Disney consultancy pitch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disney consultancy pitch - Essay Example Holistic stimulus and improvement package would definitely invigorate the revenue streams of DP and make it a more attractive and sought after destination for people of all age groups. Thus, these could leverage DP’s efforts in capturing more market share and attaining competitive growth prospects. â€Å"Entertainment value is but one reason to adopt your young ones to Disneyland† (Shakeerajanejackson, 2011). The salient aspects of the consultancy pitch will include: a. A complete remodeling and restructuring of the Disneyland Model: â€Å"Disneyland Paris opened on 12 April 1992† (Financial arrangements relating to Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, 2009). It is now almost ten years old and needs a facelift. With an estimated budgetary allocation of ?500,000, it is proposed to upgrade present facilities in this theme/amusement park and add new, innovative themes that are favorites in other parks in Europe and America. Thus, it would als o be necessary to visit other theme parks in several counties and decide the kind of changes that would be necessary for attracting more customers and augmenting the revenues in future. b. Advertising: Perhaps there is a need for DP to embark on a strong TV and internet advertisement campaign to gain greater visibility for its public offerings,â€Å"as well as the exciting developments and details of all our forthcoming events† (Need something, n.d). They may also consider the strategy of using social networking to promote their brand. Aggressive marketing will provide them the necessary thrust in attracting different customer segments. Thus, it would be necessary to envision new attractions in the theme and amusement park and begin intensive online and TV publicity campaigns. The costs involved in major advertising would be around ?100,000. c. Special and seasonal offers: Disney needs to think about bringing more uniqueness in their brand, to differentiate DP from other them e and amusement parks of its genre. For achieving this, it is first necessary to make it affordable for all sections of people. Thus, floating a program like â€Å"affordable holidays† campaign which will appeal to customers. (Disneyland Paris is going to host the Disney Olympics games in 2011 France, 2011). They can also consider special offers in terms of concessional ticket rates, which could induce more people to visit the park. This would not only augment ticket sales but could also augur well for other related businesses like footstalls, special amusement facilities and so on.†Disneyland Resort Paris is open every day of the year. Opening times vary according to season. The Parks may also stay open later for special seasonal events† (Need something, n.d). The perceived losses that could occur due to special offers could be offset by a budget allocation of ?100,000 in this area. However, detailed research needs to be carried out as to whether cost benefits co uld arise due to special offers and whether this could be sustained on long term basis. There is a section of customers who are not tempted, however low the prices may be. Besides, it is also necessary to ensure that special offers do not overrun their budget estimates. d. Improving remuneration packages to employees and work environment: Meredith Belbin has been a major exponent of Team Role Theory. This theory enables â€Å"better understanding of the roles played by team members and how team

Did the British win the Boer War only to lose the peace Essay

Did the British win the Boer War only to lose the peace - Essay Example This paper will show how Britain’s victory in the Boer War robbed Britain peace. The first 1880-1881 Boer War, which has as well been entitled as the Transvaal Revolt, was against the 1877 British annexation (Lamband 2005) and (Thompson 1960). The 2nd Boer War ‘Tweede Boereoorlog’,‘ Afrikaans: Tweede Vryheidsoorlog’, or ‘Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog’was battled from October 11 1899 until May 31 1902 amid the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch-settlers and the British Empire of two self-governing Boer republics, the Orange Free Nation and the Transvaal Republic (South African Republic) (Pakenham 1991) and (Porter 1980). The war concluded with a victory for British and the British Empire annexed both states; both republics would finally be merged into the South African Union, a British Empire territory, in 1910 (Lamband 2005). The main root of the conflict was the political ideologies differences between the Boers and the British (Pakenham 1991) and (P orter 1980). The British imperial pursued a confederacy of the entire South Africa beneath the British emblem (Porter 1980). The Boers who lived in the two main nations namely the Orange Free State and the South African Republic tried to uphold their nationality (Pakenham 1991), (Lamband 2005) and (Schreuder1980). The two states presence, therefore, functioned as an obstruction for the unification idea of British. This hindrance of political ideology differences was more compounded with the gold discovery gold upon the Witwatersrand within the South African State (Pakenham 1991). The discovery of gold attracted thousands miners and prospectors from around the globe to the gold fields with one aim in mind - to pursue their treasure. The South African Republican inhabitants saw the new arrivals (Uitlanders) as a danger to their ongoing sovereignty (Porter 1980).The Kruger administration (of the South African Republic), consequently, placed limitations upon the Uitlander's license for Volksraad and presidential elections (judicial assembly/ Boers’ legislature) to naturalized inhabitants who had lived in the nation for 14 years (Pakenham 1991), (Lamband 2005) and (Schreuder 1980). Although relatively a small number of newcomers were sincerely concerned on the franchise issue, this turned into a crucial issue amid the British regime and the South African Republican government (Lamb and 2005) and (Thompson1960). In 1835 to 1845, around 15,000 Voortrekkers (populaces of Dutch-extract) shifted out of the Cape Colony (British) through the Gariep-Orange River to the central of South Africa (Thompson 1960). Voortrekkers’ Great Trek was a refutation of the Britain’s philanthropic guidelines with its white and black equalization at the Cape Colony as well as the political sidelining they underwent on the eastern-Cape border (Pakenham 1991) and (Thompson 1960). They founded two independent nations - the Orange Free State and the Transvaal - as acknowled ged by Great-Britain in 1852, at the Sand River as well as 1854 Bloemfontein Treaties (Porter 1980), (Lamband 2005) and (Schreuder 1980).The republicans attained the title 'Boers', the ‘Dutch and Afrikaans’ expression for farmers. Similar to many African societies in their frontiers, the stock ranching Boers relished a pre-industrialist, near-subsistence economy. Just gradually effectual state

Gardners Art Through The Ages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gardners Art Through The Ages - Essay Example Most of the artistic works in the book try to show that those who requested some artistic works wanted to separate themselves from the poor. In our world today, human beings do everything to separate themselves from the poor and associate themselves with the rich. It is ironical that those who made some of the luxurious art works that cost a lot of money were poor. Those who managed to order artistic works were people who were wealthy. From the building of pope’s palace by pope Paul, it clearly shows that it is all about wealth. This is because he ordered a luxurious palace. Thus, from the beginning, human beings do things in order to separate themselves from the poor. Some even do things not because they like it but because they want to show to the world that they are wealthy. In the current era of civilization, it is also inevitable to talk about wealth and poverty. This is because there is increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor. Rich always do things that separate them from the poor. They will rather buy meal in an expensive hotel than mix with the poor in an ordinary hotel. Expensive cars, expensive mobile phones, expensive jewelry and other expensive materials aim at separating the rich from the poor. In the current civilization, it is evident that the poor have no place. All that people do in the current era of civilization closely relate with money.... He even hired Bramante, a renowned artist and architect, to design it. This portrays the theme of wealth. This is because Pope Julius did not want to portray Rome as poor, but rich, and that is why he aimed at beautifying Rome. He even went further to design his own tomb, which took a lot of artistic work. All this was because of wealth since wealth ensured that artistic works of such caliber went to completion (Gardner and Kleiner 259). Another artistic work is the construction of lavish palace called Palazzo Farnese by Michelangelo. This was after Pope Paul III requested its creation. This was a sophisticated design to match the standard of the pope. Pope wanted to make Rome a splendid place and that is why he sought architectural prowess from recognized artists. The palace was three-dimensional mass just to show how lavish it was. It also constituted overlapping pilasters just to make it lavish and sophisticated. This splendid artwork was the one that set the pace for Italian pala ce. This showed an extent people could go to make earth their heaven. It is evident from the description of this artwork that wealth played a crucial role. Wealth ensured that the beautiful pope palace reached its completion. Thus, this artistic work depicts theme of wealth and poverty. The other artistic work is the building of Villa Rotonda by Palladio. This artistic work involved constructing the building at the top of the hill. This aimed at providing a beautiful view. It contained four identical facades resembling the four compass planes. Each porch provided a different view. It closely resembled the roman ionic temple. This artwork is splendid in that it enables one to have different views of the

Report on health and safety differences between carribean and uk Essay

