The Framemakers Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Framemakers - Case Study Example The Normans then leaves the family business to work out modalities for their personal business (Wesley, 2000). The case’s statement problem is therefore to determine the best business opportunity that can successfully meet the Norman’s ambition for expansion. Solving the problem would involve analysis of available alternatives (Wesley, 2000). The first alternative for the Normans is the family business that is already established but has little room for expansion. They can alternatively pursue the franchise business that has an already developed image but they will have to buy the goodwill and pay a regular commission from their revenues besides operational costs. The Normans can alternatively develop their own business. Even though this will have a slow start and would similarly require financial inputs, it is viable and has room for expansion (Wesley, 2000). The Normans should therefore work hard on the involveed modalities to set up their personal and independent business. This is because it has room for expansion and will be free from any form of external

Physical Tamper-Resistant Devices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physical Tamper-Resistant Devices - Essay Example In this scenario, encryption keys are stored in a computer that can be vulnerable to abuse, use, or alter by an illegal user or an attacker. For various reasons one of the most important techniques to secure encryption keys is to store them in a more protected tamper resistant hardware system. These systems can be utilized for a wide variety of applications varying from protected online cash transfer to e-mail and credit card transactions. In fact, they provide physical safety to the encryption keys saved inside them, as a result making sure that these security keys have not been illegally modified or read. Naturally, attaining access to the information and data on tamper resistant device necessitates knowledge of a password (or PIN) that exactly what kind of system access can be attained using this information and data depends on the device (EMC Corporation., 2012; Anderson & Kuhn, 2000). There are different types of physical tamper-resistant devices and each device has different ch aracteristics. Basically, physical tamper-resistant devices are based on some kind of seals, locks, covers, coatings, and tamper response and detection mechanisms. According to FIPS 140 security levels there are basically four levels of physical security management standards. For the sake of application of a physical tamper-resistant system, the level 1 is about the implementation of some primary requirements on cryptographic algorithms. In this scenario, there are no such physical security devices at this level. The level 2 of the physical tamper-resistant system is based on the tamper evident seals or coating. While at level 3 we have an improved physical security system that can stop illegal access to systems and devices. The level 4 is based on extremely dependable tamper detection and response devices that can instantly erase the entire secret data (Anderson & Kuhn, 2000; NIST, 2001). In addition, the physical tamper-resistant can be of different types for example for the sake of devices’ warranties and support management we have tamper evident seals. These seals can deal with a tempering of opening devices. Such seals are used to make sure that warranties and support services still be offered (ommerling & Kuhn, 1999). In addition, for the sake of technology based systems security management we make use of the tamper resistant microprocessors. Such microprocessors are utilized to store as well as process sensitive and private data and information. To stop security breaches and attacks from illegal source such chips make it difficult for the outsiders to get access to sources as well as make sure that these resources are accessed only by the embedded software. Another kind of tamper resistance devices is known as DRM. These devices can include set-top boxes, smart cards and other technology based systems which are utilized for the management of digital rights. Additionally, some software applications are also used for tamper resistance. However, the se systems are not similar to above discussed physical devices but have embedded instructions to lock the system after a specific number of illegal attempts or destroy the data as well (Anderson & Kuhn, 1997; ommerling & Kuhn, 1999). According to my point of view tamper resistant systems are similar to bank vaults. Such kinds of system are characterized through the outer device case design for solid access management scheme. Someone needs high level methods and tools to breach such security based system. However, some of the systems are tamper responding systems which are based on the idea of the burglar alarm method. Such kind of security mechanism is based on detection of some illegal activity or intrusion and notifying the responsible staff for such issues.

