Christian theology

The word “atonement” simply means to receive reparation for something you did wrong. In the way of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the very same definition can be applied. It would mean to receive reparation for your sins. The general understanding of the doctrine of atonement is that “humans sin, [which] causes debt we are unable to pay, [therefore] we deserve punishment. Instead of our being punished, God sends his Son to be punished in our place. We are forgiven” (Senor 4). This…

In Mary Doria Russell’s novel The Sparrow, the complexities of social and structural sin, as well as fate and free will are evident. In class, we defined free will as making the conscious decisions of the choices in one’s life, and fate as very one-dimensional, where one’s outcome is already pre-determined (Theodicy PPT). In a story where God is present, it is hard to decide whether following what you believe to be Gods path is fate or free will, which is challenged in The Sparrow. Furthermore,…

The article H. J. McCloskey wrote, On Being an Atheist, discusses how arguments presented are proof that God does not exist. As I learned from Dr. Foreman’s presentation, Arguments for God’s Existence, there is nothing that can be proven with one-hundred percent certainty. We need not use arguments, but we should use evidence, just as an attorney in building a case against or for an accused. (Foreman, Approaching the Question of God 's Existence n.d.) Evidence sometimes is circumstantial, full…

One of the most seemingly apparent philosophical questions in the world is regarding the existence of God. The topic has been the cause of much controversy for over a millennium. Within the questioning of God’s existence there are several more philosophical arise+, that ignite just as much argument within philosophical circles. One example is the flawed nature of God’s omnipotence. Mackie believes that, “…unqualified omnipotence cannot be ascribed to any being that continues through time.” In…

theism. All three people do not take the side of a theist or an atheist, but instead discuss the problem from a mostly objective view. The Problem of Evil is also discussed by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and William Craig in God? A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist, where Sinnott-Armstrong argues from the atheist’s point of view and Craig argues from the theist’s. In this paper, I will discuss the points made in both sources to make my argument: God and evil can coexist because God may have…

Prompt 1 (A): The human experience and theology interreact to create our understanding of religion while helping us to make sense of the world around us. From people’s experiences, they develop different interpretations of religion and different ways they feel it should be studied and reflected upon. Gustavo Gutierrez and Soren Kierkegaard, although differing in their approach to understanding, maintain the same purpose in reflecting upon the study of theology— to develop a connection between…

Samuel Clarke set out to refute Thomas Hobbes in his second set of Boyle Lectures: A discourse Concerning the Unalterable Obligations of Natural Religion, to do so Clarke stated in it that there are different relations among people. Which he goes on to explain that from these relations arise “Fitness” and “unfitness” in behavior among people. To explain this, we must look at the relationship between man and god. The relationship between man and god is infinitely disproportional, there for as…

From the class I’ve learned that there are two kinds of evil, natural evil and moral evil. Natural evils are natural circumstances such as tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes. Moral evil results from human actions such as murder, theft and rape. The question that is risen if God is all good, then why does evil and suffering exist in the world? Just within the last few months, on the news there have been reports of tragic school shootings and natural disasters, and if God is all good why does…

A common way of arguing against the existence or goodness of God is to present the problem of pain: “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both” (The Problem of Pain 23). C.S. Lewis attempts to answer the intellectual question by first explaining the four components of religious development, then explaining the origin…

Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are most prominently known for their discussions of God and the happy life. For them, God is related to a happy life but that happy life is vastly different for them both. In this essay, I’ll discuss Augustine and Aquinas’s view on the happy life but specifically the role of friendship in achieving happiness. I will focus on Augustine’s De Beata Vita (DBV) and City of God (COG) and Aquinas’s Summa Theologicae (SV). First, I will discuss Augustines view of the…