Blog Post #51 -Three Questions-

     1. The first veda is called the Rig-Veda which is the "Knowledge of the Hymns of Praise", and it is used for recitation. This has 1,017 hymns. The second veda is called the Sama-Veda which is the "Knowledge of the Melodies", and it is used for chanting. This has 1,549 hymns. The third veda is called the Yajur-Veda which is the "Knowledge of the Sacrificial formulas", and it I used for liturgy. This has 1,017 hymns. The last veda is called the Atharva-Veda and this is the "Knowledge of the Magic formulas", and it is named after a kind group of priests. This focuses on the procedures of everyday life and has 730 hymns.

     2.  The practice of indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of punishment someone must go through because of their sins. Another form of indulgence would be when people would pay the church for their family members or someone they knew to get out of Purgatory. As stated from the website [http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his101/web/37luther.htm], "Like many others, he [Martin Luther] feared that the Roman Catholic Church had become too corrupt to provide people with the guidance they needed to obtain salvation. Luther thought that individuals could seek salvation on their own, without relying on priests". In this he is basically saying people shouldn't be allowed to pay or rely on priests for forgiveness, they should earn it themselves.

     3.  The Hajj is an annual Islamic Pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims that are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey. Hajj means heading to a place for sake of visiting. Hajj is a pilgrimage made to Kaaba, the "House of God". The rites of Hajj, which according to Islam go back to the time of Prophet Abraham who re-built Kaaba after it had been first built by Prophet Adam, are performed over 5 or 6 days, beginning on the 8th and ending on the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salet, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the 2nd largest annual gathering of Muslims in the world. A Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to the God Allah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj