; Questions that can not be answered, even with modern day technology, the aid of science and the ever-growing knowledge of the world; but answers that nonetheless are needed to make sense of and give meaning and purpose to life. The origin of all religions is connected to the timeless search of our existence to humankind. One of the most significant ways in which religion creates meaning for its followers is through the understanding of the purpose of mankind. E.g. Death is understood as the end of mortality, but what people believe comes after varies with each religion.
If you’ve read the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, you probably are thinking of similar questions that I am. I’ve always wanted to know my purpose and task in life, so I decided to explore “Personal Legends” a theory from the novel. In this research paper I will enlighten you of everything anybody would even want to know about Personal Legends. The process of finding your Personal Legend can be a long and confusing trail, but starting the journey now could have a new meaning of life and how you live it. A Personal Legend in this day and age is simply defined as: “ones blessing; the path God has chosen for you here on Earth”.
Paine’s main thesis discussed in the writing was his open mindedness for others to accept other religions and not blindly follow other people with that they believe. According to Paine, people should be open minded and make their own way of their beliefs. Someone should never believe in a religion that they do not truly understand. He had written the book so others could see what others religions can bring to our civilization and acceptance of others perspective of life. Throughout the writing, Thomas Paine has many contradictions of his thoughts.
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.
Leadership involves spiritual gifts as well as natural gifts. Natural gifts are given to unbelievers as well as believers based on his grace and are given to us at birth. Spiritual gifts are those listed in the scriptures and they include many different abilities and talents. This audit also taught me that passion is important in leadership. Passion is described as “a God-given capacity to commit oneself fervently over an extended period of time to meeting an objective”.
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.
On the other hand, if he haven’t met the religions, the fear might drive him insane. “Understanding comes with life, ... sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having a sympathy for people” (Anaya 248). For Antonio, he figured out that his will eventually find the answer to his identity in the future. To truly understand, he learned to make his own decisions using his own judgement, and to be open minded to the world through Ultima’s teaching. The importance of open mindedness is truly important to both of the
To what extent can God reveal himself through sacred writings? God reveals himself through many mediums including through sacred writings, personal revelations and general revelations, like the general beauty and order in the world. In sacred writings God always either reveals rules and orders, propositional revelation or he reveals himself through, non-propositional e.g God is all loving as he created earth and sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins ; this is where sacred writings are up for debate as it is unclear and open to interpretation as to whether god wishes to reveal himself or propositions by which we should live our life; this straight away limits the extent to which God can reveal himself as people always believe there is a general message behind a sacred writing which is propositional. As well as revealed theology e.g. sacred writings, according to Thomas Aquinas we as humans can use reason to determine god’s attributes without divine intervention, this is called natural theology “The existence of God and other like truths about God, which can be known by natural reason, are not articles of faith, but are preambles to the articles; for faith presupposes natural knowledge, even as grace presupposes nature and perfection the perfectible.” So according to Thomas Aquinas natural theology consists of attributes and natures of god that we can understand e.g.
Instead of writing a paper that just explains one side of the story; I will be discussing both sides of the argument, from both points of view. I believe one can’t just look at one side of the situation and just know what to believe, there are other factors to incorporate into ones decision that need to be discussed and understood. The first idea that comes to mind when thinking about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden is what the teachings of Jesus Christ would think. According to our lord and
The understanding of her own approaching death, and her strong faith are reflected in the suspicious humor of her works. Her characters frequently experience horrifying moments that lead to a realization that uncovers their greatness. The faith in miracles and greatness in people is something that we all want to experience, however for several people this is impossible to acknowledge because they cannot be established with complete certainty. To those who have faith like Flannery, the differentiation between right and wrong is described for them by the rules and traditions of their religion. As for the people without spiritual beliefs, right and wrong must be determined individually from life experiences and the impact of society.