Info Lit-2 Essays - Security Engineering, Contents, Crime Prevention

Does The New Airport Security Help Eliminate The Chances Of Terrorism In Airports? Skyler Coryell St. Ambrose University Introduction My topic is the question of, does the new security that airports have in them help eliminate the chances of terrorism in the airports and airplanes? I believe this topic is important to look at and study because ever since 9/11 the United States as a nation have been very cautious about this topic and have done a lot to stop this. The United States Government has put a lot of time and effort into trying to stop acts of terrorism like the one of 9/11. By looking into this I am actually seeing if what they did is actually helping or if it stopped the big attacks and there are still some small attacks. Annotations Aviation Security : After Four Decades, It's Time for a Fundamental Review This is a fundamental review about airport security and what they are doing to help protect the people within the airport and on the planes. This source is written by Brian Michael Jenkins. This is a source that goes over the fundamentals of what the airport security is and how it operates. It doesn't go into too much detail involving what they do but it gives some facts and a brief overview of how they have put in more security and what this security and checkings do to prevent horrific terror attacks from happening. He believes that even though there is reason to look into every single way there is to counter a terrorist attack and how they can prevent them, that there are people that should help the ones that don't understand fully what is happening by giving them a overview of what they mean. He obviously doesn't like when these attacks happen and he too thinks that we need to do everything in our power to stop them. I believe this source is credible due to the facts that he brings in and cites and the information that he gives out I have researched and they all are true. I think there is a little bias, but I feel like this comes with being an american. Every american doesn't want these things to happen and we are very bias when it comes to this topic due to the event that happened on September eleventh. This source fits into my topic because I am trying to figure out how and if the additional security that airports have put in are preventing these attacks to happen less or happen at all in this case. I believe they have helped because I haven't heard of many, but I want to find out through stats and facts. It brings in the overview of what I have to look for when I search for what I am searching for. It tells me some of the new security that they have put in but it also gives me some facts about this specific airline, Aviation. It is not an opposing view but it is in some sort background information. AVIATION SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS EXPEDITED PASSENGER SCREENING AND MODIFICATION OF PROHIBITED ITEMS LIST This is an eBook that is written by Irene Simmons on some ways that we can do passenger screening more carefully and precisely. Also in this she talks about some of the ways not only can we do screenings but how we can check people bagging without going through everyone's belongings. She also gives ideas on some of the things that she thinks should be prohibited on a plane and in an airport. She is very for having more security and giving people more protection but she also wants to do it in the right way where it doesn't invade privacy. She thinks that attacks are horrific and need to be stopped and stopped in a way that no one ever gets hurt. I believe the source is credible due to all the facts and stats that she cites, but also by me doing my own research and finding out what she is saying isn't a bunch of made up stuff. I believe that there really isn't very much bias in this she looks at both sides

Measuring the Key Performance Behaviors

Measuring the Key Performance Behaviors Retail sales associate This position entails general sales roles and book keeping of sales records. Besides, the position demands flexibility since the occupant is expected to be an all rounder in performance of general sales duties. The individual must possess strong concentration level which will determine his or her actual and expected outcome.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Measuring the Key Performance Behaviors specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The concentration level must remain active in developing dependence of interest attached to different sales activities and creating proactive relationships with fellow team mates. The individual must be self motivated. Thus, the job description is summarised below. Job Description Retail sales associate roles: Promoting and marketing of the company’s products Planning and organizing sales drives in different regions Setting personal targets within the compan y’s targets Planning of the sales strategies and monitoring progress of the previous plans Registering and receiving bi-monthly sales reports Collecting products that are defective from customers within a defined region Answer questions about the products Being the company’s brand ambassador to new clients Job Requirements: University degree in sales and marketing Language skills: Fluent in English and the local language Two years experience in senior management position Proficient with the latest sales and marketing applications Organization behavior modification plan In order to successfully create an organization behavior modification plan, it is imperative to review the good reputation, concentrate on the ‘right stuff’ and defining the ‘stuff’. Under defining ‘stuff’ module, it is important to balance the performance of the employees with effort they place in the technical elements of sales activities. In the concentration on the right stuff, the bottom line should revolve around values of the organization that would restore the critical tasks which define success (Albert 2004). Under reputation building, the plan should review the problem solving skills that motivate and create invaluable assets out of employees. This is summarized on the below diagram. Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More (Source: Self generated) Measuring the key performance behaviors Employee response The HRM department may use the employee response rate to the changes proposed in order to measure their perception against company goals (Albert 2004). Through employee response, it is possible to focus on future performance of the company. Product performance It is possible to measure success of the proposed change through reviewing the performance of the product in the market. Reflectively, when product sales inc rease more than previously at a constant rate, it is in order to declare the proposed changes as successful (Adrian 2004). Informing the employees of the new standards Live meetings In earlier centuries, communication model was depicted as a linear process in which one person directly conveyed message to another person. In the twenty first century, communication models are interactions of transaction processes where both sender and receiver have an influence on each other as they interact within the realms of organizational cultural context. Thus, the HRM may organize live meeting to inform the employees of the new performance standards. The delivery method for communicating the change message will be face to face meeting since the message requires proactive participation among the employees (Adrian 2004). The success measurement parameters for the communication plan include sales managers ability to convince the stakeholders to unanimously favor of the change. Organization notice b oard or website Despite communication being rated as a high corporate strategy, actionable planning of communication method is of essence to create solution oriented task and strategy implementation secession. Thus, the HRM department may communicate the changes in the company’s notice board or website for the employees to view them at their own time (Albert 2004). Plan for providing feedback 360 degree feedback Basically, the 360 degree feedback system management system may influence positive or negative perception among employees. Thus, in reviewing performance based on feedback received, the human resource management team at the company should handle any voluntary information with care to boost trust and confidentiality of the employees who form the pinnacle of organizational behavior.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Measuring the Key Performance Behaviors specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, i t is critical to balance the feedback with the efficiency goals as a remedy towards inclusiveness and active participation which translates into desirable performance. Through the 360 degree feedback, commonly referred to as the multi source assessment, the HRM personnel will be in a position to manage the behavior feedback channels when appraising performance to ensure that the employees fully support the appraisals. Basically, the 360 degree feedback is critical in facilitating improvement of performance of employees. When properly implemented, the 360 degree feedback will substantially improve staff productivity, decrease grievances, increase retention and standardize performance measurement and evaluation. The evaluation can be done after every two months (Albert 2004). Focus performance management Through focus performance management, the HRM personnel will be in a position to create clear goals on performance appraisal, manage a positive feedback channel, and offer a continuou s and systematic coaching to ensure that employees perform at optimal productivity level. Thus, the best way to motivate the employees is by giving them responsibilities for achieving something and the authority to do it in their own way (Adrian 2004). Through this approach, employees will be empowered and they will feel trusted and valued by the management personnel and the company. The feedback can be provided after every two months. Re-enforcing positive employee behavior Strategy Goal setting Feedback Channel Exception Criteria Evaluation Criteria Empowering employees to participate more in the sales process Setting attainable assignments and allowing employees to consult on the same Creating interactive sessions for the workforce Establishing the organization culture and ethics Review of performance periodically after every stage of training Creating more motivational programs involving team work activities Fixing motivational programs in annual calendar Performance comp arison between teams Defining limits for responsive training Testing team spirit and insight Benefits of the organizational OBM Organization behavior forms the foundation of the company’s productivity. Through organizational behavior, a company understands how its employees behave in different conditions. In this way the organization can effectively predict behavior of its employees in the future if it implements the OBM proposal. Secondly, the company can control and develop significant human behaviors at work that finally contribute to the overall production of the organization. Lastly, ability to effectively measure productivity of the employees is vital because it is way of understanding various complexities experienced in interpersonal relations at work. The company is in a position to examine dynamics of organizational, groups and individuals relationships within the work environment when OBM is properly implemented (Albert 2004).Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Essence of aligning pay to performance Aligning pay to performance is necessary to quantity individual performance within a group. This will motive employees who work harder than their counterparts to perform optimally (Aamir 2008). Besides, aligning pay to performance may facilitate rewards strategies such promotion and employee redundancy in the long run. Employees who are more will be an indicator of better performance. References Aamir, C. (2008). Impact of job involvement on ‘In-Role performance’ and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of behavior and applied management, 9(2), 3-8 Adrian, F. (2004). The future (and past) of work psychology and organizational behavior: A personal View. Management Revue, 15(4), 7-10. Albert, M. (2004). New directions in organizational behavior. Management Review, 15(4), 12- 20.

