Wednesday, March 18, 2020

The Rise Of Christianity And Religion Religion Essay Essays

The Rise Of Christianity And Religion Religion Essay Essays The Rise Of Christianity And Religion Religion Essay Essay The Rise Of Christianity And Religion Religion Essay Essay Christianity is a faith that developed from within Judaism and in which there is belief in merely one God. Christianity spread easy but steadily in the Roman Empire. The rise of Christianity was a powerful beginning. Teachings from Jesus, what Christianity had to offer, the persecution of Christians, and Constantine accepting Christianity were factors that led to the rise and success of Christianity. Rome took control of the Judaic Kingdom in A.D. 6 and made it portion of the Roman Empire. A few Jews, nevertheless, believed that they would one time once more be freed. Many Jews believed that God would direct a savior known as the Messiah who would reconstruct the Judaic Kingdom. That Messiah was named Jesus Christ. Jesus was born sometime around 6-4 B.C. , in the town of Bethlehem in Judea. Jesus was a public curate ; many of Jesus s instructions came from Judaic traditions. Jesus went from town to town and distribute his instructions and thoughts to people. He ignored the fact of wealth and position and cared more that his instructions had a particular entreaty peculiarly to the hapless. Jesus taught people that God had a personal relationship with each human being. He taught that people should love God, their neighbours, their enemies, and even themselves. He said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. Even though Jesus was going more popular, it was his dec ease and Resurrection that led people to believe that he was the Messiah. The Grecian word Christos means Messiah or savior and the word Christianity comes from the word Christ. Christian religion spread because it embraced all people and gave hope to the powerless. Christianity offered a personal relationship with God. This particularly appealed to the hapless because there was no cost to follow the faith. With other faiths, people had to do forfeits to be portion of that faith. Forfeits cost money which the hapless could non afford. However, with Christianity, the hapless were able to follow their faith without giving up anything or paying for forfeits. Christian religion was besides successful in distributing because it promised ageless life after decease. This appealed to many people. Other faiths promised merely as many old ages in the hereafter as a individual had lived. For illustration, if a individual lived for 70 old ages, they would merely acquire 70 old ages of goodness in his hereafter. In Christianity, it did non count how long you lived or the sort of life you led. God would forgive a individual s wickednesss and he would still acquire illustriousness in his ageless hereafter. Although Christianity was turning, the Roman Leaders became angry with Christians for non idolizing the Roman Gods. Christians refused to believe in any other Gods but their God. Roman swayers had more and more Christians persecuted as the Pax Romana crumbled. The swayers had the Christians exiled, imprisoned, and even executed for non believing in the Roman Gods. Some swayers even used the Christians as whipping boies. Regardless of the persecution of the followings, Christianity became a powerful force. Those people who were persecuted by the Romans were considered sufferer or people who were willing to give their lives for a belief or cause. Constantine, the Roman Emperor, was contending three challengers for leading of Rome. Before the conflict, Constantine prayed for aid. He claimed that he saw an image of a cross, the symbol of Christianity. He so ordered craftsmans to paint the Christian symbol on his soldiers shields. Flavius valerius constantinus and his ground forces were winning in the conflict. Constantine so credited his success largely to the aid of the Christian God. Constantine now accepted Christianity, so he announced an terminal to the persecution of the Christians. He so wanted Christianity to be one of the faiths approved by the emperor. Christianity continued to turn strongly. Later Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the official faith of the Empire. Overall, the rise of Christianity was successful because it had so much to offer to people. There came good wagess that other faiths did non hold. It was free to follow Christianity ; other faiths made people sacrifice or wage. Since more Christians were persecuted, more people recognized what those people were contending for. The Christians were non traveling to allow some other swayers tell them what to believe and what non to believe. Even though Christians were persecuted for non idolizing the Roman Gods, those people sacrificed their lives to demo other people what their beliefs were and what their faith was. In the terminal, Christianity was successful because the emperor Theodosius made Christianity the Empire s official faith.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Understanding the Glow of Noctilucent Clouds

