In the first section of Chapter 1 of Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras, the author Diana Eck discusses her personal experience from exploring the encounter of Bozeman and Banaras. The author raises many interesting questions in this section about religious differences, what it means to be of a certain religion, if the label of being a certain religion matters or defines oneself, what another culture or religion means to an individual of another religion, and how members of different religions view one another. Eck explains how she was raised as a Christian in Bozeman under an influence of the church, and during her college years, she travelled to Banaras in India and she experienced a challenge in her faith by observing
I agree with Kinnaman’s unbiased assessment of Christianity and I find his research extremely helpful, because it provides us with a clear idea and an approximation of the precise degree of disdain and distrust others have towards the Christian faith. Furthermore, his research permits us to stand apart and examine ourselves as Christians. Kinnaman’s research results uncovered the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders towards the church and Christianity (Kinnaman, 2007). According to Kinnaman, the six issues or themes outsiders have against believers are the following: 1) Hypocritical 2)
Julio’s comment about the treatment of women in the Pentecostal church shows how religion has manipulated women like Blanca into positions where they are expected to be directed and restrained by others. The inclusion of the pastor in the list of glorified roles shows that religion is held to such a high degree that it should be included on the same level of need as any other family member like a husband or child. Religious followers often have specific symbols that represent their religion in their lives or an object that they hold sacred because it represents their faith in their beliefs. However, the people of the Pentecostal church have placed their representation of faith into the pastor and made
In their memoirs Blankets and Foreskin’s Lament, Craig Thompson and Shalom Auslander express feelings of discontent towards the religions they grew up in: Christianity and Judaism. While Thompson becomes disillusioned with Christianity, Auslander’s view of his religious upbringing is negative from the start. Ultimately, Thompson and Auslander’s reasons for leaving their traditions both stem from personal and familial experiences within their religious community. The main difference between Thompson and Auslander’s experiences with their religions is that Thompson before becoming disillusioned with Christianity had been enamored with it..
One of the major European movement during the sixteenth century was the Protestant Reformation. In the beginning, this movement intended to reform the practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church. Before the age of dissent and division, the church was viewed as the sole vehicle for salvation. However, with all the turmoil within the Catholic Church, the people has lost faith in the church’s ability to lead them into salvation. They have lost sight in its very core.
Trust Experiences in life can bring out the best and worst of people, they teach life lessons, such as who to trust. In The Heretic's Daughter, Kathleen Kent explains that the basis of the Salam witch trials relies on lies and false testimonies. The words spoken by different individuals had influence over everyone. The individuals were brought into the public eye to demonstrate facts about the accused and not lies to cause grievances for everyone involved. Many young girls lied about the actions of the accused and in turn created what is known today as the Salam witch trials.
Over the past two years I have learned a significant amount about my faith. I learned that it wasn’t strong enough, I’ve learned that I need to pray the Jesus helps increase my faith, and I’ve also learned the importance of faith when it pertains to Christianity. In his document, Discipleship and the Cross, Dietrich Bonhoeffer takes a look at the Christian faith as he describes what he feels it should represent. There were certainly some most excellent points that Bonhoeffer pointed out that actual like up with my idea of Christian faith.
“One was a mother, carrying a baby on her back. But the baby was obviously dead. Its head was lolling— its mouth open.” This is from a woman who witnessed the bombing first hand. The bomb in question is the atomic bomb.
The creation of United Churches in Canada, USA, Britain, Zambia, Madagascar, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, New Guinea, Australia and China during the twentieth century, each of them binding into one several former denominations, appears to have reached a pause, if not a full stop. Ecumenical discussion has moved towards what has been called ‘’reconciled diversity’’ as the aim. The diversity is plain, in ministry, authority structures, worship, theological emphasis, social witness and interpretation of the Bible. This diversity is precious in that it enables peoples of all sorts to find a home in a local fellowship of believers.
Do you look for openings in daily conversations to share your Christian faith? Perhaps you feel uncomfortable sharing such a "private" matter or fear being rejected, labeled, or laughed off. In her new study Living in Truth, apologist Mary Jo Sharp works to demolish the strongholds that keep Christians bound in silence. By using what we already know to be true from the word of God, and implementing some of Mary Jo's conversation starters and clarifying questions, study participants will be left feeling more confident and prepared to confront our culture with truth in love. Based on my own experiences, I benefited most from weeks 4 and 5.
A SEARCH FOR THE SPIRITUAL INTRODUCTION: A Search for the Spiritual was written by Dr. James Emery White and published in 1998 by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516. Dr. White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, which started in October of 1992 and is often cited as one of the fastest growing church starts in the United States, experiencing over 80 percent of its growth from the unchurched. He holds the B.S. degree in public relations and business from Appalachian State University, and the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he was awarded a Garrett Teaching Fellowship in both New Testament and theology. He is currently adjunctive professor of Christian theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and serves on the president’s advisory council of Union University.
Fire from Heaven By, finishing up the readings in Module 5 from the Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century, one will take what they learned and apply it to their daily life. In this book of Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century, the author Harvey Cox provides a provoking memoir of this explosion of spirituality. Which he sees a change that signifies no less than the tidal transformation of what religion is and what it means to people from all walks of life. In this Fire from Heaven paper, I will share what I learned thus far as well as provide a summary of the history of the Pentecostal Movement and the regions represented in chapters 9-12.
It should be noted that the paper will be narrowed to the Catholic Church’s position on baptism. The terms Church and Catholic will be used interchangeably. Lastly there would be a synthesis with regards to the outlined importance of Christian baptism in John 3. The encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus and its interpretations
McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever. This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’
Ferguson, D. (2010). Exploring the spirituality of the world religions. London: Continuum. The book reveals the spirituality of world religions with the description of values and practices, which give a deep understanding of the cultural context of every nationality.
