Reflection Paper

There wasn 't one particular moment that I lost my faith; no one died, I had no epiphany. It took years of suspicion, snowballing as I grew older, until finally my concept of religion collapsed into Agnosticism. The whole situation reminds me of the Great Santa Revelation of Third Grade, just on a much grander scale. I was born and raised Catholic... to a degree. We only really went to church as a family on Christmas and Easter, maybe a few other holidays throughout the year to curb the guilt. I was Baptized, had Communion, and I went to Sunday school (well, it was on Mondays actually). To think, this is what started all my suspicions in the first place. As the years went by, I started to really pay attention to what I was being taught in church and at catechism. Things weren 't adding up. The Bible seemed to me like a storybook; exciting and magical tales to illustrate life 's philosophies. I had always assumed that was the point, they were made up for children 's benefit. But apparently, these stories are supposed, literal Christian history. As a student also growing up in the public school system, learning of science and "secular" history, I was conflicted. The Bible says that a man built a ship large enough to contain 2 of every type of animal in the natural world. In fact, the exact dimensions of this ship are given: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Today, it is estimated that there are at least 3-30 million different species of animals. So that 's at

Growing up in a Christian Orthodox religion I went to church every sunday and attended sunday school as well as all church related festivals. Going to college and working became an excuse on why I stopped attending church regularly. When college came along I absolutely hated the idea of taking a religion class as a required course. I was so close minded and complained relentlessly about taking this course. As time went on in class I told myself, “there is no way this professor is going to turn me into a Lutheran.” Little did I know my professor was trying to open the doors of knowledge and expand my views in both science and religion. I came into theology one hundred and one believing I knew everything there was to be known about God. I was arrogant and foolish. My perspectives were so narrow, like my mind. I did not allow my professor to enlighten me with his knowledge. I believed that since I passed my tenth grade Sunday School exam there was no more to learn, or no mind great

Personally, this topic become somewhat of a lifelong struggle. I have attended church because of my parents since I was born, and never questioned a single thing I heard until approximately age ten. At that point, all I knew was that something about me was slightly different from other children my age. I understood when a girl was attractive, but I was never attracted to them. As I grew older, I began to slowly recognize what set me apart from my friends and just how much of my life this affected. I became incredibly discouraged, barely kept up any kind of relationship with God, and felt a general sense of hopelessness. I managed to push the topic into the back of my mind for a while, taking on the strategy of procrastination in order to feel better about myself and my desires.

I didn't understand how someone could falter in their faith and I felt like I had life easy because my testimony with not as "interesting" as others. I entered into high school and through my freshman and sophomore year I seem to be on a constant, unfailing religious high. I was talking to God throughout my day, reading my Bible and inviting my peers to church on the weekends. I figured that because I was in a routine that I was a strong Christian however it wasn't just last year, junior year, but my faith was truly put to the

On my last mission trip, I learned that studying the Bible proves a vital piece of Christianity. For example, if a professor lectures a class on history, but he does not study on his material, he cannot defend what he teaches. So as a Christian, I must study the Bible to defend my beliefs. When I conversed to my neighbor once, he said that he did not believe in God and that he questioned why I should believe in God as well. To say the least, I felt quite lost. I did not know how to defend my belief, much less try to convince him why he should believe in God. After the mission trip, I studied my Bible more to have a better ability to defend and share my faith. Just recently, I attended a lock in and had the chance to help a younger student.

The concept of religion has been a vital part of my life for as long as I can remember. Christianity in particular has served as the utmost precedence for my family and I, as I was raised on eminently well-built and eternal Christian values. From the time I can remember, I was always in and involved in the church, whether it was bible study, Sunday school, or just typical Sunday morning worship. Being raised and brought up in the comfort and shelter of the Christian religion has provided me with a genuine appreciation for it. In retrospect, the comfort and shelter of Christianity has sparked fascination and bewilderment. Throughout the emergence of my formal Christian education, there are countless things I hope

I began to understand God’s significance bit by bit but continued to struggle with understanding people’s passion for a distant figurehead. For the next seven months I sporadically attended numerous talks, prayer groups, and events in order to figure out what a faith life meant. I slowly began a prayer relationship with God, started reading my Bible, and attempted to open my mind to a higher meaning. At this point I believed. I saw His love and power work in so many new friends, I learned so much about myself and what I was meant to become, and I understood why His Church had continued for so

Growing up with one Christian parent and one atheist parent confronted me early on with hard decisions surrounding faith. Faith, to me, became choosing between two parents more so than understanding my core beliefs and making the hard choices. I gave my life to Christ for the first time at a very young age in Sunday school; however, the pivotal point in my walk was during my freshman year. Up until that year, the only Christians I had direct contact with all simply went to church on Sundays and often were drunk or in another arguement as soon as Sunday night. The first time I saw someone act like a follower of Christ and not just proclaim to be was through my soccer coach. This coach never went around telling people that he was a believer,

My ongoing journey with faith has been complex. Growing up, I was surrounded by a family full of preachers, teachers, and other persons of God whose highly saturated faith background and deep loyalty to the church shaped my world views. Deeply ingrained into the fabric of my past was devotion and servitude to something I couldn't quite grasp; it was something that I found hard to believe and difficult to commit to.

