Katherine Snyder
Professor Gardner
GSTR 110: H
16 September 2013
A group of very passionate Christians appears at one of the crosswalks of Berea College. Heatedly, they scream at the pedestrians and students and faculty and anyone with hearing intact of the wickedness of the onlookers’ ways and the eternal damnation to which their current life leads them. As obviously necessitated by their religious beliefs, these kind folk attempt to carry out a principle mandate set forth by their God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: to convert, and therefore save, the sinners of this world. Walking away, though, one must wonder if there is not a more efficient way to proselytize the lost sheep of the world. As surely as this work must be
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The mere idea that religion is a personal venture, one that needs or asks not to be meddled with (especially by those who say that it is God’s plan that determines the journey) is tom-foolery, meant to draw the evangelic from his path to your enlightenment. Most revolting is the idea that God is potentially present in all religions, interpreted in a myriad of ways like any single aspect of life. There is one true God and he will send cleansing fire to scour this earth of those who believe differently. If we reach to our King James Bible, we find support even there for this approach to novitiates. “And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, bring her forth, and let her be burnt” (Gen 38:24). As well, God recruited Moses, a great man who became the savoir of the Jews, with a burning bush (Exo 3:2-4). Furthermore, as god speaks, he appears to even encourage this resolution to the discord of the earth. “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?” (Luke 12:49). As the children’s hymnal sings, referencing a candle, symbolic of divine love: This little light of mine, I 'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let
One night at eight o’clock, Charles Colson visited a friend named Tom Phillipse. Before his acceptance of Christ, Tom lived much as Colson did; he was a ruthless businessman who ventured any measure upon which to win his way. Amidst witnessing Tom’s change briefly himself, Colson decided to make this additional visit. During this visit, Tom explained further to Colson his transformation and offered him a book called “Mere Christianity” by C. S. Lewis.
Shared hardship can build community. Sebastian Junger wrote Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging to bring to light to this fact. Included in the book are descriptions of many different specific groups (e.g. American Indians and war veterans with PTSD) affected by tragedy (as well as the lack of tragedy) and the lack of community. Junger argues that we need tragedy to bring us together in a way that current society no longer does.
Pre-evangelism should be treated as an art and tailored individually. Part (3) deals with new challenges facing Christianity. In this section, John Carson rightly explains that “there are no silver bullets” in apologetics and that we ought to focus on the resurrection of Jesus as a tool to bring the gospel to a new generation. Hot-button cultural issues such as racial tension, gender equality and
The theological worlds presented within the congregation and Rev. Selznick are not coordinating well with each other. The congregation is heavily involved in world 2; the journey from conflict to vindication. They are so focused on helping the world around them that they are only hearing what they want to hear from Rev. Selznick. Rev. Selznick is coming from theological world 3; the journey from emptiness to fulfillment. On Wednesday nights, he dedicated evening classes where fulfillment is one of the focuses. These two clash due to the difference of focus. The focus within theological world 2 and the congregation lies within the need to be so bothered with an issue, that the only outcome has to be justice. Rev. Selznick has already been
I do not like when people call not to “mix religion” with social life. When they ask “to leave religion alone” because it “thinks in centuries”, and its corpus of texts is such an important thing that several millions of people have to wait for equality until the next life. In my opinion, it is wrong, and turns many people away from G-d.
In Evangelism, Salvation and Social Justice, Sider introduces different theologians’ (Graham, Scott, etc.) opinions on the definition of evangelism, the role it plays in the church mission, and the relationship between evangelism and the social actions. By reviewing current five viewpoints of evangelism, salvation, and social actions, Sider puts forward a sixth viewpoint by re-exploring the biblical foundations about the concepts of the Gospel, salvation, redemption, and the principalities and powers. Sider argues that evangelism and social actions are interrelated, but they are two different and equal important aspects of the mission of the church. In his idea, the Gospel is related to justification, regeneration, Jesus’s Lordship, and the church (Sider, p.256).
As a result, I believe that the best definition of religion is “a set of guidelines that defines who you are, whether or not you worship a god or gods. Religion varies from person to person and is based on personal faith and it is also greater than its followers and allows individuals to explore the true meaning of life” (Nguyen and Ibaviosa et al., 2014)
Religion is a cancer that has done so very much damage all across history to mankind and has done more to separate us than any other force.
“Christopher,” Brenda told him, “We don’t do business with people who want crush the competition by making sure a bunch of bigots has control over the affairs of average people wanting to save money for college, while allowing the cronies of these bigots to rake in the renown. The Young Christian Health Society, for lack of a better expression, is without a doubt an example of people that people like Siegfried and I refuse to cooperate with.”
The question of whether or not Christianity has a connection to the pagan world is deeply controversial and is thought to be a conspiracy theory by conservative Christians. So what does the world’s largest religion have in common with Paganism? Through research and art examples, parallels will emerge showing that Christian religion is in fact pagan at its roots.
I used to think it was just systems of different beliefs that guide people’s way of living. While this is true, it is more evident that religion is so much more than that. Religion has many varying objectives and reasonings, but common reasons for religious beliefs is that it is used as a guided path for guidance and comfort. The guided path has a purpose to it as well. Such as it gives people a sense of security, stability, and especially source for hope for the followers.
The harsh and unyielding tone of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is created by the powerful imagery and the address of the congregation.
Religion is what makes us feel as if we have a purpose in this world. Stripping away people’s beliefs or making people conform to certain religions is terrible. People have a choice with what religion to choose, and they get to practice their religion in any way that they want. For people who try to take away that right, it appalls me because you don’t see those people try to take yours away. Sure some religious groups may try to persuade you to join their group, but it isn’t forced on you. Another thing that’s wrong, is not welcoming people because of their religion. There are many instances where religions have done wrong, but that doesn’t mean that you can discriminate based on a stereotype that you’ve created in your head. Jim Jones, a
For many people, religion is a very touchy subject. For most, it is a personal decision; people choose a faith that aligns with their beliefs, ideas, and faiths. Although people would like to think that religion is a personal decision, and they can adapt it to how they feel and what they believe, in practice, that is not the case. Religion represents a commitment to a set of principles that are not moldable, adaptable, or flexible. Religion, although it may be a personal belief, it is extremely defined, with little to no room for flexibility. If people try to modify their religion to their own beliefs or ideas, the pushback can be severe. The lines in religion and faith as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable are clear, and
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous poet once quoted the following, “For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” Anger as we all know can be a very powerful emotion that can have many different effects, firstly on the person that is experiencing the emotion, secondly the person or persons who is around the said anger filled individual. However, the intention of this paper is not to focus on anger, but to focus on the persuasion that people can use when giving speeches or in this case, preaching. John Edwards, a preacher in the new world takes the time to diligently preach his congregation, this is now the writing we know as, Sinners in the hand of an Angry God. While exploring this piece of writing, it is important to note that John Edwards uses many ways to persuade his congregation to believe that God is angry. The keys to his persuasion are as following, the people are out of God’s grace, they are wicked, and everyone has committed a sin.