Analysis of the problems

This case study highlights about the analysis of the problems, background, theories, and action plans. Before exploring Tucker Company, it is necessary to know the background including its past and present. It will be discussed further about the problems in Tucker Company that occurred when it reorganizing its company into 3 new divisions. The 3 new divisions are also known as 3 new product lines of Tucker Company. In the following point, it draws the relation among those problems with some managements theories. In the end of this report, it will also be provided what the company should do to solve those problems. II)Case background Tucker Company carried out an extensive restructuring I 1978 which divide the company into three major product lines and will lead by a new vice – president and he will report to Mr. Harnett, the CEO of Tucker Company. The new product lines were commercial jet engines, military jet engines and utility turbines. Each division would have their departments such as manufacturing, engineering and accounting department. There was a old laboratory which continue support the three main division after the reorganization. Mr Hodge was the new manager of the laboratory manager in 1988. He focused more on his own advancement more than the company’s development. Few months later, several conflicts occurred in his laboratory and he was the main reason which caused this conflicts. Argument happened between Mr. Hodge and Mr. Franklin, the manager of engineering department over the implementation of the results and the time of handling his request taking a longer time under his management. The arguments between Mr. Hodge and Mr. Franklin occur successively and caused one of the Mr. Franklin’s projects failed. III) Problem analysis Problem that occurred in Tucker Company is conflict while the progressing of Tucker Companys reorganization its company into 3 principle product lines. It was about personal conflict between Hodge and Franklin who disagreed over the implementation of the materials. Even though it was personal problem, it could affect all aspects of the company and it might become a crucial matter. The engineer of the utility turbine division, Mr. Franklin, wanted his department to be in charge in final decision of the materials. Meanwhile, Mr. Hodge, the new laboratory manager, as the replacement of the previous laboratory manager which was Mr. Garfield. Mr. Hodge stated that he is a metallurgist. Thus, the final decision should be on him. Unlike Mr. Garfield, from the point of view of Mr. Hodges peers, he was more interested in his own advancement rather than companys advancement. IV)a)Theories Management theory – divisional structure Divisional structure can be defined as a structure which usually consists of several parallel teams focusing on a single product or service line. Tucker Company applies this divisional structure and divides into 3 product lines which were commercial jet engines, military jet engines and utility turbines. There were some advantages and disadvantages of this divisional structure. i)Advantage The advantage of using divisional structure was that every team or group will be focused on a single product and supported by a leadership structure. The manager has to divide the workers with same abilities and talents into a same group and focus on the product which they were expertise in. Through this method, the company will become more effective and will have higher productivity. Furthermore, due to the division, it is easier for manager to measure their performance. Another advantage by applying this divisional structure will be each product lines were self sufficient and flexible. The divisional structure was designed so each teams or groups were self-sufficient which means each group will have its own department. For instance, in Tucker Company, 3 new product lines will have its own department such as engineering department, manufacturing department and accounting department and these groups will operate separately so that these groups can focused on a particular goal. ii)Disadvantage On the other hand, the disadvantage for this divisional structure was the cost of operations was usually very high. In Tucker Company, each products line will have their departments and each department needed its own resources and these will increase the cost of operations. In addition, each product lines will have 1 divisional head and conflicts between divisional heads will occurred when every divisional heads wants to show their supremacy. Company could not operate well if every divisional heads would not cooperate well and could not meet the company’s goals and objective. b)Theory of scarcity First of all, scarcity means unlimited wants and limited resources and it was impossible for a company to meet all goals at the same time. Same problem happened in Tucker Company. Tucker Company has 3 products lines but only 1 laboratory. It was simply means that the company has scarce resources which refer to the laboratory. 3 departments are using 1 laboratory at the laboratory cannot used by three departments at the same time. So they have to choose which departments have to use first and other department shave to give up using it. Argument between departments will eventually occurred and these argument only can be solved or minimize by maximized the resources.

