Throughout the story of Rapture Practice many questions about religion and morality arise. As Aaron Hartzler, raised as a dedicated baptist since birth, matures, he discovers that his views differ from his parent’s and his church, and he struggles to come to terms with his beliefs. By finding a way to experience life outside of the house, Aaron realizes that religion does not necessarily make you an incorruptible person. How do religion and morality play into the themes of Rapture Practice?
When Aaron is young, there is absolutely no doubt in his little mind that everything is just as his parents tell him. All children believe this, of course. It’s just natural instinct to trust your parents to lead you down the right pathway. Since during his entire childhood he was surrounded by people that were just as committed to their beliefs as his parents, young Aaron never understood that the world isn’t always just black and white. As a child he so often looked forward to the Rapture, and wondered where he would be and what he would be doing when Jesus returned. “Whether it happens today, or tomorrow, or a year from now, I know one thing for certain: Jesus is coming back, and I’m ready whenever he is.” (Hartzler 16). But, as Aaron grows up, he starts to do what his parents wished he never would; question them. He questions his family, his friends, his school, his church, even himself, in a search for the difference between right and wrong. The rules that he used to think were so common place now seem absurd, and he wants to experience the world for himself and make his own decisions. The more that he tries to get out on his own, the more his parents tighten their grip, and the more that Aaron feels strangled. Aaron is often...
... middle of paper ...
...d how He expresses it distresses Aaron until he decides to come to terms with his own beliefs, whether they are explicitly stated in the Bible or not. When and how people must express their love for God is a tricky subject among the Hartzler family. Aaron’s parents believe in doing nothing but what the BIble says, while Aaron thinks that just because the Bible doesn’t mention something doesn’t mean that it is bad. He notices things that are never discussed or are outdated, and wonders about how he could love Jesus yet disagree with his parents. Through the arguments between him and his family, Aaron finally realizes that he needs to decide for himself what to believe in and how to express it. By the end of the book, when Aaron has matured, what were once his core beliefs have been tossed out the window and replaced by his new idea of life and how to live it.
If you were to take a survey on views of faith, you would come up with a million different definitions. To me, faith is taking risks in situations where there is no fear of the outcome. Faith is confidence, sureness, and bravery. If you have no faith, then you have no reason to go out in the world and survive. Faith is also a positive mindset and energy you embody. According to the book, “What is Faith?”, the author, Terrence W. Tilley feels that faith is a relationship between the one who has faith and the irreducible energizing source of meaning and center of value in one’s life. In the definition, “One” means the object of faith and the relationship between them. He takes the concept of faith from a late writer, David Foster Wallace, to key point his argument in the book. Wallace’s concept was that we don’t understand what faith is and how faith shapes the course of our lives. Tilley supports his claim by discussing the common misunderstandings of faith.
Jonathan Edwards wrote and preached the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in the year 1741(Edwards 40). His sermon made many people in his congregation believe they were headed to hell unless they turned to God. As Pastor Jonathan preached this sermon to his congregation, he presented it in a monotonous voice so that people there just payed attention to the words that were said. Edwards did this by using different types of persuasion. The sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards made people turn to God because it showed just how terrifying of a place hell is. He made it known that unless someone is “born again” then that person will one day end up with eternal damnation in hell. Edwards argued that people should
Rabbi H. Kushner wrote the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People after he himself was experiencing something bad. Kushner’s son Aaron suffered from an incurable disease called Progeria (“rapid aging”). Aaron would only live to his early teens. Kushner wanted to make sense of his son’s suffering and his loss. He mainly wrote the book in memory of his son and for others who are confused as to why they have been hurt in life and now struggle with God as a result. “This is a very personal book written by someone who believes in God and in the goodness of the world, someone who has spent most of his life trying to help other people believe, and was compelled by a personal tragedy to rethink everything he had been taught about God and God
The sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was written by a priest named Jonathan Edwards, in 1741. In order to scare his companions into asking for forgiveness instantly, or there would be a major outcome in the future. Edwards employed very expressive and convincing writing to impel fear into the hearts of those listening to his speech. After Edwards presented “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, many people were very frightened. Jonathan Edwards gave the speech to bring to the eyes of his followers the fact that it was necessary they repented soon by using imagery, figurative language, and repetition.
Jonathan Edwards, in 1741, preaches at Enfield Connecticut, to the congregation with a desire of converting men who thought too highly of themselves to Christianity. Edwards establishes points by using different strategies of figurative language with the intention of capturing the emotional side of his audience. By using a variety of styles to scare his audience, Edwards’ sermon, with powerful diction, had a great outcome of repenters.
In Paul Marshall's book, Heaven is not my Home, various subjects pertaining to the relevant issues of Christian life are broadly discussed. In one section, Marshall writes briefly about the area of imagination and the arts. The rough framework for his discussion of this topic is that of biblical creation, fall, and redemption. Due to the author's lack of expertise in the area of professional and fine art, Marshall chose to discuss art forms that are closer to daily life, including mainly clothing and fashion. He also briefly discussed food and speech within this setting. This essay will give a summary of Marshall's position on how Christians should be involved in imagination and the arts, and also my personal insight regarding this topic.
