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As I have studied Lionel Corbett’s Psychology and the Sacred: Spirituality beyond Religion (2007) throughout the quarter, I have been intrigued by his messages, as well as the language he uses to convey them. It has been quite clear that Corbett’s intentions are good ones, and his words are very inspiring, whether or not I agree with him on all matters. However, as I have examined linguistics throughout the last few months, specifically the ways in which we talk about spirituality and emotion, my focus in reading Corbett has shifted from just his message, to the way he talks about that message as well. As grand as his ideas may be, they are still confined to language we all understand; he is subjected to borrow the tools and context from ideas …show more content…
Ideas like his are harmfully divisive, pitting the secular and the spiritual against one another, while divisiveness is the exact opposite of Corbett’s goal. In expanding the numinous past the confines of religion, Corbett simultaneously locks out the Western world from his idea of the numinous. But the numinous transcends religion as he proposes, it seems to me that the numinous should also transcend belief in the supernatural. This is because, to me, the “spiritual” lives within emotion, not the physical or supernatural world. While it may be true that there is a positive correlation between spirituality and numinous moments, as my high school psychology teacher used to tell us daily, correlation does not equal causation. The explanation could simply be that self-named spiritual people actively look for numinous moments in spiritual settings, while a-spiritual people do not. More importantly, the a-spiritual may be searching for and finding numinous experiences, but calling those moments by different names such as “aha moments,” or moments of bliss, euphoria, and joy. Just as I have found it within the secular world, holding steadfastly to the belief that there is no greater, illusive power, so anyone else can find the numinous in any facet of their life they deem
Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a novel in which religion is of great importance. One of the main themes in this novel is faith in God and oneself, and even more, the conflict between belief and doubt. Irving writes in such a way, that this is very evident throughout the book. John Wheelwright, at the start of the novel, is a young boy who does not seem to know much about how strong his faith really is. Part of the reason for this, is that the choice between believing in and doubting God is that there isn’t any complete evidence that He even exists.
Christianity, Judaism, Islam. These are only a few of the many religions in this world. How does one choose which religion to follow? Is it their background, nationality, belief, or because that’s the only thing they have always known or come in contact with? The concept of religion is a complex one, a concept to be investigated and questioned. This is the journey that Antonio Marex Luna explores in Rudolfo Anaya’s (1972) Chicano novel Bless Me, Ultima.
Zora Neale Hurston described the study of anthropology as a spy-glass, an illuminating lens (1). Anthropology is defined as the scientific study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans (2). Through this study and with the aid of an essay defining human nature written by Cardinal Jean Daniello, we can take a closer look at the behavior of the characters in Hurston's novels Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jonah's Gourd Vine. Hurston uses her anthropological lens to create complex characters in these two works.
implacability of the natural world, the impartial perfection ofscience, the heartbreak of history. The narrative is permeated with insights about language itself, its power to distort and destroy meaning, and to restore it again to those with stalwart hearts.
In today’s society, there are two topics of conversation that most people shy away from discussing in order to avoid the endless debates and pointless agreements these topics can evoke with a mere mention of them; debates which educate no one on a different point of view but only cause people to fight with relentless passion to defend their own view. These two hot button topics are religion and politics. Even though the touchy nature of these topics is widely known, Thomas Mardik decided to disregard this notion and discuss his religious beliefs in the semi public manner by making them the topic of his “This I Believe” essay. The main belief he discussed was a basic one and is fairly common; millions of others all over the world hold this same belief to be true. This belief is the belief in God. The purpose of his paper was to inform his audience of his belief and to explain aspects of his belief, events that have strengthened his belief, and ways his belief is part of his life. Thomas’s essay is a semi success mostly due the ways he tries to appeal to his audience in the three different areas. These three areas of appeal are logos, ethos, and pathos. Today I will be analysis how Thomas used logos ethos and pathos in his essay.
