hile other beings are considered to have love or act in loving ways, only God is determined to be love. Every action executed by God is derived from this essential principle that He is love. Love is the lens though which we understand and interpret all of God's actions.
The love of God is described by the use of the word agape in the Epistle of John. Agape love is unique to God, and proceeds from God to others. "Love is God's essence" (Kreeft 95) Thus to state that God is agape is to speak of God in terms that are the most accurate representation of the divine. The New Testament employs other words to express the tender bonds between human beings, (philla, and eros) that are translated love. However, they do not assume the same immensity and generosity of person, as agape.
"God is love." is the center of doctrine…...
mlaWorks Cited
"Encyclical Letter." Benedict XVI Encyclicals. 2005. Web. 28 Sept. 2010.
Evans, Luther D. "Two Intellectually Respectable Conceptions of God." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 10.4 (1950): 572-577.
Kreeft, Peter. The God Who Loves You: "Loves Divine, all Loves Excelling." Michigan:
Servant Books, 2004.
Christianity
Why should Christian theology be contextual? Explore this by referring to four important issues such as culture, liberation theology, feminist theology, and queer theology.
Christian theology should be contextual because religious expression is dependent on culture. Historical and cultural context have continually impacted the development of Christian theology. Biblical allegories and the gospels are contextual in that they refer to the life and times of Christ, with additional references to Hebraic culture and values. Paul's subsequent neoplatonic stamp on Christianity likewise must be appreciated within its cultural and historical context. The artifice of papal doctrine is in the preposterous assumption that Christian theology is somehow absolute. In fact, theology shifts according to the semiotics of culture and the language used to cloak the Christian vision in terms understandable to the audience.
Christian theology has essential, core elements, which do not lend themselves to contextualization. For example, fundamental issues like monotheism and concepts…...
mlaReferences
Althaus-Reid, M., 2005. From the Goddess to Queer Theology: the state we are in now. Feminist Theology 13(2): 265-272.
Boff, L. & Boff, C., 2004. Introducing Liberation Theology. Translated by P. Burns. New York: Maryknoll.
Cheng, P.S. 2011. Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology. New York: Seabury/Church.
"Liberation Theology." [Online]. Accessed: http://www.globalchristians.org/politics/2/Liberation%20Theology.pdf
At its core, McGrath's work is an attempt to take a logical structure to the deeply rooted mysteries of the bible. His purpose is to draw conclusions regarding the nature of Christian Theology through the application of scientifically derived, systematic logical constructs. Does he succeed? In some ways yes, he does expose the complexities-or contradictory-ideals that have persisted since the dawn of the philosophy. McGrath is very adept at drawing parallels that can cause an individual to question the very nature of Christian Theology. Ultimately, however, in my opinion, McGrath takes full advantage of his analysis to not simply lay open the main theories of Christianity to be picked at and over analyzed but rather, through analogy makes the supposition and the case-quite persuasively-that Christians think the way they do because of an unrelenting, unwavering trust or "faith" in a divine presence they cannot…...
Christian Science
Many of the most famous scientists in world history also happened to believe in God: including Copernicus, Bacon, Kepler, Gallileo, and Newton ("Famous Scientists Who Believed in God," n.d.). These great scientists had no trouble reconciling their faith with their practice; their Christian beliefs with their research and investigations into the known universe. Yet science has morphed from an integrated realm of study to one that excludes religion from its ranks. It has become anathema to be a practicing Christian and a practicing scientist. It does not have to be; in fact, science and religion comfortably coexist and each can benefit the other.
One of the arguments against Christians being able to be good scientists is that they are too prone to personal bias. Sure, some Christians are prone to bias, but so is any scientist. Scientists are biased by their personal beliefs no matter where those beliefs come from.…...
mlaReferences
Boyce, K.A. (2001). Do science and Christianity coexist? Bede's Library. Retrieved online: http://bede.org.uk/boyce.htm
"Famous Scientists Who Believed in God," (n.d.). Retrieved online: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html
Lloyd, R. (2008). God and evolution can co-exist, scientist says. Live Science. Retrieved online: http://www.livescience.com/5195-god-evolution-exist-scientist.html
Samuel, S. (2011). Can science, creationism coexist? Christian Post. June 19, 2011. Retrieved online: http://www.christianpost.com/news/can-science-and-creationism-coexist-one-christian-author-says-yes-51315/
Ultimately, it is inconceivable why any God, much less a loving God, would ever conceive of a universe in which His creatures had no will of their own or were not free to accept His offer of love or to reject it. Salvation, therefore, cannot be predestined and must be a function of human choice or election, precisely because love without choice is not "love" at all.
orks Cited
Armstrong, Karen. 1993. A History of God. London: Heinemann.
