Thomas Merton was born in Prades, France in 1915 to a family of artists from New Zealand and the United States. By the early age of 16, Merton was orphaned after prolonged bouts with poor health claimed the lives of each of his parents. As a student at Cambridge, Merton overlooked his studies and led a life of relative moral degradation. After he impregnated a young woman, he was ordered to return to the United States (where he had lived briefly in his youth). In 1935, Merton enrolled at the University of Columbia and soon discovered an atmosphere that allowed him to excel in academics. During his time at Columbia, Merton began to fervently investigate the beliefs and teachings of Catholicism. Due to the profound effects of this Catholic study …show more content…
As a monk, Merton was encouraged to explore his love of the written word and he published various works, including New Seeds of Contemplation. As I explored the unique teachings and beliefs of Thomas Merton, I was struck by his thoughts on the topic of Christian identity. According to Merton, all human beings face an intense struggle between one’s “true self” and “false self.” More explicitly, Merton describes the false self as, “The tenacious need to maintain our separate, external, egotistical will” (pg. 358). If one is ruled by the false self, he is purely motivated by personal accolades and the pursuit of earthly success. Conversely, the true self constitutes an existence of God’s image within the individual, which is secured firmly in the Divine. Merton claimed that achieving sanctity is contingent upon discovering the …show more content…
Like many other spiritual practitioners, Merton stresses the fact that one must achieve a balance between community life and personal solitude. However, he presents an extremely unique idea on the purpose of solitude in the following passage, “Go into the desert not to escape other men but in order to find them in God” (pg. 359). The idea of entering solitude in order to become closer to your fellow man is a concept that has never really crossed my mind. I have always treated times of solitude as periods of personal and intimate reflection. However, Merton makes a valid point by arguing that time alone can help one to appreciate others in a way that constant community interaction cannot. While I find this concept intriguing, it will most likely take me a great deal of practice and thought in order to grasp the connection between solitude and gaining increased knowledge about one’s fellow man. Ultimately, I found Merton’s spiritual ideas and practices to be extremely relevant to my own Christian journey. Those modern day Christians who are fervently seeking spiritual experience can find a great wealth of practical and theoretical knowledge in Merton’s
This is David Entwistle 2nd edition book published in 2010 by Wipf and Stock in Oregon. Entwistle is a Christian and a licensed psychologist; he has affiliations with Molone University in Canton, Ohio serving as chair of the Psychology Department and has taught courses related to his licensed field. This book clearly is not written for any newcomers to religion. However, it was written for those interested in the integration of science and religion. The authors’ purpose for writing this book was to define the relationship between psychology and theology. There are three specific areas this book touched upon to help readers’ better approach psychology and Christianity in a personal and more professional manner: The context of philosophical issues and worldview, to help the readers become aware of assumptions or beliefs- making the reader a more critical evaluators, and to introduce and familiarize the reader with five paradigms for integrating psychology and theology.
David Entwistle’s (2010) is the author of the Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity. In the book Entwistle embarks on a journey to explore Psychology and Christianity. As the title suggests several approaches that are used to define the relationship of Phycology and Christianity. In the book Entwistle begins to takes us on shows that psychology and Christianity go in two different directions and meet up someplace in the middle. This allows them to provide different approaches to understanding and studying the human behavior. Entwistle, (2010) took a new approach that has rarely been used in other books that discussed the topic of integration. Entwistle, (2010) began to talk about the relationship of psychology and Christianity
The novel Silence has provoked much discussion on Loyola's campus this semester. As a predominantly Christian community, we find that the themes and dilemmas central to its plot land much closer to home for us than they would for many other schools: to non-Christians, the question of whether to deny (the Christian) God--for any reason--may not necessarily be such a personal one. Jesus' commandments to love God above all and one's neighbor as oneself do not find a parallel in all religions or cultures, nor does the seriousness with which Christians--specifically Catholics, and more specifically, Jesuits--have traditionally treated it.
In the 8th century, Europe lacked the cohesion that it once possessed during the time of Roman Empire. Barbarian Kings had taken control of different regions of Europe, including England. Due to this the former Western Roman Empire no longer had the singular identity that it once held. While England may have no longer held a Roman identity, England did continue to hold a Christian identity, which eventually became an identity connected to the Roman Church. While the Christianization of England can be attributed to many connections, and people, I would argue that the mission of Gregory, and the Synod of Whitby were pivotal points in the development of a distinct Roman Christian Identity in England and that this identity helped to change the
As many people will agree, Christ can be referred to, as Kierkegaard’s states it, “the prototype” (239). In other words, Christ lived in such an ethical and loving way that many people admire. Therefore, we can safely say that in following Christ’s “footprints” (238), we are closer to being more ethical and loving individuals. Consequently, in becoming involved with this service-learning project, I have come to realize that I, and everyone in general, do hold a moral responsibility towards complete strangers. This is most evident when regarding our religious background since I, and anyone else for that matter, cannot truly claim to being an ethical individual if we are stuck being admirers and do not alter in becoming imitators.