Factors Responsible for Employee Retention

Factors Responsible for Employee Retention Strategic Human Capital Management The paper is generated by referring to Christeen George’s article paper, with title of Retaining professional workers: what makes them stay?. The main issue normally practice by Human Resource is to let the turnover occur then only to find out the reason of the intention to quit through exit-interview. Knowing the reason only after people quit is seem defenseless because the collected information on why people quit fail to restore back the job gap. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that capable to retain the professional staffs in one organization, then the factors are tested for the retention of the professional employees. The variables used in this paper are divided into two dimensions, first dimension is organizational which consist of four factors, management, conducive environment, social support and development, second dimension is job which consist of four factors, autonomy, compensation, crafted/sculpted workload, work-life balance. Hence, the paper is driven by research questions, which are to explore whether the eight factors identified in this paper is usable to measure the individual intention to stay in the organization, are the factors identified distributed into organizational group and job group is blended positively, and whether the organizational level and job level could predict the individual’s intention to stay in the organization. The study area is conducted in UK site, the sample of the study is focusing the employees of multinational marketing company which come from variety job function such as Accountant, IT professionals, Consultants, Marketing and Sales professionals, and HR professional. The total respondents are 138, which covered 76 male, 62 female. The age range from 20 to 61 years. The measurement instrument, the questionnaires were electronically sent to the respondents. The independent variables (IV) content of sex, age, organizational level scores and job level scores showed significant result, and that showed the IVs used are able to predict the intention of the employee to stay and to quit. The most durable IV to predict the intention of the employee to stay and to quit is organizational level scores which consist the characteristics of leadership and support from management, work environment is fun, flexibility, adequate resources, feel belong to the team, friendly and caring workmates, opportunity to enhance/acquire skills, promotion prospects. Meanwhile, the eight factors that distributed into organizational level and job level showed significant positive correlations respectively, and that showcase the eight factors were distributed in the correct group. Many researchers and academias give substantial focus on the impact of employee turnover, the turnover impact towards organization cause high cost. This is supported by Ghosh, Satyawadi, Joshi and Shadman (2013) literature finding stated an internal analysis has shared to replace turnover employee is more expensive than compensate employee, which is more than 35 per cent. Knowing the big loss could occur to any organization due to turnover, it is wise to prevent better than cure, the idiom may sound clichà ©, but it is a crucial issue to tackle in order to assist the organization to save the resources. Apart of loss in revenue, the organization is facing the risk of loss of experience employees, bad reputation to other organization, productivity is affected, loss of intellectual capital which knowledge is one of the valuable intangible asset to the organization (Sandhu, Jain, Ahmad, 2011) and this lead to other organization gain more advantage by obtaining the asset (Ghosh et al., 2013). Turnover issue is inevitable, however the issue could be alleviated with the help of research. Hence, the paper is creating awareness about it is more advantage to identify factors that make the professional employees stay rather to identify factors on why they are quit. The paper could help the organization to understand the proven factors (management, conducive environment, social support and development under organization level is the most durable predictor) resulted from this study to strategize on how to retain the professional employees in the organization. However, there are arose enquiries on the part of independent variables and dependent variable stated in the paper. The term of independent variable is viewed as an item that influence the outcome, meanwhile dependent variable is viewed as an outcome which may result different outcome for different independent variable are used to test (Leroy, 2011). Based to the term defined, the organizational subscale which consist of four factors, management, conducive environment, social support and development, and job subscale which consist of four factors, autonomy, compensation, crafted/sculpted workload, work-life balance are responsible to influence the result of retention. Thus, the reader expected the identified variables in the paper, organization subscale and job subscale are independent variable, and intention to quit is dependent variable, however, it is stated in opposite statement. The enquiries arose are not meant to downgrade the content of the paper, in fact, the reader made cor respondent via e-mail on 11 March 2015 as in appendix to the author, respond is yet pending. The purpose of the e-mail is sent with respect and courtesy, and to clarify the doubtful and ambiguity as well. In Malaysia context, one study presented at the 2nd International Conference On Management, Economics And Finance in Sabah by Fadzilah, Queiri, Sabarudin and Iskandar (2013) claimed that Generation Y is more likely to quit their job due to several reasons such as lack of fun work. This issue is critical and need to be taken seriously by the organization because the contribution of Generation Y towards in any economy is significant, and they are growing fast and bigger employees to replace the Baby Boomers who are in line of retirement. Generation Y showcase different characteristics when come to work which influence by leadership, developments and technologies (Cheong, Hasliza, Yusuf Desa, 2011). Despite the respondents’ age range between 21-61 years old in the paper, which mean Generation Y and Baby Boomers are part of the respondents, the paper is capable to provide a foundation framework on how the Malaysia organizations design a strategy to retain the Generation Y. This i s rational because the study conducted by the author tested the