CCLT3203 Unit 1 Interactive Assessment Religions of the World

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CCLT3203- Religions of the World Describe your own religious history. Where are you on your journey? What exposure to various religions have you had? Before describing my religious journey and exposure to various religions let’s define a key term “religion”. Religion is a system of beliefs and practices that by means of cultus directs a person toward transcendence and thus provides meaning and coherence to a person’s life (Corduan, 2012, p.28). With this definition in mind, my religious journey growing up was rooted in Christianity. I was raised in a Christian household and relate to Corduan description of a typical Sunday morning. Growing up my Sunday mornings consisted of going to church, we would pray, sing songs of praise and worship, sow offerings, and listen to the word of God from the Pastor or another clergyman. For most of my life I was only exposed to the doctrine of Christianity. During my childhood I remember clergy shunning other religious beliefs. They gave the impression that interest in other religions was risky and may cause one to become confused and detour them from the truth. It wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I was exposed to different religious beliefs. I recall working on jobs with co-workers who had different religious beliefs. We would often have discussions about our beliefs, some were Catholic, Muslim, Atheist and some didn’t identify with any religion. During these discussions many of my misconceptions of neighboring religions was clarified. We never tried to argue or convince each other of which belief was right, it was simply moments of sharing and understanding different religious journeys. I was able to share how being a believer of Christ is a walk of faith, and how our hope is founded in the word of God. Also, how we believe Jesus Christ is the savior God promised way back in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve sinned. We believe he is the light in the darkness. We believe he is the road to redemption, that we can stand before the throne of a righteous God with confidence because of the Son of God becoming a living sacrifice and that is through Christ resurrection and the holy spirit that we find hope to walk through this journey called life. Now in my religious journey, I believe exposure to various religions is not an act of turning from one’s truth. It is an opportunity to learn and understand the religious beliefs of others, which can also provide an opportunity for one to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. As stated by Corduan, the word religion conjures up definite concepts. What concepts come to mind when you hear the word “religion”? Reference Corduan, W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions (2nd ed.). IVP Academic.

Interactive Response 1 Hello Cecelia, Thank you for sharing your religious journey with us! I love that you were transparent in sharing that you experienced a season of spiritual confusion. This is something I believe the majority of individuals seeking spiritual guidance have experienced in their search for God. In the midst of your exposure to various religions you decided to diligently seek God for yourself in order to understand his way for your life. Psalms 3:6 reminds us to, Trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge him, and he will direct our path. I pray God will continue to lead and guide you on your religious journey. Unit 2 Interactive Assessment What elements of Judaism are appealing or unappealing? How do you understand these elements now that you have become more informed? The element that appealed to me is the attitude Judaism asserts in obedience of the laws of God. Obedience is defined as carrying out the word and will of another person, especially the will of God and is a positive, active response to what a person hears (Youngblood & Harrison, 2004, p.446). I recalled past discussions I had with other believers in reference to obeying the laws of God. Many of the believers had a negative response and shared how the term “obedience” prolonged their decision to become Christians. They felt that obedience to God’s law was an act of him controlling their decisions, and they weren’t willing to give up control over their life. Some of them even stated how they obeyed God’s law because of the promises of blessings. In fact, to support their motive they used scriptures like Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” On the other hand, Judaism contends that it should not take a promise of reward or a threat of punishment to motivate people to obey God’s laws. They should be obeyed out of love and respect for God. (Cordaun, 2012, p.63) Another element that appealed to me is Judaism dedication to their heritage. According to Cordaun being Jewish involves being endowed with a heritage, both culturally and religiously (Cordaun, 2012, p.88). Moreover, all Jews remember the oppression and persecution of their heritage and ancestors. With this in mind, they cherish their legacy and responsibly pass their traditions on to future generations. Now that I have become informed, I understand that obedience to Gods law isn’t an attempt to control our lives nor is a mechanism used to obtain blessings. We do not serve a totalitarian God; he created humankind with the ability to freely choose to obey or disobey. Proof of this is evident in the self- autonomy displayed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