Exercise 3, page 112 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Exercise 3, page 112 - Essay Example Some of the facilities that are present include an Olympic size swimming pool, a handball court, a basketball court, a squash court as well as a whirlpool. Others include saunas and steam baths, locker and shower facilities together with free packing. The exercise machines present include treadmills, bikes, steppers, the new cybex(Nautilus style) machine together with rowers and ellipticals. This is a very good offer for the employees and their families, as spouses of members or their domestic partners are eligible with a 20 percent discount of the clubs normal rates. The club offers very reduced rates for the hospital employees that are very reasonable and cannot be found in any other health club anywhere near the hospital. The rates are posted on our official website which is www.healthclubin.org so feel free to visit it. The working hours are weekdays 5pm to 10pm while on weekends it is 7am to 8pm. For more information please call us on

Innovation in a market economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Innovation in a market economy - Essay Example Organizations cannot exist in the market with the conventional products alone. For example, think of a situation in which Microsoft sticking with its old operating system Windows 3 series alone at present. Everybody knows that Microsoft was able to keep its monopoly in the software industry purely because of their ability to innovate news products or incorporate new features to their existing products. Thus we got Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista like updated versions of windows. It is not possible for Microsoft to accommodate the requirements of the current world using their older versions of operating systems. The current facilities like video conferencing, video chat, high resolution graphics processing, internet, e-mail etc may not run its older versions of Windows. Thus innovation makes an organization capable of meeting the present challenges by updating their existing technologies. Innovation is needed even in formulating strategies. Same strategy may not work everywhere even if the product is the same. Parker Pen Company has tried to implement same marketing strategies to market their writing equipments all over the world at the beginning of their international campaign. They thought same product needs same marketing strategies everywhere. But they failed miserably because of the above strategy. â€Å"Product may be the same, but may be different†, Parker Pen Company failed to recognize the above fact. â€Å"The idea of selling pens the same way everywhere did not sit well with many parker subsidiaries and distributors.   

Animal Farm The Fable The Satire The Allegory :: Essays Papers

Animal Farm The Fable The Satire The Allegory Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a fable about rulers and the ruled, oppressors and the oppressed, and an idea betrayed. The particular meaning given will depend partly on the political beliefs- â€Å"political† in the deepest sense of the word. The book is there to be enjoyed about how human beings can best live together in this world. The novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, successfully combines the characteristics of three literary forms-the fable, the satire and the allegory. Animal Farm could be called â€Å"A Fairy Story† because people think of the fairy story as the escapist form of literature par excellence. Animal Farm has sometimes been read as a fable against socialism. The animals are meant to represent certain types of human beings, not complex individuals. Using animals as types is also Orwell’s way of keeping his hatred and anger against exploiters under control. Each animal character is a type with one human trait, or two at most traits usually associated with that particular kind of animal. For example, the pigs represented corrupted human leaders in particular, â€Å"the Bolsheviks, who lead the overthrow of the capitalist Russian government only to become new masters in return.†(Internet) Old Major is a wise old pig whose stirring speech to the animals helps set the rebellion in motion even though he dies before the rebellion actually begins. Old Major and his role compare with that of Karl Marx, whose ideas set the co mmunist Revolution in effect. Also, the animals in Animal Farm talk and act like men and women. (Orwell 33) For instance, the pigs in the novel eat mash- real pig food but with milk in it that they have grabbed. (Orwell 34) The pigs also persuaded the animals to let them keep a human action. The dogs’ growl and bite the way real dogs do but to support Napoleon’s drive for political power. (Orwell 66) The two horses, Boxer and Clover, represent the long-suffering workers and peasants of the world. Old Mollie, the loving mare, took a piece of ribbon and put the ribbon on her shoulder looking at herself into the humans’ mirror. (Orwell 31) She actually leaves the farm for sugar and ribbons at a human hotel. (Orwell 52) He (Orwell) may have been thinking about certain Russian nobles who left after the Revolution or a general human type. Some readers view Animal Farm as a perfect illustration of the famous saying associated with British historian Lord Action, All pow er corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Historical Awareness and the Interpretation of the Bible Essay

