Gods Not Dead

There are a number of universities in the United States that offer a liberal arts education. These particular universities encompass philosophy and theology as a part of their core curriculum. By taking such courses, students are enabled to learn and understand more about the world around them, as well as whom they are. A question concerning the existence of God and the role of each individual in society gives rise to speculation. In his article “Why Study Philosophy and Theology”, Dr. Peter Kreeft makes a bold claim which indicates that “anyone who is simply not interested in these questions is less than fully human…” He explains this claim by providing a continuing chain of arguments, in which each argument breaks down the proper reasoning

For Grace the reader doesn’t gain much insight on the characters emotions for she is only briefly given a few 3 sentence paragraphs in the book. Although the character did not have all that much views from them, the reader was able to interpret her relationships with other characters. Grace was also described as a person who cared about the people and animals around her. She had always

Frank Turek and Christopher Hitchens debated the topic of the existence of God and represented differing positions. For this debate Frank Turek represented the affirmative side which stated a belief in the existence of God. Frank Turek has a Doctorate in Apologetics as well as a Masters in Public Administration. He is also is a speaker, author, columnist for multiple websites, and a coauthor of two books including, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Debating against him is Christopher Hitchens who represented the negative side which stated a disbelief in God's existence. Christopher Hitchens is the author of ten books including God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, a writer for multiple periodicals, and a regular television

Throughout The Iliad, Homer offers us a glimpse into the lifestyles of the ancient Greeks and their beliefs. They are a very spiritual and in many ways superstitious people. The main thing to note throughout The Iliad is the interaction between the gods and the humans. Any way one looks at the situation, they can immediately see that humans are mere pawns to the gods in their game of chess. The success and failures of the humans depends on what god would be helping which group and at what particular time. This essay will explain the three main reasons the gods in The Iliad intervened with humans: Firstly, gods who act on their own personal motives, secondly, gods who act as favors to other gods, and finally gods who act as favors to

"All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal."—Flannery O'Connor.

Grace is one of the most important themes in Flannery O'Connor's stories. It is the one thing that may help or curse the characters in her stories. God’s grace is often neglected by some characters and they end up with a curse God creates. In the stories, “The Enduring Chill”, “The River”, and “The Lame Shall Enter First”, God’s grace is portrayed as the Christianity religion itself. As one neglects it and some believe in it, Flannery O’Connor is trying to say that God’s grace is real and all you need to do is believe He exists.

Zac and Ian are talking with each other and Zac gets frustrated at Ian when he opts to stick by Grace’s side instead of his. Then Zac expresses, “I’m pissed because you defended her, man! The girl who’s telling everyone I'm a psycho rapist.” (Blount 155). This part of the book is in Ian's’ perspective. When Ian and Zac were hanging out, he learned that people around the school are calling him a rapist and that Grace and Ian had fallen in love with each other. When the book is in Ian's perspective, it is clear that he is endeavoring to understand both sides of the story. Ian’s view is that something lousy transpired, causing drama to compose in Grace’s life, but he doesn't know who to believe at first. Ian then decides to heedfully listen to Grace’s point of view and ultimately finds her side of the story more believable before even hearing Zac’s side. Zac gets pissed at this as they are supposed to be best friends, and he is meant to be supporting him and taking his side rather than Grace’s. He saw Grace get hurt from the conflict she is facing, so he feels that he has made the right decision, but it will continue to bother Zac. It is clear that Ian is in love with Grace at this point. He ultimately is endeavoring to believe her but feels that it is important to be there for his best friend. After all, listening to his side can help in solving this issue. Ian and Zac are with each other, talking about the fact that everyone is calling him a rapist. “I'll see it from your point of view too, and maybe stop calling you a rapist” (Blount #?). Even though Ian loves Grace, he is disposed to do whatever it takes to be there for his best friend even if he has hurt the girl he cares for. He feels he requires to listen to his perspective too so that people understand what has happened. Since this is in Ian's view, his opinions on different stories and the way he accepts this

We all struggle. We all experience tragedy at some point in our limited time on earth, but some of us experience more than others do. Yet, those who do experience tragedy cannot comprehend the benefits or blessings that may follow. A quote from the book, Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder sums up what tragedy feels like “You may not see the ocean, but right now we are in the middle of the ocean and we have to keep swimming.” (Kidder, 2009, p. 216) The ocean is so deep and so wide and hardships often feel the same way. You do not want to drown, and once you are in the middle you have no choice but to swim out. That is exactly what Deogratias Niyizonkiza did. Through his own strength and hope, along with the grace of God,

