And thirdly, Christology can help us as Christians clarify and express just what it is they believe about him. As we investigate Jesus’ person and being (who and what he was/is) and work…
In his book Jesus, Interrupted Bart Ehrman presents what he feels are contradictory views about Jesus and the significance of his life as it is written in the New Testament. Ehrman’s fundamental message is that the historical matter of the Bible contains many errors and contradictions between each of the books of the gospel. He argues that the writers disagree with each other both historically and theologically and that these differences prove that the Bible cannot be trusted. Another concern that Ehrman has is that the average Christian believer knows little or nothing about textural criticism of the Bible because their pastors refuses to show them these discrepancies by keeping them a secret as if to say that there is a conspiracy theory…
In the article, “Avrom Sutzkever’s Art of Testimony: Witnessing with the Poet in the Wartime Soviet Union,” Hannah Pollin-Galay makes the argument that Avrom Sutzkever’s poetry had a large influence on the portrayal of the Holocaust. She supports this notion by evaluating his credibility and addressing the role it played in his influence. Also, she establishes that his addition to the literary portrayal of the Holocaust was drastically different than anything before. She evaluates his dramatization of speech and claims that it allowed for a more genuine expression of testimonies. Lastly, she clarifies the importance of his poetry in the effect it had on the general public and Holocaust victims as well.…
Faith, Imitation, and Imagination Faith, what people personally believe, exists independently of whether or not people share with others. It can be confidence in something that is not seen, such as a promise and an engagement; it can be a belief that has not been proven, for example, a religious belief shared by a group of people who work together to provide support for going deeper into their similar faith. In “God, Science, and Imagination”,Wendell Berry indicates that fundamentalists of both religion and science do not adequately understand or respect imagination, which, when properly defined, is a way of knowing as much as science or religion is. Susan Blackmore, the author of “Strange Creatures”, asserts that it is the ability to imitate…
A Summit of Faith which took place in the Young Auditorium on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. was a panel discussion that concluded a three-part series event. All events were based on The Saint and the Sultan authored by Paul Moses. The panel discussion was the part in the series which specifically intended to “bring Christians and Muslims together for an open panel discussion about compromise, filtered through the lens of the Saint and the Sultan.” It intended to do so by understanding history and discussing how it might serve today’s society given all the current problems still found in Christian and Muslim relations.…
8. Keller addresses the issue of the resurrection and the historical proof for this event. Keller admits there will never be conclusive proof, like in a science lab, to manifest the resurrection. However, given the Biblical accounts and the events that occurred afterwards, there is solid evidence of the resurrection. There were documented witnesses who saw Christ after he had risen, and there were actual people testifying years after Jesus’ ascension.…
Through source criticism it is clear that there are inconsistencies with the full belief in the accuracy of text, especially reflecting upon how old these sources are and how ‘credible’ they are. Through the credibility of text, understanding the time period in which the accounts in scripture are written and the historical accuracy of these encounters proves challenging (Morreall, 2012). A majority of encounters were written after they physically took place, a prime example of this is the Resurrection of Jesus: it became a significant important part of Christian doctrines, specifically the Nicene Creed (Morreall, 2012). Belief in religion causes people to have a lack of trust in science, making them hold on to religious practices in spite…
In chapter one of his book “The Sacred & Profane: The Nature of Religion,” author Mircea Eliade introduces the conceptual and religious importance of sacred space on an individual and worldly level. He begins by discussing the differences between religious man and nonreligious man and how those variations relate to the ideas within sacred space and profane space. Eliade defines a nonreligious man as one “who rejects the sacrality of the world, who accepts a profane existence, divested of all religious presuppositions” (Eliade 23). In doing so, these types of man live in a world that preserves profane space, one of no importance: a world that is shapeless and unstructured with an unlimited number of “neutral places” accessible (Eliade 24). In…
The quest to find historical Jesus, requires us to strip the primary resources and look for other evidences for Jesus The portrayals of Jesus in the gospel is not accurate, and it is impossible to get an account of Jesus that is precise, since no one documented His story from the time of His birth. The story of Jesus can be interpreted in different ways. The church believes the Bible is the “Word of God”. For this reason, the gospels are read together or consolidated to give a full account of Jesus’ life.…
Faith is the strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. This is important to Christians because it’s what we follow and we believe about Jesus and God. Everyone perception of faith is different but what Azusa Pacific aims to do is to include everyone of faith. In the last line of the statement of faith, it says, “We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is very important because it states that there is a unit between all Christians and they all pray for one another.…
Is there only one true religion? Is one of the already established religions the correct one and all the others are false? There are differences in beliefs among religions around the world and because of this, what kind of attitude should a person take regarding his/her own personal beliefs about religion? Should they believe that their religion is true, and all other opposing beliefs are false? Or is it better to believe that it is possible for many different religions to be true at the same time?…
(Ch. 7). Athanasius handled criticisms against the crucifixion, by asking why not another form of death? Athanasius argues that the death of Christ was public so that none might question the validity of his death and in turn question his resurrection. With regards to the resurrection, he argues from experience that the boldness of Christian martyrs facing death testifies to Christ’s victory over death. He also makes arguments based on experience.…
In order to uncover unknown information from an ancient civilization, archeologists usually do extensive digging and research in a specified area; however, to uncover truths about Jesus Christ, there was no removal of dirt, as the world 's most sold book was dug into. Although Christianity continues to be the most popular religion, scholars came together in a Seminar, seeking to find the provable truth, which leads to unpopular conclusions. Throughout the article entitled, The Gospel Truth? by David Van Biema, the question of Jesus and the two lenses through which we see him, faith and history, are explored, conclusions are made, and reactions are instant. Instead of believing by faith and tradition, the Jesus Seminar is an attempt to identify…
It is possible, but not probable, for religion and philosophy to not be at odds with each other. Ideally everyone in the world would define these two topics in the philosophical way and understand that they do not have to conflict. Unfortunately, that is not the case. These two concepts can lead to conflict because, religion often is an absolute topic and is not as receptive to questioning, which is an important part of philosophy. I believe the truths of reason are identical to the truths of revelation.…
How Religion Works: Legitimation According to scholars legitimation is justification for conformity to a some sort of practice with an appeal to what the higher powers say. Similarly, it is often referred to as mechanical consent, humans don't always follow the orders and rules, this theory been justified both in past and present. But one can convince us the we must do it, or else there will be supernatural consequences later. For example, phrase “because Bible say so” or “God says so” is an obvious legitimation that refers to higher authority in order to convince the naive.…