Sunday, May 25, 2008

This Year's Class

This years history class worked very well for me. As a matter of fact, there isn't a lot I would change about the blogs or assignments. Watching movies helped to understand the subject we were studying. Blogs also helped in understanding what we were learning, and if for some reason we weren't able to get a blog done, being excused for it or giving more time helped a lot.

The only thing that I would change about the class is the amount of time we spent going over the blog topic, because I was pretty lost on a couple of blogs we did. However, the blogs helped in understanding the topic we were studying because we were able to go over it in writing the blog and in our research.

Whenever we couldn't get a blog in for whatever reason, giving us more time or excusing us helped, because we didn't have to be tied down all the time and stressed out about a lower grade that we couldn't help getting because of whatever the situation, whether it was a family or health issue. However, the blogs weren't the only things that helped in understanding the subject.
The work done in class helped out as well

Watching movies helped us out a lot because the book didn't go in depth on anything, and by watching movies and taking notes in class, we were able to get into the subject and understand it more than if we would have just read the book. Whenever, we came to an important part in the movie, pausing it and explaining what was going on helped because when you let a movie run without pausing it and you're trying to take notes while the narrator keeps talking and going on to other important subjects, you miss a lot of the important points.


Many things worked out very well this year, like the blogs, the movies we watched in class and giving us more time if we needed it on our blogs. However, it would've helped a lot if we went over the blog topics in class more thoroughly.



Saturday, May 17, 2008

Christianity and Islam


Islam and Christianity are two extremely different religions. However, they are somewhat similar.


The morality of Christianity and Islam are extremely different. According to Islam, men can have four wives, even though Muhammad had more wives than four. According to Christianity having more than one wife is, in fact, a sin. Jesus and Muhammad were very different. First of all, Mohammad was from an angel, Gabriel (Corrick, 89) that he claimed claimed to be from God. Jesus claimed not only to be from God, but to be the Son of God, and he proved it by rising from the dead. Mohammad never rose from the the dead. the Koran requires obedience to Allah (Pirenne, 151), and a Christians should be obedient to God, however, that is not how we get to heaven, Romans 3:24, "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." source.


Christianity and Islam are similar because according to the five tenants of Islam alms are to be given to the poor (Corrick, 91). Christians also should care for the poor and needy. Also, according to the five pillars of Islam, Muslims should pray every day. Christians should also pray every day, and spend quality time with God.


However, there are also differences between Islam and Christianity. For Instance, the Hajj, or a journey to Mecca in ones lifetime, is required in the Islamic faith. In the Christian religion, we are not required to go on a journey to Jerusalem or Mecca. However, God wants us to "go make disciples of all nations" source.


Although Islam and Christianity are two totally different religions, they do share a few similarities. However, just because two religions may have a few similarities doesn't at all mean they have a common purpose.


Corrick A., James. World History Series: The Early Middle Ages. Lucent Books Inc.: San Diego, 1995.

Pirenne, Henry. Mohammad and Charlemagne. Barns & Noble Inc., 1992.

Friday, May 9, 2008


The only thing that separated Islam from the West area was the Byzantine Empire. This empire was able to survive the main Muslim attacks.The The Muslims were able to conquer the southern areas of the Byzantine Empire, such as, Syria, the Jordan and Egypt. However, the Byzantines did not allow Islam to take control of the ocean (Pirenne, 184). The Byzantines were able to defeat an attack on the city of Constantinople (Corrick, 75).


The wealth of Syria and the Islamic spread were the reasons the Muslims decided to wager war upon Syria. However, they were originally going to declare war upon the area, it was but a way of defense against the people there. Though eventually, it turned into a holy war against Syria.


Jerusalem is actually one of the most holy sites for Islam. It was conquered in 634 by the Muslims. they ruled for four hundred fifty years, and possibly had a greater effect upon the city than did Christianity.


It was in 640 AD that Egypt was conquered by Amr bin Al-As. He also put the Fortress of Babylon under siege , then the Byzantine surrendered in 641. Amr bin Al-As went to Alexandria and they also gave in, or surrendered, to the Muslims.


The only thing that separated Islam from the West area was the Byzantine Empire. This empire was able to survive the main Muslim attacks.The The Muslims were able to conquer the southern areas of the Byzantine Empire, such as, Syria, the Jordan and Egypt. However, the Byzantines did not allow Islam to take control of the ocean (Pirenne, 184). The Byzantines were able to defeat an attack on the city of Constantinople (Corrick, 75).

Corrick, A. James. World History Series: The Early Middle Ages. Lucent Books Inc.: San Diego, 1995.

Pirenne, Henri. Mohammed and Charlemagne. Barns and Noble Inc., 1992.