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Mere Christianity Analysis

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Many have said that we as Christians should be just that, “simply Christian,” adding nothing else to what we claim. However, I am not sure as to how possible this ideal is, as well intentioned as it may be. One may be an American Christian, a charismatic Christian, or a post-modern Christian. For the most part, these descriptors are just that descriptors. Most often I find these titles simply describe the mindset and system of thought that the person may operate with in the margins, or natural tendencies of the individual in their thinking. While they may understand their pre-supposition, most often they cant seem to escape certain modes of thinking. Existentialism is a case in point. In many circles, this can be a loaded word. Everyone …show more content…

They are often accused of extreme internalization of the text, to the detriment of the original meaning of the author, however with Soren’s brand of existentialism, this is not the case. He was not completely opposed to biblical scholarship in its entirety, but recognized that a historical understanding of the text could only “approximate” an understanding of the pericope at hand. He wondered how those who, for instance, would interpret Paul with no inference to the historical Paul, could truly put himself in the place of the text and incorporate it into one’s life. However, Kierkegaard rejects any hermeneutic methodology whose end goal is the determination of the authors original intent; rather the end goal the methodology should be the appropriation of the authors intent. That is, when it comes to some subjective truth (whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life) it doesn’t matter in the immediate life of the adherent if it is not appropriated into their …show more content…

It goes by a number of different names, some stressing certain steps of the theory, but more often just different names referring to the same thought process. These range form existential psychotherapy, existential analysis, and to the most common, logotherapy. The term existential analysis has continued to be used, and appears to refer to a different aspect of Viktor Frankl’s theory and method than logotherapy. Tweedie notes that “these terms are nearly synonymous and refer to two facets of the same theory.” Existential psychotherapy is best described as a philosophical approach that influences a therapist’s practice. Logotherapy is derived form two Greek words, the first of which is Logos. The general meaning of this word is “a word, a saying, a statement; reason, the mental faculty of thinking, calculation.” The second word is therapeia (which is form therapeuo), meaning “service rendered by one to another;” specifically, “medical service, curing, healing. . .” In essence logotherapy is healing through meaning, or therapy through meaning. Frankl

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