Report on health and safety differences between carribean and uk - Essay Example The way in which they do this varies, however, from one country to the next. While the Caribbean islands handle this administration through a prescriptive approach, the UK uses something called goal-setting strategies to ensure basic human health and safety standards are met. This particular method of enforcing compliance is quite different from prescriptive strategies in many ways, which will be enumerated through various examples throughout this document. Companies that operate in more than one country may find it beneficial to meet the most restrictive of the requirements set forth by both countries, but can only do so once those requirements are delineated and compared. By understanding the current conditions and prescriptive strategies used in the Caribbean as well as the conditions and strategies used in the UK, one can compare the similarities and differences between the two systems and adjust each for maximum goal-setting strategy development prior to company relocation. In discussing prescriptive strategies versus goal-setting strategies, it is important to understand the difference between the two. Although legislation can be created in any country that governs the use of goal-setting strategies as well, the use of the term prescriptive strategies as it is used in this document will refer to all health and safety management strategies that are specifically outlined in legislative form. In other words, these strategies are required by mandate as a means of meeting basic minimum compliance levels, and tend to spell out the exact requirements, methods, practices and means of reporting or record keeping in the areas of health and safety management for employees and companies operating within a specific governmental sphere. These minimum requirements can be applied to any kind of health or safety issue including environmental concerns at large, employee health plans or allowable workforce

Michelangelo's Last Judgement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Michelangelo's Last Judgement - Essay Example In this painting, judgment day is depicted and Christ is seen as a â€Å"stern judge of the world† (Kleiner, 2009, p.474). The literary sources from which this work of art drew its theme are supposed to be, the Bible, the Divine Comedy and also many folk and traditional stories about the judgment day (Barnes, 1998, p.1). It was Pope Paul III who invited Michelangelo from Florence to Rome and entrusted him with the creation of this painting, also deciding upon the topic of this painting (Paoletti and Radke, 2005, p.501). It was under the loving insistence of the Pope (who was busily reviving the strength of Catholicism in the backdrop of Protestant Reformation) that Michelangelo left his work in Florence and came to Rome. Hence it can be said that this painting embodied the Catholic idea of salvation (Dixon, n.d.). The painting shows all the just figures inside it as ascending to heaven and all the damned figures as being taken downward into the hell (Kleiner, 2009, p.474). The purpose of this painting as seen from the eyes of the Catholic Church of that era was to tackle the ideological spread of Protestantism (Williams, 2004, p.76). The Church was getting aware of the â€Å"power of art† and was trying to â€Å"exercise some kind of control over the production and consumption images† (Williams, 2004, p.76). In this painting, Michelangelo has â€Å"used some†¦intense colors† and had paid attention to undertake perfect detailing of all the human bodies that he has drawn (Paoletti and Radke, 2005, p.501). It is observed that â€Å"each hue is powerfully distinct, yet shot through with lights of other hues† (Dixon, n.d.). The ambience created by this painting is that of great tension and apprehension. This is in accordance with the theme of the painting, which is about the judgment day. The central figure if Jesus as is in all previous judgment day paintings. The raised right hand of Jesus in the painting is supposed to repr esent the canonical saying, â€Å"(He) wrathfully damns the guilty and banishes them from his presence into eternal fire† (cited by Dixon, n.d.). But some critics (Dixon, n.d.; Kleiner, 2009) have viewed the positioning of the hand as depicting uncertainty and ambiguity. The painting is reflective of Michelangelo’s concepts about the judgment, which has roots in Dante’s notions and also in the idea that â€Å"judgment is not a matter of God's action at all ... (and) judgment is a choice of the individual soul† (Dixon, n.d.). This might be the reason why many figures in the painting even as being drawn into hell, carry signs of some internal conflict on their faces rather than a fear of being punished. It is also argued that this is why Michelangelo has not given Christ a commanding posture and instead picturized him in an ambiguous body posture (Dixon, n.d.). Critics (Paoletti and Radke, 2005) have opined that the style in this painting is a developmental progression from his previous figural style and also is reflective of Hellenistic sculpting style (p.501). By visualizing Jesus in the appearance a Greek god, Michelangelo was breaking the convention on usual depictions of Christ. The skin held by St. Bartholomew (he was skinned alive) in the painting is supposed to have a face resembling Michelangelo himself, says some analysts (Kleiner, 2009, p.474). Another curious specialty of the painting has been its lack of â€Å"

Electronic positioning system (marine navigational radar) Essay