David Entwistle's (2010) Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is geared more towards Christians with conservative evangelical views and provides the reader an outline to different worldview disputes and truth-seeking groundwork that surround the connection that underlies psychology and theology. In addition to analyzing the possible connection of psychology and theology, Entwisle discusses the consideration of integrating Christian faith with the practice of psychology. “Christian understandings of person-hood, the purpose of human life, our need for God, and the ethical teachings of Christian faith are integral to psychology, not merely parallel to it” (p. 199). Entwistle’s viewpoint on this matter is stated clearly. He believes that it is necessary for theology and psychology be integrated in order to fully understand human nature.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of genius intellect with impeccable writing abilities. He was an absolutely mundane medical doctor until a passion for writing and adventure overtook him. Doyle is most noted for being the author of the four novels and fifty-six short stories of Sherlock Holmes (Geherin 295). He despised writing these detective stories, but wrote them anyway to earn his income and appease his fans. Doyle made writing these stories bearable by making a relatable narrator for the character that he based off his old medical school teacher and using his writing to persuade British citizens that their sense of imperialism was foolish and was tainting their country. Writing about his adventures in war and his indulgence into Spiritualism allowed Doyle to break away slightly from his Sherlock Holmes novels and branch out into the works he truly wanted to write. Even though Doyle may not have liked everything that he had written, he tried to convey his experiences and viewpoints of religion, imperialism, and war into the stories that are still avidly read today.
In the first chapter of Psychology in Christian Perspective by Harold W. Faw the author talks about psychology as a subject, the different aspects of the subject and how psychology fits into the Christian world. Faw begins the chapter by describing what others think psychology and his views on psychology as well. He describes that “psychology can be described as a systematic attempt to understand human behavior and conscious experience” (Faw, 1995, p. 12). He then goes on to describe the many different types of specialties of psychology which include, neurobiological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and psychoanalytic. These specialties are then integrated into the Christian worldview. They are all different so they all fit into
Erich Fromm in his psychoanalytical approach to religion is distinct from the earlier works of Sigmund Freud. Fromm defines religion as “any system of thought and action shared by a group which gives the individual a frame of orientation and an object of devotion.” Fromm argues that irreligious systems including all the different kinds of idealism and “private” religions deserve being defined as a “religion.” Based on Fromm’s theory, it is explained that there is no human being who does not have a “religious need,” almost every part of human life reflects religious need and its fulfillment, in fact he states it to be “inherent” in man.
Mythology has been present throughout human civilization to provide a sense of awe, wonder, and fear. According to Joseph Campbell’s The Need for New Myths, a myth offers gratitude or rapture to reveal a comprehensive image of man’s universe and his place within the world. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, magic and religion reassemble human struggles into a relatable, yet awe inducing myth. The sensation of wonder, surprise, or fear induces a feeling of self-insignificance at the vastness of the universe. To accommodate for this overwhelming experience, a person undergoes catharsis where their mental schemata is reset. In this release of emotions, one accepts their place in the universe and becomes a better self. Dunstan and Paul rely on religion and magic for the mending of a traumatized childhood. The reenactment of the Christian Faust legend in the magic act portrays the eternal struggle of good versus evil in humanity. Eisengrim, as an allusion to Jesus, provides wonder and release to his audience. In Fifth Business, Magic and religion both reconstruct everyday experiences to provide catharsis in wonder.
Harvey, B. (2012). The emotions of Jesus. The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice, 19(1), 19-23.
Worthington, E. L. Jr., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & McDaniel, M. A. (2011). Religion and spirituality. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press
In Sigmund Freud’s, The Future of an Illusion, he studies religious foundations and the influence of religion on civilization and social principles. As he explores the psychological depths relating to religion, he also portrays a scientific and rational civilization. In turn, he reveals his hope for an ideal world where humans surpass their feelings of helplessness and insignificance to live in an improved civilization based on reason and the increase of knowledge. Through his analysis and ideas, Freud is able to incite feelings of doubt surrounding religious beliefs and their validity.
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...
Throughout the semester we learned that people have different opinions about religion and hold different beliefs about what really happened during the time of Christ. Many question whether he truly exists. We briefly discussed a famous individual named Sigmund Freud, who held a much different belief about religion than most. By comparing his views to catholic, Thomas a’ Kempis, we can see exactly how different his views were. Freud’s beliefs about our personality and our death drive are important to understand in order to know how he felt about religion. Some of Freud’s theories of religion relate to mastering the Oedipus complex, a reaction to infantile helplessness, and a universal obsessional ritual.