1. Imagine that you are an adviser to either China’s emperor or Japan’s shogun. Write a letter advising the ruler whether you support a policy of isolation or engagement. Explain your reasons for supporting that policy. Your letter should be three paragraphs that are 5-7 complete sentences each and each paragraph should discuss one reason for supporting or opposing isolation. Be sure to discuss the pros or cons that we discussed in class. plz do not copy off of websites 100 points

i would go with the last one

the founder of the byzantine empire and its first emperor, constantine the great, moved the capital of the roman empire to the city of byzantium in 330 ce, and renamed it constantinople.

the byzantine empire (the eastern roman empire) was distinct from the western roman empire in several ways; most importantly, the byzantines were christians and spoke greek instead of latin.

constantine the great also legalized christianity, which had previously been persecuted in the roman empire. christianity would become a major element of byzantine culture.

constantinople became the largest city in the empire and a major commercial center, while the western roman empire fell in 476 ce.

as emperor, constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. a new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation. it would become the standard for byzantine and european currencies for more than a thousand years. as the first roman emperor to claim conversion to christianity, constantine played an influential role in the development of christianity as the religion of the empire. in military matters, the roman army was reorganized to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the roman frontiers—the franks, the alamanni, the goths, and the sarmatians, and even resettled territories abandoned by his predecessors during the turmoil of the previous century.

the covenant that god made with abraham was a unilateral (one-sided) promise from god to abraham.   apart from anything abraham did, god was promising that he was going to bring about a great nation from abraham's offspring, and that the messiah (meaning "the anointed one") would come from abraham's descendants, as one through whom the whole world would receive favor from god.   as god promised abraham, "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed" (genesis 22: 18).

the "new covenant" was announced by jesus of nazareth, who had asserted that he was the "son of david" (and descendant of abraham) that fulfilled those promises to abraham.   when jesus introduced the sacred meal that we now refer to as the lord's supper, as told his disciples in reference to the wine they drank, "this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (luke 22: 20).   this "new covenant" through jesus was also a unilateral (one-sided) covenant.   he gave himself in sacrifice for all people, without conditions attached.   as his friend and apostle john later wrote, "he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 john 2: 2).

so the covenant with abraham and the "new covenant" ushered in by jesus are, in essence, connected as one covenant -- because jesus was saying he was the one promised to abraham that fulfilled that covenant and brought blessing to the world.