect alone. This is also apparent in Theresa’s experiences: â€Å"when I return to myself, it is wholly impossible for me to doubt that I have been in God, and God in me. † Thirdly, transiency. The religious experience does not last for long, usually half an hour or so. Though they are remembered, they are imperfectly recalled, but recognised if they reoccur – the recipient usually feels a profound sense of the importance of the experience. Associated with Teresa’s raptures are always visions. Her most famous vision involved her seeing a small angel with a beautiful face holding â€Å"a long golden spear† tipped with a â€Å"little fire† which he thrust into her heart. Finally, there is passivity, when the mystic feels as if they have been taken over by a superior power. In Teresa’s case, her visions were sometimes accompanied by levitation or strange screams. It could be this aspect that led many to believe she was possessed by the devil. In terms of impact, Teresa of Avila had a profound influence on religious experience. She the first female saint of the Roman Catholic Church – the saint of headache sufferers, rather oddly. She was somewhat of a reformer, emphasising a personal relationship with God above rigid sacramentalism. In 1562 she established the strict Carmelite order in various areas of Spain and her writings continue to be studied by believers today.

The Duality Of Religion And Science Essay - 1822 Words

The Duality of Religion and Science Science is the process which discovers knowledge, knowledge in turn is power, and power is said to bring about corruption. Therefore, through the transitive property, that implies that science will only lead to corruption. Not necessarily a corruption of one’s actions; for instance, science won’t make a politician accept a bribe. However, some would argue that science will lead to a degradation of morals. For example, contemporary science may lead to a woman viewing her unborn baby as naught but a ball of cells, similar to a tumor, which can be removed from her body with no moral dilemma. The converse to this is the impediment of science due to humanity clinging to its archaic values. This can be shown by the opposition to stem cell research and genetically modified embryos in the name of morals and the inviolability of life. The stark contrast between following morals and advancing science creates a juxtaposition that often manifests itself as a debate between religion and science. Certain members of both the scientific and religious communities blindly adhere to their own opinions and ideals. This butting of heads helps no one. As a result, a middle road must be found, one in which neither progress nor morality are ignored. The polarity between these two forces is encapsulated by the differences that Bertolt Brecht draws in his play Galileo between Galileo and the clergymen. This play, when contrasted with the reality of Galileo’sShow MoreRelatedEssay on Reconciliation between Science and Religion865 Words   |  4 Pagespersonal philosophy of science still believes that science and religion go together (Quote #1 to 3). Human beings obtain wisdom and abilities from religion to understand the phenomena through science application to investigate the phenomena. 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