...Is believing in something better then knowing the truth? As a citizen within society, one is exposed to all different types of conspiracies and many believe they are true. In reality though, many conspiracies are just myths that no one wants to see them as. It is kind of like feeling secure knowing what they think is true whether it is or not. A common conspiracy known around the world is the one about Santa Claus. Many children grow up believing that this man delivers gifts to everyone around world. When children realize Santa is not real, they do not seem to want to believe that. When I was younger, I did not want to believe that just because I knew Santa brought expensive gifts and never wanted that to end. Once a child discovers santa is not real, the ipod turns into a pair of socks. Knowing Santa is not real not only ruins the type of gifts, but also the christmas spirit....
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...that are thought of as typical of a Christian, Christ like.. Some people say that we are just evolutionary result of the survival of the fittest Others think of reincarnation Most of our lives, we have been searching for a purpose for our lives, one that has a deeper meaning than just the basic action of existing on this planet. We felt that our lives were meant for something; and something meaningful and worthwhile that would give us a true reason to live. We searched for this purpose in things like relationships, a career, a job, a hobby, in school, and in many more things, only to find disappointment at every turn; because though these things could preoccupy us for a moment, they would ultimately fail at fulfilling our spiritual desire for a meaningful life. Then we find God, and we feel that we see our purpose clearly. We are full of excitement and hopeful to see what God will do with our lives. The overwhelming joy and excitement that drives us motivates us to share the good news with everyone around us, telling them of the great purpose that God has in store for our lives. We devote ourselves to learning more, growing more, and doing more for God. We surround ourselves with more and more people who call themselves Christians to glean as much as we can from them, astounded at the miraculous experiences they recount of God’s work in their lives. We are at the pinnacle of our joy, and we feel that we have what we have always been looking for. Never again will...
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...the main theological problems of knowing God Calvin said that we can know God through Sola Scriptura (faith in God as revealed in scripture alone) and Sola Fide (salvation through faith alone). Calvin argued that we can have two fold knowledge of God (Duplex cognition Domini). We know God as creator and the redeemer. We can know God as the creator through the sensus divinitatis, conscience, creation as mirror of God and scripture. The sensus divinitatis is having a sense of the divine; Calvin said that we all have a natural, inbuilt sense of God. ‘There is indeed within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we can take beyond controversy.’(Calvin, Institutes 1.1.3.) Calvin supported his claim with the universal consent argument, which was suggested by philosopher Cicero. The argument is that a God or Gods must exist as so many people from different ages and cultures, believe in a God or Gods of some sort. This seems to imply that all people have sense of the divine. Calvin developed the idea from St Paul that all humans have an innate, natural disposition to believe in God. In his letter to the Romans Paul wrote that knowledge of God is ‘plain to them, because God has shown it to them’ and Paul argued that we all know God unconsciously as without God we would not survive and thrive. A problem with this is the fact that many people believing in God does not prove his existence. Calvin said that God would still exist if no one believed...
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...Religion has this ideology of a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. But, the biggest issue with this is whether or not he really exist due to the problem that there is evil in the world. A philosopher who argued this was Simon Blackburn. I argue Blackburn is right to claim that the existence of evil strongly suggests that a God who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful doesn't exist. Blackburn claimed that the existence of evil strongly suggests that there does not exist a God who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful. He wrote the book entitled “God” and in chapter five under on the section entitled “Problem of Evil”, he spoke about how in religion that God created everything meaning the good and the bad. He supported...
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...evidence of human-like life. How can God create an entire planet and then destroy it just as quickly? What are the characteristics of this God? Is this God worthy of our worship? How does God allow for such evil? John Hicks: Father Tom, it seems like you have come across the problem of evil. Sarah: What do you mean of the problem of evil? Is evil not a consequence of the devil? A fallen angel who wants all of God’s followers to turn to him instead? The Devil: Yes, Sarah you are correct. I am the source of all evil; the one who causes the pain and suffering in the world today. JH: Sarah, do not listen to him. He is not as powerful as God. His power is not enough to cause all of the evil on the world. S: Then what is the “problem of evil”? JH: God is known as all powerful, all knowing, all good. If God exists, and if he is all powerful then he is able to change and eliminate evil. If God is all knowing then he has full knowledge of all evil that occurs in the world. If he is all good then he wants to create a freedom from evil. But, evil exists. So, if evil exists then God isn’t all powerful, all knowing and/or all good, or God does not exist. FT: Without God, there would be no problem of evil. God created all things, so God created evil; natural and moral. S: What do you mean by natural and moral evil? Are their different types of evil? JH: Moral evil is a wickedness that is one person inflicting evil onto another person or onto one self. FT: God created people so...