similar factors that influence Generation Y when come to work, leadership and development. Malaysia is gearing up to beef up the human capital development by producing first class mentality, knowledge-based economy and talent-based. For instance, Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp) is responsible to facilitate the talent management in Malaysia. The biggest hurdle encountered by TalentCorp is brain drain. The professional employees choose to leave Malaysia and work abroad. TalentCorp has come with a strategy to attract and retain the professional employees which they offer various packages, such as tax exception and work life balance. Work life balance is one factor tested in the author’s study and that it is proven that the significant of the study does promote to other agency that associate to human resource such as TalentCorp to infuse the factor into part of their retention strategy. Knowing the present of TalentCorp is vital to constantly conduct research in order to ensure the objectives are achieved, thus, this paper could help TalentCorp to come out with a robust blueprint regards strategy on retaining professional employees, of which TalentCorp may considers the tested factors in the paper such as social support. Finally, the research is emphasizing the needs to increase the number of respondents, and needed to expand larger coverage of organizations and professional employees. The wider scope as it may goes, the possibility differ outcome it may be. The factors identified and tested in this study which distributed into organizational level and job level are proven related to the individual intention to stay and to quit. Thus, the finding show significant positive for human resource and organization to design a robust strategy to retain employees. The negative impacts due to turnover or quit the job that discussed in this review could be alleviated by the help of to understand the factors influence the intention to stay and to quit. However, one of the factor in the framework model, which is compensation, may cause the small, medium, enterprises organizations to consider to use it as one of the retention strategy as they are unable to offer competitive compensation packages compare to larger organizations who use compensation as one of their retention strategies, this is supported by Ghosh et al. (2013) stated large organizations could afford to provide better compensation package such as appreciation and recognition award. In the other hand, the future research suggested in the paper is to examine the relation between employee engagement, employee retention and organizational performance. The significant of the future research would create a wider scope for the organization to understand and harvest the benefit of retention strategies. REFERENCES Cheong, T. W., Hasliza, D., Yusuf, M., Desa, H. (2011). A Study on â€Å" Generation Y † Behaviours at Workplace in Penang Associate Professor , School of Business Innovation and Technopreneurship , Universiti Malaysia. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(11), 1802–1812. Fadzilah, Z., Quieri, A., Sabarudin, Z., and Iskandar, H. (2013). Generation-y turnover intention in business process outsourcing sector. 2nd International Conference on Management, Economics and Finance (pp.429-439). Sabah, Malaysia: Conference Master Resources. Ghosh, P., Satyawadi, R., Joshi, J. P., Shadman, M. (2013). Who stays with you? Factors predicting employees; intention to stay. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 21, 288–312. Leroy, G. (2011). Designing User Studies in Informatics, Health Informatics. London: Springer-Verlag London Limited. Sandhu, M. S., Jain, K. K., Ahmad, I. U. K. B. (2011). Knowledge sharing among public sector employees: evidence from Malaysia. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 24, 206–226. Talent Corporation Malaysia. (2011). Malaysian at home. Retrieved March 12, 2015 from http://www.talentcorp.com.my/about-us/

Use of Disquietude and Pleasure in Oedipus the King :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Use of Disquietude and Pleasure in Oedipus the King      Ã‚  Ã‚   At the very core of   Sophocles' tragedy, Oedipus the King, lies emotional confusion. Sophocles purposely creates within his readers this sense of emotional confusion and self-awareness through his use of both disquietude and pleasure.      When he grows up, unknowing of his adoption, he discovers his doomed fate from an Oracle.   Seeking to escape it, he flees from Colonus.   Once upon the road, Oedipus discovers his path blocked by a man, whom he perceives to be a robber.   He kills this man, who turns out to be his father, and unknowingly fulfills the first part of the prophecy.   Soon, he comes to Thebes, which is being terrorized by a terrible monster, the Sphinx.   The Sphinx wanders the streets surrounding the city, asking travelers an unanswered riddle.   Oedipus encounters the Sphinx, and answers its riddle, causing the Sphinx to kill herself in disbelief.   The citizens of Thebes, who have recently found themselves kingless, appoint Oedipus king and give him Queen Iocast? for his wife as a reward.   The couple lives together happily and produces four children.   Some years later, the city is beset by a terrible plague.   It is prophesied that the only way to cure the city is to find the kil ler of the previous king, and bring him to justice.   Oedipus, who wishes to solve the city's peril, relentlessly seeks out the answer to the problem.   He soon discovers the hideous truth; he has killed his father, married his mother, and fathered her children.   He returns home to find that his wife/mother has committed suicide, and, unable to deal with the reality of this wretched reality, he takes the broaches from her gown and gouges his eyes out.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The gruesome details of this story make for several examples of disquietude.   The most obvious example occurs when Oedipus gouges his eyes out with Iocaste's broaches.   This scene is vividly described by the Chorus of Theban Elders, "Deep, how deep you drew it then, hard archer, At a dim fearful range, and brought dear glory down" (name of author and page #).   Not only is this scene physically disturbing, but it is emotionally disturbing due to the dramatic irony.   Oedipus, before this, was blinded by his intellectual arrogance.   Now, he has been humbled by fate and sees his mistakes, but is physically blind.   Along with this example, there are two other examples of disturbing physical events.

