Michael Pennock's This Is Our Faith: Christianity

The book Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity second edition by David Entwistle introduces the text by explaining how psychology can go in a direction, and Christian theology approach can lead in a different direction. He continued by stating the need for understanding and studying human behavior because people come from different walks of life and different expectations. It leads us to form unique perspectives to help give us an understanding of the individuals you encounter. The Entwistle 's book addresses the relationship between Christianity and culture, Christianity and science, and Christianity and psychology.

Many people would agree that without faith, the world would be in chaos. The book Christian Foundation by Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart gives an interpretation on faith in our time. Many people would question the definition of faith. Faith is a gift, which is given by God to have trust in him and belief in him. This book is a great entry in anyone's life that has speculation on his or her own faith. The book has many ways into understanding ones own religion. It discusses the Bible, Jesus, Church, God's existence and Images of God. All of these chapters helped me get a better interpretation of what my religion entailed.

Book 3 of Mere Christianity contains 12 separate chapters, which has far too great a scope to address properly here, so a glimpse will have to suffice. In the first, Lewis examines three components of morality; the relations between men, the interior moral mechanics of a man, and the relationship between a man and the God who made him. Lewis makes the case that, since we are destined to live forever in one state or another, it is desperately important that we pay attention to the sort of Being we are becoming. Lewis points out that most of humanity can agree that keeping relations between men running smoothly are important, but varying world views and religions-or lack of religion, have produced some disagreements on the necessity of keeping one’s own ship in order, as it were, and it completely breaks down when the relationship between a man and his Maker are addressed, as there is virtually no agreement there.

If god was all good, all powerful and all knowing, he would not allow the existence of evil.

In the novel title “The Lost History of Christianity”, author Philip Jenkins attempts to convey the message that there are many aspects of Christianity that are unknown to Christian followers today. Jenkins start by implying that Christianity essentially starts in Northern Mesopotamia. Jenkins then traces the history of Christianity from Africa to the Arab world to the heart of Asia, in what he consider to be the “golden age” of Christianity. He informs the readers of the stories of churches and movements that thrived over a millennium and then largely died out, though there are remnants of these churches here and there, spread across different parts of the world. Jenkins is a firm believer that Westerners are blinded by the impression the Christianity began in Europe and Northern America, and believe that in some ways they are superior among other religions. Jenkins suggest, “When they think about Christian history, most modern Westerners follow the book of Acts in concentrating on the church 's expansion west, through Greece and the Mediterranean world, and on to Rome. But while some early Christians were indeed moving west, many other believers-probably in greater numbers-journeyed east along the land routes, through what we today call Iraq and Iran, where they built great and enduring churches. Because of its location-close to Roman frontier, but just far enough beyond it to avoid heavy-handed interference-Mesopotamia or Iraq retained a powerful terms of the number and

February 28, 1993 would haunt the nation’s government for what they have done. For 51 grueling days, the Waco, Texas siege would confuse our nation on who to defend; the Branch Davidians at Mount Carmel or the FBI. In this essay, I will argue that the FBI had to be the main culprit in this event by ending the standoff in flames from the tear gas used. But first, I want to discuss how David Koresh got sealed in the world of religion.

There is a possibility that God gave humans free will so that in return, they may give him genuine love, rather than forced love. The problem of evil stems from free will, because humans can freely choose not to love God. But even if humans choose to love God, everyone commits small-scale acts of evil. It can be argued that since the world is evolving, the judgement of God has also evolved in order to fit with the times. Therefore, his judgement may not be quite as harsh as the bible states it to be. The criticism against this theory, is that since God is said to be an all-powerful and morally perfect being, there would be no point in changing himself for humankind. If he were to change himself in order to fit accordingly to today’s humans, it would mean that they do in fact have free will, which disproves the existence of an omniscient God. As humans, we do not know where God’s morality lies. Could he be evil, or could he be moral without enough knowledge or power over evil? God is so incomprehensible that we as humans cannot begin to understand how a PKM God and evil can coexist. What we do know is that there are tremendous evils present in this world, and from the logical perspective, if such evils are present, a PKM God cannot co-exist with them. There may still be a God, and it is arrogant to say that there is absolutely no God at all. However, if evil is present in this world, the God in which we refer to the most, cannot be all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect at the same

Since junior high, I have been always interested in science and realism. I was always amazed at the natural phenomena around the world, and I am a kind of person who does not easily trust unless there is a solid proof. I am like Thomas, one of the twelve disciples who refused to believe that Jesus was alive unless he reach out his hand into Jesus’ side (John 20:24-25). I became numb of Christian thinking because I was too obsessed with the tangible reality. Therefore, reading the book “Christian Mind” by Harry Blamires, opened up my eyes to Christian mind.

