Religion has been playing an increasingly important role in my life as I get older. With age comes maturity, and a more mutual understanding of certain aspects. For myself, as I got older, I began to understand religion a lot more compared to when I was younger. When I was younger I just simply not interested in religion, and as my life progressed I could see the impact it had on not only myself, but the people surrounding me. Prior to my enrollment in this course, It has been almost 10 years since I have an any sort of formal religion teachings. Therefore, it had been pretty obvious that my knowledge of Christianity had been waning. This course has both broadened and deepened my knowledge of God and the teachings he has ensued on us. There …show more content…
The way he composed himself through his understanding of God is something that can really be looked up to. Throughout his whole tribulations, he took the high road and looked towards God for his answers. He did not feel anger towards his accuser, instead he laid his fate in the hands of God and knew that his faith would not let him down. One thing I had also noted while reading about Cardinal Bernardin was during his interviews he would think to himself, “What would Jesus do?” I’ve found this question to be much more prevalent in everyday life more than I had thought. For my age group, I found this question to be the most prevalent, specifically among professional athletes who are very open about their faith. Cardinal Bernardin did not let his emotions get through during the entirety of the these allegations. This situation made me reflect a bit more on my actions during times of peril. More often than naught, people will act outright based on the heat of the moment, usually leading to more regrettable decisions made. People often let emotions overcome them, I know I for one am a victim of such actions. Cardinal Bernardin could have easily been infuriated at the allegations posed upon him, but instead chose to remain calm and let God take care of the rest. Lately I have decided to take a step back and think more clearly about what is going on around me when these types of situations arise. Bernardin’s actions throughout his book made me reflect a bit more of my life, and my surroundings. Bernardin gives up the luxuries in his life to help not only those around him, but to strengthen his relationship with
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
When news came out saying that “Assis and Pergiua were in a war,” Francis eagerly joined the army. Francis was then later caught and taken as a prisoner by Pergiua. But, then he was released from the hands of Pergiua. Francis was injured. So, St. Francis had to stay in the hospital while he recovered. There were no TVs, tablets, smartphones, or computers back then, so he had to try to find a way to entertain his self. There was a book in his quarters and out of boredom, he started reading the book. The book was about the ministries of God and the scripture readings. St. Francis thought the book was very intriguing, so he read more of the book. Then he had the warm, loving feeling in his heart. While St. Francis was praying outside of the San Damiano, St. Francis he had a vision from God saying, “Francis, go and repair my church which as you can see is in ruins.” The Lord was with him! After his time in the hospital, St. Francis went out into the world and did wondrous
As we look at the history of St. Ignatius there is such a profound sense of grief and pain. He did not only ...
Religion is an important aspect in life today because it is a specific system of belief about a deity that usually involves rituals, code of morals, and how to understand the meaning and purpose of life in the world, yet everyone has their own belief. Religion is being incorporated into many things, especially in music and there is a big topic about hip-hop music incorporating religious language and themes.
In conclusion, it is important to study religion off campus as Smart (1994) has said one must “walk a mile in [the] moccasins [of religious people]” in order to gain a real understanding of how belief has an impact on people and how it motivates people to live their lives, this cannot be obtained through textbooks or media reports. It is how Harvey (2013) suggests that belief has to be learnt and is enacted by others through witnessing, speaking, reading, ritualising, congregation and acceptance. Studying off campus does not mean challenging the traditional understanding of religion. Historical and textual books should still be used to provide foundation knowledge but one must go beyond this and engage with living religions in order to obtain a rich first-hand experience.
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.
