Do you believe in life after death? Do you believe in faith? If so, do you believe faith can change someone for the better? These are some of the questions that will linger in your mind while reading A Matter of Faith by Duke Woodrick. The prologue begins with the execution of Jason Thomas Bradford. He was convicted of murdering seven people, and he requested the death penalty as his punishment for these crimes. However, why was Mr. Bradford smiling and giving Ella Martin, the star witness for the prosecution, a thumbs up? The reader is left with many questions even before starting chapter one. Then, the author takes the reader back to a time before Jason Bradford's birth, and he, also, gives us a glimpse into his terrible childhood. In addition, most of …show more content…
My biggest complaint, the author repeats the detailed murder numerous times. I believe this would not be such an issue if Woodrick would have not included every detail each time he retold the murder scenes. Another issue I have is the progression of the novel. There were times in the book that it progressed quickly and it flowed nicely. However, large portions of the novel seemed to bring the progression to a halt. One example, during jury selection he goes into detail about most of the jury members. I felt that this was not relevant to the story or to the main characters. Also, I found many grammatical and spelling errors in this book. Such as one page one hundred and sixty-eight, the author uses decision instead of decided. Also, on page two hundred and five, the author writes, “ Rusty watched the paramedics rolled Mr. Smith out through the broken front door.”
Also, I enjoyed the religious theme of the novel. Woodrick did not push his beliefs onto the reader. He simply made me question certain elements of faith, religion, and the after life. Therefore, the author allows the reader to come to their own conclusion about the after
The book is great with the plot mainly focused in the courtroom, but it feels like the author put the plot of the story from different events that happened to younger people and not from one whole event. Finally, the document went into depth of how the defense attorney went on to get every piece of evidence as possible to make the eyes of the jury see that Brenton Butler was not the person that shot and killed the
Finding a way in life can be difficult. Following that way can be even more difficult, especially when it goes against someone's origin. In Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel tells his story of what it was like to struggle through finding himself. Patel asks the question of "How can I create a society of religious pluralism?" throughout the book, and raises implications about what our children are being taught in different societies throughout the world.
Rachel Held Evans in “Faith Unraveled” questions every part of her religion, and is not sure how she should be living her life. Evans struggles to fully believe in faith that Christians are supposed to. She has all these questions and doubts, and is looking for answers but struggles to find the answers. Other Christians think what she is doing is unfaithful and she is not a real Christian. She is curious how people who profess Gods’ holy name, but then do not act in a holy way will be judged. Skeptics exist in almost every aspect of life, but when it comes to religion there seems to be a lot more. She struggles to handle some of the questions the skeptics ask and makes her question her religion. Evans also struggles to understand how this
One of the biggest flaws was the lack of follow up. The reader is not told what happens following Ephraim’s execution. Probably the most frustrating part of this is not knowing what becomes of Ephraim’s family. There are many theories, but no actual record of them in history. Now although this is not the Browns’ fault, as a reader, it still causes some frustration towards the book. Also, the fact that there is little or no evaluation of the event is an issue. The purpose of a history book is often to evaluate the significance of the event, but this book does not do that directly. Through the information given the reader is able to understand the importance of the trial, but the book fails to directly address the significance of the event.
These two critics are bold but necessary for the enjoyment of the vast audience. When reading the first chapter, for example, the excessiveness of names was confusing. Yes, the examples such as Katherine Branch to John Bradford were entertaining but hard to keep track of (Hall 21). It came to a point where names got mixed up which this dampened the enjoyment of reading. Next, the chapters were vast and it seemed never ending. It is highly recommended to have shorter chapters to give the book a sense of cohesion. These two examples did not hinder the book information wise but to a reader, fixing these minor problems will offer more joy to the
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
I think my favorite thing about this novel was the realistic ending. Some books try to just give you a fairy tale but this book had an ending that mad you think in the end if I was in the same position would I do the same thing. I didn’t like the fact that the novel portrayed mental illness in a way to say that it needed to be hidden and protected. I thought this novel was very believable for the time period that it was set in. I think the ending to this novel was perfect it was an accurate ending to this
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
After reading a few of the chapters in "Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith", I feel as if I have learned more in one sitting than many in years of my life. The chapters were not life altering, but simply stated things that I have overlooked. The topics that affected me most were on living with the mysteries of faith, benefits of true rest, and the emotion of happiness. Yes, they are really in no way related, but each of these topics impacted me in a different way, and made me think about what was being presented.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
To provide a reasonable point of view on this topic, one has to first establish what faith means at a personal level in order to indentify how it serves as a basis for knowledge in religion and natural sciences. Faith is regarded in various ways; commonly as reliability on someone/thing, religion, beliefs, and others. An English dictionary generalizes faith is a “strong or unshakeable belief in something, especially without proof or evidence” . Essentially, in this context, faith is the solid unconditional belief of something with little evidence or proof. With the definition stated, we can now focus on the matter in hand, its strengths and weaknesses.
“Faith and doubt both are needed. Not as antagonists. But working side by side to take us around the unknown curve.” Lillian Smith
Growing up I was raised in a religious household, so, of course, I’m a big believer in God and my faith. To me, God is the creator of all and I believe Judgment Day is going to come very soon.The definition of faith is the belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion. My faith and the reason for my faith goes hand in hand because it makes me know the truth and opens my eyes to this world. Also, I get clarity of why I’m in this world which is to make it a better place. But seeing the world as faith with reason or reason with faith has a few challenges and can make things a little bit difficult. Same goes for science and religion which butt heads a lot. Some may feel that the Big Bang Theory created
My definition of faith is to believe in something or someone without question, evidence or doubt. Faith does not prove existence, only that you believe with or without logic. In my personal opinion “Faith” can be a religious or non-religious term. For instance, I have faith in gravity. I believe that, wherever I am in the world, if I drop something it will fall. I do not and cannot have absolute knowledge of this, for I cannot be everywhere at once at all times dropping things and proving my hypothesis. And perhaps, just perhaps there are certain and extremely rare conditions on earth where I could drop something and it wouldn’t fall, where gravity wouldn’t apply, I don’t know. But even so, the only reasonable and intelligent thing to assume, based on my own experiences and on what others have told me, is that gravity always applies. So I have faith in gravity, and that faith is reasonable and logical. It is the only reasonable position. Many individuals have different answers but not all of them can be right or accurate.