Christianity holds the largest followers worldwide and holds its authority through what they claim as actual events in history. However, the study of the historicity of the Bible has made liberal critics question the authenticity and the validity of the events and teachings that are found in the Scriptures. Liberal critics claim that the Scripture is full of historical errors, human biases, religious prejudices and fictional stories. Everything from the Virgin Birth to the resurrection of Christ, and from papacy to priesthood, are being rejected, based on the â€Å"historical critical† approach to Scripture. The interpretation of the Bible has therefore developed from its literal sense to a symbolic interpretation of its passages. Interpretations of the Bible The Bible is interpreted in different ways but could be categorized into two methods: the conservative and liberal interpretation. Conservatives hold the Bible as God’s divine words from which they interpret it by the letter unless the passage is clearly intended as an allegory, poetry or some other genre. Interpreting the Bible by the letter encompasses a strict interpretation of the passages—that is to say conservatives interpret the Bible literally. The International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), a group of conservative Christians hold that â€Å"the literal sense is the†¦ meaning which the writer expressed† and â€Å"deny the legitimacy of any approach to Scripture that attributes to it meaning which the literal sense does not support.† On the other hand, liberal critics interpret the Bible symbolically or allegorically—that is they treat the Bible as a collection of fictional stories. They use the historical-grammatical approach to uncover the meaning of the text by taking into account cultural and historical background and the literary genre. Problems Relating to the Literal Interpretation of the Bible There is little doubt that the Bible has been interpreted in its literal sense before science has explored and discovered concepts that are in relation with some Biblical passages. The story of creation, as a basic example, could no longer be accepted in its literal sense, which would otherwise contradict with scientifically proven principles and generally accepted theories. The knowledge that scientific discoveries and research has provided over the past millennium reveals that God could not have made the world as it is in seven earth days. Human logic and reason would dictate that there must be some other explanation why the Bible, as God’s inspired words, are written in such a manner. God, as the creator of all things and who has knowledge all things, could not have erred and must have intended something else in specifying that the world was created in seven days. Hence, it is not only evident but also necessary to say that literally interpreting at least some portions of the Bible are no longer sufficient. Historical Criticism Historical criticism is the art of analyzing the factuality of written documents and the supposed facts handed down. It makes use of written documents, unwritten evidence and tradition as the source of information. The historical critic must also be guided chiefly by an ardent love of truth and must be free of any prejudice—religious, national or domestic—that may otherwise affect the historian’s judgment. The authenticity and integrity of a written document is investigated before it could be passed as a genuine source of evidence. Authenticity includes verifying whether or not it was from the author who claims it to be, whether such individual existed, and whether or not the document or individual belonged to the specific time of history in question. Integrity, on the other hand, verifies whether or not the document is in the shape or form from which the author has produced it—that is, whether or not the document is complete, free of corruption and the complexities of translation. It is generally suffice to determine the approximate age of a document using the nature of the material, i.e. papyrus, parchment, cotton, etc., and the character of the writing. It is often very rare that a document that is purported to be an original or an autograph leaves room for reasonable doubt when it passed a series of tests regarding its authenticity. However, it is also generally held that to translate a word correctly does not necessarily give its meaning in the context of the particular era to which the manuscript belongs. The investigator must then be careful with interpreting the meaning of the document. The difficulty in analyzing Biblical documents is that they survive only in form of copies, or copies of copies. In these cases, manuscripts of similar content or subject are often compared to each other, sometimes revealing variations in the readings. