The following is a review of the book “the sacred romance” by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. The book discusses the concept of “arrows.” Arrows are past experiences that cause us to separate ourselves from God. When explaining the message of the arrows, Brent gave many examples, some of these included instances of being bullied, sitting alone in the cafeteria, and being belittled by adults when he was young. These examples describe negative external actions toward Brent. Whereas, some examples are choices or mistakes he made, such as breaking up with a girlfriend. The authors ultimately describe arrows as “loss we experience as abandonment or some deep violation we feel as abuse, their message is always the same: Kill your heart.” Arrows cause …show more content…
This would not be the first time this has come to my attention; however, reading this made me recognize that all too often we tend not think about things. Not that it should be something we dwell on, but as believers, we should never let our guard down regarding Satan’s ever-present intentions. Satan’s strategy, as described in the book, is to disconnect us from our heart, which ultimately separates us from God. This disconnection from our hearts is achieved through “the message of the arrows” which Satan’s whispers to our hearts. These are lies we tell ourselves following wounding arrows in our …show more content…
I was infatuated with this piece of furniture and spent a good portion of every day playing on it. It featured a ladder that led to a trap door which opened to our beds. My dad bought a piece of Plexiglas which we planned to insert into the trap door. After the lofts construction, I asked my dad daily to finish the trap door, I even made him promise that he would finish it that month. Several weeks past, which turned into months, and the trap door remained incomplete. My father, burdened by the seventy plus hour work weeks and stress that comes with supporting a family of six, forgot about the trap door, and it was never finished. This is significant because this was the first time I remember being let down. The message I felt from this arrow was abandonment from the most important man in my life. This first disappointment led to many more from every single person I have ever interacted with, and ultimately has shaped how I interact with people. As a result of this arrow, I withhold trust and try my best to not place too much faith in worldly relationships. I Another significant arrow happened years later. When I was a young adult, I partook in an unhealthy relationship with a non-Christian woman. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but worse than my actions with her was the fact that I was a terrible representation of Christ, for she knew of
And while describing the fiery wrath of the “Angry God,” Edwards states, “The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation.” By focusing on this group of people, Edwards instills a sense of fear within the audience of “sinners.” 3) Edwards purpose in delivering this sermon was to inform “sinners” of the inevitable doom that He thus creates a sense of helplessness in his audience, and encourages them to submit to God and renew their faith in Christianity. His use of parallelism allows Edwards to exponentially build a sense of fear, and it is maintained throughout this sermon.
“Our first lesson about God made the deepest impression on us. We were told that He loved us, and then we were told that He would burn us in everlasting flames of hell if we displeased Him. We were told we should love Him for He gives us everything good that we have, and then we were told that we should fear Him because He has the power to do evil to us whenever He cares to. We learned from this part of the lesson another: that “people,” like God and parents, can love you and hate you at the same time; and though they may love you, if you displease them they may do you great injury; hence being loved by them does not give you protection from being harmed by them. We learned that They (parents) have a “right” to act in this way because God does, and that They in a sense represent God, in the family.”
Throughout a lifetime, many things are gained; experience, wisdom, knowledge, as well as a sure sense of self. But along with all these great things come regret, guilt, and shame of past events. Everyone deals with these in different ways, sometimes turning to religion and denial as coping mechanisms. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, By Barbara Kingsolver, each member of the Price family deals with a personal guilt either gained while on their mission in the Congo or long before. This novel exemplifies the different types of guilt the Price family experienced throughout their stay in the Congo, and shows various means of reconciliation and forgiveness as the guilt is absolved.
Psychology attempts to provide insight on our lack of self-belief; however, the studies are mostly to no prevail. Subjectively, I believe our subconscious represents a more complex function than what is often portrayed. After all, it acts as a defense mechanism that has been pre-built into our neural network. As such, the capabilities of such a feature are near endless, though difficult to comprehend. To better understand our subconscious, we often simplify it through symbols - most commonly, heaven and hell. Studied throughout the text, symbolism of such representation is easy to interpret as it is presented through distinct quotes from the primary speaker - such as: “I heard sounds from Heaven and I heard sounds from Hell.” Incidentally, the quote also marks a set crossroads on the protagonist's journey of choice as he chooses which side to listen too - guilty or innocent. As expected, his later continuation in the text to commit heinous acts such as assault and murder, solidify his standings with the rebellious side of his conscious - as well as supporting the continuation of heightening the challenge presented by lack of self-trust. In support of this, renowned academic leader Douglas Horton is quoted speaking: “Conscience is the window to our spirit, evil is the curtain”. However, in select cases, the
Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Canada: DC Heath and Company, 1990. 584-595.
