Existentialism is Humanism Essay Example for Free

Existentialism is Humanism Essay The assumption by Sartre that existence precedes essence takes back the traditional thinking of philosophers about essence and existence. In general they thought that essence precedes existence in certain ways. Sartre posits that they are right to some extent. When he observes that â€Å"Existence precedes essence† he does not mean that this is always the case, but rather that sometimes it is so. This can be explained using his example in the essay about the â€Å"paper knife†. In this case of the paper knife, Sartre argues that essence precedes existence, â€Å"that is to say the sum of the procedures and the qualities which made its production and its definition possible – precedes its existence† (Sartre 1946). Essence is the expression created when something is given a definition. Essence sets the limits of an object and provides the basic properties of a thing; that is what it has or what it doesn’t have in order to serve its purpose of existence. In this case, essence precedes existence in the logic that before a designer manufactured the knife there was some plan for it that existed in his or her mind. This plan is the essence (Sartre 1943). Therefore when Sartre says that essence precedes existence in this case he is simply recognizing the fact that the knife was premeditated first and later on it was produced. This means the plan to produce the knife was there first and later it was produced following that plan. From this example it is easy to track down the general principle that Sartre is trying to bring out. First for all manufactured objects or articles, essence precedes existence. Since God lives and as he is thought to be the creator of the whole world then it follows that the whole world and everything in it can be assumed to be an artifact. God was the master planner and He created everything according to His plan. God, when He creates man he uses the same procedure just as the manufacture of the paper knife since when he creates he knows what he is creating. The idea of God was suppressed in the 18th century but the idea of essence preceding existence was universally accepted in the philosophies of Diderot, Voltaire and Kant. Sartre observes that â€Å"In Kant, this universality goes so far that the wild man of the woods, man in the state of nature and the bourgeois are all contained in the same definition and have the same fundamental qualities. Here again, the essence of man precedes that historic existence which we confront in experience† (Sartre 1946). From this analysis we get to the next step. If God lives this means essence comes first for everything that is in world. There is a traditional explanation of this divine plan generally referred to as Providence in theological circles. It refers to the plan that God worked in advance before he created the universe and humanity. But this plan is not just for the whole because He has also premeditated all the details since he is an all knowing God. This means we do not have the human nature in general to set boundaries on what we can do or what we cannot do. In addition there is also a divine plan for individuals. For example Socrates has his own essence that confines him within the universal plan of human nature (Zunjic 2010). Being an atheist, Sartre observes that if God does not exists then there is one being whose existence comes before its essence and that is man or human reality as Heidegger puts it. When he says existence precedes essence Sartre provide the meaning by saying that â€Å" this means that man first exists, he encounters himself, goes into the world and later on discovers or defines himself. When the man is not definable as the existentialist sees him it is because to start with, man is nothing† (Sartre 1946). Man will not be anything until some times later and then he will be what he makes himself to be at the end. In other words man is responsible for his actions if existence preceded essence. â€Å"Therefore existentialism puts place every responsibility for his existence on his shoulders. This means man is not only responsible for himself but also for all men† (Sartre 1946). Sartre observation that people must create themselves and give themselves meaning meant that people have to protect themselves instead of calling on God to intervene on their behalf. He saw people as the ones responsible for their politics and individual lives. He refused the notion that the devil was responsible for individual acts or the explanation that one was following God. He also did no accept the excuse of being only human or unloved by ones parents. It was not an excuse to follow the crowd for Sartre. He believed that people create their own moral values through the choices that they make in life. The people are the ones responsible for drawing their plans as to what they will or will not do (Sartre 1943). The philosophers of the traditional forms of humanism thought they could keep this idea of a kind of prior nature without having God in mind. They had in mind an atheist view of nature as well as the notion of an ordered universe where things happened in a predetermined and ordered manner. According to Sartre they were all wrong. This is because if essence precedes existence in general, that is ,if the laws that sets the limits of what things are and what they are able to have