These statements hindered my acceptance of the Beautiful and Wonderful Gospel of Christ. One statement was “God hates gays”, although, this is untrue there are plenty of Christians who will stand by this statement, and, by effect turn many away from the Gospel. The” don’t do as I do, do as I say”, hypocritical, actions of some has pushed many away. For example, someone who is committing fornication, yet, condemns a homosexual is enough for some people to react negatively to the Good News. The issues of historical events, such as slavery, the Crusades, and the Salem witch trials, all have some impact on why people deny the Gospel.
He would look at all the funny looking people in church and concentrate on them instead of what he was supposed to hear. Lewis writes, “Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous”. I think that this book teaches how Satan can use things that were meant for good, like the church, to attack us spiritually. Prayer is another thing that Screwtape says is a means of attack. A person may perceive a certain image of what God is, like a trinket or something they have seen that reminds them of God.
Akil Hodge 9-17-10 2nd / U.S. Lit. Analysis: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God The Great Awakening was a religious movement that shocked the world and brought unbelieving people into the life of a Christian. Jonathan Edwards was a powerful, influential figure in this movement and was known for his visual sermons. His method of preaching was using fear to frighten people to convert. One of his most powerful sermons, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, used many rhetorical strategies to persuade his unsaved audience to become saved to avoid the torment of hell.
All people are born sinners. Natural men must be reborn to be saved; “…hell is waiting for them…” (Edwards 46). These views are that of Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Edwards belonged to a religion that was lingering and was close to disappearing due to the growing numbers of Christians, so he used figurative language and imagery in order to scare people back into the Puritan way of life. “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell.” (Edwards 47).
He had many more points that just charity and consistency, and they were all very important, but I thought these two were the most interesting and most controversial within today’s society. Emerson’s view on anti-religion is also a strong subject that is viewed down upon by most people. Emerson felt the Christian religion dampened the spirit rather than bringing it up. Although Emerson was against religion in some ways, he still mentions God and a “higher power” throughout his essay, so it shows that he does believe in some form of higher power. Hitchens is very anti-religious and is a well-known atheist.
A lot of Christians fear of looking at themselves on the inside because they are afraid they will become very self-absorbed. The Bible states “We all fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The biggest issue with a fallen human being is denial. Christians are often advised on only focusing on Christ rather than evaluating themselves. Things that should guide people towards repentance could potentially keep their focus looking inside themselves.
Shane lives in poverty, chooses to spend his days with the poor, and ultimately serves his enemies. Whether Shane preaches that the Church has become apathetic and over politicized, he serves a purpose to change the way Christians think about their religion. Shane cannot be called a sideline spectator either, he walks the talk, Claiborne preaches in the city of Chicago, Philadelphia, in conventions, and in Iraq, risking his life. He absolutely has moral authority and credibility in his ideas and opinions. While I do not completely agree with his whole book, Shane Claiborne speaks some truths on many ugly topics of our society.
Why is Reverend Parris so distraught? Describe his character. Find evidence to suggest that Rev Parris feels persecuted. Reverend Parris fears the worst for his reputation, if rumors/beliefs were to be going around than Rev Parris would almost defiantly be fired. Rev Parris is not so much worried for the children as he is for himself.
Repentance, is not merely feeling sorry for sin. A person may feel truly remorseful for their critical spirit, greed, or anger. As important as it is to feel the weight of our sin, these emotions are not repentance. In fact, if we accept tears as repentance, then we can actually obstruct the person from doing the really hard work of change. Reverend Dimmesdale tried really hard to change in order to feel penitent while Hester didn't try and make a change even after she was publically punished.
They believed that god was punishing humans for their sins and that god uses plagues, miserable famines, conflicts, wars and others to make people suffer who have done any harm(Answers). During the late 1340’s, this reason shows that civilians were extremely religious which made them believe that this was true since they thought god was involved in everything.Also, it shows the lack of knowledge in medicine in the world because they were going clueless on what caused the disease. This made the belief more common which encouraged churches and others to believe that the most ideal and practical answer was that they were being tested on for their cruelty. Those who thought God was disciplining them thought that the cure was to pray and punish themselves until they got back on God’s good side which reapplies to the idea of people being super religious during the 1300’s. Religiously Committed Catholics would whip themselves and would cry for God’s forgiveness showing that they believed this belief by a lot.