Nicholas Wolterstorff had the misfortune of losing his 25 year old son in an accident. Although he was well aware of God love and faithfulness the loss left him empty for a long time, searching for a real reason why he has departed from him so soon. When he has just started living. Time has passed and no questions were answered until at the end surrendering to the glory of God he found hope in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.…
In 1983, being a Christian in Communist Russia was dangerous and risky. In his essay, "Men Have Forgotten God," Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn argues that this situation is the result of men forgetting God and abandoning the Biblical standards that the people of Russia used to live by. Solzhenitsyn wrote his essay in order to inform people about the persecution of Christians occurring in Russia and offer a solution to return the love of God to the people of Russia. Basing his information off of experience and knowledge, Solzhenitsyn writes an essay that is both compelling and informative to the reader.…
“Only while praying did she feel herself able to recall clearly and calmly both Prince Andrei and Anatole as people for whom her feelings were as nothing compared to her feeling of fear and reverence for God” (Tolstoy 662). As Lattin points out, “when she finally forgives herself and seeks forgiveness from God, she finds peace again.” Then, she experiences a sense of hope. Indeed, the “sense of the possibility for a new, clean life, and of happiness” replaced her former despair (Tolstoy). Next she began to feel shock and horror and what she had done and felt like she had sinned. In her opinion, all of society is evil and she again turns to God for comfort. This is when she stops going to balls and parties and cloisters herself from society women. Finally, Natasha begins to feel the full guilt in the wrongs that she committed against her family but she is still able to accept everything that has happened. “Through this tumultuous spiritual growth, Natasha matures from a willful, self-absorbed girl into a humble compassionate young lady. She develops a...sense of personal responsibility as a result of the crimes perpetrated by Anatole”…
The books that we were required to read for Bible 115 class were Engaging God’s World – A Christian Vision Of Faith, Learning And Living by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. and The Call – Finding And Fulfilling The Central Purpose For Your Life by Os Guinness. Both books offered very useful advice for today’s Christians. Engaging God’s World is written for students and will help them make sense of their education in a Christian perspective. Both authors use scripture, humor and common sense to validate their points.…
“Take me to church , I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies”(Hozier). This song was released in 2013 and is a popular song that speaks about the relationship between same sex couples. In his music video it shows the violent backlash the homosexual couple received because being “gay” is not accepted within the church community. The lyrics represent the frustration that Hozier feels about the Catholic Church and their stance on homosexual relationships. This song and music video allowed me to compare the feelings and misunderstanding individuals feel in regards to same sex relationships. The segment, documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So”, the Poteat’s fundamentalist religious beliefs affected their attitudes toward their daughter’s…
In the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, numerous themes present themselves to the reader. Irving uses the idea of the relationship of faith and fate to question whether or not faith directly shapes our fate, creating the idea that believing in God in a world with no faith completely absurd. As the novel unfolds, you begin to understand ‘special purpose’ each character serves can only be told in the way God decides.…
If the world is full of horrors, does God really exist? At the beginning of the work it is clear that his belief in a benevolent God is unconditional, and he cannot imagine living without faith in a divine power, but this faith is traumatized by his experience during the…
The Abraham and Sarah story show faith in God and a lack of faith on many different occasions. Abraham and Sarah showed faith in God when they left Ur for the promise land in Canaan. They had faith that God would provide for them along their journey. Despite the many problems that occurred en route to Canaan, such as their flock getting attacked by lions, Abraham and Sarah still had faith and did not turn back. In addition, Abraham and Sarah showed faith in God by responding to God’s revelation to them. Their story took place in a pagan time, and to believe in one omnipresent, invisible god that did not believe in trickery or human sacrifices was a big deal. The gods the people of that time worshipped, such as Baal, had qualities and beliefs…
God is the “writer” of human history and the relationships that people share are real and proof that God is with us. God has worked in the past and is working in the presence because, “ Each person’s story remains important, but its importance is enhanced when it becomes a sign of God’s story that stretches from creation to consummation. (82)” This bold statement relates to Pattern Recognition within different parts of culture these patterns show that there are many ways to piece together different parts of history. People may never piece together history perfectly, and shouldn’t try, but be content with what information God gives us. Suffering, for example in terms of the Holocaust could be correlated to a bible story that, “Though it would not explain the suffering, would place the suffering in a narrative that would not render it hopeless. (84)” Relating stories to the stories in the Bible gives people hope because it helps them realize that there is much more ahead in their lives. Since we are part of God’s “story,” he gives our lives meaning and purpose and God doesn’t cause evil. Instead, God is good and, “Assures that evil cannot have the final word.…
