Anselm and Aquinas Perspective Essay Example for Free

Anselm and Aquinas Perspective Essay Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas had conceptualized their own justification for the existence of God. For Anselm, he chiefly indicated his strong defense of intellectual foundations of Christianity under the concept of â€Å"ontological argument† for the existence of God. Anselm argued that the existence of God is not only in human minds but rather in reality. The idea of Proslogion had become the main argument of Anselm, which he used in order to defend his idea of God’s existence. The idea of ontological proof of had considered the concept of justifying the logic behind the existence of God. On the other hand, the ideas of Aquinas had provided significant approach of cosmological theology in order to prove the existence of God. Aquinas had utilized the five components of reason that justify God’s existence in a logical perspective. Discussion Ontological Proof of Anselm The ontological argument of Anselm considered the idea of Proslogion, which argued the logical being of God. According to the perspective of Anselm, the being of God is so evident that the definition present in the character of God is already enough to justify His existence. As stated in the book of McGrath (1998), in Anselm’s Proslogion, he offers the definition of God as â€Å"that than which no greater thing can be thought† (89). From the idea of Anselm, the existence of God came from the statement, â€Å"that than which nothing greater can be conceived. † The arguments of Anselm’s ontological proposal involve, God as the greatest possible being. Anselm argued that the notion and the nature of a being existing only in the minds of human being and society could not be considered as great or powerful. Hence, if God is to exist, He must exist in reality for Him to commence His power overall. In this logic, Anselm justified the existence of God, in not only the mind of Human beings but most of all in reality. In the perspective of Anselm, he utilized the idea of faith and logic in order to justify God’s existence. The idea of using faith gave the thought of God’s presence as determined by belief of His presence. For Anselm, in order for one to understand God’s existence, one should first believe that God exist in reality and not only in human minds. Faith had been viewed by Anselm as an important component in understanding the nature and the mystery for God’s existence. In the idea of faith, one does not have to consider the validity of truth or false in believing God’s existence, but only a simple indication of believing or not believing. In the context of faith, he argued that the existence of God is not the ones in the mind of men, but rather the agreement of faith. The human minds had their control on whether believing or not believing the thoughts of God’s existence. On the other hand, Anselm’s use of logic to prove the argument of God’s existence occurred in the concept of Proslogion. Within the logic of Proslogion, Anselm mentioned that the being of God under His characteristics of being transcendent and immanent were the main points to consider His existence. According to Hogg (2004), if God were not transcendent then there would be no reason to assume His necessity. If God were not immanent, then no one could know Him (95). Under the theology of Anselm, the concept of faith should facilitate the belief for the revelations of God’s existence, while the idea of Prologion gave rise to the logical reasoning of explaining the existence of God. Cosmological Proof of Aquinas Aquinas’ argument of the cosmological evidence of God’s existence revolved around five components, which provided the argument of his defense. In Summa Theologia of Aquinas, he argued using these five ways of justifying the existence of God under the basic thought of man’s relation with God as Creator and creation. In his first argument, Aquinas provided the â€Å"argument of motion† in order to depict the concept of change. He argued that the presence of dynamics in this motion was brought by a cause that possessed significant purpose. In addition, he mentioned that from a single cause of motion, another cause is employed, and from there, under still until the concept of unlimited causation arrived. Aquinas thought that the origin of this greater chain cannot possibly come from human nature but more significantly from God, which proved the He existed. In Aquinas’ second argument, he utilized the aspect of â€Å"cause and effect† argument that gave the idea of an event as being the effect and influenced by a cause. Somehow, the idea of the second argument had been derived from the concepts of motion wherein the cause-and-effect motion should always possess the original cause. In Aquinas’ argument, he pointed this original cause as God. In the third argument, Aquinas introduced the idea of contingent human beings, which he argued the purpose of the presence of non-necessity being (human beings) and the presence of necessity being (God). According to the perspective of Aquinas, the non-necessity being was able to come since the existence of the necessity being had always been present. Aquinas provided his declaration and personification of necessity being as God, who is the necessity being and facilitated every creation. The fourth argument of Aquinas, he proposed the idea of values origin. He considered that the values of goodness, grace, love, forgiveness, etc had all been originated from the positive background of God. The only nature that can provide the true intent of these values is God’s nature; hence, justifying the existence of God. Lastly, the fifth argument of Aquinas involved the necessity for a being to facilitate the task of supervising the creation, which can only be facilitated by God. Conclusion Within the study, the existence of God had been proven under two perspectives of Anselm and Thomas Aquinas. With Anselm’s Ontological proof of God’s existence, he defended with the two components of faith and logic. He argued that God is present not only in the human mind for God is great, and no being can be great if he only exists in the minds of men. Hence, with faith that God is existing, God indeed is existing, and because He is great, His existence is justified. On the other hand, Aquinas provided the five components that defended the existence of God. He introduced the argument of motion (God facilitated the change), argument of cause and effect (God as the very cause), argument of non-contingent being (God as the essential being), argument of the origins of values (God provided all the positive values), and lastly the argument of supervisor of creation (God sees and manages the happenings in the Earth). Works Cited Hogg, David S. Anselm of Canterbury: The Beauty of Theology. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. , 2004. McGrath, Allister E. Science Religion: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

