The Nature And Activity Of God Essay

Malala Yousafzai, 18 year old Nobel Prize winner and women’s rights activist, once exclaimed: “I raise up my voice- not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”. The idea of speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves is extremely important when it comes to striving for change, so being able to express the needs of marginalized people is a great and awesome power. Yousafzai’s quote specifically connects to women’s rights, therefore it can be used to support the feminist movement seeing as she is advocating for the equality, in treatment and opportunity, of men and women. Feminist beliefs do not only apply to society, but to theology as well, seeing as the teachings of the bible are extremely influential in the day to day lives and values of religious people. The text that I chose to highlight this idea comes from Elizabeth A. Johnson’s book Quest for the Living God, chapter 5 ‘God Acting Womanish’ because it directly connects spirituality and feminism.

1. Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the argument for the existence of God based on religious experience. (18) 2. ‘The argument merely indicates the probability of God and this is of little value to a religious believer.’ Discuss. (12)

The human scribes who wrote down the events of Genesis were recording the events of the world as God created it. However, while they were inspired by divine events, these authors were humans influenced by the outside considerations that all human writers incorporate into their works, no matter how important or trivial the concepts. In this case, the writers would have been very much aware of the presence and content of other, parallel creation stories with similar historical and even religious tropes.

in this world, and they are effects derived from a cause. The effects in turn

I will argue that the understanding of the concept of God has significantly changed over time. Over this course, we have explored the evolution and stages of Judaism. I will use supporting evidence from the Biblical, Rabbinic, Maimonides, and Modern texts to show each of their overarching themes, perceived popular beliefs, and changes the concept of God has experienced.

Often a topic of debate, there are several different takes on the creation story existent in literature. Dependent on one’s religion, different beliefs about how the world we live in was created may arise. Looking deeper into the literature, one will realize there are also many similarities between creation stories. Based on the strong possibility that Genesis was influenced by the Enuma Elish, there are similarities that stem from the fact that they both describe the creation of a new world as well as differences in their interpretations and approaches to creationism.

Throughout Genesis 1-11, one of the main subjects covered is the natural world. Genesis 1 in particular provides crucial information for understanding the origin of the natural world. In the first verse of the entire Bible (Genesis 1:1), the reader is immediately told that “God created the heavens and the earth.” Additionally, the reader is informed that “there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31), showing that God’s work of creation took six days. Because I believe that God created the world in six literal days, the foundation of my worldview is entirely different than the foundation of an atheist’s worldview. When I look at the world around me, I do not view everything around me as the product of random chance and evolution; instead, I see everything around me as the handiwork of God.

This would explain how God managed to create the entire universe in just six days, though it is quite hard to accept that as fact, as it is impossible to prove that it is right or wrong. It seems impossible that creation could have been accomplished in a mere six days. In Genesis one, note that no theory of evolution can be accommodated within it. Genesis is saying that the earth came before the sun, grass and trees before sea life, and birds before land animals.

Chapter 1 where verses 1-5 can be found tells that God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that lives. These verses explain that God was the first and only creator. However Genesis later describes a lot more about the creation of the earth. After verses 1-5 in chapter 1 we learn that God continues creating by making humankind in his image and also giving them charge over the earth. We also learn that after the first day of creation in verses 1-5, God continues creating for a total of seven days. After God initially created the earth and light, God on the second day created the sky. On the third day, dry land was created. The fourth day he created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day he created every living creature. The sixth day he made animals and human beings in his own image to commune with them. On the last day God rested and blessed it making his creation holy. At the end of Genesis chapter 1 God had created everything and it was perfect. I think that verses 1-5 fit perfectly with the rest of the chapter because they give a good insight was to how the chapter will continue. They also are very consistent in that they don’t make any drastic changes in the later verses. Verses 1-5 also contribute to the rest of the chapter by setting a starting point for what would be happening and how God would be acting. In this context, my interpretation of these passages helps me to

As Genesis is the first book of the bible and verses 1:1-2:3 are the first accounts, it is essential that the story that proceeds be examined. What is then discovered is another account about creation. This creation story is similar to the first account but it can be seen that God ‘is not working to a pre-planned strategy’ , this then ‘hints at a measure of vulnerability in the Creator’ in the second creation account which is a stark difference to the first story of creation where God is viewed as ‘is a king who does all things well: in his own judgement, it is 'very good'. He alone is responsible for creation: his voice alone is heard; he consults no one for wisdom or advice’ . Incorporating the world behind the text and the world of the text we are able to get a more cohesive experience about what the story is telling us, in this case what Genesis 1:1-2:3 is actually referring to. The tools used to analyse the text allows the audience to develop greater insight about the purpose of the text, it also allows the audience to change their previous viewpoint with integrated gained depth and

Another possibility is that there were two stories being told and the writer could not decide which one to put in the bible, so he put both. Though there are two clashing stories, the basic idea for this story of creation can still be seen. This might explain why Genesis 1 has a broader spectrum of creation and why Genesis 2 focuses mainly on the creation of man. In Genesis 1 the names of man are not even mentioned. In Genesis 2 however we come to learn that their names are Adam (male) and Eve (female). Also in Genesis 2 we learn exactly how Eve is created; Goad takes a rib from Adam and makes Eve from that rib. Then she is called woman, because she is made from man (Gen 2:23). This appears nowhere in Genesis 1.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.  It begins with the story of God’s creation of the universe.    The Lord is the Almighty Creator of the world, skies, heavens, seas, animals, man, and woman.  He governs the universe and develops relationships with man.  Throughout Genesis, God acknowledges the fact that human beings make mistakes, and accepts their imperfection.  Throughout Genesis, God changes from one who does not tolerate disobedience, to one who shows clemency.  Early on in Genesis, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobedience.  After making the mistake of flooding the world, the Lord realizes that even He is not perfect, and does not allow Jacob’s deceit of his father to taint his future.

a) Christians believe many different things about God’s nature; due to the huge spectrum of Christians that there are. However, as a general rule they perceive God as being one of the following four things:

The bible was written as an account of what many viewed that God had accomplished so his actions and words could be passed on for generations. Some believe it is a literary account and some believe it is a historical account. The word of God in the bible comes in many forms and is left up to interpretation by the reader. Some believe that the word of God should be the only word and should be strictly followed. Some believe that the words are meant as a guideline to help us through life. Whatever your belief is you can always seem to find the meaning behind your belief through the word of God in the Bible.

The mystery of God's existence has been a crucial element of many religious studies and traditions. Who is God? What is God? Where is God? To effectively discuss the existence of God, it is necessary to illustrate the notion of faith. People of faith believe that God does exist, and that relationship with God gives meaning to their lives. Others who are skeptical point to God as an obsolete hope of an ignorant human race. People today live in a world distinguished by sophisticated technology in which modern science has been a strong agent in questioning the existence of God.