Bennet, David. 2004. Predestined for Free ill. Online. Available from the Internet, www.freewill-predestination.com/,accessed18 March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009. http://www.freewill-predestination.com/,accessed18 March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009.
Capoccia, Tony. 2009. Bible Questions and Answers Part 19. Online. Available from the Internet, http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/1301-Q-11.htm. accessed18 March 2009.
Deem, Richard. 2008. Predestination vs. Free ill - Is it One or the Other? Online. Available from the Internet, http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/predestination.html,accessed18 March 2009.
Dennett, Daniel, C. 2003. Freedom Evolves. New York:…...
mlaWorks Cited
Armstrong, Karen. 1993. A History of God. London: Heinemann.
Bennet, David. 2004. Predestined for Free Will. Online. Available from the Internet, www.freewill-predestination.com/,accessed18 March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009. March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009. accessed 18 March 2009.http://www.freewill-predestination.com/,accessed18
Capoccia, Tony. 2009. Bible Questions and Answers Part 19. Online. Available from the Internet, accessed18 March 2009.http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/1301-Q-11.htm .
Deem, Richard. 2008. Predestination vs. Free Will - Is it One or the Other? Online. Available from the Internet, March 2009.http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/predestination.html,accessed18
Christian Worldview
The author of this brief report has been asked to ponder and consider the words and actions of classical authors such as Socrates and Descartes. With Socrates, it could easily be argued that he behaved and carried himself in a Christian way. Even with that, there are clear divergences between Christian philosophy and classical antiquity and those will be explored. Also up for debate are the subjects of doubt and in what ways Descartes pondered this. While there is a lot of classical literature that is devoid of Christian mention, there are some principles and standards put forth that are very reminiscent of, and similar to, the Christian mindset and ideology.
As for three things that are different between classical antiquity and Christian-based theology, one thing that is clear is that the people of those days obviously believed in a number of Gods and, quite often, the Christian God was…...
mlaReferences
Bible Hub. (2016). Philosophy Vs. Christianity. Biblehub.com. Retrieved 30 November 2016,
from http://biblehub.com/library/golden/conversion_of_a_high_priest_into_a_christian_
worker/chapter_v_philosophy_vs_christianity.htm
ESM. (2011). Socrates vs. Christianity. The Ancient Greeks: Tragedy, Philosophy, and Politics.
Christian
This course changed my concept of what it meant to be a Christian in three fundamental ways, all focused on what it means to me to be a Christian in modern society, rather than on the theological underpinnings of Christianity. This course helped me realize that Christianity is not merely a system of belief, which is how many people conceive of religion. Instead, Christianity must be a combination of action and belief. However, it also made me more committed to some of the fundamental underpinnings of Christian theology, which I had admittedly abandoned in my own desire to equate being a Christian with being a good person and trying to do the right thing. However, reading this book, I came to the realization that I was failing to embrace all of Christianity. Just as it is necessary, but not sufficient, to be a good person in order to honestly…...
mlaReferences
Towns, Elmer. (2007). Core Christianity. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.
Chistian counseling has become an impotant teatment modality fo a gowing numbe of health cae pactitiones and patients acoss the county in ecent yeas. Intoduced duing the ealy 1980s, Chistian counseling advocates integating eligious pactices and beliefs founded on eligious taditions with psychotheapeutic techniques to povide an optimal appoach to helping people cope with a wide ange of pesonal poblems and family issues. The pupose of this study is to povide a citical and systematic eview of the elevant liteatue in geneal and Gay R. Collins's book, Chistian Counseling: A Compehensive Guide (2007) in paticula, concening the oigins and tends in Chistian counseling and how this appoach can be used to povide the timely and essential inteventions that can help people bette cope with pesonal and family poblems. A summay of the eseach and impotant findings concening these issues ae pesented in the study's conclusion.
Table of Contents
1.0 Chapte 1: Intoduction
1.1…...
mlareferences regarding prayer as a counseling intervention. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 35(4), 328-340.
West, W.S. (2004). Spiritual issues in therapy -- Relating experience to practice. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Wood, G.D. & Ellis, R.C. (2003). Risk management practices of leading UK cost consultants. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 10(4), 254-262.
Christian Beginnings by M.S. Enslin
Morton Scott Enslin's book "Christian Beginnings" is about exactly what the title says. It deals with how Christianity came about, but it goes back much farther than Jesus Christ. Most information that deals with the beginning of Christianity starts out with Jesus and his followers, but Enslin does not get to that until Chapter 10, which is in part II of the book. The first part looks at the rule of Herod and an understanding of Judaism. While these are not specifically Christian in nature, they had to do with the beginnings of Christianity and they must be understood before the rise of Christianity is understood. The first part of the book talks about this understanding of what happened before Christianity came about, and the second part of the book is more familiar to Christians and those that have heard various teachings of the Christian religion.…...