“Parker’s Back” is filled with biblical allusions as one man’s journey towards God and pleasing his wife ends unsuccessfully. Parker has always been a rebel; however, his wife is a devout, plain woman who has an indescribable control on him, possibly due to his subconscious wish to be saved. Parker wishes to leave her, but finds he never can do so. Not only is he unable to please his wife, but also he is unable to experience spiritual satisfaction, and in the brief moment at the end where he does have a connection to God, his wife rids him of it. Biblical allusions are spread throughout “Parker’s Back,” and they serve to emphasize O.E. Parker’s failure as a spiritual person.
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
Life is filled with memories and experiences that eventually, maybe even without any realization, determine the person an individual becomes. While the majority of people would prefer to be influenced by the positive moments (accomplishments, birthdays, graduations, etc.) the reality of the situation is that most individuals face experiences they would rather forget then accept as a part of their journey through life. Authors Brent Curtis and John Eldridge discuss this understanding in their novel, The Sacred Romance. The message of the arrows is one that many people try to avoid at all cost simply because they do not want to deal with the pain that accompanies each arrow. Throughout life, one of the most constant realizations is pain accompanies
This bitterness he feels about the gulf that now exists between himself and his family is expressed in the irony of Christ being both the bringer of peace, and the cause of the "sword and strife". The paranoia common to the early stages of depression is also expressed:
Guilt is a powerful force in humans. It can be the factor that alters someone's life. On the other hand, forgiveness can be just as powerful. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, her characters-the Price family-travel to Africa on a religious mission. Throughout the novel, the concept of guilt and forgiveness is reflected on multiple occasions. Each character has a different experience with guilt and how it affects them in the end. By structuring The Poisonwood Bible to include five different narrators, Kingsolver highlights the unique guilt and forgiveness to each individual experiences as well expresses the similarities that all humans face with these complex emotions.
For instance, Edwards utilizes imagery when he mentions, “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide bottomless pit...with the flames of divine wrath”. In hope of instilling a vivid image of the underworld, Edwards uses repetition with the word “wrath” to put emphasis on the alarming situations that occur in hell, as well as showing God’s anger. Furthermore, Edwards uses diction when he states “you hang by a slender thread” to illustrate God’s ruthlessness to sinful behavior. With this in mind, it depicts God’s powerfulness and superiority, compared to man who is weak and powerless. In another example, Edwards states “the God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect...abhors you”. This simile is paramount because man is compared to a spider, portraying mankind to be disgusting and futile. Moreover, with the use of diction with the words “loathsome” and “abhors”, it emphasizes Edwards conception that God is outraged and heartless to the people that reject their faith.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book of thirty –one letters in which a retired, senior demon named Screwtape coaches his newly educated nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood is quite troubled when it comes to tempting his “patient.” Nevertheless, he need not fear because faithful uncle Screwtape has offered his services. A unique character featured in the letters is, “The Enemy.” This character refers to God, the natural enemy of Satan. Of course Satan is referred to as “Our Lord.” In the letters, and Wormwood and Screwtape try their very best to please Satan and bring him glory. Although the book is written from the demons’ perspective, Lewis naturally uses it to highlight important truths of the Christian faith.
Through her many allegories, Hurnard echoes God’s call for His children to joyfully love, trust, and obey Him. She encourages her readers through the call of the Shepherd to strive after true satisfying love by forsaking thei...
2. “I was truly alone, orphaned not only of my family, but now of Richard Parker, and nearly, I though, of god” Chapter 94
During my seventh grade year, my church went to a youth rally at a local church on weekend. Because of this rally and the message it sent, I realized and wanted to give my life to Jesus through baptism. It was awesome, I got home as a young teenager and actually talked to my mom about what it really means to be a Christian and to pick up your cross and follow him. So that very next weekend, my dad baptized me in front of the whole church on Sunday morning. It was an awesome feeling knowing that because of Jesus’ grace and mercy, I will be with him one day and spend eternity with him. Although I was on top of the world at this point, I still didn’t know fully what I had gotten into. So the next few years, I live the typical Christian life. I was trying to be the perfect person by doing the right stuff, I would try not to cuss, I would try to wear as many WWJD bracelets as I could so that I wouldn’t have to talk to them about Christ and they could just see it on my wrist, I would not join in on conversations with my friends that I knew were not right, I was just living life on cruise control.