Such a compelling analysis of the “sinners” makes a sermon a masterpiece then and now. Gallagher asked many questions including why has it become classic of hell-fire and brimstone preaching and what strategies mounted by Edwards, the conscious literary artist, can we detect” to understand the success of the “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” (Gallagher 203). The “sinners” was perfect sermon during the Great Awakening because Jonathan Edwards was successful with his great eloquence with powerful and fearful images of hell to persuade the congregation at Enfield to seek forgiveness and repentance. Gallagher in his analysis emphasized on the auditory experience of the sermon and has coined a term known as “a recurrent pulsation” to indicate oratorical power of Edwards to change his congregation with his voice than to impose any laws on them (220). Gallagher suggested to critics of “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” to focus more on understanding Edwards’ preaching style and his approach to poetry to encourage others to analyze his writings to support American literature (221). Irrespective of what critics of “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” would say, the facts still remain the same. There are people who still denies the existence of God, how much more His
Catherine Sedgwick’s A New England Tale is the story of Jane a young woman who is cast into a family where she is looked down upon, but through her trial and tribulations remains strong in her faith in God. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God focuses on those who lose faith and overlook the power of God’s hand, and by doing so will be sent to hell to repent their sins. Throughout the novel by Sedgwick and the sermon by Edwards it is the importance of moving forwards in life while staying faithful and true to God without sin remains the focus of the pieces.
Questions of the Holy Bible’s authenticity has been interrogated since the beginning. Non-believers dispute parts or the entirety of the Bible’s actuality. Yet some believers question parts of the Bible, particularly the Gospels. Individuals are skeptic if the Gospels are historically reliable. Can we Trust the Gospels? by Mark D. Roberts was able to provide reliable evidence and reasons on why people can trust the Gospels. His book gives an overview on the subject of the gospel reliability.
Allegedly given by Jesus, the Sermon is taken as an instruction manual for Christian living. First, Matthew 5:1, Jesus ascends the mountain to preach the sermon keeping the tradition of Moses ascending and giving sermons on Mt. Sinai to the people. Taking a closer glance at the sermon, we get the opportunity to inquire what Jesus taught his disciples, and whether he also abided by his own teachings. Jesus proclaims that the poor in spirit are blessed because they will get to the kingdom of heaven. While it does not explain spirit poorness, it can be assumed to be a general situation of sadness. While it does not explain the connection between spiritual poverty and the Heaven Kingdom, such verses have been used to calm
Throughout the semester the books we read helped us to understand how we must have respect for the earth, feel compassion for others, and to challenge core values set by institutions. We also read a preamble, The Earth Charter, which focuses on forming a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and peace. The preamble consists of a set of principles humans and institutions must follow in order to create a sustainable way of life for future generations. In addition, The Earth Charter and the books we read in class outline the challenges humanity faces, such as ecological integrity, economic development, and compassion.
Chapter five titled The Arrow and the Target in the book Biblical Preaching, published by Baker Academic and written by Haddon Robinson focus on formulating the homiletical idea and determining the sermon’s purpose. Knowing what the target in sermon preparation is and uses arrows to hit that target by asking the right question that the sermon may connect with the hearers regardless of their knowledge or experience. Stating the exegetical idea in a complete sentence that communicate to listeners is the homiletical idea. The homiletical idea must be clear and precise language that the audience can clearly understand. The homiletical idea is the Biblical truth applied to life (pg.72). This paper will discuss the homiletical idea, measurable results, and purpose in brief detail.
In Revelation 21, the genre is mainly pros-discourse, as it was written by the apostle John. In this chapter, it is mainly talking about how God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth, and the author creates an image for us about what heaven is going to look like. When we reach the end of times, God is going to erase all that is on the earth and bring the Holy city down from heaven to earth. Also, God talks about who will inherit this land, as He declares, “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion. The themes of this story are important to show the growth of the young boy into a man. Without alienation, he wouldn't have understand the complexity of his feelings and learned to accept faults. With transformation, he would have continued his boyish games and wouldn't be able to grow as a person and adolescence. And finally, without understanding the religious aspects of his life, he would go on pretending he is somebody that he's not. He wouldn't understand that there is inconsistency between the real and ideal life (Brooks et al.).
The global environment of the world is under attack every day. Global warming, deforestation and acid rain are just a few of the threats facing our world. Many people tend to turn a blind eye to these issues. Some people do not even want to acknowledge that these problems exist but, the facts are there and the number do not lie. The 2007 U.N. report concluded that evidence for global warming is unequivocal, and that the actions of humans are primarily responsible (Thompson, 2010). Awareness is the first step in fixing the problem. It is our responsibility as not only Christians but as human beings in general to be aware of the critical situation that our global environment is in. After awareness comes action. It is our obligation to make better choices and practices to help combat the massive amount of damage that has already incurred.