References Corduan, W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian introduction to world religions (2nd ed.). Youngblood, R.F., Bruce, F.F., Harrison, R.K. (2004). Compact Bible Dictionary. Thomas Nelson Unit 2 Interactive Response Hello Celeste, I enjoyed reading your post! I like how you highlighted that you found the lack of Jesus unappealing. I agree with your statement that Jesus is everything and evident throughout scripture. Thus, without his sacrifice we would still be bound to the old law. Moreover, the Son is the one way to know God truly: only he revealed the Father. For on the cross, Christ glory put to death all false ideas of God, and as he cried out to his father in Hebrews 9:14, he offered himself up by the Spirit, breathing out his last, he revealed a triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Reeves, 2012, p. 128). For this reason, I believe Jesus Christ can never be taken out of the equation of the God head. Reference Reeves, M. (2012). Delighting in the Trinity: An introduction to the Christian Faith. InterVarsity Press Academic. Unit 2 Devotion Read Hebrews 1:1-3: The book of Hebrews appears to be a sermon to Jewish-Christians who are contemplating a return to Rabbinic Judaism. How is Jesus shown to be superior to the angels, the prophets, and other aspects of the old covenant? What is the nature of Jesus’s superiority? In Romans 1:4 Paul reminds the church that Christ was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. How Christ was always the Son of God and his heir before time existed. However, when Christ had made purification for sins and triumphed over death and Satan, he reigned as the God-man Jesus Christ—the Son of God not only by his eternal right, but now by the right of his victory over sin and death. Christ sat down at God's right hand, establishing him much better than the angels or any other prophet that had ever lived in the earth. Jesus Christ did in the earth what no one else was qualified to do. He lived a pure life on earth, overcame every temptation of Satan and fully obeyed the assignments God gave to him.

So, you meet a Jew…Video Presentation After watching the short YouTube video, "Jewish Scientist (James Tour) Makes the Greatest Jewish Discovery!!," create your own three (3) minute video that analyzes Tour’s video in comparison and/or contrast to Corduan's "So You Meet a Jew . . ." section of the "Judaism" chapter (pg. 88-90). Some sample questions you will want to address in the first two (2) minutes of your video include: How does Dr. Tour's story in the video illustrate what Corduan says about witnessing to Jews? How does the centrality of Christ figure in both Dr. Tour’s video and Corduan's presentation? What figures prominently in Dr. Tour’s video but is not addressed by Corduan? The main idea is to analyze Corduan's presentation in light of this one man's story. In the last minute of your video, present how you would talk to someone who is on a similar journey as Dr. Tour. Imagine that this person has not yet converted to Christ. What are some specific things you would emphasize or say? You may use notes during your video, but please avoid just reading verbatim. Be sure to be specific when drawing from Corduan, but you do not need to cite page numbers in your presentation. Unit 3 Interactive Assessment Critique Corduan’s suggestions in the “So You Meet a Muslim” section beginning on p. 130 of Neighboring Faiths. Identify central Christian attitudes and actions in approaching a Muslim . According to Corduan Christians evangelizing Muslims is a huge undertaking because, because both are a missionary religion. Both sides are concerned for the other’s salvation, for the Muslim by submitting to Allah, for the Christian by receiving Christ in faith (Corduan, 2012, p. 134). Hence, Corduan suggest that Christians need to know the fundamentals of their own faith. I can recall several conversations I have had with Christians who couldn’t clearly define or share their faith especially when it came to explaining the triune God. I agree with Corduans suggestion, how can we evangelize anyone if we do not have a clear grasp of what we believe in. Most Muslims living in Western countries are trained to know why they do not believe in certain Christian aspects. One aspect is belief in the Trinity or in Christ as God. Muslims believe God is one and the Trinity constitutes polytheism, Christ cannot be God, the Bible is full of errors and the Quran is

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