Anti-Social Media: the Role of Technology in Creating Superficial Ties

ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN CREATING SUPERFICIAL TIES INTRODUCTION: The general topic that I would like to explore is communication and relationships through social media. In particular I am interested in the way that social media affects the way that we create or maintain relationships and different identities, and if this alienates us from human understanding in relationships. This topic is connected to the concepts of online communication and personal relationships, the concept of self-disclosure and the construction of identity (Duck & McMahon, 2012).Is the bite-sized world of social media leading to bite-sized and unsubstantial personal relationships? This was a question I asked myself recently when looking at some of my own relationships — friendship, romantic, professional, and family alike. Social media plays a role in many of those relationships these days, and what I noticed is that it isn’t always for the better. The main academic articles I will reference are written by; Pavica Sheldon (M. M. C. , Louisiana State University), a graduate teaching assistant and Ph. D. tudent in the Department of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University, Xin-An Lu, an Associate Professor in The Department of Human Communication Studies at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, USA, and Sally Dunlop, a professor at University of Australia, school of public health, and her two co-authors, Eian More and Daniel Romer, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania. This paper will first outline the main points of the aforementioned articles. I will then draw upon their themes to help answer my research questions, and I will conclude with the derivations that can be drawn.THEORY REVIEW: In the Rocky Mountain Communication Review, Sheldon (2009) looks at the motivations for the use of social media, Facebook in particular, and the difference in use between genders. She examines 260 university students across four common factors f or logging onto Facebook; relationship maintenance, passing time, entertainment, and virtual community. She finds through these parameters that â€Å"Females used Facebook to maintain their relationships, to be entertained, and to pass time. Males, on the other hand, used Facebook to develop new relationships† (Sheldon 54).Specifically, she found through her focus groups that those who frequent the social networking site more are doing so out of loneliness (Sheldon 55). This links directly with Xin-An Lu’s paper published in Proteus 27 (2011). Lu takes a much broader approach; looking at the affects of social media on the creation of identity and the modern formation of non-geographical communities. Lu argues that online community helps to reduce and remove social restraints and gives the user the ability to experiment with different identities, coming together based on shared and meaning (Lu 53).However, these new text-based relationships may not have existed before a nd we cannot use them to replace face-to-face interactions as they are ‘media-poor’, which is defined by Lu as â€Å"possess[ing] less immediate feedback, fewer cues and channels, and weakened personalization and language variety† (Lu 52), because â€Å"relationships formed in this environment may be weak, superficial, and impoverished, as compared with those formed in [face-to-face] communication† (Lu 52).We must be wary as we read through this review of the comparisons of studies conducted years apart with different conclusions, and we must remember that technology advances at such a rate that should be taken into account when looking at conclusions of past scholars. Finally, Dunlop, More and Romer discuss the positive aspects for having an enlarged network of support, especially for adolescents who have been exposed to, or are thinking of suicide, stating that â€Å"social networking sites may provide both greater exposure to such information and also greater social support to those who obtain this information† (Dunlop et al. 078). This article, published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggests that online forums, which are often anonymous and have no connection back to the user, are â€Å"more strongly related to increases in [suicide] ideation† (Dunlop et al. 1078) than social networking sites. Nevertheless, the study shows that social networking sites increase exposure to stories of other suicides, and increased exposure causes increased suicide ideation, and increased curiosity to research and find forums and blogs.This is important to an article discussing youth and the internet, as new innovations are taking place at an alarming rate, and there are new ways to communicate and receive information every day. This article is succinct and fact based, studying the different uses for the internet and social networking sites, and identity creation and anonymity on the World Wide Web. DISCUSSION: Co mmunication is more than just the exchange of words, it involves a transaction between two people that results in a shared meaning and understanding (Duck and McMahon 82).This greater level of communication involves more than the sending or exchanging of symbols, but more the negotiation of the shared meaning between people based on their personal connections. A key element to creating this understanding is engaged listening which allows the listener to move beyond the words said for a greater understanding of the overall