I didn’t realize how misguided my beliefs about God were for years. Growing up in a Christian environment, there was a plethora of people who were mature in their faith. I’d hear them talk of their passion for Christ and eagerness to serve him, and I longed to have that. Again and again I prayed, and was crushed when I didn’t hear a response. Eventually, I stopped trying. I figured that if God wanted me, he’d reach out and let me know. Little did I know that the faith I sought was right there before me.

When I was 4 or 5 my faith was just about going to church and coloring in those worksheets and rising to get done so I could play games for Sunday school and eating food after service and it was just an every week thing. But as I grew up and started to realize the reason why I keep going every week to know what it's about and learning new things every time I go. I started to grasp we are going to learn new things and about the past, and the way things clicked such as Easter, Christmas,Good Friday, and other bible stories and why Jesus died just for us to live long happy lives. We learned about Luther, my first year of Conformation and what was all happening with him and reason he went to Rome and felt the way he did. We observed and learned about how he saw things in a different way in a different way and saw things in a new way. When he went and showed his faith and everyone disagreed, he

My family provided me the avenue to learn about God at an early age. They taught me about Christianity and God’s word through the bible. It was a family tradition to attend church, one that spanned generations. This is where we learned about the sacrifice of Jesus and all that God created. Our church instilled the teachings of God in us and Christianity gave us a basis to live from. I was taught Christianity at an early age, the bible proved to be a powerful tool that helped develop my faith and belief. Through my faith and belief is how I know God and Christianity to be true. This truth makes God tangible to me. I feel God’s spirituality through life, and all that he has created. This is my belief, and one that I know to be true. I don’t require scientific evidence or video proof to show God’s existence, I have faith and

A book that has affected me deeply is Josh McDowell’s The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. In this book, Josh McDowell explores the plethora of evidence that supports the Christian faith and also gives the reader a testimony of how in his quest to find evidence to disprove Christianity as an atheist, he was ultimately futile in his attempts. As he continued to research Christianity’s claims as well as his very own claims, he was convicted in his heart that Jesus Christ is the true Savior of humanity. The pinnacle reason why this book has affected me deeply is because it creates an interesting dynamic within me. While it satisfies me in terms of gaining knowledge of my faith, it also motivates me to continue to seek out more knowledge and learn the things of God. This book always will be an invaluable and timeless resource to me.

Among the eight intelligences displayed in the video, I’d have to say that I’d possess three out of the eight. Starting with logical-mathematical, I do quite well academically on tests and have been ever since I started school. Of course I’ve had some tests where I didn’t do as well I would’ve liked. However, I would classify myself as a proficient test-taker. Often times, I will take the logical approach to thinking and am good with working with numbers and calculations. Especially when I was young, my grandfather would force me to do a bunch of simple arithmetic and I would hate it but I’d get it done pretty easily. Specifically on the subject of math, I’ve always been quite extraordinary on the subject. In my middle school, they allowed all of us to take a test to see whether we could be placed in the advanced math class or stay in the current math class. I ended up placing in the advanced class and did math a grade level above. Currently, whenever I tell people that I’m a sophomore currently taking pre-calculus, their face is usually quite surprised and shocked. I would also add that verbal-linguistic intelligence is something I feel I possess. I am bilingual, speaking English and three dialects of Chinese; Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taishanese. My parents spoke Taishanese as well as the rest of my family but they pushed me to Chinese school when I started preschool at the budding age of five. There, I was mostly taught in Cantonese as well as a class in Mandarin. I would

I was born and raised with Christian values. My parents took my family and I to church every Sunday and I went to youth group every Friday night until I graduated high school. I always loved going to church and I believed in what I was taught- that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for my sins. Growing up though I really started to doubt this idea. There were so many problems in my life with my family and I always wondered where God was and why He wasn’t saving the day. Because I was so rooted in my faith I felt bad questioning God, then I told myself that God doesn’t have to save the day, He’s not my genie in a bottle. Years later after I started college I abandoned my faith and I decided religion was a bunch of crap. Point is I was always conflicted.