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls while providing some of the oldest and the only known copies of Biblical documents have challenged the theories of the development of the modern Biblical text—specifically those of textual criticism. There are a few of the Biblical manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls that differ with Masoretic texts, and most of them differ only slightly. The fact that Biblical documents have slightly changed over the course of at least three centuries provide confidence on the content of the modern Bible. However, the real question arises not in the actual content of the Bible but on the meaning of its content. Another problem regarding authenticity and integrity of the Biblical manuscripts is the question regarding the knowledge of the author concerning his work: Does the author have proper, first-hand knowledge of the purported fact? Is he altogether sincere in his disposition concerning the purported fact? As an example, the integrity of the Gospels is raised as it has become apparent that the earliest writings of this type dates 65 years after Jesus’ resurrection. Historicity of the Bible There are basically two main schools of thought regarding the historicity of the Bible: the fundamentalists who believe that everything that is written in the Bible actually happened as it is stated; and the liberals who believe that the Bible had no historical value—that is, historical events purported in the Bible did not really happen. There are two schools of thought on giving weight to the historical accounts presented in the Bible: Biblical maximalism assumes that Biblical narratives are accurate unless proven otherwise; and Biblical minimalism. Biblical maximalists tend to interpret the Bible literally. They view accounts specified in the Bible as a starting point for constructing history and correct and reinterpret it when archaeological evidences prove contradicts their viewpoint. On the other hand, Biblical minimalists start from archaeological findings and only consider Biblical accounts of value only when they are consistent with these findings. In relation to Jesus, there are but few historical manuscripts that provide evidence that he is an actual historical figure. His name is briefly mentioned in the works of Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius, but aside from a brief mention and description of the early Christians, only the accounts specified in the New Testament gives a basis for the existence of a man named Jesus. The Gospels are the only sources of information about the life and works of Jesus and even those are criticized for its historical accuracy. There exists what is known today as the Synoptic Problem which revealed the diversity in the Biblical texts. What catches the interest of critics, however, is not the differences in the versions of the accounts in the life of Jesus, but the striking similarity of the texts itself. Considering that the Gospels had been written during different times at different locations, questions such as whether the authors of the Synoptic Gospels were using a common source, perhaps written or from oral tradition, or not. If there exists an earlier source from which the authors of the Synoptic Gospels based their work, then why where the new Gospels written? Furthermore, if indeed the authors share a common source, why where there differences? Did the authors feel free to interpret and apply the Jesus tradition as they wrote? Most theologians would answer that each Gospel writers have their own purpose and interpretations of Jesus from which the differences in similar accounts are attributed. Nevertheless, there is no one solution that offers sufficient enough explanation on the Synoptic Problem. While resolving this issue would not verify the existence of the historical Jesus, questions regarding the authority of the accounts, particularly that of Jesus and his teachings, will be eliminated. Effects of Historical Criticism on the Interpretation of the Bible Today, Christianity holds the largest followers worldwide. If Christianity derives its authority from actual historical events, then that claim must be investigated by the most austere standards of historical judgments. The advent of scientific research, particularly that of historical criticism, has put the historicity, as well as the authority and interpretation of the Bible in serious question. Samuel George Brandon (1955) explained that â€Å"the historical character of Christianity, which was once proclaimed apologetically as the greatest argument for the validity of that faith, has gradually been found to be a source of great perplexity if not of weakness† (156). Raymond Brown (1975) explained that â€Å"physical, historical and linguistic methods, known to us in only approximately the last one hundred years, has produced a scientifically critical study of the Bible, a study that has revolutionalized views held in the past about the authorship, origin and dating of the biblical books, about how they were composed, and what the authors meant†¦ No longer did they (Catholic exegetes) hold that Moses was the substantial author of the Pentateuch, that the first chapters of Genesis were really historical†¦, that Matthew was the first Gospel written by an eyewitness†¦ etc.