“ A Symbol can provide a meaningful way to talk about God.” Discuss A symbol is something that represents something else. Symbolic language is evocative in the sense that it brings strong images, memories or feelings to mind when you look at it or read it. The purpose of these strong images or feelings, like any religious language, is to generate the meaning to an individual to exactly what God is. By meaning I talk of something which corresponds to actuality. A symbol is not literally stating what something is; instead it acts like a road sign to point you in the direction of where the truth lies.
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.
Analyse the ways history and memory generate compelling and unexpected insights. In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing. History and memory are both multifaceted ideas that are challenged continually. History is often perceived as fact, in the recount of an event or retelling of a story that did in fact, take place. Through study however, it becomes clear that history is a consequence of memory, which makes it unreliable and changed by circumstance.
A religious experience is defined as “specific experiences such as wonder at the infinity of the cosmos, the sense of awe and mystery in thepresence of the holy, feelings of dependence on a divine power or an unseen order, the sense of guilt andanxiety accompanying belief in a divine judgment, and the feeling of peace that follows faith in divineforgiveness. Some thinkers also point to a religious aspect to the purpose of life and with the destiny of the individual. “ Richard Swinburne made the distinction between two kinds of religious experience: public, which were ordinary or extraordinary and private experiences which were describable, ineffable or non-specific. William James described religious experience as: “feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude of whatever they consider to be the divine”. He insisted that to be classified as a religious experience the event must be transitory; ineffable; noetic and passive.
“Mysticism is the conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or got through direct experience, intuition, or insight” (Wikipedia). It usually centers on a practice that is intended to nurture these experiences or awareness, it is meant to unite the diving and sacred and is an activity with a definite goal. Although mysticism is philosophically and religiously neutral it is often used in the context of strong religious motivation and is therefore often tied into religion (blessings). In Taoism salvation is attained through mysticism and the experience of enlightenment. There are many practices and beliefs in Taoism that are mystical such as the origin of the religion, theories of connection with nature, use of yin yang symbol, meditation, martial arts and magic.
It is important for one to have an important worldview. The choices about how we live and from where we draw our qualities and our feeling of importance and reason in life. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (KJ). II. The Christian/Biblical worldview of the origin of man is laid out in the book of Genesis.
The Nature of Religion Kathy Legare rel/134 May 10 2012 University of Phoenix The Nature of Religion Describe the common elements of religion. An important element in a religion is to have a Supreme Being or person to worship. Where this supreme being(s) guides and teach people how to live. That does not help or hinder the control of the nature of mankind. (Johnson, 2009) There is an unwritten code that religions have that tells the believer how to live, how to bring more in to the religion and what do if the person does not want to believe.
The essential or main responsibility of evangelical theology is defining the divine transcendence immanence within the faith shared as a believing society within a specified literary context. Grenz says this can only be accomplished by systematically exploring the concepts as an integrated whole. Then the community / society must reflect and examine its beliefs. He criticizes those evangelical theologians who forget about the fundamentalists or reformers loyalty to the Bible and go beyond the already too broad tradition of
Simsen defines spirituality by saying, “The Spirit is that part of man which is concerned with the ultimate meaning of things and with a person’s relationship to that which transcends the material.” We need to be aware that spirituality may not always be expressed within a religious framework so we need to make a distinction between spirituality and religion. One definition of Religion is “a framework of spiritual beliefs, a code of ethics that governs a person’s pursuit of that which he holds as supreme, his God.” In the
mysticism 5. An ongoing impression of a presence based upon no specific experience – just a sense that God is guiding one’s life Rudolph Otto The German thinker Otto argues that there is one common factor to all religious experiences, independent of the cultural background: numinous. The “numinous” experience has two aspects: 1. Mysterium tremendum: the tendency to invoke fear and trembling 2. Mysterium fascinas: the tendency to attract, fascinate and compel It also has a personal quality to it, in that the person feels to be in communion with a wholly other.