Electronic positioning system (marine navigational radar) - Essay Example This effect can be observed when a person shouts in a valley. The sound waves travel to the nearby mountains and get reflected. The person thus hears back his own voice. The time taken by the sound waves to return back depends upon the distance between the persons and the mountains. The similar concept is applied in RADAR. Here radio waves are emitted by the RADAR which travel in all directions. If an object comes in the way of these waves they get reflected back with the speed of light and detected by the RADAR. By knowing the time elapsed between sending and receiving back the waves, the position of the object can be determined by calculating the distance the wave has travelled. Now in order to calculate the speed of an object the concept of Doppler shift plays its role. When a wave is reflected by a moving object its nature depends upon the movement of that object. If the object is moving towards the source of the wave, then the pitch of the wave will be higher than if it is moving away from it. This can be observed in case of a car blowing its horn. When a moving car approaches a person the horn seems to be louder and when it moves away it become s somewhat fainter. Knowing the pitch of the sound wave the speed of the car can be detected. This principle is applied in case of RADAR where a radio wave is used instead of a sound wave. The pitch of the reflected radio wave determines the speed and the direction of motion of the object. Combining the Echo and Doppler Shift, we can exactly determine the position, speed and direction of motion of an object in the sea with the help of a Navigational RADAR. Components of Marine Navigational RADAR There are five main components of a Marine Navigational RADAR. Transmitter Modulator Antenna Receiver Indicator 1. Transmitter A transmitter is a device which transmits radio waves into the air. These waves are generated inside the RADAR. 2. Modulator It allows waves to be omitted as pulses (Integrated Publishing, n.d.). 3. Antenna An antenna is used to give direction to the radio waves being transmitted. These waves are sent as 'beams'. The antenna is always in rotating condition so that the whole of the area is covered. 4. Receiver It receives back the reflected waves from the objects and converts the information into usable data (Integrated Publishing, n.d.). 5. Indicator It is a device on which the received information is plotted. It shows the position of the object in the form of a mark on a screen. The standard indicator that is used mainly is known as Plan Position Indicator (PPI). It

City of God vs. The Protestant Reformations Essay Example for Free

City of God vs. The Protestant Reformations Essay Introduction: The belief that God is present to the human mind and soul, and can be found is part of the Christian tradition. Many Christian philosophers seem to regard this as the concern only of specially devout persons and of no interest for philosophical purposes. The evidence for it, they think, it too slender to be taken seriously by academic philosophers without particular interest in religion, who tend to regard anything in the nature of religious experience as suspect. So, philosophical discussions about religion are usually concerned with rational arguments for and against theism, usually of a technical kind. In this article, I want to discuss the Augustine world with the reformist will as proposed by Martin Luther. One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian thought, The City of God is vital to an understanding of modern Western society and how it came into being. Begun in A.D. 413 by Saint Augustine, the great theologian who was bishop of Hippo, the books initial purpose was to refute the charge that Christianity was to blame for the fall of Rome (which had occurred just three years earlier). Augustines City of God, a monumental work of religious lore, philosophy, and history, was written as a kind of literary tombstone for Roman culture. After the downfall of Rome, Augustine wrote this book to portray the corruption of Romans pursuit of earthly pleasures: grasping for praise, open-handed with their money; honest in the pursuit of wealth, they wanted to hoard glory. Augustine contrasts his condemnation of Rome with an exaltation of Christian culture. The glory that Rome failed to attain will only be realized by citizens of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. On the other hand Hans J. Hillerbrand in his book â€Å"The Protestant Reformation† says When the reformers who had first ventured a new interpretation of the gospel had passed from the scene, the question which had haunted the Reformation from its very inceptionwhere is truth?was still contested by the proponents of the old and the new faith. But one fact was beyond dispute: Western Christendom was tragically dividedinto no less than five religious factions.Though these divisions were the result of intense religious conviction, they could not help but lessen the intensity of religious belief in Europe. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was the last period in the history of Western civilization when men were preoccupied with religion, argued it, fought and even died for it. Its consequences are still with us†. Argument: The two cities in city of God and the two wills in Lutheranism No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than the â€Å"City of God†. Since medieval Europe has been the cradle of todays Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for an understanding of our world and how it came into being. St. Augustine is often regarded as the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, and this book highlights upon a vast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldliness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil: the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind on the relations of church and state, and on the Christians place in the temporal order. It is more than a question of setting down on paper a series of abstract principles and then applying them in practice. Christianity is more than a moral code, more than a philosophy, more than a system of rites. Although it is sufficient, in the abstract, to divide the Catholic religion into three aspects and call them creed, code and cult, yet in practice, the integral Christian life is something far more than all this. It is more than a belief; it is a life. That is to say, it is a belief that is lived and experienced and expressed in action. The action in which it is expressed, experienced and lived is called a mystery. This mystery is the sacred drama which keeps ever present in history the Sacrifice that was once consummated by Christ on Calvary. In plain wordsif you can accept them as plainChristianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men and in the heart of society. It is this Christ-life, this incorporation into the Body of Christ, this union with His death and resurrection as a matter of conscious experience, that St. Augustine wrote of in his Confessions. But Augustine not only experienced the reality of Christ living in his own soul. He was just as keenly aware of the presence and action, the Birth, Sacrifice, Death and Resurrection of the Mystical Christ in the midst of human society. And this experience, this vision, if you would call it that, qualified him to write a book that was to be, in fact, the autobiography of the Catholic Church. That is what The City of God is. Just as truly as the Confessions are the autobiography of St. Augustine, The City of God is the autobiography of the Church written by the most Catholic of her great saints. Evidently, the treatment of the theme is so leisurely and so meandering and so diffuse that The City of God, more than any other book, requires an introduction. The best we can do here is to offer a few practical suggestions as to how to tackle it. The first of these suggestions is this: since, after all, The City of God reflects much of St. Augustines own personality and is colored by it, the reader who has never met Augustine before ought to go first of all to the Confessions. Once he gets to know the saint, he will be better able to understand Augustines view of society. Then, no one who is not a specialist, with a good background of history or of theology or of philosophy, ought not to attempt to read the City, for the first time, beginning at page one. The living heart of the City is found in Book Nineteen, and this is the section that will make the most immediate appeal to us today because it is concerned with the theology of peace. However, Book Nineteen cannot be understood all by itself. The best source for solutions to the most pressing problems it will raise is Book Fourteen, where the origin of the two Cities is sketched, in an essay on original sin. On the other hand the protestant reformation deals with the religious movement which made its appearance in western Europe in the sixteenth century, and which, while ostensibly aiming at an internal renewal of the church, really led to a great revolt against it, and an abandonment of the principal Christian beliefs. The causes of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century must be sought as far back as the fourteenth. The doctrine of the church, it is true, had remained pure; saintly lives were yet frequent in all parts of Europe, and the numerous beneficent medieval institutions of the church continued their course uninterruptedly. Whatever unhappy conditions existed were largely due to civil and profane influences or to the exercise of authority by ecclesiastics in civil spheres; they did not obtain everywhere with equal intensity, nor did they always occur simultaneous in the same country. Ecclesiastical and religious life exhibited in many places vigor and variety; works of education and charity abounded; religious art in all its forms had a living force; domestic missionaries were many and influential; pious and edifying literature was common and appreciated. Gradually, however, and largely owing to the variously hostile spirit of the civil powers, fostered and heightened by several elements of the new order, there grew up in many parts of Europe political and social conditions which hampered the free reformatory activities of the church, and favored the bold and unscrupulous, who seized a unique opportunity to let loose all the forces of heresy and schism so long held in check by the harmonious action of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. Luthers theology is his understanding of God that can be summarized as Gottes Gottheit, which means God is God. In the deepest sense, Luther believes that God is above all and in all. God, through his creative power, reveals that he is free and immutable. He alone can bring life into existence. He alone sustains life. He alone freely wills. Moreover, what God wills can not be impeded or resisted by a mere creature. God is all-powerful and therefore, Gods will is alone