Religious Pluralism For Christians To Understand The Experience Of Suffering

The existence of pain and suffering in a world created by a good and almighty God is a fundamental theological dilemma and may be the most serious objection to the Christian religion. In the book, The Problem Of Pain , author C.S. Lewis addresses the issue of pain as a mere problem that demands a solution; he formulates it and goes about solving it. "If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both" (p. 16). According to Lewis, this is the problem of pain in its simplest form. In his attempt to solve the problem of pain Lewis evaluates the past and the origin of religion, he

Enwistle’s book, Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration (2010) is a text that explores integrating psychology and Christianity. We start out by learning about integration related to both psychology and Christianity. Is this a thing? Is integration between these two subjects a subject itself? Enwistle explores through time to reveal how psychology and Christianity have been both closely studied and intertwined throughout time. Enwistle (2010) defines Christian psychology as “ a commitment to a Christian worldview that shapes how psychology is studied and applies, and that recognizes that there are specific Christian resources that uniquely reveal crucial aspects of what it means to be human (p. 14). Those in the psychology or counseling field who are also Christian have unique and different approaches but they draw from both Christianity and psychology to help them succeed.

During the middle ages, Christianity was the most dominant force and empire in Europe. The catholic church had vast wealth, influence, and power during this time in the history. On of the main figures of that time was Pope Innocent III he was one of the most powerful and influential people in the world. An important writing the Innocent published was “On the Misery of the Human Condition”. This piece talked about the nature of the world as well as impending death and damnation. “He will become fuel for the eternal fires, food for worms, a mass of rottenness”(Innocent III).The “On the Misery of the Human Condition” reveal the medieval idea of the nature of man that humanity is evil and unworthy and life are pointless. Major churches stressed

Even though some people walk the same path they may see different things. Some may see things in the theological way with God’s presence everywhere they look and everything they do. Some may see it in a psychological way, always looking for the explanation of why something is the way it is. Together, theology and psychology can bring a different view and perspective that they never would have saw by themselves.

While the Church is not truly the source of teachings and the like, it is an assembly or group journeying together to heaven. The Church is me, it is you, it is a collection every Catholic. All of us are members of the Church. The Church is taught authentically and authoritatively on faith and morality, whether it is personal morality and social morality. Also, the Church exercises its authority through many avenues, such as encyclicals, church laws, and Canon Law. In Canon Law, the Church creates dictates for good order in the society of the Church. "...this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith." (CCC 86) The only reason the Church is able to teach on these things is through the Magisterium, which has the gifts of indefectibility and infallibility, which prevent it from teaching incorrectly due to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and that it will forever be a beacon of guidance for all the members of the

In healthcare various cultures are encountered several times through out a day. It is imperative that medical staff be culturally competent and understanding that these different cultures come with their own set of beliefs that differ from their own. “The United States is often referred to as the Great Melting Pot, a metaphor that connotes the blending of many cultures, languages and religions to form a single national identity” (U.S. Department of State, 2010). In this paper, three non-mainstream religions, Vodun, Rastafari and Taosim, are going to be discussed and compared to Christinaity in regards to their spiritual perspectives of healing, their critical components to healing and what health care providers should know when caring

Robert Nash writes “Is Jesus the Savior”, copyrighted July 12, 1994 and he writes this great publication solely three reasons and they are: (1) To see whether pluralism succeeds in developing a strong enough case against exclusivism to lead thoughtful people to abandon the Christian church’s historic teaching that Jesus is the only Savior (part 1); (2) to see whether inclusivism succeeds in developing a strong enough case against exclusivism to lead thoughtful Christians to embrace inclusivism (part 2); and (3) to present at least some of the reasons why many thoughtful and conscientious Christians continue to espouse Christian exclusivism .

Christianity is a religion that provides adherents with the ability to fulfill their relationship with God every day. However not all Christians exercise this covenantal relationship the same way or act out the principal beliefs to the same extent. Different denominations represent their beliefs - the foundations for their lived expression - in different manners. Some of the Christian principal beliefs include, Revelation, Salvation, the Trinity, and the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It is through environmental ethics and ethical teachings, and the practice of baptism that adherents are able to connect to their one God and attain a healthy relationship with God to a certain extent.

In this paper I will discuss the significance of Paul Tillich’s theology within our current pluralistic society. I hope to accomplish this by specifically addressing how certain concepts within his Theology, when embraced or applied, can begin to relieve western Christianity’s concern for remaining “relevant”. I will also present some of Tillich’s theological ideas concerning his Christology, characteristics of a symbol, and concept of God as a symbol.

In a sin ridden world the chances of not suffering some life altering emotional event, at some point in your life, is inevitable. The bible says, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5: 3-5, NIV)

As a student of religion, Dennis Covington takes a pluralist view. He is always asking questions about the snake handling. As he is talking with the brothers of the church or thinking during the services, he is comparing it to something he knows, another religion he knows. As he is accepted into the church, he is taking another view of the things that happen during the services; the different people that have been affected by this religion. He unknowingly uses the three step method in Religion. He Shuts Up and takes time to know who he is and where he is from. He brackets his biases when he realizes that he could come from a long line of Snake Handlers. That, I think, is what makes him feel like he belongs in the church. He Listens when he

As a result of asceticism and hedonism being deemed irrational, Buddhism was born, the middle way between the two. Siddhartha Gautama (later known as the Buddha) is the rishi (founder) of Buddhism which is built on the doctrine that humans are forever burdened with suffering or dukkha. The teachings of Buddha serve as a tool to overcome desire, which is the root of all suffering. In this paper, the nature of the Buddhist’s claim of suffering will be dissected and further examined along with the idea of the noble eightfold path, otherwise known as the solution to all suffering.

Be that as it may, it is outside and survives for all intents and purposes only at a talkative, friendly level, instead of very extreme. In “Thinking, Love, Doing: Thinking for the Sake of Global Faithfulness a writer by the name of Thabiti Anyabwile, states “Pluralism at its best honors basic human rights such as individual freedom and freedom to worship God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience (Anyabwile, 84). Contingent upon the way of life in which God has put an individual, pluralism can be complete of amazing knowledge about a best way. Although one might enjoy the advantages of good pluralism, a follower of Christ has as of now been given an arrangement of ordinate correspondences with respect to perspective that overlooks pluralism. We might savor it outwardly however are to incline toward God, His Word, Christ, and the Holy Spirit for reality. In the Bible it states, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God” (1 Peter 2:16

The concept of suffering plays an important role in Christianity, regarding such matters as moral conduct, spiritual advancement and ultimate destiny. Indeed an emphasis on suffering pervades the Gospel of Mark where, it can be argued, we are shown how to "journey through suffering" (Ditzel 2001) in the image of the "Suffering Son of Man" (Mark 8:32), Jesus Christ. Although theologians have suggested that Mark was written to strengthen the resolve of the early Christian community (Halpern 2002, Mayerfeld 2005), the underlying moral is not lost on a modern reader grappling with multifarious challenges regarding faith in the face of suffering. In his article "A Christian Response to Suffering", William Marravee (1987) describes suffering

Ronald Nash wrote a book called Is Jesus the Only Savior. It discusses his gathered findings and distinctions between Pluralism and Inclusiveness. This paper will explore some of Ronald Nash’s observations and the arguments, logics and Scripture used to support his writings. This paper will discuss several Religious leaders some pluralist others inclusivists, non-Christians, Christians and their beliefs, philosophies or opinions. In this paper the details of inclusiveness is discussed.