There is an adage about preaching which says that the best preachers are those that carry the bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. It is an adage I try to adhere to as I prepare what I am going to say every week, and one that I hope comes through in my words. But this week I have felt the newspaper in my hand become a great deal heavier than it often is. In a week that has seen so many shootings and cases of gun violence in our nation, reports that global temperatures continue to rise with the warmest July ever recorded, so many people wounded and killed in terrorist attacks in Paris and Bangkok, and the reminder that after 4 and a half horror filled years the civil war in Syria is still ongoing and seems to have no end in sight, …show more content…
What I wish to draw from this is that one of the reasons we struggle to square our experience of faith and church with the world around us is that, unlike the disciples that in our reading from John stayed with Jesus, the Church is still all too often dependent on signs for faith, rather than bearers of a faith that is a sign in itself. Or put another way, we still seek the light on the hill, rather than being the light ourselves. The problem with this is that it means we generally look more to the newspaper for signs that God is out there and worthy of faith, than we do to the story of Jesus Christ for inspiration and deepening of the faith that exists within us. As a consequence, a week like that past, and so many before it, lead us to wonder if there even is a God rather than asking how might God be at work in this, how might God be going about making this wrong right? And that is a question that the modern Church, indeed the Church for a good part of its history has struggled to ask, but one that is a spring of inspiration for faith to become a sign. The life of the early Church is perhaps the best example of this. According to the American sociologist of religion Rodney Stark “Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent urban problems. To cities filled with the homeless and the impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity.” The way that the Church responded to the strife of Greco-Roman cities speaks to the sociological signs of the faith that was within them. Christians offered charity and hope to
Urban’s decision to begin the Crusade was based on more than just the idea that he was doing the Lord’s will. The Christian idealism was mind over m...
The greatest recent event -- that "God is dead," that the belief in the Christian God has ceased to be believable -- is... cast[ing] its shadows over Europe. For the few, at lease, whose eyes....are strong and sensitive enough for this spectacle... What must collapse now that this belief has been undermined... [is] our whole European morality.
Over the past year I have grown as both a person and a writer. My writing has improved
"We cannot indeed overestimate the importance of the fact that Jesus' redeeming influence on the world-all that has induced men to call Him Lord and Savior-owes to His humanity at once its individual and its social power, and is complete with the com...
In the wake of the plague, nobleman and religious authority figures struggled to maintain their high place in society as government leaders were unable to find an effective response to the disease, and people began to doubt the power of the Church. Confusion and suspicion arose among followers of the church when the Church itself was powerless to stop this devastating diseases supposedly “sent from the heavens”. When praying and amending their sins didn’t cure themselves or their loved ones of that great pestilence, people believed that God had abandoned them, shown in these quotes taken directly from the journal of an Italian citizen who contracted the disease. “…and nowhere is there a refuge. No haven beckons in any part of the globe, nor can any hope of longed for salvation be seen. Wherever I turn my frightened eyes, their gaze is troubled by continual funerals: the churches groan encumbered with biers…”(Petrach 27-31). “… it is the wrath of God… the harsh assault of the stars in their perpetually changing conjunctions. This plague-bearing year has borne down on humankind and threatens a tearful slaughter, and the highly charg...
“The call is something that is an indescribable joy and an indefinable burden at the same time.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 32). There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a congregation of the redeemed moving forward in their faith. However exciting this may be, it is usually not the thrill that propels the pastor in his service. It is the burden placed on the pastor by God that compels him in his work. The pastor understands that he is largely responsible for the work of God being accomplished by his faithfulness to his calling. “All through the Word of God and down through the annals of history, when God has moved it has almost always been attended by the preaching of the Word.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 31)
...he centuries following them, they did not work nearly as hard, or did they suffer the same sacrifice and separation from materialistic possessions and luxuries. The church and congregation itself also underwent a dramatic change. The church progressed with the times to be not only a powerful institution religiously, but also politically, economically and also socially. With this rise in power in many different areas besides religion came the involvement in many different areas in society. These ties in society created involvement in the “City of the World” which took away from aspects of the “City of God.”
Over the course of this class I feel like I have become a much better writer. When I go back and look at some of my Journal entries and assignments that I did at the beginning of the semester, I can’t help but tense up at some of the things I wrote. Sometimes the things I was writing didn’t flow well, or I might have even have missed glaring grammar mistakes.
... in the church so much that they were willing to devote their whole lives to it. Whilst this period did see a rise in the influence of the church, this reflected a need for people to find some comfort against the hardships of disease, wars and the chaos from government collapsing.
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
The Story of Christianity is a very informative summation; a continuation of Volume 1 which covered the beginning of the church up to the Protestant Reformation, while Vol. 2 dealt with the Protestant Reformation up to more modern time period. This author delivers a more comprehensive and deeper look into the development of Christianity, which includes particular events which had transpired throughout the world; particularly how Christianity has expanded into Central and South America. Gonzalez opens up this book with the “Call for Reformation,” where he shares with his readers the need for reform; the papacy had started to decline and was corrupt, in addition to the Great Schism, which had further weakened the papacy (p.8). The author explains how the church was not the only issue but that the church’s teachings were off track as well, seeing that the people had deviated from...
In the beginning of my junior year of high school, one of my close friends told me she was getting confirmed at church next Sunday, completely clueless I only nodded in agreement and said that was great! When we arrived home I asked my mom what confirmation was, and she explained to me that it was the next step, or Sacrament, in a Catholic’s life where you confirm the relationship you have and want with God.
Throughout my four years at Worland High School, I have taken a number of classes; some more difficult than others, some I just took merely to boost up my GPA. However, there are some classes that I knew I wanted to steer clear from such as any culinary arts or home living classes, which probably would have benefited me more than I thought. I also stayed away from any art or music class; my fine arts skills are not quite up to par, and I had no desire in strengthening them. The classes that everyone wants to stay away from but are forced to take anyway would be the core classes: science, math, history, and language arts. Of course there is no getting away from these classes, except I did manage to get out of taking a science class my senior
This biography as demonstrated that I am thinking critically, and that I am applying theory to practice. It also demonstrated that I am preparing myself for the real fieldwork after graduation, and I am also open to learn new information and adapt to any unchangeable environment I find myself. Having created this biography, I have learned to focus on the clients’ abilities (strengths) as suppose to their disabilities. Further, I realized that they have much potential than people would imagine.
My views on whether people are born good, evil, or neutral have not changed. I still believe that there is continuum that ranges from good to evil with neutral in the center. I think most people fall somewhere in the middle of this continuum though there may be some genetic traits that predispose them one way or the other slightly. For most people what causes us to fall into either the good or evil ranges are specific moments in time and the actions or behaviors we choose. Most people are neither fully good nor fully evil, but in a given situation can be either. However, I believe that good or evil actions can be reinforced for individuals, making the person more likely to act or behave in a similar manner again even if it is against the individual’s core beliefs about himself or herself.