Faith in E. M. Forster’s What I Believe Essay

It is said that man, to survive, has always needed something or some belief to hold on; be it science, religion or magic. Man without a belief lacks hope (Walker, 1997). Lack of hope makes a man vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. To avoid this vulnerability man has been holding onto different belief systems.

Peter Elbow’s essay centers on different ways to examine claims in life. Specifically, Elbow describes two different methods, or “games,” to examine claims: the doubting game and the believing game.

Defined as a complete trust in people, faith prevails as an essential quality for the development of interpersonal and personal connections. Accordingly, John Brehm, author of “Sea of Faith,” illustrates a scholar experience in a freshman class. A teacher, which the reader implies as Brehm himself, becomes irritated at the lack of knowledge in his students at such a simple topic: figurative language. Disgruntled at the question he begins to examine the significance behind it. Ultimately, after self-examination, he comes to understand the young lady who posed the question that annoyed him (1000). Through the use of literary devices such as personification, tone, and comparison: the author illustrates the changing perspective and ultimate connection the teacher makes with the students as he realizes the positivity that arises from faith.

Fowler saw faith as greater than religious faith and viewed it as a “universal aspect of human existence” (Hutchison, 2015). The ultimate environment is an important element of Fowler’s theory. He saw faith as not only an internal image but also how one relates to that image. Faith is not an unchangeable image or idea, but a way of being. The six stages of

This essay argues that John Stuart Mill's On Liberty presents a strong case for individuality of citizens, challenging the role of paternalism through autonomous social progress and utilitarian values. On the other hand, it is shown that Mill's arguments against public regulations are very narrow, and his own ideas frequently adhere to paternalism, thus creating a weak defence against state control politics.

In the allegorical short story entitled “Young Goodman Brown”, author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the irony of words and their connotations to express his ideas. The most evident example of this word inference is the used of “Faith” as the name of Young Goodman Brown’s wife. Religiously, faith can be defined as “the belief and trust in God and in the doctrines expressed in the scriptures or other sacred works” (Merriam-Webster). Hawthorne uses the relationship between Brown and his wife to parallel that with his own personal faith.

In life, there is a constant battle ensuing over faith and reason. Those two things are constantly feeding off of each other in someone’s mind when making a decision. Over time in which some say is a great conversation about history this battle is changing. The Great Conversation of history spans over many eras where the questions of faith and reason are always things battling for a spot in our minds, but they shouldn’t be in battle because they are very much dependent on the other. Among the time periods from Ancient Greece, the Enlightenment, and the 19th century, writers such as Socrates, Kant, and Martin Luther King Jr have looked at the issue of faith and reason.

Summary: In Chapter 1, Hudson addresses the distorted views of democracy from modern-day Americans. He explains how separation of power within the government lessens the power of American citizens and ultimately alters the ideology behind a true democracy into what we have today.

We as human beings all have choices. Many of the choices we make can affect us for the rest of our lives. Among the more important decisions a person will ever have to face is that of betrayal. Often times we are in a situation in which we must chose sides: “Whom to betray?”, and in this case, the options are friend or country. I agree with E. M. Forster’s view on personal relations and patriotism, believing that “I hope I should have the guts to betray my country” (Forster) over my friend. A person should always – and one might even say has a duty to – place his conscience or the moral laws he has set for himself over any conflicting manmade law.

In “We’re a Democracy” by Eugene Volokh, he shows that there is a fine line between being a

Faith, defined as a strong belief in something which cannot be proven, has been argued over countless generations. Still, even without proof, individuals worldwide hold true to their faith each day. After studying faith and religion in texts written by scholars with varying backgrounds, it is easy to see faith is something which is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s “on the Future of Religion,” demonstrate both similarities and differences

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne introduces Goodman Brown, who doubts himself and reiterates his false confidence to himself repeatedly. His struggle between the evil temptations, the devil, and the proper church abiding life, is a struggle he does not think he can handle. This story is about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before the sunrise.

In this paper I will contrast the ways that Blaise Pascal and Saint Anselm of Canterbury attempted to convince people to believe in God. Before getting into the two arguments I should first clarify a few key terms. Firstly, the difference between ordinary and religious beliefs. An ordinary belief is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a typical belief based on adequate evidence. An example would be “I believe the sky is blue because I’ve observed it as blue countless times”. Religious beliefs on the other hand, are not based on reasoning, but instead “Sola Fide”, or faith alone suffices, meaning that these beliefs are based only on trust that the proposition is true. A basic example of a religious belief would be “God exists” despite a lack of evidence for the claim. The major conflict between the two different types of beliefs is that in ordinary belief its considered shame worthy to belief something without have reasons to support it while belief without evidence is the core of religious belief. Another key term that must be understood to understand the arguments is “faith seeking understanding”. This idea was championed by Anselm and is crucial to understanding his argument. In short, he means that if someone begins with just faith in God then through that God will help them attain understanding.

Since the 19th century, William Clifford and William James have been the foremost religious theorist and have attempted to answer significant creation and theological mysteries. However, Clifford and James have varying views on the belief debate, each formulating a rational argument of what the basis for belief should be. Clifford’s, Ethics of Belief and James’ The Will to Believe outline their respective arguments which are vastly similar and but have marked differences. Both articles will be examined for these similarities and difference and stated within this paper.

White once put value in the “foundations of civilization,” or the goods of culture, such as “books and music and art” (McCarthy 25). He believed these goods would provide reason for his existence. Yet White acknowledges that because of reasons he cannot quite pinpoint, these goods have lost their value for himself and others. They are now things of the past. White believes, “that world is largely gone. Soon it will be wholly gone” (McCarthy 25). As Percy suggests in his book, Lost in the Cosmos, the Depressed Self may be depressed because “belief in God and religion has declined and with it man’s confidence in the place of the self in the Cosmos” (74). For White, the loss of these cultural goods is a loss of