† Robert Sungenis held that â€Å"The historical critic will try to convince you that, since Scripture contains â€Å"historical errors, human biases, religious prejudices and fictional stories,† and since Scripture is only free from error when it deals with â€Å"matters of salvation,† then in non-salvific matters (e.g., women priests and homosexuality), the Bible is nothing more than an expression of the religious preferences and cultural biases active during the time of the biblical author’s writing. Since we in modern times have come of age, as it were, and know that such biases are unecumenical and judgmental, then it is high time we change our interpretation of Scripture. Historical criticism is just the needed tool to do the job.† Resolving the Conflict Previously, culture was understood to static and unchanging. However, historical data reveal culture to be more guided by human experience that creates changing values and meanings as predicted by the way of life. It must only be necessary therefore that faith is expressed and understood in terms of our particular setting. It is in contrast to the sola scriptura principle of conservative Protestants. They claim that faith is to be based on the Bible alone. However, interpreting the Bible in relation to present events does not necessarily imply the interpreter to be a liberal critic. Progressive interpretation look upon the Bible as historically shaped and culturally conditioned. It analyzes the culture from which the authors lived, interpret what is stated in relation to the circumstances of the time it was written, and apply the meaning of the passage in relation to the present circumstances. After all, Lonergan held that â€Å"theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religion in that matrix.† While it is apparent that some passages in the Bible are clearly not intended to be interpreted in its literal sense, there is still the question whether some of the passages must be taken in its literal meaning or if any passage is to be taken in its literal sense at all. However, taking into consideration the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels which appear to be similar have different versions. Theologians justify these differences through specifying the intents of the authors. In this case, it is only plausible to dismiss the particular event as an accurate version in history. Nevertheless, it does not necessarily imply that the event had not taken place at all. Lonergan (1971, 179) held that â€Å"experience is individual while the data for history lie in the experiences of many.† Furthermore, the same event is sometimes interpreted by different individual who have experienced that particular event depending on their perception. The fact that the event is related to us on different accounts, probably by different individuals, may prove that such an event may have occurred. Regardless of the factual historicity of the event specified in the Synoptic Gospels, the justifications made by theologians on the different accounts on Jesus’ life make it clear that the accounts are not to be interpreted in its literal sense. Lonergan held that â€Å"the discoveries of the historian are expressed in narratives and descriptions that regard particular persons, places and times. They have no claim to universality: they could, of course, be relevant to the understanding of other persons, places and times; but whether in fact they are relevant, and just how relevant they are, can be settled only by a historical investigation of the other persons, places and times† (180). Furthermore, Lonergan explained that â€Å"because they have no claim to universality, the discoveries of the historians are not verifiable in the fashion proper to the natural sciences; in history verification is parallel to the procedures by which interpretation is judged correct† (180). On the other hand, faith has nothing to do with history. Regardless of whether Christian traditions gain its authority from its historicity or not, what matters is the belief that Christians hold. Faith is a product of the fulfillment that â€Å"brings a radical peace, the peace that the world cannot give† without which â€Å"opens the way to the trivialization of human life† (Lonergan, 1971, 105). That fulfillment, according to Lonergan (1971, 106), â€Å"is not the product of our knowledge or choice.† There is therefore always room to interpret the Scriptures that is not entirely based on historical criticism. Relying on faith alone, the Scriptures should be interpreted basing on the experience of mystery to develop a type of consciousness that deliberates, makes judgments of value, decides, and acts responsibly and freely. Works Cited Brandon, Samuel George Frederick, â€Å"The historical element in primitive Christianity.† Numen vol. 2, no. 1, 156-167 Brown, Raymond E. Biblical Reflections on Crises Facing the Church. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1975 International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. â€Å"The Chicago statement on Biblical inerrancy.† 1978. The Spurgeon Archive. 17 March 2009 Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1971 Sungenis, Robert. â€Å"Fr. Raymond Brown and the demise of the Catholic Scripture Scholarship.† Catholic Apologetics International. 17 March 2009.