Time and time again we often come across questions like, “How does a Christian live a Christian life?” or “How should does God help us?” Should we work hard towards perfection or should we just let go and let God do the work He has planned? Reading Hodges there are some key facts he includes in His book Six Secrets of the Christian life. We can confirm these facts through biblical passages that are important to the Christian life. As Christians I believe that we are walking with a shallow meaning of what it is to be a true follower of Christ. That’s where Six Secrets of a Christian life play an important role in explaining and guiding a Christian who want to have that experience. We should not look at this book as everything a Christian needs,
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher and transcendentalist of the 19th century, composing controversial, philosophical and religious essays in order to inform people. Emerson was a strong influence on other personalities of his time, including American figures such as; “Henry Thoreau” and “Walt Whitman”. “Emerson’s father (William Emerson) influenced the good taste of Emerson’s essays due to he was a man of the church.” William died because of a stomach cancer just two weeks before Ralph Waldo fulfilled eight years old. This death leads the family to an edge of poverty and a life of limited luxuries. That’s the point when Emerson’s career began. “His mother managed so that all of her children could get accepted into Harvard University with scholarships.” There was Ralph's stop when he was only fourteen years old. In Harvard College he was an apprentice under the president of the constitution. The task was to accuse his colleagues in criminal activity letting the ‘faculty’ know. Meanwhile, Emerson began keeping a list of books he had read and started a journal in a series of notebooks that would be called ‘World Wide’. Emerson performed odd jobs to cover his school expenses, including as a waiter for the Junior Commons and occasionally working as a teacher with his uncle Samuel in Waltham, Massachusetts. He began his famous Journal, an anthology and patchwork of passages that surprised and astonished his readers with their comments, ended up reaching 182 volumes. In his senior year at Harvard, Emerson decided to take his middle name as Waldo. He attended class Poetry; as usual, and presented an original poem on Harvard's Class Day, a month before his official graduation. On August 29, 1821, when he was 18 not noted as a student he...
Integration: The Allies Model The integration of psychology and Christianity is a very complicated subject that has sprung a heated debate over how best to integrate the two disciplines. Integration is a simple subject with many different definitions. However, according to Entwistle (2015), “The integration of psychology and Christianity is a multifaceted attempt to discern the underlying truths about the nature and functioning of human beings from the unique vantage points of psychology (in its various sub-disciplines, utilizing diverse methodologies) and Christianity (in theology, faith, and practice)” (p. 260).
Deep within the trees little hooded men walk along a path to meditate and pray dressed in brown robes tied with nautical rope. They dwell in silence and live a life of celibacy. This is what most of think of when we hear the word monk. Throughout the years, monks have always been people of intrigue. They live a different lifestyle than most. They live a life of seclusion far from the mores of modern society, which often makes people ponder who these people really are and why they choose to participate in such a foreign religious movement. This paper will attempt to unravel the mysteries of this peculiar movement of by researching it's origin, the true meaning of a silent lives, and how key leaders have helped to develop it one of the most popular movements in the history of Christianity. A movement called Monasticism.
In his book, Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav Volf explores the interesting theology surrounding human identity, the other, and embrace. In order to figure out the issue of exclusion, and the reconciliation, that according to Volf, can only be found in God's embrace, Volf gets down to the root of humanity, exploring ideas of human identity. Volf's introduction, labelled “The Cross, The Self, and The Other”, shows us the original problem of self identity and foreign 'otherness' that, for example, “explains why 'tribal' identity is today asserting itself as a powerful force”1. Using Jurgen Moltmann's idea of “self-giving”2, Volf outlines his arguments in the following chapters and gives us an outline of his own theology and biblical usage.
Ward acknowledges every faith has defining guidelines members must embrace. Ward stresses the need to identify the internal workings of other denominations to appeal to a moral order versus personal preference. The author uses Charles Taylor’s The Ethics of Authenticity to clarify how one must establish identity through exchange with or against others (72-73). Both Taylor and Richard Mouw suggest what authenticity means, and drives home claims to a higher order outside of one's personal preferences.
“Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity” (2010) is about the purposeful integration of psychology and Christianity. Entwistle, discusses the integration of scripture and nature, holding to historic orthodox Christianity that “Scripture and the natural world have their origins in God’s creativity and revelation” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 136). Theology clarifies the Word of God (Bible), and Psychology corresponds with the works of God. A working definition of integration is offered,
Through the centuries the church has faced a paradox as on one hand we meet God in the person of Jesus, on the other hand the Father abides beyond Jesus. The church is centred on the person of Jesus Christ because in him Christians learn to discover who God really is and thus who human beings are and what our true origin and destiny is. The role of the church, amongst others is to accompany humankind on its pilgrimage through the ages in developing our understanding of Jesus. (Dupuis , J) –who do you say I am
His book presents three main perspectives on Christology (biblical, historical, and contemporary). He attempts to combine classical views and contextual views of Christology.
It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so.