My Role Model :: essays research papers

My Role Model In my life I have had very few role models. They have been mostly famous people I see on TV like Michael Jordan, but what young man hasn't wanted to seemingly fly through the sky and slam dunk a basketball? But as you grow older and mature you soon realize that more than just famous people can be role models to you. To me one of my role models is my friend Nick. Nick and I are a lot alike. We both grew up without a father and had a very supportive mothers who love us very much. Nick is three years older than me and we have been friends for about two years. To begin to understand why I look up to Nick you will first have to learn about his past and where he is now. Like I said Nick grew up in a single parent home where the dad was gone. He went to school like everyone else. Every week he went to church on Wednesday and Sunday. His mom struggled to support him by working several jobs, although she was there when he needed her his relationship with her was strained. Through high school Nick played sports and hung out with a variety of people. Some good, some not so good. Eventually he fell victim to the so called "party crowd". He started drinking, doing drugs, and selling drugs. He just didn't care what others thought. All the while he was doing this he continued to go to church and pretend everything was fine. Eventually Nick graduated and moved on to college where things would get worse. His first year of college all he did was party. It got so bad that he was out five nights a week drinking. After his grades started to suffer he realized he had a problem. All this while he was still going to church. Church is eventually where he turned to find help. After kicking his bad habits Nick decided to help others who might have problems like his. Nick decided the best way to help others was to get involved in as an adult leader in the youth ministries program. He has really shown me what is like to grow up and take responsibilities. The reason I most look up to him is because he has turned away from all that pressure the world puts on people to be popular and is doing something with his life.