been established and determined before the things came into existence, then where would they exist? (Zunjic 2010). These philosophers have connected the concept of existence and essence in such a manner that existence signifies the instantiation of essence. If essence describes what a thing is and existence â€Å"that it is† then it follows that what is reasonable about any particular object and what can be thought about it will fit in its essence. It’s from this kind of thinking that traditional philosophy drew its description for ones way of life. To them having essence meant that people could be placed within the universe that provided the ability for the human development. But Descartes disagreed with this type of thinking preferring a radical first person reflection of his own version of existence the â€Å"I am†. Nevertheless he later on modified the old model by incorporating his existence as that of a substance determined by an essential property â€Å"thinking†. Thus the idea of reality according to Sartre is similar to that of Descartes’, â€Å"I am, I exists, therefore I am; I am because I think, why do I think? I don’t want to think any more; I am because I think that I don’t want to be. † (Existentialism Is Humanism. 2010). In summary when Sartre says that existence precede essence he means that man first exists, he encounters himself, goes into the world and later on discovers or defines himself. When the man is not definable as the existentialist sees him it is because to start with, man is nothing. He will not be anything until some times later and then he will be what he makes himself to be at the end. Traditional views give priority to essence and high values for its features whereas Sartre gives priority to existence with its positive reevaluation of its contingency and temporality. With this reversed view Sartre believed we can give full tribute to man and his self creative capabilities. References Existentialism Is Humanism. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/198165/Existentialism-Is-a-Humanism Sartre J. P. (1946), The Humanism of Existentialism. London: World Publishing Company Sartre (1943) Being and Nothingness. London: World Publishing Company Zunjic Bob (2010). The Humanism of Existentialism. Retrieved May 17, 201017th, ,from http://www. uri. edu/personal/szunjic/philos/human. htm

What Is The Irrigation System History Essay

What Is The Irrigation System History Essay Irrigation system consists on taking water from the main water source and diverting it with artificial channels where it used for agriculture needs. This system is dictated by the geographical and geology position. As we know Nile valley civilizations have depended by getting the best use of this river. As Herodotus said Egypt is the gift of the river.The efficiency of these irrigation systems made possible the fertility of the land , so irrigation schemes were not only built, but even maintained. The Nile being one of the most predictable rivers in the world, and has a flood period nearly to one hundred days. There for the agriculture was based in winter crops after the annual floods had subsided. Being only one water source which was hard to control, the irrigation works were based to deal only with peak of the flood along the river bank. In order to descend the water into several basins in succession , they made large flat-bottomed basins. Water, after being drained off to the crops and back into the river at the right time of the growing cycle after it stayed for several days in the fields. Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians get their harvests with less labor than anyone else in the world. The irrigation system got even better after they knew in advance the height of the annual flood. The fluctuations of the Nile floods made the irrigation system quite primitive and food was not stored efficiently. Their irrigation system was primitive and they depended on one winter crop per year. They were not capable to dam the river as a consequence there was no attempt at water storage. The big centers of ancient Egypt civilization, which lay along the river had the possibility for a second crop. The Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom were periods in Egyptian history when strong central government flourished in times of prosperity. Its not clear whether strong central government resulted in effective irrigation and good crop production, or whether strong central government broke down after climatic changes resulted in unstable agricultural production. Dams It was more a giant weir, to hold back some of the annual flood waters coming down the valley, and to divert some of that water, under control, out of sluices and into a canal system. Perhaps the earliest successful technique was to build a diversion dam. The structure is built right across the bed of the stream, and is not merely a cut in the river-bank that takes off some of the water into a canal. Stream valleys with only seasonal flow are the best places to learn dam-building. The dam can be built during the dry season, allowing engineers to learn how to build a successful dam, without having to master also the technique of diverting the stream. The dam can also be maintained or repaired during dry seasons. If the dam fails in flood, it does no more than restore the old flow, and is not catastrophic. Its probably not a coincidence