Understanding the Glow of Noctilucent Clouds Each summer, people who live at high latitudes north and south of the equator are treated to a fantastically beautiful phenomenon called noctilucent clouds. These arent clouds in the normal way we understand them. The clouds were more familiar with are generally made of water droplets that have formed around particles of dust. Noctilucent clouds are generally made of ice crystals that formed around tiny dust particles in fairly cold temperatures. Unlike most clouds that float fairly close to the ground, they exist at heights up to 85 kilometers above the surface of our planet, high in the atmosphere that sustains life on Earth. They may look like thin cirrus that we can see throughout the day or night but are generally only visible when the Sun is no more than 16 degrees below the horizon. Clouds of the Night The term noctilucent means night-shining and it describes these clouds perfectly. They cant be seen during the day due to the brightness of the Sun. However, once the Sun sets, it illuminates these high-flying clouds from below. This explains why they can be seen in deep twilight. They typically have a bluish-white color and look very wispy. The History of Noctilucent Cloud Research Noctilucent clouds were first reported in 1885 and are sometimes linked with the eruption of the famous volcano, Krakatoa in 1883. However, its not clear that the eruption caused them - theres no scientific evidence to prove it one way or another. Their appearance may simply be coincidental. The idea that volcanic eruptions cause these clouds was heavily researched and eventually disproved in the 1920s. Since then, atmospheric scientists have studied noctilucent clouds using balloons, sounding rockets, and satellites. They seem to occur pretty frequently and are quite beautiful to observe. How Do Noctilucent Clouds Form? The ice particles that make up these shimmering clouds are quite small, only about 100 nm across. That many times smaller than the width of a human hair. They form when tiny particles of dust- possibly from bits of micro-meteors in the upper atmosphere- are coated with water vapor and frozen high in the atmosphere, in a region called the mesosphere. During local summer, that region of the atmosphere can be quite cold, and the crystals form at about -100 ° C. Noctilucent cloud formation seems to vary as the solar cycle does. In particular, as the Sun emits more ultraviolet radiation, it interacts with water molecules in the upper atmosphere and breaks them apart. That leaves less water to form the clouds during times of increased activity. Solar physicists and atmospheric scientists are tracking solar activity and noctilucent cloud formation to better understand the connection between the two phenomena. In particular, they are interested in learning why changes in these peculiar clouds dont show up until about a year after UV levels change. Interestingly, when NASAs space shuttles were flying, their exhaust plumes (which were nearly all water vapor) froze high in the atmosphere and created very short-lived mini noctilucent clouds. The same thing has happened with other launch vehicles since the shuttle era. However, launches are few and far between. The phenomenon of noctilucent clouds predates launches and aircraft. However, the short-lived noctilucent clouds from launch activities provide more data points about the atmospheric conditions that help them form. Noctilucent Clouds and Climate Change There may be a connection between the frequent formation of noctilucent clouds and climate change. NASA and other space agencies have been studying Earth for many decades and observing  the effects of global warming. However, the evidence is still being gathered, and the link between the clouds and warming remains a relatively controversial suggestion. Scientists are following up on all the evidence to see if there is a definite link. One possible theory is that methane (a greenhouse gas implicated in climate change) migrates to the area of the atmosphere where these clouds form. Greenhouse gases are thought to force temperature changes in the mesosphere, causing it to cool down. That cooling would contribute to the formation of ice crystals that make up the noctilucent clouds. An increase in water vapor (also due to human activities that produce greenhouse gases) would be part of the noctilucent cloud connection to climate change. Much work needs to be done to prove these connecti ons. Regardless of how these clouds form, they remain a favorite of sky watchers, particularly sunset-gazers and amateur observers. Just as some people chase eclipses or remain out late at night to see meteor showers, there are many who live in the high northern and southern latitudes and actively seek out the sight of noctilucent clouds. Theres no doubt of their magnificent beauty, but they are also an indicator of activities in our planets atmosphere.