Compare the presentation of love within the three sonnets studied Essay

The three sonnets that I studied were, â€Å"How do I love thee? † by Elizabeth Barret-Browning, â€Å"Let me not to the marriage of true minds† by William Shakespeare and â€Å"Since there’s no help let us kiss and part† by Michael Drayton. Of these three there are numerous differences and similarities. It is known that at the time of writing her sonnet, Elizabeth Barret-Browning was happily married to Robert Browning, but without the consent of her father. They moved to Italy where she began to use the Petrachan form of sonnet. At the time when William Shakespeare wrote he was known to have already established himself as an actor and playwright and was working for the leading company, the Lord’s Chamberlain’s Men. In Drayton’s sonnet we see that he was a contemporary of Shakespeare, this poem comes from a long sequence of sonnets called ‘Idea’s Mirror’. These sonnets were all inspired by his unrequited love for Anne Goodere, although he himself never married. As with Shakespeare his use of personification is extremely effective. Although their styles differ all three poets are speaking of their love for another person. Elizabeth Barret-Browning writes to her husband and as a women writing, it is written in a tender and soft tone. Her language and style used is incredibly dramatic. To begin with Browning presents her love to her husband in a very private and loving way. She uses language and expressions like; â€Å"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach,† Browning writes from a female point of view and wants to make a commitment to her husband. The ideas of love in the three sonnets differ, as Drayton’s love is unrequited and he is not writing in a reality, he has no one to write to. With Browning we know that she is writing to her husband and making a dedication to him. She writes in a serious yet, immensely loving form, we can tell from reading her sonnet that her husband is her life and the love she feels for him is described as endless. We see that Shakespeare writes in an incredibly confident manner, he is not writing to a person, as such, so his style differs from that of Browning or Drayton. Shakespeare’s sonnet is an explanation of love, he writes in his opinion and of how love can conquer all. As we know that Browning is a woman, her style and tenderness differs terribly from that of Drayton and Shakespeare. Drayton’s intention in his sonnet is to try and win over his idol of love, Anne Goodere. His efforts are useless and in his sonnet he says he wished to make himself free, so we can see that he does not enjoy the love he feels for Anne and wishes to be free of it. The name of his sonnet being, â€Å"Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part. † Meaning since they can no longer resist each other, let us have one kiss and part each other’s company. He does achieve what he’s trying to do, as when reading this I truly understood how he felt, he was trying to depart from this love. Drayton goes onto say: â€Å"And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, That thus so cleanly I myself can free. † He means that now, after this kiss, he is glad, extremely glad that he can get over the possessive love he once felt for her. We can clearly see that Browning’s intentions are to make it perfectly clear to her husband and tell him exactly how she feels about him. She achieves this brilliantly and by her use of such outrageous, yet hooking lines, detailed with words and phrases such as, death, she produces her amazing sonnet: † -and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. † She talks of her after life and hopes that she will be allowed to spend it with him. Shakespeare intends to convince and tell every one of his thoughts on love, he is so confident that he is correct and that everyone will agree with him that he ends his sonnet with the rhyming couplet; â€Å"If this be error and upon me prov’d, I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d. † Thus showing that if this sonnet is wrong and proved to be then he never writ it and noone ever loved. This can also be interpreted as Shakespeare being cocky, he is quite sure of himself and the accuracy of his sonnet that he is willing to make an extreme statement. The general tone of Browning’s sonnet is a heart felt, true expression of her love for her husband, she counts the numerous ways of how she feels and lines such as; â€Å"With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! † Showing that she loves him with the most powerful feelings of all she has experienced in her life, her tears and smiles and the breaths she take each day. This differs from Shakespeare as he has a general confident manner and is stating the feelings and meanings of love. He uses personification in the lines; â€Å"Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. † Meaning that love is not timed, it has no schedule of when to begin and cease, but reaches until the end, when death occurs. Love does not change over hours and weeks it stays constant until the brink of Judgement Day, death is it only let out. He shows how love, if true, will stay with the lovers until death. Compared to Browning’s and Shakespeare’s general tone, Drayton does not use the powerful and heart felt tone that Browning does, neither does he state a general meaning for love, as with Shakespeare. He seems to tell a story, or rather a tale, which he longs to happen between him and the one he loves, his love is not returned. He knows this and so at the end of his sonnet he uses the rhyming couplet; â€Å"Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over. From death to life thou mightst him yet recover. † This tells us that Drayton is willing to wait for his love, saying that if they ever change their mind, eh will be there waiting for them. He uses the form of a dramatic monologue and therefore does achieve a passionate sonnet. Shakespeare uses the rhyming form of abab cdcd efef gg. This enhances his poem and the rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet changes the tone right at the end. This is effective and can give a totally different meaning. This structure gives his sonnet a flow and the language used works perfectly. We can see that his presentation of love and the way it is structured means that Shakespeare is an extremely experienced poet and writer. Browning uses Petrachan form in her sonnet and gives it the rhyming form of abbaabba cdcdcd, this is also known as an eight line section, known as the octave, followed by a six line section, known as the sestet. There is also a break in the thought and tone of the sonnet between these two parts. With Drayton his structure shows us that he was around at the same time as Shakespeare and uses the same rhyming scheme and couplet to finish. This again proves to be very effective and leaves the extra statement of the end to seal the sonnet to his love. All three of the sonnets are extremely original and all excellent. However, Browning seems to use the most powerful structure, source and form as it is written purely from her heart. All three sonnets flow very exceedingly well and have a good structure behind them. In comparison to Shakespeare, Browning’s use of structure is the most varied. It lends itself well to her meaning and rhyming such lines as; â€Å"I love thee to the depth and bredth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight† Just increases the exaggeration of the rhyme, the meaning is therefore exerted and we find ourselves wanting to reach on. Shakespeare use of rhyme in alternate lines is also effective and lends itself well to his language and style used. The words â€Å"fixed† and â€Å"wand’ring† are designed specially for this sonnet, as there must be ten syllables and 5 stresses in a Shakespearian sonnet. Shakespeare’s use of language does not differ very much from Drayton as they were written around a particular period. Although in Drayton’s sonnet he is infact talking of getting rid of love and how he will feel after it has gone, he seems to want to be relieved of the feelin, Shakespeare however is talking of how great love is and how it does not alter. In comparison Browning’s sonnet is the most different out of all three in her presentation of love. Her compassionate tone and kindhearted comments rule over he sonnet and seem to guide her to all correct places of describing. The effectiveness that Shakespeare, Browning and Drayton all have is one to make us all want to experience love. The three very different sonnets are similar in their presentation of love, as they all enjoy it, apart from Drayton who now wants to be free of the hold it has on him. But as we can learn from Shakespeare, Drayton may find it hard to do so.