that all the most ancient dams are built across intermittent streams, or wades. So, the daily life could continue its routine. Making good use of all these works they use these as highways to transport all kind of things through water. Not only this, but they could dominate the floods and use it at their favor and take the maximum of their land. The Nile gift enmark beside this was used for food storage in good times. They perfectioned their tools to made all these architechtual wonders for the time. As early as 5000 B.C., nomadic hunter-gatherers of northeastern Africa began to settle by the Nile. They took up a farming life regulated by the riverà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s seasonal rise and fall, growing cereal crops such as wheat and barley. The Nile also provided these Neolithic farmers with ducks and geese in its marshlands and fish in its waters. The early Egyptians harvested papyrus growing wild along the banks of the Nile, using the long, thin reeds to make rope, matting, sandals, baskets, and later on sheets of paper like writing material. Body paragraph 2 Ancient Egyptians had to contend with enormous temperature swings. They looked for a place not only to protect them from heat and cold, but even to storage the food. Because rainfall was in frequent, the main construction material was plentiful sun-baked mud . The basic Egyptian house consisted of a high rectangular enclosure wall and an entry door faced north at the narrow end, a central pool of water just past the entry door, a roofed area raised on columns open at the front. In general these three elements were the main points of all Egyptian houses. In order to feel breezes not possible at ground level, they added stairs leading to the roof. Windows were placed higher in rooms in order to drop the heat down. They were small in size as the Sun shinned brightly all day. Bedrooms incorporated raised alcoves for sleeping and adobe benches along one or more walls for sitting and supporting objects; niches in the walls held small oil lamps. In size, Egyptian homes were comparable to th ose of our time. The workers were needed to built the monumental works. During the spring the Nile flooded, so for three months the workers were taken in their villages by a represented of the pharaoh. While he shouted : In the name of the pharaoh , the soldiers gathered the people and putted in a navy to be transported in the work place and they had to be in the navy for several weeks. After these, they were settled in their provisory homes, where they would stay there for the rest of the time needed to finish the work. The recruits were compesed with food and cloth. They were divided into 500 divisions with 20 men per division. Women made supplementary works for the workers. In their monuments and other architectonic works they represented even the matriarchal and patriarchal system. They showed in statues woman hanging the shoulder to their man. In the Old Kingdom we can see that some columns have the face of a woman. Egyptian temples were placed where spiritual work was done. An arch with a wing disk was always found to the entrance of the temple. They were created with the form of a snake, snake is the maschilism form and Feminism. The feminism and maschilim have to be in balance, so that the ego of every day world has to be left aside in order to enter the cosmic world. The efficient functioning of the temple was made possible by a large staff of priests and other support staff. They served in one lunar month in rotation and during three months of free time after service, they worked in other temples. Every temple was the residence of gods, but there were even libraries, so the priests had to do great work. After entering the temple they were excluded from their social life goods . Body paragraph 3- Many great mysteries surround their vast architectonic works. Their time of building, the way of building is still a main topic of discussion among Egyptologists. They think how it was possible to transport massive blocks through ramps or in which way. A new theory is that of internal ramps. Further more they say the grand gallery served as a high complex to transport the marble stones. Till today the most known theory is that which states the building the pyramid according to the Sirius constellation. Even this theory has some contradictions if we compare the geologic structure, the river base as it was in different years. Putting together lines and marks, which usually helped the workmen keep balance and edge during the groundwork, full size sketches were from time to time used to lay out relatively scale, small-scale architectural details. Egyptians not solely used the 3-4-5 triangle to shred right angles, but that they were also sensitive that identically triangles could be acquired by varying the dimensions, but keeping fixed the proportions between the sides. This is an notable point, which might have had a notable function in the project and construction of pyramids. We have information that the period between The Middle Kingdom square grids were used for two dimensional scenes. Modern studies have proved that the dimensions of mud-brick in ancient Egypt varied from a smaller size used in the early Dynastic Period to larger versions adopted from the Old Kingdom onwards, but their proportions remained more or less the same, with a ratio of