Religious Terms for Judaism, Mormonism, and Catholicism Essay Example for Free

Religious Terms for Judaism, Mormonism, and Catholicism Essay Once a person has truly, sincerely repented (which is done by asking God for forgiveness) due to their feelings of remorse, they are taught to put the sin behind them and not to dwell on it. Although it is also said that Brigham Young (1801- 1877), the second Mormon prophet,in the case of serious sins, it is the murder of the sinner and the literal mixing of his blood with the earth that results in forgiveness, which is also called blood atonement. (Quoted from a previous Mormon) Mormon views on contrition: â€Å"By being Mormons we are assured of salvation We believe that even if we are wrong about Mormonism, God will forgive us since we believed in Christ just like the Christians said we should. If we are right, and we know we are, then we will be together forever with our families as gods. Why should we want to be anything other than Mormons since we have all our bases covered?† Basically, although they apparently ask God for forgiveness due to their contrition that develops when they commit things they consider as a sin, Mormons don’t worry over the fact that they could be wrong since salvation is already assured when converting to Mormonism. Nevertheless, they still do believe that you should feel contrition when you commit a sin and should seek repentance/forgiveness from God. Mormon views on penance: Forgiveness is essential part of enjoying happiness in life; salvation. The aspects of forgiveness are repentance, prayer and forgive all who hurt. The Mormon Church rejects the concept of penance believing it has nothing to do with the penitence; turning away from sins. Mormon views on atonement: They believe that atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to receive forgiveness, which comes from genuine atonement; alleviating pain and guilt from past sins. It also brings comfort and joy. Mormon (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) views on sorrow: The fourth concept I would like to stress is what the scriptures term â€Å"godly sorrow† for our sins. It is not uncommon to find men and women in the world who feel remorse for the things they do wrong. Sometimes this is because their actions cause them or loved ones great sorrow and misery. Sometimes their sorrow is caused because they are caught and punished for their actions. Such worldly feelings do not constitute â€Å"godly sorrow.† Godly sorrow is vividly portrayed in two places in scripture. In the final days of the Nephite nation, Mormon said of his people: â€Å"their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. Mormon (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) views on penitence: Penitence is one of the first principles of the gospel and is essential to our temporal and eternal happiness. It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments Mormon views on sin: Mormons believe that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; if we confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us of our sins; all people sin; Jesus Christ was the only sinless person ever to have lived on the Earth; through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, each person can repent and be forgiven of his sins. Mormon views on revenge: Mormon’s view of revenge is they should not seek revenge upon someone else even if they treated them badly. They view revenge as a sin. However, some Mormons believe that they should promote revenge. Catholic views on remorse: Remorse is a product of wishful-thinking and implies the wish to avoid sin; repentance implies the determined will to avoid it. Remorse is conditional; repentance is absolute. The remorseful would like to avoid sin if doing so did not entail so much effort and sacrifice, and if he had enough faith, hope and charity. Remorse is a keen sense of guilt over having done something wrong. It is self-reproach coupled with a certain degree of discouragement either to undo the wrong or, more rarely, of being forgiven. Catholic views on contrition: (Father John A. Hardon, SJ)- Contrition is the act or virtue of sorrow for ones sins. The virtue of contrition is a permanent disposition of soul. However, only an act of contrition is required for the remission of sin, whether with or without sacramental absolution. The act of contrition is a free decision involving a detestation of and grief for sins committed and also a determination not to sin again.. Concretely, it means the desire to regain the divine friendship, either lost or injured by sin. There must also be a determination not to sin again. Four qualities permeate a genuine act of contrition and affect all three constituents of the act, the detestation, the grief, and the determination not to sin again. A valid contrition is internal, supernatural, universal, and sovereign. Contrition is internal when it is sincere and proceeds from the will, when it is not the result of a mere passing mood or emotional experience. It is supernatural when inspired by actual grace and based on a motive accepted on faith. It is universal when the sorrow extends to all mortal sins, and for valid sacramental absolution there must be sorrow for whatever sins are confessed. It is finally sovereign if the sinner freely recognizes sin as the greatest of all evils and is willing to make amends accordingly. Catholic views on penance: Sacrament (signs of grace by Christ) which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism granted by priest; penance is the showing true sorrow confessions. Confession or tribunal to penance is when a person admits wrong doings to priest. Catholics believe the sacrament of penance because God’s grace can heal a wounded soul. After penance, priest gives penance to perform such as volunteer work, donations or say prayers. Catholic views on atonement: It is the reconciliation to God. It is forgiven sins through the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion. It is a moral change where in the purpose for Jesus was to influence mankind morally. Catholic views on sorrow: The pain or distress experienced because of some adversity that is felt personally. The sorrow may be over a loss or misfortune for which a person feels guilty, as in the case of sin; or the sorrow may be totally vicarious, out of compassion for someone else. Essential to the notion of sorrow is that it refers to what has already happened and its painful effects are still experienced. Catholic views on penitance The state of being repentant for having sinned. It is therefore a disposition of soul, arising from a realization of ones sinfulness and includes the willingness to expiate the wrongdoing. The penitential act is the invitation by the priest at Mass, after