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...rest of their lives. Some people after a trauma occurs make sure they guard their current relationships of the people who had helped them out. They also might rethink their future, maybe they need a job change, maybe it’s that person’s turn to comfort someone else who is hurting. The most important piece in bouncing back is God and where He falls in the picture. One’s spiritual influence can help aid them in the healing process by choosing forgiveness and gratitude. Spirituality and resilience can ultimately go hand in hand when talking about trauma and healing. Resilience and Spiritualty Resilience is a normal part of life. Everyone who experiences trauma at some point gets to the bouncing back stage. How someone ultimately gets to the point where they are able bounce back is major. Spirituality plays a major role in being able to accomplish the Resilience Life Cycle. Resilience “Resilience is the ability for individuals, leaders and organizations to take a hard hit and continue to pursue their mission” (Dees, 2011). Resilience is so that people can get better and return to their full functioning, normal self. It possesses highly tangible parts like physical and mental and then again it possesses less tangible parts such as emotional, spiritual and relational. “Resilience is sustained competence or positive adjustment in the face of adversity. Resilience...
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...to life’s most basic questions like, "Where did I come from?" "What’s my purpose here?" And, "What happens when I die?" Knowing the answers gives us hope and helps us find peace and joy, but we can't deny the fact that one thing that makes this life so hard sometimes is that we’re out of God’s physical presence. Not only that, but we can’t remember our pre-earth life which means we have to operate by faith rather than sight. God didn’t say it would be easy, but He promised His spirit would be there when we needed Him. Even though it feels like it sometimes, we’re not alone in our journey. We tend to pray always when we are faced with such unsurmountable problems at hand and sometimes we came up with superficial ideas on our own on how to somewhat talked to God, like for example, before I think that praying or prayer itself is only a device that I should come up or formulate by myself to be able to talk to God, thus my prayer life becomes like a planned routine every day that I will recite this kind of prayers in an orderly fashion with a given amount, also I attend worship/prayer meetings that I think will help in my religious life not knowing the fact that I am doing it wrong all the time because as what St Jean of Chantal said, “The best method of prayer is not to have any, because prayer is not obtained by methods or devices but through grace.” Because prayer is simply just talking to God and giving all ourselves in front of him, it is just like setting ourselves free from our...
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...a creator” The Bible first introduces God as a creator in Genesis. For example, the opening chapter of Genesis begins with the quote “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Many fundamentalist Christians would take this quote literally and would use it to support their view that God is the creator of the universe. Jews and Christians both believe that God is the creator of the world and both believe in the God described in the old testament of the bible. Christians and Jews believe that God does things on purpose, he interacts with people and he cares about what they do. God is believed to be omnipresent, omnibenevolent and omnipotent. Creation out of nothing, or creation ex nihilo, is the belief that God created this world out of nothing, ex nihilo being Latin for "from nothing." The Bible is clear that God is the creator of this world, but the controversial issue of how, is always discussed within Christianity. Typically there are two main answers: either God created this world from nothing, or he created this world from pre-existing matter. Within the Bible, there are four main Omni qualities that many Christians believe God to possess. Firstly, God is described to be Omnipotent. This could be defined as ‘all powerful’ A biblical quote to support the view of God being Omnipotent is “Have you an arm like God and can you thunder with a voice like his” (Job 40:9) The quote could suggest that Christians feel that God is the most powerful being in existence...
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...Doctrine TH517, taught by Professor David Mappes. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF OPEN THEISM Abstract God is all knowing, unchanging, and all powerful. These are beliefs that are taught in the doctrine of God. These are beliefs that Christians live by and pass on to their friends and families. The Open Theist have come to challenge those beliefs. They argue God literally changes his mind, continues to learn, and is even said to take risks, (Sanders, 1998). The Open Theists are trying to challenge the Doctrine of God. This paper will dispute these beliefs and use evidence of scripture to prove that these arguments are invalid. Revelations 22:18-19 states,” 18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF OPEN THEISM An Analysis of the Open Theist Views Throughout history many people have struggled to come to a complete understanding of God. There are so many different Gods that people speak of and various religions that people...
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...their lives. Some people after a trauma occurs make sure they guard their current relationships of the people who had helped them out. They also might rethink their future, maybe they need a job change, maybe it’s that person’s turn to comfort someone else who is hurting. The most important piece in bouncing back is God and where He falls in the picture. One’s spiritual influence can help aid them in the healing process by choosing forgiveness and gratitude. Spirituality and resilience can ultimately go hand in hand when talking about trauma and healing. Resilience and Spiritualty Resilience is a normal part of life. Everyone who experiences trauma at some point gets to the bouncing back stage. How someone ultimately gets to the point where they are able bounce back is major. Spirituality plays a major role in being able to accomplish the Resilience Life Cycle. Resilience “Resilience is the ability for individuals, leaders and organizations to take a hard hit and continue to pursue their mission†(Dees, 2011). Resilience is so that people can get better and return to their full functioning, normal self. It possesses highly tangible parts like physical and mental and then again it possesses less tangible parts such as emotional, spiritual and relational. “Resilience is sustained competence or positive adjustment in the face of...
