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Definition Essay: God's Search For Meaning

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Recommended: Theories on religion and child development

Many children in our churches are taught at an early age to think of God as their heavenly Father, but that does not always work that way. When they have loving and kind-hearted parents, they can develop a loving and kind view of God. However, if they are raised in a violent family, their perception of him would be of a being that is controlling, explosive and violent. The image of a benevolent heavenly “Father” is easily replaced by the image of a “being” who cruelly hurts and controls. The god who is full of grace and goodness now perceived as untrustworthy and malevolent. Their role model for God is now abusive God, who does not care for them and only allows bad things to happen to them. They live in a place where they are constantly scared …show more content…

How can they believe and regard God as Father if their father / parents abuse and harm them all their lives? If God really is the Father, who should take care of their children and protect them, how can he let this happen? However, one thing we must learn is not the will to let things happen. In a sense, every Christian learns to be more human. The Fall separates us from God and leaves us shattered and alienated from our Creator. From the beginning, God gave us free will, freedom to choose between right and wrong. Unfortunately, some people take advantage of this free will and take it the wrong way. Since God gave them free will, they thought it was okay to let the devil come to them, let them hurt and hurt others, but they were wrong. We must be God's believers. When we become believers, we are united with Christ and brought into relationship with our …show more content…

Therefore, it is not surprising that child abuse often causes permanent damage to a child's sense of spirituality. Unfortunately, the child protection community mostly focuses only on overcoming the physical and emotional damage of children - making many victims struggle alone with the reality of God, and the reality of their abuse. Child abuse is a painful reminder of the fact that we live in a fallen world; However, there is hope. Jesus, who has entered our world and faced all his ugliness, said, "Let little children come to me and do not stand in their way" (Mark 10: 13-16). In taking the little children in his arms, he gives us an example and offers us his strength. In following it we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth where children are not “doomed to misfortune” (Isaiah 65:23) and where “the city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing” (Zechariah

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Over the years, opinions on God have changed. Some people believed that God is terrifying and vengeful while others disagreed saying that He is loving and accepting of all. Jonathan Edwards was a Calvinist, who argued that unless one never sins, he or she is most likely doomed to hell. Edwards believed that humans are powerless in comparison to the power of God. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, the author achieves his purpose of arguing that in order to be saved from an afterlife in hell, one must ask for forgiveness and accept Christ, through the uses of intense imagery, a terrifying tone, and understandable metaphors.

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While victims of child abuse are able to grow into successful adults, their traumatic experiences follow them forever. As John Balguy states, “Whatever parent gives his children good instruction and sets them at the same time a bad example, may be considered as bringing them food in one hand and poison in the

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However, God encouraged him to care and love for them. This is present in our society today. When someone hurts another, we care for the one who got hurt and show no compassion for the one whose fault it was. It is hard for us to show empathy toward the “bad”guy. It really does take God to help us.

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From a young age, children must “love [their] friends ... Hate no man. [And] forgive [their] enemies” in order to be good Christians (Literature of Colonial America). While the elders of the society are preaching this to their children, they are doing the exact opposite. Instead of forgiving their enemies, people in this society are trying to get revenge.

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Three words; people are evil.. It is almost like we can not help it because it is just our nature but we can, we just chose not to sometimes. There are a lot of sin in the world and we were born into a sinful world. There is literally no way around not sinning and sinning is evil. We are all very selfish people and anything that does not go our way, we will do anything to get it our way even if it is hurting people to get there.