Christian-Based Ethics in Business
Ethics
Having strong ethics is vital to the success of an organization but often that component is bypassed in the name of profit. With a strong ethical foundation, an organization will perhaps face more obstacles but will also have a better opportunity for success and longevity. Society, particularly American society, has changed greatly within the past 50 years, and continues to evolve. And with those changes, value systems and the emphasis placed on them changes as well. At the same time, society has dealt with large technological advances. And of course, as knowledge and technology increase, new questions and situations arise to challenge society's morals and ethics. Inadvertent disclosure of information becomes more prevalent as more people become involved in document handling. And the more documents that are handled by more people, conflict of interest may arise, with the potential to threaten the organization.
Particularly in the recent past…...
mlaResources
Bagley, C.E., & Savage, D.W. (2010). Managers and the Legal Environment. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Harmeling, S., Sarasvathy, S., & Freeman, R. (2009). Related debates in ethics and entrepreneurship: Values, opportunities, and contingency. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(3), 341-365. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9713-4.
Lee, S. (2009). Guiding your small-business clients through the downturn maze. Journal of Financial Planning, 22(5), 24-29. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
Madsen, A. (2009). Navigating tough conflict of interest situations. Nonprofit World, 27(1), 18-19. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
The moment when the line first cut into his hands in similar to the one when Christ's hands were nailed to the cross. Most readers are likely to make a connection between the two images at this point as the stigmata is an element which is present in both Santiago and in Christ.
Hemingway himself wants readers to be certain that the injured hand is an essential factor working as support to the comparison made between Christ and Santiago. The "Ay" exclamation also reinforces this belief. "There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood" (Hemingway, 1984, p. 82). Both the sufferings experienced by Christ and by Santiago have been made so that life will go on in peace.
Santiago stands as a living martyr (if such a concept…...
mlaWorks cited:
1. Clark Pratt, John "My Pilgrimage: Fishing for Religion with Hemingway," The Hemingway Review 21.1 (2001).
2. Hemingway, Ernest. (1984). The old man and the sea. Barron's Educational Series.
3. Dunlavy Valenti, Patricia ed., Understanding the Old Man and the Sea: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002).
John Clark Pratt, "My Pilgrimage: Fishing for Religion with Hemingway," The Hemingway Review 21.1 (2001).
Christian Spiritual Revival
From the time of creation rivals have been the greatest force in history. hrough revival human beings are brought out of darkness to live in the light. Revival in the Christian life is essentially a renewal of heart; a time of turning away from sin, which brings death, and a turning toward Jesus, who brings life. he word revival means to "live again," derived from two Latin roots re- (again), and vivere (to live). Just as an EM zaps the heart of his patient back to life with a surge of electricity, so to the Holy Spirit works in the life of individuals, and, at times, in whole Christian Communities to bring the back lost vitality; reawakening faith in God, and restores one's commitment to being His disciple. his paper will briefly explore four condition of an authentic spiritual revival found in II Chronicles 7:14, and comment on…...
mlaThe first two conditions for revival are humility and prayer. The word "humility" is derived from the Latin word humus, which means earth or ground. To be humble, then, suggest lowering oneself, toward the ground. It is necessary for revival because in making oneself, and one's opinions, lower or less important, one recognizes the One who is higher -- namely, Almighty God. After humility, prayer naturally follows. A great example of humility and prayer today comes from John Hamilton, a Texas Ranger outfielder, who recently admitted that his addiction to drugs and alcohol came about because he "took God out of first place."[footnoteRef:2] Now in recovery, Mr. Hamilton shares his story and tells people, "when you fail, God wants you to respond to it by coming to Him and asking for help."[footnoteRef:3] [2: Audrey Barrick, "Josh Hamilton Tells Megachurch 'God First,'" The Christian Post (November 8, 2008), (accessed November 2010).] [3: Ibid.]http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101108/josh-hamilton-tells-megachurch-god-first
The next two conditions for revival are seeking God and repentance. In order to live again, God says that one must seek his face and turn from their wicked ways. These two conditions show one motion, a turn, which has two effects. It calls the soul to turn away from evil and toward good. The revival of career criminal, Mark Rowan, sheds light on the awesome power of such a turn. According to his autobiography,[footnoteRef:4] Rowan led a dark life of crime and lawlessness until one day he came to Christ. He now leads hundreds of people to Christ through his dynamic testimony of faith. [4: Mark Rowan, Condemned: The Transformation of a Violent Gang Leader, (Monarch Books, 2008)]
As long as there is human frailty and weakness, there will be a need to heal, to be restored, and to live again. I experience this need for revival in my own life. I find myself being prideful, when I should be humble. At times, I pray only when I need things instead of out of love for the One who made me. I seek my own will instead of searching for God's face. And I do not always turn away from my wickedness. However, there are moments when the Holy Spirit's voice in my heart is discernable and I am able to be humble, prayerful, and close to God. I pray that these moments increase so that I can live again and again in the light of God's grace.