the opening salutation, to have the congregation acknowledge their sinfulness. This is followed by the Appeal for Mercy, the Kyrie, unless the pleas for forgiveness were already included in the penitential act. Normally each invocation is sung (or said) twice, but there may be further repetitions and also brief text insertions (tropes) if the circumstances warrant such additions. The penitential chain is a metal chain, with sharp points piercing the flesh, worn around the waist, arms, or legs by certain religious men and women as a means of penance or mortification. Catholic view of sin: Augustine of Hippo (354-430) regarded sin as a word, deed or desire contrary to the eternal law. Sin is a deliberate transgression of a law of God, which identifies the four essentials of every sin. Sin is a transgression, since Catholicism holds that grace is resistible and the divine will can be disobeyed. And the transgression is deliverate, which means that a sin is committed whenever a person knows that something is contrary to the law of God and then freely does the action anyway. Catholic moral theology divides sin into two parts. Mortal (Deathly) sin is the most serious as it involves loss of sanctifying grace. A person who dies with unremitted mortal sin would be in danger of eternal separation from God in Hell. Venial (Pardonable) sin does not directly destroy the relationship with God. Rather, it weakens that relationship. Unremitted venial sins can affect the duration spent in Purgatory. Therefore the church encourages confession of these types of sins as well. Examples o f venial sins include selfishness, anger and jealousy. God is offended, so that the divine dimension is never absent from any sin. Catholic views on revenge: Catholics believe that you shouldn’t retaliate, seek revenge or to kill. You should love enemies, do good to those who hate, and bless those who persecute. Revenge is the act or intention of inflicting injury on someone, on ones own authority, to repay an offense committed. It is a manifestation of unjustifiable anger and is one of the most common human failings that take on a variety of forms, from a momentary silence or frown to defamation of character or physical violence. As a form of sinful anger, it is an unruly desire for vengeance. The desire is immoderate if a person wants the undeserving to be punished, or the guilty to be punished excessively, or the punishment to be meted out in an unlawful manner or in order to vent ones own spite. Judaism views on remorse: According to Gates of Repentance, a standard work of Jewish ethics written by Rabbi Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona, if someone commits a sin, a forbidden act, he can be forgiven for that sin if he performs teshuva. The first step one must take in teshuva is to feel remorse for the sin you have committed. In other words, you have to acknowledge the sin and sincerely regret doing it. The remorseful would like to undo his sin, but he has not the requisite determination to remove the occasions of sin and surmount the obstacles to reform. Judaism views on contrition: Contrition admits neither ifs nor buts, and does not recognize the sacrosanctity of ruts. (Quoted from Rabbi David Rosen)- Above all, contrition and compassion are the indispensable coefficients of all rituals of forgiveness, whether they be expiatory sacrifices (Lev. 5:5-6 ; 16:21 ; Num. 5:6-7) or litanies for fasting (Joel 2:12-14 ; I Sam. 7:5-6). At the same time, inner contrition must be followed by outward acts; remorse must be translated into deeds. Judaism views on penance: Judaism doesn’t recognize penance as necessary in process of sin; repentance. Rabbis don’t prescribe penance, but spiritual discipline in presence if sin. Judaism views on atonement: It is the process of a crime committed to be forgiven; pardoned. Atonement is achieved by repentance, confession, service, and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), which is a period of fasting or prayer. Atonement of Judaism is â€Å"deflect the soul†; atone sins of past years. Judaism views on sorrow: We view these painful sufferings as part of our Redemptive process. It is regarding these troubles that the verse states, â€Å"It is a time of tribulation for Jacob, from which he will be delivered†-from the trouble itself will come the salvation. We are imbued with faith in the G-d of Israel, Who promised Abraham, â€Å"To your descendants I have given this Land, from the Egyptian river up to the great river, the Perat River. We have eternal trust in the G-d of Israel, Who promised Jacob, â€Å"The Land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants.† The Word of the G-d of Israel will Together with the sorrow we feel over the tearing asunder of Eretz Yisrael, we also feel joy in our hearts on the continuing process of the Ingathering of the Exiles, over the building up of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. The people continue to stream back to their Land, and the Land returns to its children. The Torah returns to Eretz Yisrael, and the people return to their origins, their foundations. The People that was â€Å"scattered and separated among the nations,† is now becoming re-united at home, in Eretz Yisrael. True, this joining of the various parts of the nation is somewhat painful at times, as in a life-saving operation, but this pain is an integral part of the regrouping the â€Å"dry bones† into one body. Judaism views on penitence: The conventional view of penitence sees it as an effort to redress a particular transgression in the area of mans relationship with God or to his fellow man. For Rabbi Kook, penitence is the surge of the soul for perfection, to rise above the limitations imposed by the finitude of existence. It is a reach for reunion with God from whom all creation has been separated by the descent to a particular incarnation of earthly existence. Penitence, in other words, is only one aspect of the drama of human life on its eternal return to the Divine, from whom it has descended. Judaism views on sin: Jews believe that there are three kinds of sin. There are three kinds of sin in Judaism: sins against God, sins against another person, and sins against you. According to Jewish beliefs, a person sins when he or she sins they simply missed the mark. Judaism views on revenge: Jews consider revenge differently from Christians. They view on forgiveness vs. justice. If a crime has been committed, it is just to punish the criminal for the greater good and safety of the community. Also, forgiveness should not be granted for serious injury unless the offender has repented and asked forgiveness from his/her victim, and even then some crimes such as murder are deemed by the Torah unforgivable due to the irrevocable nature of the act