Imago Dei Theology

There is no right religion to follow in the world. People have their own opinion on what religion they want to follow. Most religions have some type of background that is similar to another religion. Although, each religion has a specific standard that people follow to be accepted into that belief. These standard beliefs are what makes them religious compared to philosophical. Catholicism is the belief of following one god and the history of the religion, but there are many aspects that leaves one wondering the truth.

• Sin as Selfishness: represents an undue performance for one’s happiness, as opposed to the happiness or welfare of our fellowman

Over the past eight weeks my view of theology hasn’t changed much. When I hear the word theology, Immediately I think of God, religious faith, and different belief systems that are developed within one’s self. As I strategically consider what does it really mean to me, after this course, I have been exposed to a more in-depth insight to what Christ purpose was and how significant the books in the bible are today. Now, I know why theology is defined as the study of religious faith, practice and experiences. After completing this last assignment, I will continue to have faith in Christianity, live by the principles in my belief system, and relationship with God will be more intimate

Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:9-21,ESV) In order to be strengthened to live this lifestyle we must be completely dependent upon God. If not we will live a life a of vice which looks like. the Bible says in 2 Timothy "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." (2Timothy 3:1-5,ESV) In conclusion, virtue comes from God, therefore in order to live a virtuous life we must live a godly life. In order to learn virtue we must seek God since all knowledge comes from

The general church is the branch of government in the Church of the Nazarene that effectively and efficiently connects the members and resources of our denomination to preserve our core values and beliefs and advance our mission to preach holiness, make Christ-like disciples in all the nations, and bring relief to the needy. Recognizing the strength and equality of all partners, the general church combines and apportions time and resources for global mobilization. Simply stated, we can accomplish more united as a global denomination than we ever could at the local church or district level.

However, things had begun to look up, for some in the group a few hours of work were available and the homeless got fed. One of the men talked about the same Good Samaritan who brought the grill also brought pots and pans, something the group sorely missed. Not to mention, other people have brought things like toiletries and soap. And still, bathing has been one of the many areas where the men were forced to do it Mother Nature's way, in the river that flows alongside their makeshift homestead. Now they have distilled water to use for washing themselves also their clothes for the time being.

There are many messages the Catholic Church wishes to teach us, as well as lead us to follow. Many of them are interrelated as well, as many of them center upon similar ideas, like love, giving, or life. A few themes include that everyone is a part of God's creation, God lives within all of us, God is love, human life is valuable, and nothing is impossible for God. We, as Catholics, believe that God is love- an important idea in the Church. Since God is within us all, we also all must have love within us. And since we're all a part of his creation, everyone is equally special and should be treated like they are.

The religion I decided to research is the Roman Catholic Church, because it is one that I’ve always wanted to familiarize myself with more because many of my friends are Catholics and I was raised in a Christian family which I’ve heard is very similar to Catholicism. I have been to church with friends in the past before, but have never really taken the time to research and study the history behind this religion.

Over 2.4 billion people around the world believe in the Christian religion. For some it is a river of faith, but there are many branches to Christianity. Jesus Christ in Judea (present day Israel) started Christianity about 2000 years ago. Jesus was initially Jewish and he lived in an area that was under Roman rule. This Roman rules posed a big problem for the Jews due to the polytheistic cultural beliefs the Romans had. This is when Jesus Christ played a major role in the development of Christianity. Jesus traveled from village to village, teaching in the various synagogues and healing those who were suffering. This teaching was revolutionary, he challenged the already established Roman religious authorities to repent from their self-righteousness and hypocrisy and realize

And how compulsory it is to be on time at our various places of worship.

During my time at USD I have taken a few classes pertaining to the Christian community. While they all stressed the importance of Jesus; it never really explained in detail his influence upon the Christian church. I was born and raised in Atlanta, which you know is the bible belt. Growing up in rural Atlanta I attended a Baptist Church at least three times a week. While I learned about God through my personal reading and interpretation, my pastor taught a different explanation. He constructed a God that was feared in both the Old and New Testament beside a Jesus that was loving and caring. Pastors in my community would talk about Gods purposeful mishaps and mistakes while highlighting Jesus’s perfection. Even as an adult you see the Church

In their book, How To Think Theologically, Howard W. Stone and James O. Duke convey to their reading audience on the very first page of their introduction that “…Christian theology is at its roots a matter of faith seeking understanding.” The premise of the book argues – no states emphatically “…their (christians’) faith makes them theologicans.” It is this foundational point on which the entire work pivots. So Stone and Duke are asking their readers to buy in to the realization that by merit of our Christianity, we all are theologians. Once their readers have been garnered by this knowledge, they seek to take that audience to levels of thinking correctly in relation to theology – both methodically and methodologically. This critical book review seeks to understand theologically the arguments Stone and Duke are making and evaluate the effectiveness and thoroughness of this text.

Studies of Jesus primarily focus on the duality of Jesus and how he is able to be both human and divine at once. This subject was disputed at the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 between the

Throughout my life, religion has always been a big part of my family. When I was younger, my mom and dad would accompany me and fill my head with the belief that no matter what, Jesus is here and he is real. I was a part of many youth groups from elementary school to the beginning of high school. Religion has always been a hard concept for me to understand, since it is concept based purely on beliefs and morals. On more than one occasion, I have asked my parents for answers, but they were never able to give them to me. Christianity is very popular where I live, so it wasn’t uncommon to see someone walking down the street that I knew from church or my youth group, but since I had a problem connecting with God, I had trouble connecting with them. As I got older, I began to understand that since so many things were hard for me to believe, I needed some time to think about where I was in my life. I knew that telling this to my parents would be difficult, and it was. We didn’t agree on many aspects of me being less involved with the church, but they ultimately let me draw out of my youth group, and given me to opportunity to believe and follow what I choose to.

Generally speaking this course led me to contrast the Wesleyan doctrine with specific questions raised by opposing theological viewpoints. The real world scenarios presented in the weekly assignments provided valuable context to the application of biblical interpretation to answer questions concerning details of the hope Jesus has promised. These inquiries ranging from limits of justification and gifts, to the biblical truth regarding the Church here and in the next life, will continue to be of great value as I am utilized to make disciples of all people.