Theology needs to be recognized as something holistic and essential to all people. I have a theory that an individual’s concept of God plays a drastic role in virtually all aspects of their life; from one’s big decisions such as their relationships, job choice, and community, to smaller decisions such as hobbies – things that they spend their time on, what they eat, and others. This conclusion however is drawn with recognition that this notion could be perceived as extreme, especially to those who view religion as something that is done at church on Sunday morning and nothing more. However, what one’s concept of God is drastically influences who they see themselves as in the spiritual economy, and therefore their purpose for living each and every day that God allows them to awake from sleep.
Background plays a crucial role in who they are and what they do. One might say that the past is simply the product of life and liberty, and therefore to understand one’s life and liberty it is necessary to understood one’s past. I personally grew up very much familiar with church. I was dedicated and raised in the church my parents went to in southern Wisconsin. I was accustomed to the church kid lifestyle from the very start. I was a part of AWANA, VBS, Sunday school, youth group, mission trips, worship team, mentoring, and homeless shelter, virtually anything that I could join in from the church, I would, and did so to the point of some weeks in the summer, spending more time at the church building than my own house. Over the course of sometime of conflict between myself and the youth pastor and my views of what discipleship should be, I happily left the church when the time came to move three hundred miles to attend school in Minnesota. ...
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...pective is more right than another because of the different perspectives. As it was discussed in class, it is arguable that many of the disagreements and conflicts in antiquity can be described as rooted in differences on an image level, rather than necessarily theological disagreements. I would dare to take this claim a step further and extend it out to ecclesiological conflicts, denominational conflicts, relational conflicts and even political conflicts.
With this notion in the front of our mind, we must ask “Now what?” It is vital that Christians respond to this concept in the reflection on what their own concept of God is, and how it got to the point that it is at. We ought to be skeptical of our image of God and put it to the scrutiny of scripture and verify that the God that we pray to and worship cognitively is actually the God described in the scriptures.
Religion has many classifications, such as tribal, classical, transcendental and cosmological, usually based on one's belief and understandings. Religion also has many definitions, usually based on one's experience. A particular definition that I found was Religion originates in an attempt to represent and order beliefs, feelings, imaginings and actions that arise in response to direct experience of the sacred and the spiritual (Connelly, 1986). Religion also has many characteristics such as rituals, symbols and myths which play in an important part in how religion is viewed. We will take a look on how the definition, classification and characteristics of religion and how it ties into our understanding of the universe and our relationship with it.
Repeatedly, commonality of understanding continues to carry the barrier of misinterpretation. Removing the assumptions of application of terminology, misunderstanding of concept, and individual interpretation will help the scholar studying religion. Theology continues to fight for space between all the other methodologies used to answer the questions of why, how, when and where does God and religion fit in with life. Where religion cannot go, theology can. Akin to the outdated use of Morse code, theology is alive through each branch of analytical science, with application to the study of religion. Theology should have its’ own place in the schematics of study, but has more pizzazz when tied in with the study of religion.
Christianity is defined as, “A major religion, stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, or the Anointed One of God) in the 1st century AD.” (Shelton) It has become the largest of the world’s religions. Yet in Ancient Rome in the first century A.D. they were not welcome. Christians were burned and tortured, and persecuted for just over three hundred years because of their beliefs. Why? We may never fully know, but I believe it was mostly out of fear. Fear of the new, and fear of change.
The broadest definition of Christianity is also perhaps the simplest. Across the history and branches of the religion, “it is faith in Christ, not the scrupulous and religious keeping of the law...which is the basis of salvation” (McGrath 15). The religion that is now a major global force has grown out of a small group tucked away in one corner of the world, breaking and changing over time, yet united by a faith in this revolutionary man who claimed to be the son of God, Jesus Christ.
In Part II, Guthrie focuses his discussion on the relationship between God and human beings. What we believe and the God we serve is revealed in what is most important to us. This section helps us with that understanding by explaining the doctrine of general revelation, special revelation, the trinity, the attributes of God, and the concept of predestination.
This question deals with the necessity of God himself. It asks us to imagine that there is no knowledge about any superhuman being, such as God. It makes me think about weather or not we would be inclined to want something like God. I am forced to think of how important God is in my own life, and how important God is in the rest of the world.
Theodicy, when it is stripped down to its base, is the human response to the question of the reasons a good God would permit the manifestation of evil. From the 1700s to the early 19th century, literary works of art in the form of novels have attempted to provide an answer to the complexity. With the turn of each century authors produced new and different rationales and viable solutions to the problem of evil. Two authors in particular, Rousseau and Flaubert attempted to tackle this topic in their renowned works of literature. Many cultural shifts were present at and during the time of these works, which had a significant impact on the theories and presentation within them.
What does the word religion mean? According to sociologist Emile Durkheim, he defined religion as “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them” (Jones, n.d.). In today’s society there are many different kinds of religious beliefs. Religious denominations and doctrines vary throughout the world. Some refer to religion as an affiliation with a specific organized religious doctrine which aligns under the Christian umbrella such as Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Protestant, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal to name just a few. However,
Christian Science is an idealistic and most radical form of transcendental religiosity. The study of Christian Science teaches a feeling of understanding of God's goodness and the differences between good and evil, life and death. The purpose of this paper is to address how the study of Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization in America, as well as the impact of American on globalization. This paper is important because globalization features a dominant worldview. All throughout the world people believe, study and teach different types of religious movements that impact others. People need to better understand how certain religions modify, conflict with, and impact the world. First, it will discuss the life and work of the founder, Mary Baker Eddy. Secondly, it will examine the primary rituals and religious services of the Christian Science movement. Then, it will outline the precursors and history of the religion. In the conclusion, a response will be offered to the question of how Christian Science helps us better understand the impact of globalization on America and of America on globalization.
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
Arising out recent class discussion topics touching on the ideas of James Cone’s ideas on Liberation Theology and the relationship between the Cross and the Lynching Tree, our group decided to focus the topic of our presentation around Liberation Theology. However, in order to create a counter argument to stimulate further discourse, we introduced the Theology of Prosperity, as an opposing theological concept, to our presentation. Hence, we came up with the topic of Liberation Theology vs. Theology of Prosperity.
An implication of this is that we let the students know that there is more to God than what we really know. I think that we should teach s...
Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. Well over 90% of the world 's population adheres to some form of religion. The problem is that there are so many different religions. What is the right religion? What is true religion? The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, dos and don 'ts, which a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion, and thereby, right with the God of that religion. Two examples of rules-based religions are Islam and Judaism. Islam has its five pillars that must be observed.
In the early 1970’s, Betty Neuman created a holistically based, open-system theory to aid nurses in organizing the voluminous information needed to deal with complex client situations (Meleis, 2007, p.307). One component of the Neuman Systems Model is spirituality, which is described as being related to beliefs and influences that are spiritual. It should be noted that this was absent in her initial conceptualization and was developed later (Meleis, 2007, p.307). While utilizing the Neuman framework for client assessment, religion is often applied as a spiritual factor. Using this theory as basis one might conclude that religion and spirituality are synonymous in concept. This begs the question: Are they, in fact, equal in meaning or at the very least required of each other for synergistic forward movement? I am not certain that the answer is clear-cut and I believe that personal observations will allow for objective thought for argument – pro or con.