about 2:1 between length and width. The surviving drawings barely provide enough information about the two-dimensional layout of the plans, and do not seem to have been the principal instrument to take decisions about the three-dimensional aspects. This gap between the schematic drawings and the actual buildings may have been filled by architectural models, which might have been used to visualize in advance the real appearance of the construction. without the distortions and illusions produced by the adoption of the graphic conventions necessary to reproduce a three-dimensional reality on a two-dimensional surface. Among the mass of votive objects, there are a few architectural models that can be related to the planning and building process. A temple is much simpler by the geometrical aspect compared with a temple. Even their geometry is simple, mathematical knowledge is used during the calculation process. Body paragraph 4- During the Archaic Period it was the peek of good relations between Greece and Egypt. It was the perfect time to transfer artistic and architectural notions between the Egyptians and Greeks This period in Egypt was a time of great artistic and architectural revival. The Rhoikos temple labyrinths clearly associates it with the Egyptian marvel. Significant innovations in Ionian temple architecture of this period greatly resemble long established and commonly implemented elements of the Egyptian colossal architectural tradition. In Naukratis below the astragal on the uppermost part of the column shaft is the Egyptian lotus flower and bud. Similarities are found with the Egyptian colonnade and the Ionic peristyle. the difference being that the central columns of the Egyptian hypostyle hall are far more massive than Ionic. Egyptian architecture has stimulated the imagination of architects in modern times. An interesting similarity is Burnham Root`s Monadnock Building for having heavy sloping lines of an Egyptian pyramid. Not even that, but many modern buildings in Las Vegas and not only are trying to rebuild pyramid like structures. These attract people`s curiosity. Still today the Egyptian architecture opens debate and is still functional. Conclusion The good architecture of dams and the irrigation system made possible that the daily life flows normally. Not only this, but they could dominate the floods and use it at their favor and take the maximum of their land. They used their architectonic knowledge in their favor to build good houses. But the most impressed impact of building the magnificent architectonic marvel from sketch to reality was the slaves daily life in the work place. The life changed even for the temple personnel, which it has not been mentioned in many history books. The most impressed thing was their knowledge used in architectonic buildings. Still today the mystery, debate cover the ancient architectonic works. Even that many centuries have passed, even now days we are fascinated by their architectonic.

Lucifer in Starlight by George Meredith :: Lucifer in Starlight George Meredith

Lucifer in Starlight by George Meredith Examining a poem in detail can bring out new meanings and ideas. By careful analysis, the full beauty of the poem can be appreciated. The poem "Lucifer in Starlight (p. 959)", by George Meredith, can be analyzed to refine the authors purpose, by examining every subtle hint, every possibility, for a deeper theme. Also, "deciphering" formal literary techniques such as metaphor, connotation, and symbolism is the key to unlock other expressions. The main theme of the poem is that Lucifer has no place out of his hell, and anything he tries to reenter heaven is futile. As with any poem, it is best to first examine how the title, "Lucifer in Starlight" relates to the body of the poem. Obviously, Lucifer is the defiant angel that was banished from heaven, and sent to the underworld of hell, where he known as Satan. The title refers to the devil as "in starlight", so this means he has to rise to a place where the stars are visible, not the fires of hell. This rising from the underworld is summed up in the first line. It is later explained that he is doing so because he is tired of his 'dark dominion." Ironically, the first line refers to Lucifer honorably, as a "Prince", while in the second line he is tagged as a fiend. This leaves the reader feeling perplexed, yet still thinking of Lucifer as the enemy. At first it may seem as Lucifer has risen to the Earth, but it is further clarified that he has elevated himself above the "rolling ball". However, god imagined the world as planar, with heaven on a higher plane, and hell on a lower plane, not spherical as defined here. From his place in the stars above earth, Lucifer looks down through the clouds, a nd observes the sinners. He is talking about the denizens of the earth, for since Adam sinned in the beginning, all of his sons and daughters are also sinners. Perhaps he can relate to them, as he is also trying for entrance to heaven. For now , he sets his mind on the people who will become denizens of his hell eventually. Here Meredith shows how much hubris the devil really has, for the reader can just see Lucifer savoring over the masses entering his vile domain. Then, Lucifer peers at the most extreme places in the world, describing the sands of Africa.

Victims Rights: Why Do Laws Protect the Criminal More than the Victim?