message. Usually, this involves the richness of face-to-face interaction. Online communications lack this richness due to the lack of incorporation of non-verbal communications, such as facial expressions and tone of voice, with the words being said (Duck and McMahon 228).The ease with which online communications become asynchronous cause concern for the development of understanding of social cues that are present in face to face interactions that hinder those who use the failsafe of online interaction to save face and to compensate for their own perceived shortcomings. Duck and McMahan state that online media has significantly increased the number of significant ties that people maintain, while the number of core ties remains the same.We can become so seduced by the ease of connecting with others online that we begin to think that these relationships are more intense, more committed and more complete than they really are. We run the risk of alienating the people who populate our daily lives in pursuit of intimacy with our online friends. Another downside of social media relationships is that we are potentially subject to emotional contagion effects, as illustrated in research by John Cacioppo, a researcher at the University of Chicago. His studies show that loneliness is transmitted via social networks.Cacioppo’s findings suggest that if a direct connection of yours is lonely, you are 52% more likely to be lonely; if the connection is a friend of a friend, 25% more lonely, if the connection is 3 degrees out (a friend of a friend of a friend), it’s 15%. While this research looked at offline social networks, it may have some implications for online social networking as well. If someone in your online social network is angry, lonely, or hostile, and takes it out on you, you are more likely to transmit this mood yourself.This means that even though you may never have met this person or interacted with them in real life, their â€Å"bad behaviour† can still influence yours. I have personally noted people interacting in mean and critical ways that, I imagine, they would find more difficult to do in real life. This is a problem, because any kind of negativity and bad manners has the possibility to multiply exponentially. The Internet is an amazing tool. Even as it is shrinking the world and brought us closer together, it is threatening to push us further apart.Like any useful tool, to make technology serv e us well requires the exercise of good judgment. For whatever reason, the restraints that stop most of us from blurting out things in public we know we should not seem far weaker when our mode of communication is typing. Unfortunately, typed messages often wound even more gravely, while electronic messages of remorse have little power to heal (Lickerman). Perhaps we just do not think such messages have the same power to harm as when we say them in person. Perhaps in the heat of the moment without a physical presence to hold us back, we just do not care.Whatever the reason, it is clearly far easier for us to be meaner to one another online. CONCLUSION: Social networking websites provide tools by which people can communicate, share information, and create new relationships. With the popularity of social networking websites on the rise, our social interaction is effected in multiple ways as we adapt to our increasingly technological world. The way that web 2. 0 users interact and talk to each other has changed and continues to change. These users now socialize through the Internet and it takes away from the in person socialization that has been around forever.Social networking websites effect our social interaction by changing the way we interact face-to-face, how we receive information, and the dynamics of our social groups and friendships. Communicating through the Internet and social networking websites is quite different than communicating in person. When users communicate through these websites, they use things like IM and chatting as well as status or Twitter updates to talk to friends and express themselves. Chatting online is quick and easy and allows you to connect to an almost unlimited amount of people from all over the Earth. Although theInternet connects millions of people and allows them to chat, it changes the traditional in person conversation that is important to our social lives and friendships. This change to our social interaction is not nece ssarily positive or negative. The change expands the different outlets through which we can communicate and as long as we remember the importance of face-to-face contact in our social lives, we can find a healthy balance between the two. These social networking websites also affect the way we receive information and news. The sites open up different portals through which we get information and create a more diverse news outlet.Rather than reading the newspaper or hearing the news on TV, we rely on our â€Å"friends† on the sites to give us updates on the world around us. Through Facebook or Myspace statuses, posts, comments, etc. , web 2. 0 users find new information that is most likely relevant to them. These new diverse outlets lead to users discussing world news or other information on the sites and can remove the need to discuss these events in person. Another way that web 2. 