Penn Jillette is a staunch atheist, or as he puts it “I am beyond atheism”. He does not believe in God, and even thinks of existence as a more positive experience without the existence or idea of a God. He believes that God does not exist and a world without God is better off in the long run. Jillette has many arguments opposing the existence of God. Mr. Jillette begins his argument opposing the existence of God by giving a definition of atheism, which he defines as “not believing in God,” or more specifically, the lack of positive belief that there exists such a being as God.…
In chapter five of Acts of God, Ted Steinberg discusses a flood-prone area of Missouri that is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers – St. Charles County. Steinberg begins the chapter by mentioning the Deerfield Village Mobile Home Park. The author states that Deerfield Village is on a low-lying piece of land and susceptible to flooding. Indeed, in 1933 the Mississippi River surged over a levee and submerged this mobile home park. Steinberg contends that magnitude of the disaster was influenced by people in two ways: (1) the levee detrimentally impacted the wetlands of the watershed, which help to absorb floodwaters (2) flood insurance encouraged people to build in an area that is prone to flooding.…
The evidential problem of evil determines the degree of how much evil must be a part of the evidence of God’s existence. While on the other hand the logical problem of evil is seen through our own eyes. It bares the question whether God is a perfect because of all wrong taking place in the world. Through these two problems it is hard to even imagine that God is perfect. Through Richard Swinburne’s theodicy (theodicy - an attempt to defend God's omnibenevolence in the face of evil) , one comes to find the case that initially escapes the evidential and logical problems…
The book Simply Christian by N.T. Wright there are three main parts, “Echoes of a Voice”, “Staring at the Sun”, and “Reflecting the Image”. In part 1, “Echoes of a Voice”, he isolates four voices: the longing for justice, the thirst for spirituality, the craving for relationships, and the attraction of beauty each of which point the human soul toward God. He focuses on our longing for justice first. He doesn’t understand how on one hand we all have the same sense that justice exists but on the other hand after millennia of humans existing we can’t get any closer to it than the ancients did.…
Recent research of religious meaning has shown that older adults who gain a sense of meaning in life from religion tend to have higher levels of optimism, self-esteem, and life satisfaction (Krause, 2003). From Krause's theory, religious meaning is defined as the process of turning to religion in an effort to find a sense of direction in life, purpose in life, and a sense of a reason for one’s existence. Since religion is universal, it fulfills numerous basic functions within human societies. Therefore, religious meaning, as one of its many functions, offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential question about human life. However, it is not clear how the sense of the religious meaning, as the primary motivational force, drives aging…
In Dorner’s writing, he was able to connect many of his ideas to the New Testament. In doing so he not only strengthened the truth help within scripture, but was able to develop his theology more clearly. Dorner added strength to the reason for Christ dying on the cross, as well as building upon the truths talked about by Paul. Isaak August Dorner’s work was influenced by the philosophical system and is evident, not only in the way he writes and develops some of his doctrine, but directly in his writing he will talk about philosophers and how their ideas have helped developed Dorner's thoughts. In A System of Christian Doctrine, tells us directly about the influence of Kant on his writing.…
The Holy Sonnets and other Poems by John Donne (1572-1631) as well as the post-modern theatrical production “W;T” by Margaret Edson (1995) explore the enduring themes of the human condition, such as the mortality of man, and the interpersonal bonds that define humanity. These themes manifest in a religious context through Donne’s English Renaissance (1590 – 1710) due to the Calvinist beliefs of his time; such as life after death and an intrinsic potential for human bonds to be spiritual and transcend the physical. On the other hand, Edson’s 20th century society has moved away from these beliefs and onto scientific data and nihilism, espousing instead post-modern literary movements such as Beckett, whom used absurdist performances to comment…
Trinitarian Theology The debate of God’s existence seems as infinite as God Himself. Augustine’s remarks are foundational to the ontological argument of God’s existence: For when the one supreme God of gods is thought of, even by those who believe that there are other gods, and who call them by that name, and worship them as gods, their thought takes the form of an endeavor to reach the conception of a nature, than which nothing more excellent or more exalted exists…All, however, strive emulously to exalt the excellence of God: nor could any one be found to believe that any being to whom there exists a superior is God. And so all concur in believing that God is that which excels in dignity all other objects.…
Both Donne and Cullen talk to God because they are hopeless. They lose all hope in themselves because they both struggle to be the people they want to be. They can never expect to be the people that that want to be because they suffer with problems like race and free will that they feel can only be fixed by God. Even though they share this hopelessness and suffering they both go to God because they are hopeless but they both suffer with different battles. Donne seems to be pleading to God, crying for God to take away his free will.…
Pascal Blaise Pascal was a mathmetician, physicist, and philosopher. This paper deals with the latter. In his collection of writings, the Pensees, Pascal attempts to defend the Christian religion. There are varying opinions on Pascal’s work, with some, like Roger Scruton claiming that Pascal fails as a philosopher (specifically in the Wager) while others, like TS Eliot commend Pascal for “facing unflinchingly the demon of doubt” and attempting to deal with it (). In this instance, the issue is whether Pascal fails in giving practical reasons for authentic religious practice for those who are not currently seeking God (within the framework of the wager) or if he boldly faces the doubt that everyone experiences at one point or another and successfully…
John Donne wrote the romantic poem “The Flea” in his youth before he later became a minister. It was initially published as a part of his songs and sonnets. Donne initially wrote “The Flea” in 1630, but it started to appear in 1635, 1650, and later in 1669. The poem uses the flea as an object of mingling two lovers’ blood together, after the flea has sucked the blood of both people (Brackett). The flea also represents the sex between the two romantic partners.…
John Donne was a poet before his time. Although he wrote most of his works during the early seventeenth century, his poems were not eagerly read or appreciated until the late nineteenth century (Smith). A majority of his poems were not even published during his lifetime (Smith). In his later years, he began to forsake poetry that illustrated carnal love and desire in favor of poetry that praised God. This transition can be seen in his poem,“A Hymn to God the Father” (Walton).…
The Petrarchan sonnet “Hap,” by Thomas Hardy, is an exploration of how life is controlled and can be explained. In the poem’s octave, the speaker envisions a life under the power of a vengeful god who……, but concludes in the sestet that in reality, life is not controlled by higher powers, malicious or not. The speaker searches for an explanation that would give purpose to his pain, but failing to find one, laments the reality of his situation, where suffering can only be explained by chance. In the first quatrain, the speaker imagines life controlled by a “vengeful god” (1) and emphasizes the god’s malicious delight in others’ suffering.…
In “This Be The Verse” the speaker completely disregards one’s ability to confront the limitations of his power with a positive…
Robinson Crusoe can be considered a spiritual autobiography, a story of a man’s spiritual pilgrimage, from reprobate through regret and faith to devout man of God. Indeed, it is possible to trace Robinson’s progress from a state of sin to a state of grace, “a rebellion-punishment-repentance-deliverance sequence described from the earliest moment of Christendom as characteristic of fallen men who are accorded God’s grace” (Hunter 252). The spiritual autobiography usually includes some elements that are typical of the Puritan drama, known “as the drama of the soul”, which many scholars consider “educational, inspiring, and productive of greater piety and higher morality” (Hunter 251-252). Consequently, Crusoe serves the purpose of demonstrating…