The criminal laws of the United States are more intent on protecting the rights of criminals than penalizing them. Today’s inmates live better off than most American citizens who are often working two jobs just to meet paying their taxes. A criminal can literally get away with murder because of a technicality, police can barely interrogate suspects without the suspects’ lawyers stating some legal issues that prevent further investigations. It almost seems that the very people who do not respect the law are above it. A criminal is obviously an individual who commits a crime, but what is crime? A crime is any act or omission of an act in violation of a public law. Though most laws are common throughout America, some laws are also established by local and state governments as well. Criminal laws and penalties vary from state to state. Crimes include both felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are serious crimes like murder or rape and are punishable by imprisonment for a year or more. The consequence for felonies such as murder and treason can be the death penalty. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes like petty theft or speeding and are punishable by less than a year in prison. Fines are also punishments of both misdemeanors and felonies. The fine’s amount is determined by the seriousness of the case. However, no act is a crime unless it has been stated as such by an American law or statute. Why do criminals have rights in the first place? The laws of the United States were created to protect the rights of all individuals, even the ones that break the laws. Many of these laws are made in order to uphold the rights established in the Bill of Rights. When the United States was still developing, many states refused ... ...t to aid their client. Lawyers are by no means evil. They are simply doing their job. Unfortunately, the majority of them do it very well. And so long as criminals break the law, there will be lawyers to fight for them and defend them. It is very interesting to see that even though when someone breaks the law in the United States, they will still be protected by that very law. Even as one violates the rights of others, the law will make sure that their rights are protected. It almost seems that has more rights by breaking the law instead of following it. Police are prevented from using extreme force against them and lawyers are at the ready to serve these criminals. Criminals have forfeited their rights when they have violated the rights of others. Why should the law be so intent on protecting their rights, when they have no intent on following the law?

Anti-Theme Writing :: Teaching Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Anti-Theme Writing All writers of the world join together and work to banish theme writing from existence. Anyone who can read and write must join together in opposition to the teaching and proliferation of the theme writing disease. Theme writing blocks insight and creativity among the world's population who in striving for an education must be continually oppressed, and denied a very important ability, the ability to think. For hundreds of years the world has been divided into three major classes, the boredwajzee, the studentletariat, and the illiterate. The boredwajzee consists of scholars, teachers, and professors who teach theme writing and continually oppress the other classes by blocking creativity and insight. They instill a fear of failure using the tools of a corrupt grading system that works to promote the writing of the theme. Theme writing takes the personal interest out of education and greatly affects the student striving to fine-tune the ability to think. The education and promotion of writing in theme creates educated students, but students not educated to think for themselves. At a very early age when theme writing is instilled in the minds of our young people it serves the very purposes of the boredwajzee. Taking away a studentà ­s ability to think by promoting theme writing keeps the boredwajzee in power by creating an apathetic student. A student who neither cares to write, nor think s when writing. This promotes stability in our current educational system. A system where the evil tools of grades are used by the boredwajzee to ensure the creation of an educated yet apathetic student who writes only to please the boredwajzee. All the while, unbeknownst to the student, thought and creativity are oppressed and the boredwajzeeà ­s power is preserved. The class of the studentletariat is then molded into the ideal student to ensure the survival of the boredwajzee. The student does not care about what is written as long as it conforms to the basic methods taught by the boredwajzee. The studentletariat at a very early age loses the ability to think and be creative in their education. Ultimately what is created is apathy, a student that does not care to go beyond what is taught. A student who no longer learns for the sake of learning but only does just enough to please the boredwajzee. The studentletariat hold no personal interest in what is learned and therefore the perfect student is molded by the boredwajzee.

Sabah Issue