0 sites affect the way we socially interact with one another is by changing the dynamics of our s ocial groups and friendships.Social networking sites create a new model of social interaction and friendships. As people’s social circles grow, the ties of the online friendships are not always as strong as in person close friendships. Although these sites can alter the dynamics of friendships in that way, it also creates lots of new friendships and increases our social interaction. The many effects of social networking websites on our social interaction with one another can be both positive and negative, all that is sure is that there is a definite effect. We must embrace the increasing use of web 2. 0 sites and the different roles they play in our social lives.There is not really a need to focus on the positive or negative effects of these sites because whether the effects are good or bad depends upon the things in society that you value, and that is different for most every person. These sites will most likely continue to grow in popularity and continue to alter the way we socialize with one another and we must embrace it. SOURCES: Duck, Steve & McMahon, David T. The Basics Of Communication: A Relational Perspective. Los Angeles: Sage 2012. Print Dunlop, S. , More, E. , & Romer, D. (2011). Where do youth learn about suicides on the Internet, and what influence does this have on suicidal ideation?Journal o Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52:10 pp 1073-1080. Landau, Elizabeth. â€Å"Loneliness Spreads In Social Networks. † CNN. 4 December 2009. Turner Broadcasting System Inc. 1 March 2012. . Lickerman, Alex. â€Å"The Effect Of Technology On Relationships. † Psychology Today. 8 June 2010. Sussex Publishers, LLC. 1 March 2012. . Lu, X. (2011) Social Networking and Virtual Community. Proteus 27, 1, 51-55 Sheldon, P. (2009). Maintain or Develop New Relationships? Gender Differences in Facebook Use. Rocky Mountain Communication Review. 6-1, 51-56.

The Canon

4. Define the â€Å"canon† and describe the basic criteria and chronology behind the formation of the New Testament canon. What evidence exists in this area? Why did early Christians feel a need to establish an authoritative list? Which elements in the criteria are the most and least important? State your reasons for choosing these elements. How would you respond if someone claimed that the canon of the Bible should still be open? a. Define the â€Å"canon† and describe the basic criteria and chronology behind the formation of the New Testament canon.What evidence exists in this area? The word â€Å"canon† is a Semitic loanword that initially meant â€Å"reed† but came to mean â€Å"measuring reed and hence rule or standard or norm† (Carson, 726). In the history of Christianity the word canon was first used to designate doctrines which established the basic beliefs and practices of the church (Lea, 70). In our reading in Carson/Moo and Lea/Black, th ree elements of criteria’s are used to show that certain books belonged in the canon known as â€Å"orthodoxy, apostolicity, and universality† (Lea, 72).Lea/Black states, that the gages for defining canonicity are difficult to determine, but the most vital criterion for determining canonicity is inspiration (Lea, 71). The first basic criteria involved â€Å"the rule of faith† (Carson, 736, Lea 71), which meant that the teaching of the book followed the beliefs the church honors as acceptable and correct, (Lea 71). The second basic criteria entail of the demonstration of apostolicity, which â€Å"required authorship by an apostle or by the companion of an apostle† ( Lea, 71), the final basic criteria is universal acceptance meaning used and accepted by churches everywhere (Carson, 737). . What evidence exists in this area? The foundations that the Church uses to base canonicity upon are the use of the works by early Christian writers (Lea and Black, 73). T he regularity of references from various books informs modern students of how the books were viewed in ancient times (Carson and Moo, 733). Another basis affecting the results of the canonical question are the early lists put forth of books deemed inspired (Lea and Black, 73).Lastly, the addition of manuscripts in early codices indicates the opinion of the book by the binder (Lea and Black, 73). c. Why did early Christians feel a need to establish an authoritative list? There is not a definite cause why early Christians felt a need to institute an authoritative list, some of the reasons for the list could have included persecution, distance from the historical Jesus, the pressure of Montanism, the rise of Gnosticism and other movements with scriptures to be rejected (Carson, 736).With this being the case I feel that the formation of an authoritative list by early Christians was deemed necessary to contest the teachings of heretics that were appearing in the Church. Through the inser tion of books that possessed non-Christian ideals or the rejection of books accepted as inspired, false and incomplete teaching ran the risk of corrupting orthodox doctrine d. Which elements in the criteria are the most and least important? I believe the most important element of canonicity is inspiration and that God chooses to work in a person’s lives in other ways.Someone may say inspiration, I cannot see why man would try to limit God’s ability to move and I believe that our minds cannot even begin to grasp the depth, width or even an ounce of God’s wisdom or knowledge or even half of what he is able to do, when looking at creation and the vastness of the universe it is mind blowing to me. I also believe that â€Å"Apostolicity† is also an important criterion, being that Matthew, John and Peter, were members of the twelve along with Paul, commissioned