Faith is what truly kills doubt. To have faith is a great thing because it helps us believe in a religion, without it people would not have religions. The foundation for religion is faith, if everything was proven then we would not need religion, but science cannot answer everything. Anyone who is mentally stable and can think for themselves knows that science cannot answer all of life’s questions and it is based on theories that cannot be proven. Bill Maher had the audacity to say “religion is a neurological disorder”.
Christianity has organised its principal beliefs into a structured systematic theology in which it draws its sacred writings and traditions from. These principal beliefs include the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the death and resurrection, the Trinity, revelation and salvation. Through the ethical and moral teachings of Christianity and characteristics of religions which consist of sacred texts and writings, rituals and ceremonies, beliefs and believers and ethics; these beliefs can be expressed and connected with the life of adherent’s. The divinity and humanity beliefs identify that Jesus Christ was both fully divine and human, and that he is the second being of the trinity. This intended that he was the divine Son of God and recognised as being ‘one with the Father’.
Hare also responds to the falsification principle, showing that religious statements are meaningful even though they cannot be falsified because they have a significant impact for the people using the statement. Religious believers adopt bliks for example “god is a loving father” cannot be falsified but it is still meaningful because of the
Spiritual gifts according to Dr. Elmer Towns are described as being “from the Holy Spirit, they are bestowed to all believers, for use in Christian service, spiritual abilities discovered when in proper relationship, and to be exercised by us.” Gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit, to be used for the common good, that the church may be edified. When people are using spiritual gifts in ministry or to evangelize, the results are such that the individual cannot take credit for them. If you are working in your own power, there will be nothing supernatural about your works, When someone is working under the power of the spirit, it is spirit that has ability, not the human, this is evident in the works. Most people believe that spiritual gifts are received at the time of conversion; some believe that they are received at birth, either way; they can lie dormant to be developed at a later time. The number of gifts a person receives can differ from person to person and can grow as faithfulness is exercised.
The argument from religious experience states that if we can experience God, then surely God must exist because what we experience must be real. There are many philosophers that try to explain this but the one I am going to focus on in this essay is William James. James defines religious experience as though it should be the primary topic in the study if religion rather than religious institutions, since institutions are merely the social descendent of genius. He also defines a religious experience as, 'The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatsoever they may consider divine.’ To James a prominent feature of religious experience is mysticism. He says, '...propose to you four marks which, when an experience has them, may justify us in calling it mystical...' The marks to which he is referring to are inefficiently, notices quality, transiency and passivity.
Can the conception of God simply be universally acknowledged and accepted by everyone, everywhere? If there is conception of God, then the idea of God should exist. The initial presentation states, “you who grant understanding to faith, grant that, insofar as you know it is useful for me, I may understand that you exist as we believe you exist, and that you are what we believe you to be.”(Encountering the Real Faith and Philosophical Enquiry; “Anselms Ontological Argument” – St. Anselm, pg. 139). It is always difficult to understand and comprehend for anything to exist realistically.
Critically assess with reference to William James, the argument from religious experience. The argument from religious experience seems to state that we can experience God and therefore God must exist, for surely what we experience must be real. William James, American psychologist and philosopher, worked to expand on and validate this topic. James defined religious experience as ‘The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatsoever they may consider divine.’ He then identified the four types of mystical experiences: ineffable, noetic, transient, passive. An ineffable experience is one that cannot easily be articulated.
Defining Words of Worship Leslie Roberson WRSP 510 Biblical Foundations of Worship Dr. Rodney Whaley February 26, 2014 Introduction According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Online Dictionary, worship is “reverence offered a divine being as well as the act of expressing reverence.” Another definition is that “worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and
Many people would not agree that Christianity and theology cannot be integrated, but in actuality it can. This book helps the reader understand the basics of what psychology and theology is and how it can be integrated beautifully if you take the right steps and don’t remain open minded to your view of the world. Worldview, as defined by Entwistle, is “a set of presuppositions which we hold about the basic make-up of the world” (Entwistle, 2010 p.56). Our worldview assumptions whether it is true or not, plays a major role in how we relate psychology and Christianity. Every individual will have their own truth because the lens through which they see the world is biased.
William James interpretation of Personal religion was that individuals can have a religious experience and can be experienced regardless of whatever culture he or she is from. William James was interested in personal religion more than institutional religion. Sigmund Freud thinks of God as being a father image. Sigmund Freud thinks that having more than one religion is dysfunctional and alienates people. References James, William.