The armed intrusion into Sabah by Sulu terrorists is a blow to the progress of the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), says BIMP-EAGA Malaysia Business Council chairman Datuk Roselan Johar Mohamed. Expressing profound dismay over the incident, he called on BIMP-EAGA member countries to go back to the original status quo, focusing more on accelerating economic development in the four countries in a safe and conducive manner.Quoting the age-old saying â€Å"we cannot negotiate if you are pointing a gun at me†, Roselan said that it was true in the context of the sub-regional grouping, which was launched in 1994. â€Å"We must all retract and go back to the drawing board, rethink and revisit our strategy and go back to the negotiating table,† he told Bernama.Roselan was commenting on the recent statement by Former Philippines’ President Fidel Ramos with regard to the standoff in Lahad Datu in the east coast of Sabah , that the BIMP-EAGA should be revived by the countries concerned as the grouping was the key to improve the people’s conditions in south Philippines, Borneo Island and adjacent areas. â€Å"The BIMP-EAGA is the win-win strategy if we are looking from the perspective of a better, more prosperous, more peaceful, more harmonious and more sustainable future for all peoples,† Ramos was quoted as saying.Ramos said the potentials of the BIMP-EAGA were so great that even foreign local governments such as Australia’s Northern Territory and Western Australia states had joined the grouping as associates. Ramos said that during his administration, he tried to set up a corporation that would develop the BIMP-EAGA sub-region. The company is to be jointly run by Malaysia, the Sulu Sultanate’s heirs and private sector partners.The company’s revenue can substitute the annual RM5,300 as the rent to the sultanate’s heirs, Ramos said. In this respect, Roselan acknowledged Ramos’ role in the establisment of BIMP-EAGA, saying that the Former Philippines’ President was both vocal and wise when he initiated the BIMP-EAGA concept together with Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Tertullian’s the Prescription Against Heretics

The early Church was birthed through perseverance against intense persecution: (i) physical persecution by the governments of the time which lauded the oppression, imprisonment, torture and death of Christians for their new religious doctrines; and (ii) intellectual persecution by opposing religious sects who sort to denounce the doctrines of Christianity. The Prescription Against Heretics was written in response to the latter – to defend the tenets of Christianity against the false teachings of heretics and religious-based philosophers.Heretics promoted controversial views which were in opposition to those offered by Christian doctrine, with the intention of creating followers of their beliefs. Religio-philosophers were quasi-Christians who promoted the use of intellect and logic to understand Christianity and in doing so, never becoming Christians. Tertullian saw the end of philosophy as heresy and categorizes both as the same. Tertullian defends Christianity by describing h eresies as powerless, fallible and only expressive of a lack of faith; he therefore provides a rule of faith as a measure and the authority for Christianity.Tertullian was born in the city of Carthage, North Africa, around 160 C. E. He was raised as a pagan, was able to read and write in Greek and Latin and received an excellent education in grammar, literature, philosophy, law and rhetoric. He became a Stoic but later converted to Christianity at the age of forty years. Within medieval Christian history, Tertullian is classified as an Apologist – a theologian who, during the era of violent persecution of Christians, used writings to defend Christianity against its challengers.His apologetic writing, The Prescription Against Heretics, reads as a legal defense argument against philosophers and influential heretics such as Marcion, Plato, Valentinus, Zeno and the Stoics. Many of these were using logic to question Christianity and created doubt in some of the believers, which at tracted Christians away from the Faith. In chapter fourteen of The Prescription, Tertullian stated that he felt morally obligated to counteract the teachings of heretics.This was perhaps because he had firsthand experience with the flaws of religio-philosophical reasoning and now, through his conversion, experiencing the personal joys of faith in Christianity. Tertullian’s first line of defense against heresies was to show that they are indeed powerless and inconsequential to the strength of Christianity. In doing so, he is able to circumvent the trepidation that the early Christians may have had regarding heretical influences. Any advance of a heretical teaching against the Church would be only temporary and unsuccessful; much like a short-lived, passing illness.According to Tertullian, heresies are only powerful in appearance because of the few individuals who were already weak in their faith and allowed themselves to be ensnarled in the whims of false teachings. For these individuals to be drawn away has no effect on the veracity of Christianity. Airing confidence in his argument, Tertullian says, â€Å"Heresies derive such strength as they have from the infirmities of individuals – having no strength whenever they encounter a really powerful faith†, his new found faith, Christianity.As a shepherd expects and accepts that wolves will after his flock and in fact capture a few, in like manner Tertullian parallels the existence of heresies in Christendom. He uses this allegory to encourage the second century Christians with the view that not only did the Lord forewarned the Church that heresies will arise and believers some will indeed be loss but also that they should celebrate their proven faithful to God by not allowing themselves to be trapped by the heretics.Continuing to promote the authority of Christianity, Tertullian asserts that heresies only exist because God is using them to train and strengthen the faith of the believers. Othe r than that, they are simply â€Å"foolishness†. Tertullian clears the slate of all the popular supposed intellectuals by revealing their fallibility – no matter how well-intended, all of their teachings amount to the same questions repeated in different ways by different the men, but producing the same answer – that is, there will never be an answer until you accept the overarching authority of the Scripture of God.Tertullian asked the question, â€Å"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? †, to point out that philosophical methods of