Cell Biology Glossary

Many biology students often wonder about the meanings of certain biology terms and words. What is a nucleus? What are sister chromatids? What is the cytoskeleton and what does it do? The Cell Biology Glossary is a good resource for finding succinct, practical, and meaningful biology definitions for various cell biology terms. Below is a list of common cell biology terms. Cell Biology Glossary Anaphase - a stage in mitosis where chromosomes begin moving to opposite ends (poles) of the cell. Animal Cells - eukaryotic cells that contain various membrane-bound organelles. Allele - an alternative form of a gene (one member of a pair) that is located at a specific position on a specific chromosome. Apoptosis - a controlled sequence of steps in which cells signal self-termination. Asters - radial microtubule arrays found in animal cells that help to manipulate chromosomes during cell division. Biology - the study of living organisms. Cell - the fundamental unit of life. Cellular Respiration - a process by which cells harvest the energy stored in food. Cell Biology - the subdiscipline of biology that focuses on the study of the basic unit of life, the cell. Cell Cycle - the life cycle of a dividing cell, including Interphase and the M phase or Mitotic phase (mitosis and cytokinesis). Cell Membrane - a thin semi-permeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm of a cell. Cell Theory - one of the five basic principles of biology, stating that the cell is the basic unit of life. Centrioles - cylindrical structures that are composed of groupings of microtubules arranged in a 9 3 pattern. Centromere - a region on a chromosome that joins two sister chromatids. Chromatid - one of two identical copies of a replicated chromosome. Chromatin - the mass of genetic material composed of DNA and proteins that condense to form chromosomes during eukaryotic cell division. Chromosome - a long, stringy aggregate of genes that carries heredity information (DNA) and is formed from condensed chromatin. Cilia and Flagella - protrusions from some cells that aid in cellular locomotion. Cytokinesis - the division of the cytoplasm that produces distinct daughter cells. Cytoplasm - all of the contents outside of the nucleus and enclosed within the cell membrane of a cell. Cytoskeleton - a network of fibers throughout the cells cytoplasm that helps the cell maintain its shape and gives support to the cell. Cytosol - semi-fluid component of a cells cytoplasm. Daughter Cell - a cell resulting from the replication and division of a single parent cell. Daughter Chromosome - a chromosome that results from the separation of sister chromatids during cell division. Diploid Cell - a cell that contains two sets of chromosomes—one set of chromosomes is donated from each parent. Endoplasmic Reticulum - a network of tubules and flattened sacs that serve a variety of functions in the cell. Gametes - reproductive cells that unite during sexual reproduction to form a new cell called a zygote. Gene Theory - one of the five basic principles of biology, stating that traits are inherited through gene transmission. Genes - segments of DNA located on chromosomes that exist in alternative forms called alleles. Golgi Complex - the cell organelle that is responsible for manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping certain cellular products. Haploid Cell - a cell that contains one complete set of chromosomes. Interphase - the stage in the cell cycle where a cell doubles in size and synthesizes DNA in preparation for cell division. Lysosomes - the membranous sacs of enzymes that can digest cellular macromolecules. Meiosis - a two-part cell division process in organisms that sexually reproduce, resulting in gametes with one-half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. Metaphase - the stage in cell division where chromosomes align along the metaphase plate in the center of the cell. Microtubules - fibrous, hollow rods that function primarily to help support and shape the cell. Mitochondria - cell organelles that convert energy into forms that are usable by the cell. Mitosis - a phase of the cell cycle that involves the separation of nuclear chromosomes followed by cytokinesis. Nucleus - a membrane-bound structure that contains the cells hereditary information and controls the cells growth and reproduction. Organelles - tiny cellular structures, that carry out specific functions necessary for normal cellular operation. Peroxisomes - cell structures that contain enzymes that produce hydrogen peroxide as a by-product. Plant Cells - eukaryotic cells that contain various membrane-bound organelles. They are distinct from animal cells, containing various structures not found in animal cells. Polar Fibers - spindle fibers that extend from the two poles of a dividing cell. Prokaryotes - single-celled organisms that are the earliest and most primitive forms of life on earth. Prophase - the stage in cell division where chromatin condenses into discrete chromosomes. Ribosomes - cell organelles that are responsible for assembling proteins. Sister Chromatids - two identical copies of a single chromosome that are connected by a centromere. Spindle Fibers - aggregates of microtubules that move chromosomes during cell division. Telophase - the stage in cell division when the nucleus of one cell is divided equally into two nuclei.