by Christ, along with their associates such as Mark who with Paul .The least important criteria to me is universality based on Carson’s assessment of it being â€Å"scarcely less important† (Carson, 737). e. How would you respond if someone claimed that the canon of the Bible should still be open? In most modern churches today, the Canons are considered to be â€Å"closed†, meaning that God does not add to or take away from the writings of the bible, and instead chooses to work in a person’s lives in other ways. We all recognize that the New Testament canon contains the authorative record of Jesus life and the interpretation of its significance (Lea, 74-75), with that reason the canon should not still be open.But we also must keep in mind that God who is sovereign and can choose to move however he desires and many times I feel that we try to put human reasoning in areas that our mind cannot even perceive, for as stated in Isaiah 55:8 God says: â€Å"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. † 4. Explain how we have approximated the dates of Jesus' birth and death as well as the length of his ministry. List primary and secondary sources describing his life. Which of these sources is the most important?How important is accurate historical information in providing a foundation for accepting and believing the gospel message? a. Explain how we have approximated the dates of Jesus' birth and death as well as the length of his ministry. We have an awareness of the date of Jesus birth because of three main events. A period before the death of Herod the Great, during the time of a census ordered by Augusts, and when there was a bright start in the sky leading men from the east (Lea, 95). Ancient records designate that Herod possibly died around March 4B.C. this means that Christ was born before that (Lea, 95). Quirinius was governor of Syria during the officiating of the census under Augustus. (Lea, 95). The registration for the census could have happened possibly in 8 B. B. and could have taken years to execute. This places the birth of Jesus anywhere from 6 to 5 B. C. (Lea, 96) Jesus’ death is very reliant on the Gospel of John. John associates Jesus’ death to a system of time based on the ministry of John the Baptist, who preceded Christ, which took place on the 15th year of Tiberius reign. Lea, 96) John mentions that the construction of the temple had taken 46 years in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. (Lea, 97). If you evaluate both of these statements and add the approximate three years of Jesus’ ministry they both arrive at a death for Jesus in A. D. 29 or 30 (Lea, 97). The approximate length for the ministry of Jesus is arrived at using the number of Passovers that Jesus attended. (Lea, 96) b. List primary and secondary sources describing his life. Which of these sources is the most important? The gospel of Matthew and Luke are the prime sources of the life of Jesus.The birth of Christ is most fully covered by Matthew and Luke, (Lea , 97). Matthew and Luke also present the most information about the life of Jesus before his ministry, or the â€Å"Period of â€Å"Preparation. † (Lea, 98) John is the only Gospel that relates Jesus Judean ministry. The rest of Jesus ministry is recorded in the entire Gospel, which makes Mark and John the secondary complete record of the life of Jesus. c. How important is accurate historical information in providing a foundation for accepting and believing the gospel message? The Gospel message comprises substantial facts about the life of Jesus.Important academic attention has been devoted to the historical examination of the New Testament, explicitly with respect to establishing it as a reliable historical document. The vast amount of material, in the form of manuscripts, archaeology, and authorial phenomenon delivers an priceless glance into the depths of events surrounding the historicity as well as the development of the New Testament. For many people without establish ing historical believability for the New Testament, there would be no grounds to suggest any sort of belief in it as a reliable source.But for me even if the dates cannot be exactly known for the Christian, it should not affect the belief in the life of Christ. The great men of the Bible prophesied accurately that highly educated men and women who scoff at God and His revealed Word would dominate our world. Although men have sneered at God in every generation beginning with Adam, ours was to be the worst. The Apostle Paul wrote: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (Romans 1:21-22, 28). Although Paul is speaking specifically about the earliest men, we have not changed for the better; we have grown worse. Since the 17th and 18th centuries, men have produced an amazing fund of knowledge in the industrial and scientific areas. Yet pursuing knowledge about God has been left out. We have several sources that provides foundations for accepting and believing the gospel message.Carson, D. A. and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. 2ded. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. Lea, Thomas D. and David Alan Black. The New Testament: Its Background and Message. 2ded. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2003 Carson, D. A. and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. 2ded. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. Lea, Thomas D. and David Alan Black. The New Testament: Its Background and Message. 2ded. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2003