For this paper I interviewed two people from very different backgrounds. They are also in different stages of life and both of their beliefs have been affirmed in different ways. I learned a lot about their beliefs and the different ways that faith can help you reinforced.
Interview One: I interviewed Mr. S about his belief in the afterlife and his answers were both insightful and very interesting. Mr. S is a Christian and was raised in a Baptist church since birth, which is where he first learned of these beliefs. He is also a youth and young adult pastor at his local church and believes very deeply in the afterlife. Mr. S believes that man only has 2 destinations, heaven or hell, and that these are actual places your soul travels to. When somebody dies he says that God judges them based on the bible’s teachings and then they go straight to their place of judgement. You travel to your destination originally as a soul and when the Revelation happens you get a new spiritual body to reside in that is different from your earthly body. He believes that in order to get to heaven one must follow the teachings of the bible and live in obedience to God. Also, to get to heaven one must have a personal relationship with God and believe in his son Jesus Christ. In heaven you are in a constant state of having a perfect relationship with God and are in a state of happiness and bliss. Heaven is hard for us as humans to describe because we do not have the words to convey how beautiful
Conjunctive faith allows one to consider the paradoxes of life and multiple truths of the universe and expand their sense of connection with others (Hutchinson, 2015). Universalizing faith focuses on an awareness of justice, injustices, and love resulting in selfless actions (Hutchinson, 2015). Although many never reach the final stages of faith development, Fowler’s theory of faith development can still be used to critically evaluate how one utilizes faith to cope with life’s challenges as the go through the stages of faith
James Fowler developed his stages of faith after conduction in-depth interviews of 359 people. The sample subjects were predominately white, with equal numbers of males and females and included a wide range of ages, from three and a half to 84 years old. Fowler’s interviews consisted of 30 plus questions regarding the subject’s life experiences, relationships, values, commitments and religion. After analyzing the responses, Fowler placed each subject in one of six faith stages. The responses indicated that as the subject’s age increased, so did their stage of faith (Hutchison, 2015).
Evidence has linked a strong relationship between spirituality and medicine. There is a positive correlation between a patient’s spirituality or religious commitment and health outcomes. A spiritual assessment as a part of a health assessment is a practical step to incorporating patient’s spiritual needs into practice. The FICA Tool and HOPE Questions provide serve to assist clinicians in the spiritual assessment process. By examining the research done using these tools, it has been determined that the FICA Tool is easy to use and provides basic data on a patient’s spirituality. The FICA tool is both reliable and valid. The HOPE Questions are
Presented with the task of assessing someone’s faith development required the answers to three essential questions. How has social learning played a part in the individual’s religious development? How has attachment played a part in the individual’s religious development? Upon answering these questions we must then evaluate the stages of faith development in which the individual is in according to James Fowler and David Elkind. After thorough evaluation has occurred the question pertaining to the role of doubt can then be answered. With these questions in mind, the theory that religious beliefs and adherence to spiritual faith are ultimately tested and proved during adolescence was the driving thought throughout the process of interviewing
From about the early 1600s-mid 1800s, African-American spiritual were very popular amongst the black community. They were originally formed to provide comfort and ease the boredom of daily tasks. Also, they were a form of spiritual devotion and a longing for freedom from slavery. You may be surprised to hear that some popular songs, such as “Amazing Grace”, were originally African-American spirituals. Another famous spiritual is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” by Wallis Willis. The term “spiritual” comes from the Kings James Bible translation of Ephesians 5:19: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Typically when singing spirituals,
Faith is the belief in a person, thing, or idea without concrete evidence of its certainty. Although in some arenas, such as science, it is looked down upon, faith is ever presence in people's lives. It takes faith to belief that a chair will support one’s weight. It takes faith to belief that others will fulfill their promises and responsibilities. John Donne, Robert Fink, and Annie Dillard are three authors who use faith as a topic for one of their works.
