Spirituality

Richard Rohr’s work titled Silent Compassion seeks to find God in contemplation. In Rohr’s fourth chapter he states “God is another word for the heart of everything and for everything precisely in its connectedness. When you say you love God, you are saying you love everything” (p. 49). After being halted by those words and stopping to reread the phrase, I began to contemplate Rohr’s words and the meaning behind them. Through the use of this response, I will explain what Rohr means behind the…

Have you ever read the song “Praying” by Kesha and wondering what the connotation could be? When you are looking at the denotation do you ever try to figure out the figurative language, then you are beginning to understand what the author it's trying to convey. The format of the song helps us understand the tone shift and the songs meaning. The song “Praying” by Kesha is about a girl confessing her love about a guy and getting hurt. The first stanza talks about her thanking him because he…

There are a variety of factors and experiences that motivate or drive people to attend church and/or religious ceremonies. These factors can include religious devotion, obedience to God’s word, to fulfill a sense of community, emotional distress, a source of accountability, family tradition, and spiritual growth and guidance. Religious devotion is an aspect of religion that is vitally important in Christianity. Even so, not all individuals that attend church feel religious fervor towards God…

Rudolf Otto (1869 - 1937) greatly contributed to the discussion of religious feeling and knowledge in attempting to characterize the “numinous” as an underlying core of all religious experiences. In his The Idea of the Holy (1917), Otto sought to explore the category of the Holy through what he referred to as the "numinous consciousness." This essay will first analyze his fundamental theory of the “numinous” experience, and then examine the notion of the “numen,” the object and source of the…

No, don't confuse a term with a description of the actions and values held by the individual claiming to operate under that term; so, you could be a paedophile telling me, since paedophilia exists then what you tell me is true,- saying, Sarah you are deluded and irrational just do as I tell you. Let me ask once again, give me the evidence that atheism is true, if I have to ask again I will start putting up the number of times I have asked this question of you, its very easy you have made some…

American philosopher and Harvard psychologist William James once said that the very core of religion is experience and emotion—all else revolves around experience. In his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, he defines religion as “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine” (James 38). Experience plays a key role in the understanding of…

The Divine and the Sentiment Extending the Boundaries of Language The spiritual light is not actually a light. It is, as Jonathan Edwards describes, a form of knowledge that is directly received from God instead of natural means (Puckett 76). Unfortunately, that is the closest definition that Edwards can arrive upon—and the closest his readers can comprehend—because one must first experience this spiritual light before he can actualize its definition. As Edwards claims, “there is a difference…

Prayer. It is the basis of all religion. It is a somber plea for help or an expression of gratitude address to God. The belief in God and the power of prayer was and is always the answer to life’s difficulties. If a loved one needed a surgical procedure performed, a church congregation would pray to God so that he may touch the hands of the surgeon for a safe procedure. If there is a natural disaster somewhere in the world, pray so that God will provide food and shelter to the afflicted. God and…

In society today apperance and health concerns play a vast majority in our everyday lives. Furthermore, even relugious traditions have grown rapidly and has been altered in countless different forms. Wheter it was looks or religous beliefs the Naciremas presented a abounding amount of advanced human behavior in their own unique way. From medicine men, holy-mouth-men,their ritual life, and their concern for their health, their advanced actions were displayed numerous times throghout their daily…

James Fowler developed a theory that explores six stages of spiritual development. The last stage, universalizing faith is characterized by an ability to overcome specific belief systems and “experience a sense of connection with all beings” (Balswick, King, & Reimer, 2005, p.272). It is also characterized by a commitment to overcoming division. This stage of spiritual development is something I desire. When I consider what inside of me hinders me from operating from this place it is usually…