God has done amazing, perplexing things in my life that I will be grateful for forevermore. When I got saved in 2008 I didn’t know much about Christ besides He died for me. At that time in my life the weight of that never truly set in. God has brought me out of many hurts and tribulation in my life. When I was 4 my parents got a divorce and I was virtually left fatherless. Growing up I never thought this really affected me until I realized I craved the gratification of a male figure. At the age of 5 I was sexually molested for two years. The effects of this were felt over a decade later. When I was 10 years old I got involved at a local ministry my family attended. For several years I helped spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to lower income communities with Sidewalk Sunday School in Zion, Illinois. This time in my life was a learning experience; overall I was closer to God than ever before. This changed at the age of 15 when the desires of the world overthrew my desire to stay in the church. During my teenage years I struggled with depression, identity issues, and mild drug abuse. I...
The Old Testament shows a variety of portrayals for God. God is shown as wrathful through the early chapters of The Old Testament yet also loving and merciful. While the initial creation of the universe shows that God created everything to be good (Gen 1:10). Humanity deviates from this good and has to face God’s wrath. The Old Testament shows a coherent portrayal of God throughout the text. God is shown as merciful and full of love, but can be wrathful in order to get humanity on the right cause.
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.
It is possible to write on the life of Jesus in a topical manner. This paper will be divided into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will discuss about the nature of a gospel, Johns views vs. the Synoptic, whether or not the writers of the gospels were eyewitnesses and how they used written sources and also about what is Q source and how Mathew and Luke were similar when it came to their sources; how the old testament stories (Moses, Samuel, Elijah) used to interpret Jesus and finally whether or not Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesses birth and childhood, the miracles, his resurrection and also the actions Jesus did relating to curing people, spirits and how they are these interpreted: prophet, magician, madman compare Saul and Elijah. In the final part of the paper, I will discuss about what Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of the Romans and what he meant by the end of the world and also the reason behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible (Gospels of John, Mark, Matthew and Luke) and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.
When I was 11 years old, I gave my life to Christ. My generous soul had been apparent to others at my Christian Academy, so me not being saved was a shock to many. As I stood with my
There are many arguments about the existence of a timeless maximally perfect being. The basis of the argument is whether God is timeless because timelessness seems to limit his abilities and limit his omnipotence and omniscience. Omniscience is God’s ability to be an all knowing being and omnipotence is God’s all power. A maximally perfect being (God) is defined by these characteristics in most major religions.
We were trying for a child and I continually had to thank God for his goodness. There was a period of 18 months trying for a child, and I almost gave up, but yet I choose to get up every morning and thank God for my child who was not yet conceived. I continued to worship God through all disciplines the best that I could. On the 19th April this year I gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl.
The depiction of God in the Bible’s story of creation, namely Genesis, brings to mind the image of an omnipotent, almighty and all-powerful child playing in a sandbox. Like a child his sole purpose seems to be to simply amuse himself, and possibly acquire a source of unconditional love. These needs are in contrast to the classic view of God acting with the idea of an ultimate plan. His actions clearly show that there is no perfect plan, or if there is it must be grossly overcomplicated. Consistently God makes poor decisions, and then eventually acts to fix the situation. The whole scenario conjures up an image of the crew of Apollo 13, alternately breaking things and then patching it together with duck tape.
The biblical narrative is one that is still going on to this day. The biblical narrative tells the story of God and how he reveals himself to us. Rhodes points out that “God comes to each through a historical event or series of events” (2). It is in this way that God reveals himself to us and this maintains the relevance of the biblical narrative in our lives. God reveals himself through formative stories in the bible such as Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, The Flood, God’s Covenant with Noah, and the Tower of Babel. From the very beginning of the biblical narrative we see that God relates to us on a personal level. He created us, he formed us, he created the world in which we live, and he has been an active participant in the narrative since before it began.
Jesus Christ was the light that came to earth to brighten the lives of the people. He taught phenomenal and meaningful lessons that changed many hearts and caused people to accept Jesus as their Lord. Jesus Christ is the life of Christianity; the Word of God in flesh. His life, his ministry, and his crucifixion where prophesied long before he was born and Christians believe that they were all fulfilled. He had so much love for human kind that he came to earth to die for the sins of the people, so that their souls would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Bible testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who taught memorable life lessons and performed astonishing miracles during his ministry.
As I sit and reflect over my life, I ask myself where have I come from, where might I currently be, and what does the future hold for me according to my faith formation. This was a time for me to weigh the progress of my formation that happened over the years and to see the influential players who made it possible. Within this essay I will use two of James Fowler’s stages of faith to evaluate my own life and be able to see that through these stages I can be able to help develop others faith as well. It is through these stages that have shaped my life into becoming the faithful person that I am today.
As a student at the University of Portland, who has now spent a semester living amidst the Catholic culture, I have started to think about religion fundamentally different than prior to this year. Theology class has been enlightening. In class, a new external lens of how one can view faith while learning to think critically in the search of truth has been presented. The inquisitiveness in me has led me to ask hard questions regarding myself, my perceptions, my misconceptions, and even some heartfelt convictions while contemplating my faith. I have experienced legitimate struggles. I acknowledge I have ignorant barriers keeping me from totally living a life with God and for God due to the confusion of exactly what that means. “All truths are
My personal vision of God is a spirit made up of power, wisdom, and goodness that can’t be fully understood by any amount of writing or philosophical studies. I think God’s ultimate concern is to teach us to help one another to serve our fellow neighbor. In today’s society we have tried to better each other by using different tactics, some good, and others bad. We need to reevaluate our actions on how to enhance our society, starting with eliminating the bad tactics we use. To do this, we should revise the bible and how we perceive the two different Testaments, based on moral values then and now. By doing this, we will enhance our definition and understanding of morality.
At one point or another in one’s life you are faced with God, eye to eye and you know it. You can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence, like a humming sound that’s too low to hear, but it’s there and you can feel it, a feeling that you are not alone. For some, this feeling lasts for eternity, and for others God works within them again and again because the Lord’s love is persistent. The feeling I had came and went, for it was not strong enough as a child. But now, I am the strongest I have ever been.
According to Hutchison (2015), “religion is symbolic patterns that consists of values, beliefs, behaviors and experiences” (p. 184). I personal conceptualize spirituality as a vital role in my life that helps me during a time of sickness, forgiveness, and needed guidance. Spirituality helps guide me throughout life during the difficult times I have encountered. Spirituality impacts my life in positive ways that influence and regulate my behavior and health. Health is very important to me; I believe the spirit can heal a person from their sickness. It seems that the spirit heals me every time I pray to be healed from sickness. The spirit gives me strength at a time of weakness. When I feel at my lowest point in life I call on the spirit to pick
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