In regards, politics go, the Puritans had some interesting views. As John Winthrop, in “a modell of Christian charity” said, the Puritans believed their moral and divine cause, i.e. creating a community of righteous Christians gave them justification to defeat violent “heathens” often times without fair treaty, negotiation, or any other semblance of normal politic. Indeed, they truly believed themselves to be a model for Christianity that the whole world would watching, as is exemplified in the “modell of a Christian charity”. Leaders of the Church were given excessive power.
Another underlying cause to the reformation would be the abusive Church authority. Document 2 says " Fortunate pope, who can cheat Christ with his laws! Quite true, the remedy in such case is not a council" Document 5 says" But by their own invented service of God, holiness, external spiritual exhibition, founded upon human custom s and laws, they have gone astray.." and Document 11 states," Indeed, we declare, announce and define, that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human being to be subject to the Roman pontiff." These documents show the concern of the abusive Church authority and use different examples to prove it. The third underlying causes of the reformation is the straying from the Bible and or altering the scriptures.
There are people who live in a secular world, worlds that is non-religious, but who identify, in their hearts, with Christianity. They are a breed of people who are challenging the Church to become ecumenical in its thinking and if the Church will not get out into the community to help others this group will be found doing the work of the ‘Church’. Pastoral Carers and/or Ministers have challenging roles that must include these Christians who will most likely never come into their Churches. The inclusion of these people will exemplify the most powerful form of love that could ever exist, a love that is unconditional and a love that does not come with wrong motives. The traditions of man must give way to this new generation of worshippers, worshippers who are not frequenting the Church but are in the communities helping, reading ‘spiritual’ books to help them learn about being great people, and having a relationship with God.
Scripture compels us to care for the weakest among us and in fact, the weak may be in a position to experience a relationship with Christ more intimately than the person distracted by the wealth of the material world. In this paper the author will summarize the major tenants of the Liberation Theology worldview, critically analyze the flaws of this theology, describe how one might share evangelical christianity with a proponent of this worldview and in conclusion, provide a lingering challenge to evangelicals everywhere. Liberation Theology offers a lens for looking at how Christian religion meets changing political and social climates. It is contextual and correcting. Jesus is not only a savior, but also a liberator.
Thesis Statement: In David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, it seemed that Christianity was one of the main components of his appeal. Walker evaluated the hypocrisy of American (white) Christianity; he exposed how the white man would abuse Christianity. Walker also has a purpose, he wanted to show social justice of the mission of Christ while showing the importance of the religion, and how it helped motivate and bring the enslaved and free African Americans together. Walker finally, wanted to show how the white Christians were abiding by a sinful institute, who mankind really should be abiding too (being a true Christian), and the freedoms that God gave us. Walker wanted to show that although the Americans had the knowledge of what Christianity really
This act of nailing his Thesis to the church door has become a symbolic defining moment of the birth of the Protestant Reformation. * In conclusion, Martin Luther was disillusioned with the Church of Rome because of the unbiblical behavior of church officials, the sale of indulgences, and the amount of power given by the Church to its hierarchy. Luther became a prominent theologian; his desire for people to feel closer to God led him to translate the Bible into the language of the people, radically changing the relationship between church leaders and their followers.
Christianity is under attack not only by those within Christianity, but also by those in cults and other faiths. C.S. Lewis, who was one of the best-known apologists of the 20th century, said, To be ignorant and simple now--not to be able to meet the enemies on their [1]ground--would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered (The Weight of Glory, 50). 2 EXPERIENTIAL APOLOGETICS One form of apologetics is called “Experiential Apologetics”.
John Blake writes about his interview with pastor, Andy Stanley, in his article “A New Challenge for Andy Stanley.” In the article, Stanley says, “What preachers once taught as biblical truth-slavery is sanctioned by God; women aren’t allowed to preach; gambling and dancing are sins-is now rejected by many churches.” This not only confirms that America’s society does change to accommodate other beliefs, but also that these changes can be good things. The Civil War proves my previous point that these changes don’t always come easily. Today, we are faced with the tension of integrating minority religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism into a Judeo-Christian society due to ignorance and fear of Muslims. We can only speculate what the future holds for these groups and American Society. However, based on what I know of our nation’s history, I expect great things in the end.
The Disguised Truth About American Christianity In “The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong,” Bill Mckibben argues that the way Americans view the messages and teachings Christianity displays are far from what the Gospels of the Bible actually say and teach. McKibben points out how our nation is the most outspoken when it comes to Christianity. However, he later goes on to claim that as the most outspoken of the Christian nations our actions and decisions do not reflect what we preach. It is this contradiction that McKibben insists is the paradox of our Christianity in America. According to a statistic laid out by McKibben, seventy-five percent of the American population is under the belief that “God helps those who
In chapter 2 of “The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism” Keller discusses one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Christianity; how could a good loving God allow suffering? I have heard this question or a form of it many times. “Where was God” “How could God allow this to happen?” “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people, yet let evil people go free?” Suffering and the questions that come along with it are not something new to the world. They were asked even hundreds of years ago. Job 10:8-9 states “Your hands shaped me and made me.