Immaculate Conception

There are various symbols for religious imagination and its not common to re-imagine or re-symbolize the traditional concept of God; but its good to try and see God from other peoples points of view, to have an open mind about the understanding of God. Author, Judith Plaskow argues in her story, "Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective" about the images and numerous metaphors of God. "If identifying God with a particular set of metaphors both limits God and supports a…

Introduction & Thesis Identification For humans, the concept of the trinity has bewildered many of us for quite some time. I am fully convinced we will never know the concept of our triune God in its entirety this side of eternity. Though we cannot understand it fully, there is a plethora of knowledge we can obtain on God’s trinitarian nature. Saying God is triune actually has vital implications for us as Christians regarding topics such as the internal consistency of scripture, our salvation,…

Over the past few years I have struggled to figure out what my own religious value system was built upon. Particularly during the past four years at Bradley University, I have become more intrigued with discovering my spirituality. In order to build my ethos in this discussion I am obligated to address issues and make decisions that I have avoided for so long, but I believe that this process will ultimately be beneficial to both my audience and myself. Picking whether I believe in science or…

The Existential Self According to McLeod (2008), the existential self is one of the most fundamental aspects of the concept of self because it not only describes an individual’s sense of distinction and separation from others, but also the awareness of the fidelity of the “self.” Put simply, McLeod (2008) states that the existential self, examines an individual’s perception of their own existence. Usually, the awareness of one’s own existence begins to set in between the first two to three…

I grew up in church, I remember going to church every Sunday. So when I entered first grade and was around the age of six I had the opportunity to save the salvation prayer and I took it. A couple of years went by and I was in the third grade when I made a group of friends at school who were homeschooled and I went to public school. This was one difference that I feel started my comparing my walk of faith to. To me they were perfect and where doing everything God wanted but I felt as if I failed…

If she were alive, she would be over 3000 years old. She lived during a different time than I do. She spoke a different language and had a different ethnicity than I have. She came from a distant land with beliefs that are unlike mine. Despite our differences, I have learned much from Ruth. At the introduction to her story, she had been recently widowed. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, was also a widow. When Naomi decides to return to live in her hometown of Bethlehem, Ruth goes with her out of her…

finally settled in Ohio, after my dad got released, we began regularly attending it. There I learned a very different God than I know today. There I was introduced to what I would spend nearly every day wrestling with for a very, very long time. My conceptions of God started off obviously very conservative. Almost more extreme than commonly viewed conservative opinions of the Christian divine I would say. God started out as a male figure, above all, deciding my behavior, clothing, pass-times,…

THEMATIC ANALYSIS SELF PERCEPTION / OTHERS Body image is a multidimensional concept that is comprised of perceptual, attitudinal, and affective components (Gardner, Stark, Friedman, & Jackson, 2002; Striegel-Moore & Franko, 2002; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). Body image generally refers to how one perceives his/her body and the resultant feelings about that perception. A person's body image is thought to be, in part, a product of their personal experiences, personality,…

In “God in the Doorway,” Annie Dillard conveys a shift in her perception of God by associating fearful childhood experiences with her current interpersonal relationship with God. Santa Claus appears at Dillard’s doorway on Christmas Eve and as a young girl Dillard reacts in fear of a powerful, omniscient god-like figure and runs away. (M.S. 1) Dillard later realizes Miss White, her elderly neighbor, dressed-up as Santa Claus intending to shape a loving relationship with Dillard. Miss White…

Descartes: Proofs for God existence and the nature of human’s mistakes Rene Descartes, a famous French philosophy, was known as “the Father of modern philosophy”. With his formidable and broad knowledge, Descartes fostered his desire to seek for only true beliefs that were certain and indubitably true. In his work, the Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes reiterated his intellectual process of doubting and questioning all the essences of corporeal and intangible…