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According to The Child Welfare Outcomes Reports made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2011 there were approximately 742,000 cases of confirmed child maltreatment. The national child victim rate was 9.9 child victims per 1,000 children in the population. This rate decreased from 10.3 child victims per 1,000 children in the population in 2008 to the most resent 9.9 rate in 2011. The state rate varies ranging from 1.2 child victims per 1,000 children to 24.0 child victims per 1,000 children. Even though the rate has decreased some of these instances are not reported until something major occurs like in Brianna’s

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Maltreatment has a severe impact on a child’s current and future functioning and development regarding their emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral, and physical wellbeing.(Frederico 345). Different types of abuse, such as physical, emotional, and sexual have different consequences, but the consequences of all maltreatment, are likely to happen in three stages. Firstly, a child may have an initial reaction such as post-traumatic symptoms, painful emotions, and cognitive distortions. Secondly, children develop coping strategies that are aimed to help increase their safety or reduce their pain. Thirdly, a child 's sense of self-worth is damaged and develop the feeling of shame and hopelessness..

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Another Milestone that effects the way we define the notion of “Good and Evil” is largely based on our religion. Therefore, the way we see right from wrong, heaven and hell, light and darkness, Good vs. Evil and God and the Devil comes from the moral criterion that we attempt to apply to our worldviews. However, given the conspicuous contrasts amongst religions, ranging from Christianity to Islam to Judaism. Many people believe that due to the simple fact of religious diversity, this provides the basis to discredit any assumption of moral truths. Some religions define evil as “the result of human sin” or that “Evil is the result of a spiritual being who opposes the Lord God”

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The short documentary “Child of Rage” presents an example of how experiencing abuse as a child can shape the child later in life and how some children can recover. The intrafamilial abuse that Beth experienced as a one year old affected her behavior later in her childhood when she was adopted. Beth was also able to recover from some of the effects of the child abuse she experienced once she was separated from her adoptive family and taken to a special home. Beth experienced intrafamilial abuse at the hands of her biological father after her mother passed away when she was one.

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The Wounded Heart The book The Wounded Heart is a book written for the purpose of offering hope for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse. The book examines the reality there are so many victims of sexual abuse who are now adults, and are still suffering the consequences of the abuse they encounter as child, and how these sexual abuse have not only destroy their trust in people, but it has damage their current relationships, how it has impacted their dreams for the future, it has caused people to suffer from anxiety, depression, stress, anger, how it has made them feel with a sense of guilt and shame, even though it was not their fault. This book takes a look at the issues related to sexual abuse, while also looking for God for peace and

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The Bible explicitly affirms that of all that God created, He highly favored humans to be perfectly created in His image and likeness; and having such great intrinsic knowledge, strength, and ability; God blessed and entrusted them to govern and enrich His creations. Distinctively, with God at the very center of the life and existence of His creations, the Bible remarkably picture how they existed together as a holy community to fulfill God’s righteous purposes, in creating the world for His praise and greater glory. Regrettably, the beautiful relationship that God and humans intimately shared together had been disrupted when the insidious sin managed to permeate human minds that made them capable of thinking evil and behaving selfishly disobeying

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The impacts continue on until the child becomes an adult and it reappears in their relationship or work habits as an adult. The people who have experienced such child abuse create relationships in order for them to feel protected. They also seek relationships because they want to be cared for and are afraid of abandonment (Herman 111). Sadly, people who are survivors of Chronic Child abuse are more prone to be victimized as well as allow themselves to be hurt because they have a skewed belief that they deserve nothing better (Herman 111). A child who have experienced Chronic Child Abuse often times have more difficulty transitioning into adulthood because of their abnormal state of consciousness and disturbance in their normal bodily functions caused by their altered personality, emotion, and behavior (133).

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They forget that I am the one who decides. They think they have a chance, only to realize too late that they never do. Trying to convert the truth to help them feel better, but it never helps because

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Throughout Harper’s book and Kheiyn’s article, I found five main points that stood out to me in relating to helping me understand why bad things happen to good people. First, God did not create pain and suffering, man has through sin and defiance. Second, although suffering is not good, God uses it to achieve good. The third point tells us that the day will come where your misery will no longer exist and God will judge evil. The fourth states that our suffering does not even compare to what God has in store for his followers.

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I believe people over think this question too much, I mean I get it, the question itself is vague and arises other questions. Even the word "meaning ", makes you think. But if we mean "the purpose of life. Then to me it 's not complex at all.

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