inquiry have nothing to do with teaching by the authority of scripture and the church alone has the authority to declare what is and what is not orthodox Christianity. Perhaps Tertullian had discovered this reality in his personal search for truth based upon intellectualism and saw that he had to relinquish his intellect to the ultimate authority of God and in doing so he found fulfillment.Tertullian is covering every argume nt that a heretic may use to justify himself, especially in their passion for attempting to juxtapose philosophy with Christianity, and using scripture to support their continual questions. He is using his legal background and training in rhetoric to give support to the Church. In The Prescription, Tertullian directly identifies the â€Å"seek, and ye shall find† scripture (Matthew 7:7) as a prominent passage misunderstood and misused by heretics to justify their continual questioning of the Word of God.He argues that heretics take this scripture out of context and interpret what was meant literally for the Jewish community of Jesus’ time as the same for the heretics of his day. Tertullian supports this argument from the position that, like him, the heretics are Gentiles and in the time of Jesus, Gentiles did not have access to salvation. Therefore, they had no knowledge of what to seek, where to knock or who to ask. This access only came through the instruction of the apostles by virtue of the Holy Ghost.His conclusion was that this Scripture was only to be used as a figurative example for the heretics and therefore they should cease to question divine scripture. This misinterpretation only adds to the unreliability and the inadequacy of the human intellect of heretics as sources of truth compared to the church which has access to Divine Truth. According to Tertullian’s argument, because heretics continue to seek it means that they have found what they were looking for, if they have not found, they cannot believe and if they do not believe, they are not Christians.And if they are not Christians then they have no right to quote or discuss the Bible – inside or outside the Church. To separate his intellect from those of the heretics and to show himself to as a true Christian with divine permission to use the Bible, Tertullian draws many of his examples directly from the Scriptures. Tertullian argued that Christians and heretics use t he Bible for different reasons. Christians use it to access truth in God and to increase their faith while oppositely, it was the use of philosophy which drove heretics to continual curious inquires of the Scripture.But, in reality these inquires amounted to a lack of faith by the philosophers. His position was that once an individual had sought and found truth in the teachings of Christ, that person need not seek anything further and should fully believe in that which he had found. To keep seeking meant that the individual had not believed or had faith in what they had found in Christ. This would be core measure between a Christianity and heresy. A Christian seeks the word of God, finds it and believes – this is faith and this is therefore a Christian.For a heretic, he goes into the scripture without knowing what he is looking for and questioning everything he finds in the scripture – this is a lack of faith and this is not a Christian. For Tertullian, the solution wa s a complete expulsion of philosophers because they will never know for what they are seeking, where they are knocking or to whom they are asking, and to have them around would only give possibilities for them to destroy the Church. He urges Christians to not get involved in discussions with philosophers and heretics and to only discuss matters related to Christ with other Christians, without weakening the rule of faith.He offers a summary of the Christian creed, the rule of faith, as the basis for inquiry and once an individual had found truth in the rule regarding the role of God, The Son and the Holy Spirit, there should be no further searching. In his writing, Tertullian uses Luke 18:42 to assert that it is the faith of individuals that would save them and not their ability to debate Scripture. The truth of their belief lies in the rule of faith and to go outside of the rule would be to enter into heresy; which inevitably will lead to destruction.In this period of questioning an d persecutions, Tertullian felt that all Christians must know what they have obtained through God and through the scripture. With this faith, they will not be shaken by threats of violence from the government and the threats of corruption by the heretics. Tertullian’s position in the separation of Christianity from philosophy and heresies is that the latter two have no connection with the former. Philosophy is not based upon faith but rather distracts away from it and induces heresies.In turn, heresies induce further heresies and it is the intention of these heretics to seduce Christians away from their original doctrinal beliefs. He illustrates this by purporting that intellect cannot understand the spiritual and the people who believe in intellect cannot be considered a part of the church. To unite the two polarities, Christianity and philosophy, would be to create a polluted doctrine. Christians must not allow themselves to be swayed by the religio-philosophical practice o f using scripture.He also offers that there is nothing more enjoyable that Christianity and because of the pleasures from Christ’s teachings there was no need to search for anything further. Whether in sympathy or in condemnation, Tertullian attempts to use his Prescription Against Heretics as an uncontestable argument in defense of his Christianity against the vices of heretics and religio-philosophers. According to Tertullian, everything that an individual needs can be found in the rule of faith – the most enjoyable belief, which he has discovered and now vigorously defend.