Greek bishops could also marry, although such alliances prevent them from rising in position in the church, where Roman priests took celibacy vows. Regarding doctrine, some could Latin approach as more practical and judicial, while the Greek was more speculative about the nature of the Godhead.
Question
Martin Luther founded the Lutheran branch of Protestant Christianity. Luther rejected the authority of the Catholic Pope. The Bible alone was the ultimate authority for Luther. Salvation was by grace and by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Luther retained the sacraments of baptism, penance and Holy Communion and he held that in the Holy Communion the consecrated bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ
However, he rejected the ideas of purgatory, indulgences, invocation of the Saints, and prayers for the dead.
In contrast, while John Calvin also rejected the Pope, he believed that God alone could dispense salvation, holding to the doctrine of…...
' At that moment, I came to realize that I have to set a good example for him by being strong and facing up to my circumstances. Remembering the special times that my mother and I shared as a little girl in our worship, I started going to church again and prayed to Him for help and guidance. Even today, I remember very clearly how I cried out to Him for help and asked Him what I should do in order to be saved. This was a turning point in my life because I felt so empty and lost but I knew in my heart that things were going to be okay.
One day not too long after this turning point in my life, I met a man who completely blew me away. At the time, I was with my friends visiting Las Vegas (I was not drinking anymore). We met…...
As to whether it makes a substantive difference whether a Christian enters into a partnership or a corporation with a non-Christian, Scripture does not offer a clear-cut answer to this. Paul advises in 2 Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not equally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" This might legitimately be construed to mean that one should not enter into a business partnership because this implies a relationship of equality. However, it is equally valid to come to the conclusion that the equality that Paul is referring to here is a spiritual one. So long as a Christian does not try to engage on an equal level in spiritual matters with a non-Christian, then she or he can engage in matters of the world.
James 4:4-5 offers some important insight into these questions. The key questions that the Christian must…...
mlaReferences
Storms, S. (2008). The Life of the Church in the World vs. The Life of the World in the Church (2 Cor. 6:14-16a). Retrieved from http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/the-life-of-the-church-in-the-world-vs.-the-life-of-the-world-in-the-church-2-cor-614-16a/
1. Analyze Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways to prove the existence of God and evaluate their effectiveness in addressing modern scientific and philosophical challenges.
2. Compare and contrast Thomas Aquinas' views on natural law and ethics with those of other prominent philosophers, such as Aristotle or Immanuel Kant.
3. Investigate how Thomas Aquinas' theology influenced the development of Western Christian thought and the relationship between faith and reason in his writings.
4. Examine Thomas Aquinas' concept of the soul and its relationship to the body, and explore how it differs from other philosophical and theological perspectives on the nature of the human person.
5. Discuss....
The dynamic intersection between philosophical ethics and Christian theology is a complex and rich area of study that involves examining the moral principles and values that guide human behavior and decision-making, in both secular and religious contexts. This paper aims to explore this intersection, tracing the historical development of ethical thought in Western philosophy and Christian theology, and examining the ways in which these two disciplines have influenced each other over time.
One of the central themes in this exploration is the concept of moral realism, which asserts that moral values and principles are objective and independent of human beliefs or....
The Dynamic Intersection between Philosophical Ethics and Christian Theology
Introduction
The relationship between philosophical ethics and Christian theology is multifaceted and dynamic, characterized by both convergence and divergence. This paper explores this intersection, examining the shared concerns, contrasting perspectives, and reciprocal influences between these two disciplines.
Shared Concerns
One key area of convergence is the common concern with moral values and human conduct. Both philosophical ethics and Christian theology seek to provide a framework for understanding right and wrong, guiding individuals toward virtuous actions. Both disciplines acknowledge the importance of love, justice, and mercy, recognizing the inherent value and dignity of all human beings.
Contrasting....
1. The significance of Jesus' teachings and parables in the New Testament
2. The role of the apostles in spreading the message of Christianity in the New Testament
3. The themes of love, forgiveness, and redemption in the New Testament
4. The impact of Paul's letters on shaping early Christian beliefs in the New Testament
5. The relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament in terms of fulfillment and continuation of prophecy
6. The importance of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament and its implications for Christian faith
7. The cultural and historical context of the New Testament and its influence on....
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