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...seem impossible to complete, and many times the task that is at hand is as simple as obeying God’s Will. God has blessed each and everyone of us with an ability or abilities of some sort. These are the things that we may find natural that no one else ever could. They can include singing, the playing of instruments, or even the ability to speak in a public setting. While we are all blessed with certain abilities that anyone could ultimately master, we are also blessed with certain Spiritual Gifts that are unique to each and every Christian. Everyone of us receive some sort of gift upon accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we all have at least one. However it is up to us to fully embrace those gifts and learn how we are to use them. In order to do this we must establish a firm prayer connection to God. This is our means of communication to Him. While confirmation from the world around us sometimes seems necessary, it really is not. The only confirmation that is really needed is the one that no man can give us. However, God has given us a means to seek confirmation from those that are around us. One of the most popular and accurate means today is an MBTI type assessment. This assessment is fairly accurate if you answer the questions truthfully. God has a plan for our lives. It is fully up to us to accept them and to know what it is that we have to do. We are about to embark on a short journey into how I, Joshua Genty, have come...
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...beliefs in God and His Son Jesus Christ. Christians believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven. It is this faith in Jesus that guides every Christian’s life. With the faith in Jesus Christ Christians also strive towards being like Him. If Christians do not understand the gospel essentials of their philosophies they will not be prepared for the questions and tests of the world. God: What is God like? God is loving and supreme. He created everyone and everything in His divine plan. Since God exists as the creator of all things He loves all things like a father...
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...text mixed with a modern translation to aid in understanding. Even though every bible is worded different the message stays the same with Ezekiel 37: 1-14. In this passage the prophet Ezekiel is having a vision. God has taken him to a valley full of dried out bones that have been scattered about. This is when God asks Ezekiel if he thinks the bones could live. Ezekiel is smart and answers God by saying that only that he, the lord, could know the answer. God then demonstrates his power by telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. While Ezekiel is prophesying the bones reconnect, form tendons, muscles, skin, and become living people. God then tells Ezekiel that he will restore his people from their grave, and that the land of Israel will once again become his land[1]. The meaning of Ezekiel 37 can sometimes be hard to understand. The scribes who first interpreted the Old Testament took the text literally. They believed that the Old Testament was saying that the bones were those of the dead Israelites, and thought the message was about actual resurrection of the dead[2]. The scribes are most likely wrong, but at the time they had no way of knowing a hundred percent of what the bible was trying to tell you. Today there is still no way of knowing a 100 percent sure of what the bible is telling because of all the different possible interpretations. For example, the very first verse of Ezekiel 37 has many ambiguous words that make it hard to understand. It tells us that “the hand of...
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...found that the decision making factors where all either somewhat important to me, important or very important. Although some factors were only somewhat important to me no factors fell in the category of not important. I see value in all the decision making factors listed in the article. I will start with saying the most important factor in any decision needing to be made is relying on God for wisdom and guidance. I believe for all the other aspects or factors of decision making to fall into place Prayer is a must. Using Common sense is very important to me as well, when making a career decision I feel one must be reasonable and apply common sense. Applying common sense would be asking yourself questions like is this job attainable for me, is it appropriate for my skills, can is provide financially the way I need it too. I would almost put using common sense in the same category as just having your eyes open and being in tune with the jobs you qualify for and the opportunities that may exist. Depending on a sense of inner peace from the Holy Spirit is very important to me ask well. I lean on God for direction and answers through prayer and...
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...June 1, 2013 Seminar Paper 1 Chapter 1 Does God exist? The question of “is there a God” has been asked ever since Man became conscious of his existence. It is a question rooted in the understanding that we did not create ourselves or the world we live in, therefore something greater than Man must exist. There is a need to know what created us in order for us to discover why we were created. Having a “God concept” allows us to rationalize things we don’t understand such as miracles, freak accidents, death, and eternity. The “God concept” gives us hope and something to strive for because we believe that we can become one with or be like the thing that created us. We program our lives around the characteristics we believe God possess. We decided what we will and won’t do based on our beliefs of what God does and doesn’t like. We live each day believing that if we act in accordance with what we believe is the will of God, that when we die we won’t be faced with eternal suffering. The belief that there is a God is man’s way of answering the unanswerable questions of creation, life, purpose, death, and the future. Because we don’t actually know the truth, we will use God as the source and sustainer of all things. The Design Argument The Design Argument is the most plausible of all arguments concerning the existence of a God. It states that “If we look around us at the natural world we can’t help noticing how everything in it is suited to the function it performs: everything...
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