Anne gains spiritual insight and grows from having intellectual knowledge of God, to being drawn to the love of Jesus and Christianity. When Anne arrives at green gables she is introduced as a pagan, and when Marilla, asks Anne about what she knows about God, Anne replies, “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” (59) Throughout the novel, Anne transforms from natural religion “Do you know what I think May-flowers are, Marilla? I think they must be the souls of the owners that died last summer and this is their heaven.” (190-191) To Christianity, “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world”. (364) Anne gains spiritual guidance through the guidance of Marilla…
The covenant narrative is the basis of information describing how to find inner orientation and discover a relationship with God. It describes and elaborates on the humans alliance with God by showing things such as respect for respect, intelligence for intelligence, and love for love. The narrative also puts this main idea into different scenarios to establish the importance of it. The covenant narrative expresses the human need for orientation by showing how God is here for the people, if the people are here for God. For example, people continued to sacrifice important dimensions of life, so that they could show their loyalty and devotion to God, in return for orientation. Also, people who repeatedly are true to themselves and to God will receive God's word and orientation. Lastly, humans who follow God's path and who continue to live a God centered life will be rewarded with inner orientation.…
The article “Waiting for god explain that Michelangelo famous artwork is a depiction of the world suffering from devastating tragedies in your life, however, were able to cope with these tragedies by believing that God will give us strength and guidance for every encounter we endure on this earth. The article prefer to the sculptor of Pieta the devastation of a mother losing a child is a real life scenario that happens every day make several people question the existed of god then it also raises the question are we convince yourself that faith will help us conquer all your problem; does god play a huge chunk of ending our sorrow. The final conclusion of the article explains that God is patiently waiting for us to try to solve our…
One can relate the story’s message of embracing faith, to their own life, integrating Dostoevsky’s contemplation of religion as their own. The painting of the Dead Christ illustrates a main theme throughout Dostoevsky’s story of the absence of salvation. What is there without faith? What is there without salvation? What would there be if Christ had not destroyed sin? The only way to find purpose in this life, to defeat evil, is to find the beauty in God’s creations and to have faith in everlasting life. Ippolit attacks this struggle directly. Through his failure, the dominance of evil is shown, but the reader is also able to connect his lack of faith to his destruction. Ippolit, being a raging atheist, failed to see the beauty in nature, and the other side to death. He equated this thought of death to being a dead end, that life ends with death, but one must see that through faith in God, life doesn’t end. The reader must take Ippolits message of embracing life while you have it, but also add the embracing of death. In Ippolits ‘Necessary Explanation’ he states, “And what do they want to do with their ridiculous ‘Pavlovsk trees’? Sweeten the last hours of my life? …What do I need your nature for, your Pavlolovsk park, your sunrises and sunsets, your blue sky, and your all-contented faces, when this whole…
Religion today can be a very pressing social distraction from the personal and spiritual growth for the good of oneself. To be considered as having good faith in the present time is to believe in a certain, orthodox religion that the judge approves of. However, no one ever thought that living a life of faith would involve being in a state of being classified into three separate religions. This faith is perhaps looked down upon many, but is, in reality, a personal universe one may enter that increases their love for God and the world. In Life of Pi, Yann Martel portrays a boy loving God in the most unorthodox situations, such as practicing three contrary religions faithfully.…
I love storytime. Since I was a young girl, before I went to sleep every night I would ask my father to tell me a story. I would crawl into my bright pink sheets and my eyes would eagerly peak from underneath them as I waited for my father to take a seat on the side of the bed. There was one condition among my desire for stories. I wanted to hear about the miracles brought forth by God. I was always intrigued to hear of former miracles that proved God’s existence, such as individuals who were healed simply by a prayer or families that survived natural disasters because they had trust in the superior power. My parents, both Polish immigrants, have always been religious and thus they passed their beliefs onto my sibling and I. Religious practices became a part of our developing life. Attending church regularly grew into our weekly routine, praying everyday felt as common as eating dinner.…