Viewing God Through the Lens of Self-Discovery Essay

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)

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

Despite the large amount of people that feel confident and comfortable in expressing themselves freely, many adolescents have a deteriorating concept of self because of the belief that they should have to conform to their peer’s ideals. The identities of these children are being dictated by a need of acceptance from prominent social groups in their environment; however, teenagers must realize one’s own individuality as something beneficial and recognizing that conforming can become problematic in certain situations.

In the study of Christian theology, scripture plays an essential role in the revelation of the Doctrine of God. Scriptures are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) words, written by the Holy Spirit through divine inspiration of prophets. They are necessary for the proper understanding of the doctrine of God, the self-revelation of God, the proof of God’s existence, and for the discernment of false doctrines.

The Cognitive Science Journal found that children who were exposed to religion have a harder time distinguishing fact from fiction. In their study, they told 66 five and six year old children stories containing both realistic and supernatural elements. Out of all of the participants the children who regularly attended church had a significantly harder time identifying the supernatural elements as fictional than those who hadn’t attended church regularly. Devout religion seems to continue to impact children into their teenage years. NBC News found that teen birth rates are higher in religious states. Mississippi ranks at the top in both teenage birth rates and conservative religious beliefs. Experts say that this is mainly due to the discouragement of contraception in religious

Abstract: The Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a religion invisibly growing amongst U.S. teenagers. It is an interfaith religion which is has been developed on a book by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton called Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. The article on “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” as U.S. Teenagers ' Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith ...

Dean has written a disturbing yet thought-provoking book on the current religious state of America’s teenagers. The background research for this book was the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR). This was one of the largest studies ever of the religious views of teenagers. Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls “moralistic therapeutic deism.” In other words, it’s a watered-down faith that depicts God as a “divine therapist” whose primary objective is to boost people’s self-esteem.

Donahue, M. J. & Benson, P. L. (1995). “Religion and the Well-being of Adolescents” in

Teens discover new friendships, new interests, and new beliefs about everything from family to faith. When asking a leader a question like "Why do we think that we are right and everyone else is wrong about how we get to heaven?" Some people may shut it down and not give an answer. We are told and taught to follow blindly but that just doesn't cut it. We have questions, which need to be answered. A teens faith a big part in the puzzle of discovering one's self and identity. This journey of finding identity with the support of loved ones is essential in resulting in deeper faith. The church offers nothing more than a moralistic therapeutic deism which means a disinterested divine power who wants to give them personal peace and prosperity. In

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 inauguration of online social spaces has influenced adolescents’ identity formation and development. Surfing on social networks, teens tend to use three main kinds of online identifications; true identity that is the same offline identity, pseudonymity which refers to the use of fake names, and anonymity which means full obscurity. (Donath, 1999) online social networking sites used among adolescents include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs, interactive computer games, and chat rooms. Adolescents think that online integration and acceptance in the previously mentioned online setting to be a sign of socialization and well being. (Slagter Van Tryon & Bishop, 2009) In a study conducted by Reich’s (2010) suggests that 25% of high school students and 21% of college students have experienced problems with friendships due to activity on social networking sites. The main

Educators need to understand the impact of religion on the lives of their students. According to Gallup poll data, nearly 95% of teens believe in God and 86% believe that Jesus Christ is either God or the Son of God (Gallup & Lindsay, 1999 as cited in Ream, 2003). These and other similar statistics demonstrate the importance of considering religion when dealing with young people. Ream

Furthermore, for many young people religion is a fundamental part of their identity (Furlong, 2013). Their religion may shape the way that they live their lives which impacts on their beliefs and priorities (Furlong, 2013). Religion may prevent young people from participating in certain activities which underpin youth life, activities like sex, drugs and alcohol for instance. Young people may feel alienated because of this and they may feel as though they cannot express their true identity to other individuals outside of their religion. However there are many religious communities and groups which can support young people, this can help individuals to feel a sense of belonging which they may not find in their own natural community.

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.

A reasonable person is a sensible one with sound judgment formed through logic. The common belief of “seeing is believing” makes justifying why God does indeed exist hard for some people because how could a reasonable person believe in something that he or she cannot physically see? Although a person may not be able to physically see God, reason to believe in His existence still exists. It may even be seen as a leap of faith to believe that God exists without being able to physically see Him, yet it is a necessary jump to make. Having a higher power to believe helps explain many of the questions in the world for why things are the way they are, as God is the logical cause of all further causes. Just because you cannot physically see God, does not mean that there is no evidence of God’s existence. It just means the way that you go about demonstrating God’s existence is different. Instead of going by knowledge of the cause itself, a person must make sense instead of God’s existence going from knowledge of the effects. God is all powerful, all knowing, and all good. However, that means his existence is past our mental capacity to grasp as human beings. A reasonable person can still indeed believe that God exists.