Christian education is for this project. Christian education is the training of special agents of the kingdom of God and the consummation of creation.” (pg.139) I found it fascinating that Plantinga describes ‘us’ within the Christian education system are called or elected to help God regain and restore His earth here with Christ. We have to remember, “no matter what our primary occupation we cannot let it become a preoccupation.” Plantinga helped me to reflect on my current life, my current job, and my current Christian education. I found that when we let these other aspects of our lives, whether it be bills, work or exams, we often allow reality to fade into the background. Or perhaps we could look at it this way: Our lives get so busy and hectic that we tend to put God on the back burner. Christian education whether in a university or biblical studies at home will give us guidance through our hectic lives, renewing our minds and keep us in close connection with our Creator and the rest of His Creation. Plantinga sums up Christian education as “for the kingdom of God. It equips us to be agents of the kingdom, models of the kingdom in our own lives and communities, witnesses to the kingdom wherever we go in the world.” (pg.143) When we ‘put on the full armor of God’ we not only protect ourselves from this fallen world but we are also able to project God’s glory to all those who we encounter.
Plantinga, Cornelius. 2002. Engaging God's World: A Primer for Students. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
This semester has proved to be a real awakening to what direction I need to be pursuing in my spiritual walk. I have learned so much through this course. Some of the things that I have learned that have become more important than they were in the past are; the need for silence, the need for community, the need for direction, and above all how utterly helpless we are when we try to “do” everything, including ministry without seeking God first.
I began this course thinking my worldview was that of a Christian Theist, as I had come to discover, as the course progressed, my worldview was a mixed bag of beliefs outside the elementary belief of Christian Theism. I was not disheartened by this finding, but surprised. The realization then set in that I was uneducated or did not know God like I thought. In fact my beliefs appeared to be more influenced by society than the deity of God. Fortunately, this is a learning experience intended to bring me closer to the truths of Christianity and an understanding of the beliefs of others.
Religion began as a way to explain unfathomable gaps in understanding how the world and the things within it worked. It became a fundamental part of many lives because it gave the population faith and understanding as to why things functioned the way they did. Unexplainable events were concluded as the will of a higher being, as it was the simplest rational. Nonetheless, time has shifted, and with different ages comes change. However important they were when our kind had no other explanation for the universe or way to be governed; religious beliefs have become undermined by our development and advancement in the understanding of our morals and needs to provide order and reason: law.
I honestly thought it would be an easy credit and something fun to take. I thought the study of religion was just learning about other religions to see what they were like and why they are different from our own. I guess I thought that studying other religions would help me understand my own better. Now, I understand more and the study of religion is much, much more important than I could have ever thought. Learning about other people’s religions and their cultures helps us become better people in this world. If we can better understand someone’s point of view, then we can respect their decisions and them as a person more. Not understanding a culture or religion can lead to stereotyping and just hatred for others. If everyone in the whole word learned about other people’s culture, religion, and ideas; then the world would be a much better place. I think this class should be mandatory just for that reason alone. I think the reason that my view on the study of religion has changed is because of what we have learned throughout the textbook. Learning about these different religions that have been taken out of context really puts a spin on things in your mid. I mean, take Muslims, a few Muslims did some very bad things, but now people think that all Muslims are terrorists or bad people. Learning about the religion helped me understand that they are vey peaceful people and just a few did
Religion is commonly defined as a group of beliefs concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such beliefs (Wikipedia, 2006). Most of the major religions have evolved over the centuries into what they are today. In many cultures and times, religion has been the basic foundation of life, permeating all aspects of human existence (Fisher, 2002). Religion is passed on from generation to generation. My religious beliefs were passed on from my relatives on my mother's side. My family has believed in the Catholic faith for many generations. Since I grew up in the Catholic faith I went to Catholic schools my entire childhood. My personal experiences and the Catholic faith made me into the person I am today. Without a religious upbringing I feel that there would have been something missing in my life.
New Testament Survey shaped me into a better person because it helped me understand my faith. I always grew up with my faith, I was never taught to challenge my beliefs and myself. Through this class I learned to ask questions because through questions you can strengthen your own understanding. Doctor Sim is always so caring and so sweet. He genuinely cares about each and every one of his students, I believe that is why I did as well as I did in this class. Doctor Sim made me interested and he made me want to become a better person each and every class. There was never a class when I didn’t walk out in a good mood and ready to put the lessons into practice.