Part 1: The Rival Conceptions of God by C.S. Lewis In The Rival Conceptions of God, Lewis writes that “… there is only one right answer to a sum, and all the other answers are wrong: but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others.” (1) This quote is significant because it portrays the perspective of one religion towards other religions, and that some religions force their perspectives onto others. In Christianity, Christians believe that if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ
Augustine grapples with the paradox of knowing God while yet remaining a finite creature who can scarcely comprehend the infinite. The book opens with a quote from the book of Psalms and Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, accentuating the idea of the greatness of God, “highly to be praised,” as compared to feeble humanity, “a little piece of creation” who bears “his mortality with him” (p. 64). Augustine begins the book with a humble invocation to God taken from the psalmist David: “Grant me
from a different light and a different bias. Therefore, how can our descriptions be pure? It may not be possible to faithfully depict the ineffable nor comprehend it truly. Like language, and possibly with the development of language, our conceptions have also narrowed to exclude what is ultimately real. There is the conventional reality that is accepted within a group of people but it is flawed. The application of categories and frameworks onto what is real doesn’t just make placeholders
by impurity. As the result of her parents fall from grace, she represents the sinfulness of their act, and is a continual tool for the recollection of their dubious deed. Sent, was she, from the Almighty God as a gift, and a burden of the heart. "'God gave me the child?' cried she. 'He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!- she is my torture, none the less! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable
Zarathustra by Me Published 1895 translation by Gerardo Published 1999 ________________________________________ PREFACE This book belongs to the most rare of men. Perhaps not one of them is yet alive. It is possible that they may be among those who understand my \"Zarathustra\": how could I confound myself with those who are now sprouting ears?--First the day after tomorrow must come for me. Some men are born posthumously. The conditions under which any one understands me, and necessarily understands
there is more to guilt than just committing the crime. In Charles Brockden Browns’ Wieland, the reader is presented with a moral dilemma: is Theodore Wieland guilty of murdering his wife and children, even though he claims that the command came from God, or is Carwin guilty because of his history of using persuasive voices, even though his role in the Wieland family’s murder is questionable? To answer these questions, one must consider what determines guilt, such as responsibility, motives, consequences
employs the conceit for just this purpose. Marvell’s use of the conceit allows him convey the Christian story of the human soul in his poem with subtlety and simplicity, from its birth in heaven through its placement on earth and eventual reunion with God in heaven. As part of his conceit, Marvell spends the first half of “On a Drop of Dew,” relating a simple story drawn from nature, the story of a dewdrop resting on a flower. Without initially revealing what the dewdrop represents, he traces its “life”
Miltonian elegy, involving meditation upon the profoundest questions faced by mankind. Scientific advancements, most notably in the fields of geology and biology, challenged the beliefs that form the foundation of Christianity: the belief in a beneficent God responsible for creation and ensuing superintendence and the belief in man's immortal soul. By the mid nineteenth century apologist arguments such as those of William Paley could no longer convincingly reconcile science and faith. In Memoriam stands
The Irrelevant God in A Farewell to Arms A Farewell to Arms begins with a god's-eye-view, cinematic pan of the hills surrounding Gorizia-the camera of our mind's eye, racing forward through time, sweeps up and down the landscape, catching isolated events of the first year in the town as it goes. The film ultimately slows to a crawl, passing through the window of a whorehouse to meet the eyes of Frederic Henry watching the snow falling. As we attach ourselves to Frederic Henry's perspective we
To be honest with you I think some of McCloskey questions of the existence of God are based and as a Christian I know I have questioned the existence of God at one point in my life. I had to really learn the hard way. From the article one can see that McCloskey is trying very hard to dismiss every claim of the theistic view. From the videos on blackboard, when someone decides to prove something or someone, then that means there is certainty and assurance that thing is absolutely true. The truth of
relationship with creation, and compel him to finally take decisive action. Hamlet arguably takes his first bold action when he stabs Polonius through the arras. However, this is not the beginning of Hamlet’s decisive action because he has no conception of the effect his action will have. He stabs wildly through the arras without knowing who, if anyone, is behind it. As such, there is a separation between cause and effect. Hamlet’s first fully considered action, with complete understanding of
God and the Caducity of Being: Jean-Luc Marion and Edith Stein on Thinking God ABSTRACT: Jean-Luc Marion claims that God must no longer be thought of in terms of the traditional metaphysical category of Being, for that reduces God to an all too human concept which he calls "Dieu." God must be conceived outside of the ontological difference and outside of the question of Being itself. Marion urges us to think of God as love. We wish to challenge Marion’s claim of the necessity to move au-delà
and Buddhism The concept of God It is first of all necessary to establish what is meant by the term "God". This term is used to designate a Supreme Being endowed with the qualities of omnipotence and omniscience, which is the creator of the universe with all its contents, and the chief lawgiver for humans. God is generally considered as being concerned with the welfare of his human creatures, and the ultimate salvation of those who follow his dictates. God is therefore a person of some kind
Thus, it aims to pick up where treaties like the Meditations on the life of Christ end. She places the conception and execution of the work in the lap of ‘Love’ who explains that she alone has created the book for: ‘You little ones of Holy Church’ so that you might hear in order to be more worthy of the perfection of life and the being of peace to which the
time I thought it brought me happiness. Going to the gym can be the highlight of my day and even though I absolutely hate waking up early, especially in the summer, I don’t mind doing it if I get to tumble. But, what I need to realise is that, “Our conception of happiness is often fatally flawed by the belief that fun equals happiness.” (Matthew Kelly) So, although it may be a lot of fun, but it will not give me true happiness. Nonetheless, ever since the first class I took, I fell in love. I would
Recovery of Knowledge Moreland is trying to urge Christians, and the church, to spread the knowledge of God and his practices to the non-believers. Moreland (2007) explains that there are three types of knowledge: (a) knowledge of acquaintance; (b) propositional knowledge; and (c) know-how (p.120). He explained that knowledge of acquaintance is sometimes described as "being directly aware of something" (Moreland, 2007, p.120). He then stated that the propositional knowledge is knowing something
two such different things," Shermer told Sharon Begley in Newsweek's cover story "Science Finds God," "it would be like using baseball stats to prove a point in football." Using Shermer's model as a starting point for thinking about S&R, I realized that something is missing. One cannot reasonably talk about the conflict between science and religion unless one also specifies what is meant by religion or God (usually there is less controversy on what is meant by science, though some philosophers and social
The Irony of Abortion It is ironic that, in a nation that defines individual rights as supremely sacred, the most basic right to life is being systematically denied 1,500,000 persons each year. This is not done in the name of God but in the name of choice, pro-choice to be exact. Admittedly, too many young mothers find themselves in unwanted situations which carry with them very difficult and painful decisions. This we cannot overlook. They deserve our mercy, compassion, and love rather than
One was that of fear; a fear that they too would die from the plague and so they are both very careful with their health. The second was a vision of a God that could both punish and save them from damnation. In the letters of this book we discover how a Protestant couple in Renaissance Germany dealt with the illness and suffering that their loving God had bestowed upon them. Between 1560 and 1584, Nuremberg lost thousands of its residents to an epidemic that was sweeping Europe. This was the reason
In one of his great sermons "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards used phrases and parallelism that could simply move his listener or reader. Edwards described his view of a vengeful God and the consequences of sin with such strong emotion and vividness that it was sure too shaken up most, if not all of those who had the privilege of hearing or reading it. Edwards clearly portray an image of a fearful and powerful God in relation to a simple and weak man. Edward's dialect was very