Although Tom is the protagonist of the novel, our first impressions of him are rather misleading. He seemed to be a rather manipulative individual at first due to the fact that he was guilt tripping the truck driver in the beginning of the novel. He also acts as if he does not care about anything like when he casually mentions, “‘Homicide … That’s a big word--means I killed a guy’” (Steinbeck). First impression-wise, the protagonist seemed to be incapable of compassion. This is definitely not whom Tom ends up becoming. In fact, he becomes a crucial member of the family that allows them to make the trip to California without fail. Although he is unable to make sure that everyone arrives safely, he is only human and he is hurt every time someone leaves. Noah’s decision to leave the family and live on the river has affected Tom in that Tom is unable to keep the family all together, but at the same time he respects Noah’s decision. When Tom tried to convince Noah to stay by saying, “How bout the fam’ly? How ‘bout Ma?”, Tom appealed to the idea of family and how they should stay as one. This contrasts early behaviors of Tom as in the beginning, he did not particularly care if his parents mailed him or not in jail. He talks about how they care about him, but he never revealed his own feelings towards them. He seems to be a stranger to his own family. To furthermore complete this newfound idea of family in Tom, he makes the ultimate sacrifice to leave the family. He knows that by staying, he will endanger the family and as much as he would want to stay with the family, he puts the family’s safety before his own. Tom had shown continued growth as a human throughout the novel and yet despite all of the sacrifices he has had to make, Tom still continued to

Grace learns a lot about life from Mary, she talks to her about things usually reserved for 'the talk' between mother and daughter but since Grace's mother was negligent in her

In order to forgive, Mary removed the negativity engulfing her emotions because when conscience is clouded by emotion making the ‘right’ decision may seem easy; however important decisions are never easy to make. Some people have the remarkable talent to remove all emotions and opinions from a situation and provide an educated solution to the problem. Martin Luther King Jr. was, and still is, a phenomenal example of someone with this talent. He was a trailblazer and role model to many because he believed there were ways to create change without involving violence. Inspired by Dr. King’s point of view, Cesar Chavez’s article “He Showed Us the Way” employs a demonstration of repetitive diction, an expression of a strong point of view, and an application of pathos to educate the audience in understanding that violence is not the only effective way to

Grace takes on many form in the novel, from simply forms of grace all the way to reaching a state of grace before the grandmother died. Harris says that: “The question that remains now is, considering the unapologetically sinful nature of these two characters, what place does grace and redemption have in O’Connor’s story? While the series of events may appear to be hopeless and merciless, with the death of an entire family and the culprit still on the loose, Flannery O’Connor admits herself that, in spite of the readers’ disbelief, “grace is not lacking” in her

Mr. Ewell saw Tom with Mayella and instantly didn't like it and made Mayella accuse him of rape. The judge asked what she was afraid of and she said,” him” she sobbed pointing at atticus”. This evidence shows what her dad has done to make everyone believe something that isn't true about Tom. A fellow employe of Toms stood up in court and said many nice things about tom this tells everyone how nice and caring he is.

Cali Arbuckle (Meg) is a freshman nursing major excited to be performing with the Mount Mercy Theatre team for the first time. Previously, Cali has had notable roles in “Avalanche,” “The treasures of Shipwreck Island,” “Mary Ingalls—Her Journey,” and “Anne of Green Gables.” As well as having been involved as an assistant coach for a jr. Drama Troupe. When she’s not studying, Cali enjoys classic mysteries, long walks, and a good cup of tea!

By now, one must have already heard or read about the story of a young man standing up to his professor in philosophy class, the latter being a self-professed atheist. Simply put, the professor claimed that it was stupid to believe in God because there was no empirical proof of God. The young man, however, wittily retorts that since the class really had no empirical proof of the professor’s brain, then they really had no business believing him. The same trope is basically used in a more elaborated rendition in the recent Christian film God’s Not Dead (2014). There, an atheist professor challenges a Christian student for his irrational beliefs, but suddenly comes to terms with the irrationality of his own belief system by the end of the movie (Noble). An average movie at best, it can be said that richer meaning might be found in the circumstances of its creation. Movies, after all, mimic aspects of reality regardless of genre, so that the political realities described therein are hardly fictional in nature. Simply put, “to create a film is to participate politically” (Christensen and Haas 6).