What about natural evil? Natural evil would be things like earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters. Why doesn't God stop those? You can look at Noah's flood and know that God doesn't stop disasters, but sometimes might even cause them. This ties into the Christian explanation of the human predicament. Paradise has been lost due to human moral shortcomings. As Romans 8:22 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. To understand evil, you have to first understand the nature of

I was asked to read “A Christian Manifesto” by Francis A. Schaeffer and what follows is my take on the book. I will share a summary of what I have taken from the book, as well as explain the applications from the knowledge attained from reading the book.

In the article titled “Christian Vision of a Person”, Patrick McArdle seeks to explain the question of what it means to be a human person, and in doing so seeks to assist or enhance people’s understanding of Christian Ethics and Anthropology. From a modern, first world perspective, the question at first glance appears to be a simple one. However, when we read further, this appears not to be the case. His article takes an almost tripartite approach to defining the human person. He looks much deeper than the socio-biological aspects of humanity and gives us an insight into the metaphysical qualities that help us form our opinion of what it means to be a human person. In the later part of the article, McArdle goes on to talk

God is all-powerful. God is just. These are some the most well known statements about God. Yet, they pose an obstacle to why evil exists in this world. Natural evil began in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned. The result was pain in childbirth, toil in working the ground, and enmity between Satan and mankind. However, Elmer Towns adds, “The actual origin of evil was not initiated on an earthly scene, but within the glories of heaven. Man was tempted by an external force. Although this does not make him any less guilty, it does suggest to us that evil was present in the universe prior to Genesis.” Moral evil began when Lucifer proclaimed he would be like the Most High. Both moral and natural evil have their roots in free will. Because God is love, He did not make every creature a robot worshiping Him and carrying out His will. Thus Satan had a choice in heaven to submit and Adam and Eve in the garden had the choice to obey or disobey. In both instances free will was exercised and the consequences are still seen today as mankind continues to exercise his will. Demarest summarizes, “Humankind after the fall suffers extensive spiritual deprivation. Although the image of God in man survives (Gen. 9:6), reason has lost its soundness (2 Cor. 4:4), the will no longer is free to choose God and the good (John 8:34), and sinners are spiritually blind (1 Cor. 2:14) and dead (Eph. 2:1, 5). Once able not to sin, the unregenerate now are incapable of not

How can God and Evil both exist in the World? I have asked myself this question probably a million times in my 27 years of life and I know I will continue to ask myself this question for the rest of it. If one believes in a higher power how can this higher power allow for such bad things to take place? Many people have this certain image of God as an all-wise, all powerful parent figure who would treat us as our earthy parents do or even better. But when something bad happens to us we somehow may forget all that and want to put the blame on him. But if you think about it who is the one to say that you, yourself are a good person? You may think you are a good person but in the end I truly believe that the Lord our Savior is the only person that can ultimately make that decision. As stated by the author, Dave Earley

To what degree has the Nicene Creed unified the beliefs of Christianity? The investigation will attempt to answer this question as best as possible. The focused time period will be from 313 AD to 325 AD. This is because practicing Christianity was made legal in Rome in 313 AD and the Nicene Creed was created and made the official statement of Christian beliefs in 325 AD. Also the investigation will focus mainly on events taken place in Rome. Unity, or lack thereof, in Christianity, events before and after the creation of the Nicene Creed, and how people first reacted to the Nicene Creed are the areas the investigation will follow. Reading through books and databases will be how research for this investigation will be found and notecards will be used to gather thoughts, facts, and quotes useful for this research paper.

Generally, God is known to be all good, to have complete control and power, and to be loving. Although, how come there is evil in the world with such an angelic God?  If God cares and loves us- wouldnt he prevent the suffering if he could? Since he is all powerful, he should be able to eliminate the suffering that evil brings. It seems we only have two potential answers: either God is not loving and all powerful, or God does not exist. Although, I am going to try to give an alternative answer and possibly explain how God could coexist with evil.