교회 헌금에 대한 소고 이미 십일조와 헌금에 대한 내용을 말씀드린 적이 있었다. 교회는 여러 가지 이유에서 헌금을 언급한다. 비록 헌금을 강조하는 교회는 많지 않다 하더라도 교회는 어떤 여타의 조직체와 마찬가지로 돈(재정)이 필요한 기관이다. 돈이 없으면 우선 교회가 운영되지 않는다. 아무리 복음의 사역이라 하더라도 돈과 결부되지 않는 사회적 조직은 없다. 따라서 돈이 필요한 곳이 바로 교회이다. 문제는 이 재정에 관한 부분을 어떤 식으로 접근하여 사람들에게 알리고 설득하고 돈을 나눌 수 있게 하는가가 우리의 숙제이다. 많은 교회들은 전통적으로 내려오는 십일조라는 헌금을 강조해 이는 헌금이 아니라, 의무라고 강조한다. 그리고 이 헌금이 하나의 신앙과 믿음의 척도라고 주장하고 있다. 게다가 더 악한 상황은..

Manichaeism Blossoming out of the religious diversity which so strongly characterizes both late antiquity and the Silk Roads of Eurasia, the teaching of Mani spread as far west as North Africa and as far east as the China Sea, intentionally utilizing and incorporating imagery, language and symbolism of whatever religions it encountered so as to better express itself to its res..

The Spread of Islam Along the Silk Route The widespread adoption of Islam beyond the Arab peninsula is recorded in some older histories as starting as early as the mid-seventh century, but in fact, this probably did not occur until at least a century later. Richard C. Foltz suggests that the reason for this confusion is due to misinterpretation of the word islam ("submission")..

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism, the dominant pre-Islamic religious tradition of the Iranian peoples, was founded by the prophetic reformer Zoroaster in the 6th or 7th century BCE (if not earlier). The religion survived into the 20th century in isolated areas of Iran, and is also practiced in parts of India (particularly Bombay) by descendants of Iranian immigrants known as Pars..

Buddhism and Trade The close relationship between Buddhism and trade is largely due to the reliance of the Buddhist monastic community on donations from lay supporters. Ideally, Buddhist monks and nuns were required to reject all worldly possessions and thus to depend on the lay community to supply all of their necessities, including food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. In p..

The Eastern (Nestorian) Church Christianity in the first century CE was dissimnating both to the West and to the East in much the same way: through connections with already existing Jewish communities dispersed in the lands outside of Israel. After continual growth, the population of Christians east of Palestine was further augmented by Greek and Syriac speaking Christians who..