Theology can be difficult to understand due to its complex nature. By using thoughts and ideas that are stemmed from philosophy, people can interpret them to fit theological teachings. Clement of Alexandria discusses how “philosophy acted as a ‘schoolmaster’ to bring the Greeks to Christ, just as the law brought the Jews” . The Greeks were able to have a greater understanding of concepts due to the use of philosophy. They used theology to explain philosophy and vice versa.
“Church” is a term that is used to identify Christians that exist in different parts of the world and is synonymous with the terms “body of Christ,” and the “ecclesia.” This suggests that the people who form the Church are persons of the body of Christ as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:27 and Romans 12:5. In this paper I focus on the purpose and calling of the Church, the relationship of people in position as pastors with the congregation (that is,
“I might be dead by the time the book gets published, or I might not be”(Burcaw, 4). Shane Burcaw is the author of the book, Laughing At My Nightmare, an autobiography about his life. He had a disease called Spinal Muscular Autopsy(SMA) since he was about 3-4 years old. This disability has a rate of 1 out of 10,000 in the US, which is very rare. Because of this, most people are not very aware of this disease.
During the 18th Century the United States Constitution was written and the majority of the Founding Fathers were religiously associated with either Christianity or Deism. What greatly differed these two religions was that Christianity’s doctrine stated that God created the universe and actively is in control of it. On the other hand the Deists denied the Trinity and believed that God created the universe, and then left it to run it’s course. Aside from this, the Deists received their sense of God and morality from nature instead of the Bible. Deists can easily be identified by their church involvement, their participation in the ordinances or sacraments of their church, religious expressions, and what friends, family, and clergy said about that Founder’s faith.
555). Citing the work of Maximus the Confessor within this article, Fagerberg determines liturgy invites man to participate in his own ascent to deification provided through the Trinity (pp. 558). Within the section on liturgical history, Fagerberg outlines that God’s desire to redeem mankind as evidenced through the presence of the Trinity in creation (pp. 559-560). The latter half of this article focuses on the liturgical sacraments, which allows Fagerberg to emphasize that the liturgy sacramentalizes the mystical body (Church), the Church sacramentalizes Christ, which leads to the sacramentalization of God (pp. 561). Fagerberg concludes that through the attainment of the sacraments humans shed their mortality and obtain immortality in God (pp. 566).
The objective of this paper is to propose a topic centered on the ex hypothesi plausibility of a pantheist theodicy. Accordingly, the plausibility of a pantheist theodicy emanates from a reduction of Richard Swinburne 's Christian-centered theistic theodicy. Consequently, each theodicy hinges on a consequentialist model concerning the problem of evil. However, Swinburne 's theodicy and my proposal for theodicy disengage upon Swinburne 's condition demanding objective moral judgments. Finally, there will be a systematic annihilation of what I call agent-centered metaphors, which derive from the human tendency to anthropomorphize things, such as objects or events.
Introduction Ronald H. Nash was a philosophy professor of Reformed Theological Seminary; he served as a professor for over 40 years, teaching and writing in the areas of worldview, apologetics, ethics, theology and history . This is a book analysis of Dr. Nash’s book, “Is Jesus is Savior”, published July 1994 where he expresses some insightful truths on inclusivism and exclusivism; this division of the analysis will consist of his writing on inclusiveness. Analysis Dr, Nash articulates with great details what is inclusivism, their beliefs and he gives concrete comparisons with the exclusivism and expound on two axioms (particularly and universality) and he gives his reader’s insightful view of the difference between the inclusivism and evangelism from many angles. Inclusivism, one of several approaches to understanding the relationship between religions, asserts that while one set of beliefs is true, other sets of beliefs are at least partially true.
Khandakar Wahiduzzaman Professor Long Rel 111 May 15, 2023 God as Symbolic Ultimate “God is a Symbol for God” is a statement ascribed by the theologian Paul Tillich. Here Tillich outlines his thoughts on religious language and symbolism. Tillich argues that the traditional religion presents God as a being among beings; however, he believes that God goes beyond all restricted and limited categories, and those cannot be grasped or identified by humans.
After explaining the beliefs of Dualism and Pantheism, Lewis raised a question: "If a good God made the world why has it gone wrong?" According to him, there are two views that face all the facts. One is the Christian view that this is a good world that has gone wrong, but still retains the memory of what it ought to have been. Firstly, for Christianity, evil is a parasite, not an original independent thing. The powers which enable to carry on are powers given it by goodness.
Through the years there have been many with opposing views to the teachings of the Orthodox Church. People who have those opposing views are called heretics, and the groups opposing the church are heresies. Many people have the idea that heresies are bad, when in reality they are people or groups that have a different view on matters such as Jesus, Holy Spirit, religion, etc. This paper will focus on the Jehovah’s Witness heresy. Jehovah’s witnesses are a heresy because their view on Christology and Trinity differ from the orthodox beliefs.
Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Atenism. All three having one huge thing in common, being monotheistic. However, each believing in their own different Gods. In order to compare each one of them is necessary to know the order in which they originated. Therefore, Judaism originates over 30 centuries BC, Atenism being the next one, which was originated over 14 centuries BC and Zoroastrianism being the latest one originating from the 6th century BC.
CHAPTER III Comparison and Analysis of the Other Competitive Conceptions of a Triune God In the previous chapter, Swinburne’s a priori reasons for considering God to be triune are exposed. This chapter has two major concerns. The first concern is to present the arguments in favour of Swinburne’s concept of a triune God as well as to make a reasonable response to the challenges posited to Swinburne by two all time great Philosophers of the Christian world, namely Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The second concern is to make a brief exposition, comparison and analysis of the other competing conceptions of the selected Christian philosophers of the present era with that of Swinburne.
Crucially, if we embrace Schelling’s perspective, this process of re-appraisal does not put into question the perception a religion has of its own symbols as complete. In this respect, from a Christian perpspective, the symbol of the Trinity as such, as the broad description of the one God as triune, is complete once and for all. However, what may happen in a situation of interreligious dialogue is that such a symbol is enriched unfolding new implications of it and may get substantially reinterpreted, as we come to read it in the light of a new situation. More specifically, what happens in this process is that, thanks to dialogue, we are able to reach for the roots of our tradition and be enriched in the process. As we know, all the aspects of our religions are the result of a development of what lies in the three potencies in co-operation with our consciousness.
There may not be much talk about the creeds of the past or even discussions about doctrines in general; the church still follows the defined boundaries set forth by the Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon. The belief and teaching that Jesus is the Christ, being both fully human and divine undivided as one person is still used today. In addition to the utilization of the Chalcedonian Definition, the church blinds in the teaching of the Trinity, or a three in one, one in three doctrine of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The blending of the Trinity and the council’s creeds, definition, and the belief in them have become part of the cornerstone of necessity for salvation in today’s church. For too often the church forgets that these are our guidelines and that the Bible is what provides God’s guidance for us all.
The essence of god 's, religion, and believing in a higher power who controls your life was a very agreeable proposal for most back a thousand years ago. Having the structure of living a life with rules and morals was a positive thing for the chaos of amorphous period of uncertainty. It’s a conviction that provides togetherness, the belief in the afterlife, and purpose to one’s life. During the Middle Ages, religion in the form of Christianity dominated the lives of all citizens, rich and poor. In the Ancient times, gods and goddesses defined how people acted, lived, and died.