A spiritual journal is an honest record of my spiritual journey. This is my place to record my prayers and hopes, struggles and hurts, thoughts and questions about my personal and spiritual life. This is where I document how God is speaking in my life. A journal is a tool that can help me go back and recall the times I wandered, the things I've learned and places where I grew up as a Christian.
Religion impacts every society and is impacted by many factors. Over time, religion has both gained and lost power over the choices of people. One person may act one way because of their religious upbringing and a different person another way. This is due to the fact that everyone has a different relationship with their faith. Differences in one’s faith are attributed to a variety circumstances, for example, culture, time period, and access to technology. Nevertheless, faith has the ability to strengthen one’s relationship with God.
My personal general theology is based on the scripture John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” This has always impacted the way that I have talked about God to others. I’ve spoken about God in a manner of love because He loves us enough to give His only begotten son for our salvation. God loves us enough to make our process toward salvation easier by allowing our requirement to merely believe in Him. God loves us enough to allow our souls not to perish, if we believe in Him. God’s love is the foundation of my personal theology. In this project I will cover areas that relate to God’s love for us. The topics
Obviously, a spiritual assistant must be knowledgeable about Franciscan spirituality and have a thorough understanding of the secular Franciscan way of life.
This paper presents a personal view of spiritual discernment and the process. The paper examines the importance of mainly career decision making, my view of the struggles and things that influence decisions. The paper first explores decision making factors that are very important to me based on the survey in the Horton (2009) article. I also explain my choice of discernment approach based on the factors that are important to me. I explain how I feel they related to the approaches explained in the Horton (2009) article. I reveal past experiences that influence my approach, and influence how I may career counsel someone.
Throughout the semester I have developed an understanding for the spiritual disciplines; silence, solitude, and Sabbath; which has taught me how to live an intention Christ-centered life. The disciplines have not only helped my personal daily life, but they have also helped me better understand Christ himself. I can, without a doubt, say that I know that God gave us the gifts of spiritual disciplines to help guide us in the crazy culture we live in. I have gained a new appreciation for the maker of our world as He has gone out of His way to love on us, and all He asks us in return to practice disciplines and grow closer to him. The disciplines have have taught me that seeking God is about more than just saying a prayer before bed. Instead, it is practicing the disciplines and seeing His faithfulness through the actions. My practice of silence has taught me that the world is a loud place full of so many distractions. This specific practice has helped me seek God, in a deep way, by committing to listening to him in silence rather than wondering why I could never here him in the midst of the crowds. My practice of solitude has become a sort of Bible study time for me. A time to be alone and remember all the good our King has done and will continue to do for us. My practice of Sabbath has helped me start of each week with a positive outlook. Surprisingly it has also given me a deeper understanding of academics as well as it forces me to get my homework done before my day of
What is faith? Faith is something different to everyone. If you asked a hundred different people, it is possible that you would get many diverse answers. Religious faith and non-religious faith are two very distinct terms. Faith holds an extremely complex meaning when discussing it in the context of religion. Faith is a belief. That holds true to every religious and non-religious person. Every faith involves a decision. It is not about what we claim to believe, but what we actually do believe, that is true faith. Throughout this paper, I am going to discuss Christian faith, how it pertains to daily life and Christianity as a whole. I also intend to delve into George W. Forell's discussion of Christian faith and analyze and
Life After Death All of the major religions believe in life after death. However the ideas from religion to religion can vary greatly. I am going to look at Hinduism and Christianity, two religions that I have been surrounded by all my life, and the different perceptions they have of life after death, and then I will give my own view. "For certain is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; therefore, over the inevitable thou shouldst not grieve.
Christian Tradition course exposed me to the Christian Tradition based on Biblical and church history. The course taught me the differences and similarities of Christian Tradition from other major world religions. I learned about the significance of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity based on the teachings of the Bible. The course also briefly covered 2,000 years of church history but with emphasis on the impact of the Council of Nicea, Council of Chalcedon, and John and Charles Wesley on Christianity. The professor emphasized the importance of the reformation that sparked a revolution in the church.