immutable. Any person, therefore, that appeals to the freedom of human will attempts to usurp for themselves an attribute that belongs only to God. The free and immutable will of God is, in Luthers writings, fundamental to a right and proper faith. Without it, God is not God and Scripture would, therefore, have to be annulled. In BOW, Luther constantly emphasizes these two characteristics of the will of God and points out their significance for the Faith. In addition, Luther argues that God has two wills as pertains His nature: (1) the revealed will of His word and, (2) the hidden or inscrutable will. These characteristics of Gods will provide the basis for understanding and interpreting Luthers conviction that the human will is enslaved. For Luther, the free will of God is not simply Gods limitless and unobstructed ability to choose between any set of variables in any set of circumstances. Rather, it is Gods unique ability to transcend all these variables and circumstances to perform, or not perform, any action that He desires. Gods will is not contingent upon the will of any other being. In ceaseless activity, God creates the possibilities. As such, the free will of God is most plainly revealed to humanity through His creative acts. God freely chooses to create our present reality and likewise, He freely sustains this reality. In fact, reality does not exist except by the will of God. To this all-encompassing extent then, Luther asserts that God is all in all. Nothing is that God does not declare to be. And, it is this creative power that manifests Gods freedom, His free will. In recognizing Luthers pronounced emphasis on Gods sovereignty, Paul Althaus declares: â€Å"God is the first or principal cause, all others are only secondary or instrumental causes. They are only the tools which he uses in the service of his own autonomous, free, and exclusive working; they are only the masks under which he hides his activity†. The second characteristic of Gods   will that is crucial to Luthers understanding of the bondage of the human will, is its immutability. That is, Gods will can not be changed, altered or impeded. The immutability of Gods will is the logical conclusion to the freedom of Gods will. Gods sovereignty and almighty power demands that whatever God wills happens by necessity. Nothing occurs contingently. Gods will does not act independently of reality, as the human will does, but rather, Gods will creates reality. In Luthers theology, the will of God is not contingent and so likewise, the foreknowledge of God is also not contingent. For whatever God wills, he foreknows and so, whatever He foreknows must, by necessity, happen. For if it did not happen, then God would be fallible and His will contingent which Luther declares is not to be found in God!   It is the immutable will of God, acting freely, that provides the Christian with the assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1), namely that the promises of God will be fulfilled. As Luther suggests, the Christians chief and only comfort in every adversity lies in knowing that God does not lie, but brings all things to pass immutably, and that His will cannot be resisted, altered or impeded. Indeed, for Luther, the conviction that Gods will is free and immutable must be central to the Faith. Yet, Luthers theology presents a problem: if God wills everything and everything He wills comes to pass then one must conclude that God wills the salvation of few and the damnation of many (cf. Mt 22:14). Luther answered this dilemma by teaching that God has two wills, the revealed and the hidden. As Luther declares in BOW, Gods decree to damn the undeserving . . . [who are] compelled by natural necessity to sin and perish does indeed seem horrible. Moreover, all rational and philosophical knowledge of God can not avoid the terrible reality of this conclusion, for as Luther concedes, the injustice of God . . . is traduced as such by arguments which no reason or light of nature can resist. Luther understands this horrible decree in light of Gods justice in two ways. For Luther, the answer to these questions is twofold: (1) we must simply believe that Gods justice is righteous because in Christ God has proven His love and compassion and, (2) we should not probe into the hidden or inscrutable will of God wherein God operates paradoxically, i.e. righteousness made evident through unrighteousness. Luthers twofold answer to the questions of damnation reveals a high view of Gods sovereignty and majesty. Moreover, the answer is in accordance with Luthers view that Gods will is uniquely free and immutable. The answer also demands that the Christian simply trust in God. The Christian must believe all that is revealed in Scripture, not merely those things that are pleasant to the senses, and as such, we are compelled to accept the fact that God actively chooses to reject certain people. Nevertheless, if God has said in His Word that He is loving and gracious, and He has revealed himself to be such through His forbearance with the Israelites and the glorious plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, but what right can we judge the manner in which God oversees and sustains the world? For Luther, this is precisely the point at which the Christian must heed the words of God, spoken through the prophet Isaiah: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa 55:8-9). Luther would likewise appeal to Gods answer to Job in Job 38-41 and the words of Paul in Romans 9:20 as yet other examples of the futility of comprehending the incomprehensible and inscrutable will of God. Luther, therefore, answers the critics of predestination and defends Gods decree to affect unbelief in people by appealing to this inscrutable wisdom and will of God, a will that cannot be understood by any attempt of human reason. Because God is God, He has the right to condemn man for sins that God works in Him.10 And so, it is by faith that the Christian simply trusts that God is righteous, loving and gracious in so working. Luther consoles the Christian by exhorting them to look only to the revealed will of God that promises salvation to all who receive Christ. Thus, He does not will the death of a sinner-that is, in His Word; but He wills it by His inscrutable will. At present, however, we must keep in view His Word and leave alone His inscrutable will; for it is by His Word, and not by His inscrutable will, that we must be guided. Yet, for Luther, knowing that God does possess a hidden and inscrutable will of God provides valuable insights for the Christian. The inscrutable will of God tempers the revealed will of God. The doctrine of the free, immutable and inscrutable will of God, therefore, contributes three important foundations to the Christian Faith: (1) God is sovereign, all-powerful and therefore, even evil is under the sway of His goodness and as such, the Christian can be certain that the promises of God will be realized, (2) humanity is not free to earn or demand anything of God and so, Gods gift of salvation can truly be called free and gracious and, (3) the Christian, in response to these truths, is properly humbled and learns, in reverent adoration, to fear God, who acts freely and immutability for His glory. In consequence of his view of Gods will, Luthers view of the human will is necessarily placed in total subjection to the Divine. It is in this respect that Luther stands in contrast to Erasmus. Luthers discussion of this topic is theocentric, beginning with a discussion of God and His attributes whereas Erasmus belies an anthropocentric view, beginning with human experience. For Luther, that Gods will is immutable logically demands that mans will is mutable. For if Gods will is not contingent but immutable and free, no other will can be also be immutable and free otherwise these wills could impede one another and consequently, these wills would no longer be immutable and free but rather, they would be subject to one another. As such, Luther rightly proclaims the inconsistency of the term free will. In Luthers writings, there are three primary considerations to consider in evaluating the characteristics of the human will: (1) the human will is mutable, (2) as a consequence of the Fall, the human will is enslaved to sin and, (3) the human will requires the grace of God, offered through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ Jesus, to affect any positive change in a persons life. Luthers position on the Divine and human wills was not a small matter to him. In Table-Talk, Luther once stated in regards to his position that I know it to be the truth, though all the world should be against it; yea, the decree of Divine Majesty must stand fast against the gates of hell. The belief that humanity is enslaved to sin and that it is only by sovereign election that God saves a person formed the basis for Luthers conviction of justification by grace through faith. Grace is one the most important principles of biblical interpretation to Luther and no where is divine grace more evident than in the doctrine of election. And, it is this sola gratia principle of Luthers faith that preserves the eternal significance of Christs death and resurrection. It is by his sacrifice, not by our own works, that God graciously extends salvation to the elect. As Luther often remarked, to assert the freedom of the will is to deny the necessity of Christs atoning work. Conclusion Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. By means of his contrast of the earthly and heavenly citiesthe one pagan, self-centered, and contemptuous of God and the other devout, God-centered, and in search of graceAugustine explored and interpreted human history in relation to eternity. Saint Augustine examines the failure of Roman religion and the flaws in human civilization, thus creating the first Christian philosophy of history. Against the city, i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King Davids psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the city of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two cities, two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:   The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self. XIV:13. The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head. (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . . References 1. http://www.newadvent.org The Catholic encyclopedia The Journal Of Religion, J. Jeffery Tyler, volume 85, Part 1(2005), pages 317 – 319 Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Translation of 2nd edition by Robert C. Schultz. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1966 . Luthers Works, Volume 31: Career of the Reformer I. ed. Philip S. Watson. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1957.