Defending Organized Religion and Kierkegaard’s Anti-Climacus
Practice in Christianity, written by the pseudonym[1] of Anti-Climacus, describes the ideal Christian life from the perspective of the ideal Christian. ‘Anti-’ in the sense of ‘Anti-Climacus’ is not an indication of opposition (to Climacus, the ‘devoutly non-Christian’ ethicist and editor of Either/Or whose esthetic sense was particularly keen). Rather, “Anti-” is an older form of “ante”, meaning ‘before’ both in the sense of time and in the sense of rank. Anti-Climacus is the perfect Christian; this was useful to Kierkegaard, who could not claim that distinction for himself. Practice in Christianity deals harshly with the Church’s homogenization of Christianity by removing its “offensiveness.” This paper will examine and analyze several passages from Practice in Christianity, draw parallels between the inoffensive Church of Denmark in the mid-19th century and both the charismatic and “High-Church”[2] traditions of worship in the United States today, and suggest criteria for sincere, “offensive” worship in an organized church.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
-Matthew 11:2-6; RSV
“The possibility of offense is the crossroad, or it is like standing at the crossroad…one never come to faith except from the possibility of offense.”
-Anti-Climacus; Practice in Christianity, pg. 81
What is offensive about Christianity? Surely such a question is absurd, even blasphemous! The word “Christianity” implies to many people a lifestyle characterized by altruism, kindness, mercy and sincere love—even after centuries of monarchs and murderers alike have used “Christianity” as an excuse for a variety of causes. Consider also the Christian’s devotion to God and attempted emulation of Christ—it is surely impossible to take umbrage at this patently inoffensive way of life. This argument makes great sense to many who call themselves “Christians.” Indeed, the concept of Christianity as a belief system is unlikely to offend many. The practice of Christianity, on the other hand, is particularly offensive, albeit not in the sense in which “offensive” is particularly used.
Our readings from Luke’s Gospel portray those in poverty as the people who will inherit the earth and be by Christ’s side in the kingdom of heaven. In the Gospel of Luke, it states, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (6:20). Our readings from scripture paint a picture that suggests that those who are suffering in the world during their lifetime, will be
Pullen, H. W. Modern Christianity, a Civilized Heathenism. Boston: William F. Gill and, 1875. Print.
He then heard the voice of Elisha, telling him to come through. He heard the singing of the congregation. Elisha said, “Rise up, rise up, Brother Johnny, and talk about the Lord’s deliverance” John has been saved and exaltedly claimed, “Lord, I been introduced to the Father, and the Son, and I ain’t no stranger now!”
A multiple-baseline design differs from a reversal design by attempting to control for confounds through the introduction of treatment at differing time intervals to a few different people, to the same person in different situations, or to the same person across different behaviors. Reversal designs attempt to control for confounds by reversing the baseline and treatment conditions one or more times to assess the impact on behavior (Jackson, 2012).
...nclude Mono-Operation bias, according to Trochim & Donnelly (2008), which is a threat to construct validity that happens when there is a problem with your operationalization of your independent variable versus the construct on which it was based. Another design threat is that of the Mono-Method bias and this threat to construct validity refers to the use of only one method of measurement i.e. (you can’t provide proof that you are measuring what you say you are measuring) (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). In addition, and according to Trochim & Donnelly (2008), a threat to construct validity is that of Interaction of Different Treatments, which means that experiences outside of those being controlled by your experiment effect the outcome of the study. An additional threat to construct validity that is related to design is Interaction of Testing and Treatment, which is
McManners, John. "The Oxford History of Christianity." The Oxford History of Christianity. New York: New York Oxford Press, 2002. 28.
In addition, in Kierkegaard’s “Practice in Christianity,” we are given the distinction between an imitator (a true Christian)
In de-emphasizing the role of the Church, it’s rituals, and offices, and supplanting them with a more direct and personal approach to God and spirituality; the Protestant Reformation, through the works of Martin...
In order for an experiment to be considered a true experimental design, the design must fit specific criteria. The researcher must have a hypothesis for a cause and effect relationship between variables, the treatment group, the control group, random selection for the treatment group, and random assignment for the control group. In a simple experiment, the researcher forms two groups that are similar or equivalent, through probability, to each other in every way possible appropriate to the concept of experiment. The treatment group receives the procedure for the experiment and the control group does not. Therefore, the only difference between the groups will be that one group receives the treatment for the experiment and one group does note. After the experiment is conducted the researcher analysis the results in both groups.
The size of the Christian megachurch is manifested in its title, which demonstrates that this typically prodigious and resplendent edifice sustains a weekly attendance of at least two thousand congregants; and that the majority of the mega churches are of the Protestant persuasion, of which its doctrine is basically the antithesis of Catholicism’s authoritarian structures, as well as the other major religions of Islam, Hinduism and Old Testament Judaism (The Hartford Seminary). Over the years, there has not only been an enormous emergence of mega churches here in the US, but also of many disparaging remarks from the public, comedians, books and the news media, about this institution. Some assert that these types of churches are not really concerned about the souls of the people, and they are prodigious only because of the avarice, a misrepresentation of Jesus Christ and a manipulation of the hearts of people, in conjunction with a gross negligence of spiritual leadership. The truth is, that in some instances there is malfeasance, but in others, the church is led by the Spirit of God with vigor and integrity.
Longitudinal design validity is also dependent upon using set time intervals that make sense with the research being performed. This study does not say explicitly express how intervals for MI instruction were chosen. Furthermore, the study does not explain why or how intervals for pre and post assessments were decided. This is important because past research may have told how long it takes for MI to be successful and at what intervals it needs to be performed in order to yield the best outcomes for participants. This data may have changed the length of the study or the time intervals and potentially changed results.
Activity-based costing (ABC) is a costing method that is designed to provide managers with cost information for strategic and other decisions that potentially affect capacity and therefore “fixed” as well as variable costs. Activity-based costing is mostly used for internal decision making and managing activities while traditional costing method is used to provide data for external financial reports. Most organization uses activity-based costing as an addition system for using traditional absorption costing as sometimes the traditional cost system misleads the product’s profitability. In a company, there are many products on sale, if one product is sold at a high price with low product margin and a product with high product margin at a low price, it may result in a loss. In addition, due to the reason that cost drivers and enterprises business may change, activity-based costing analysis also needs to be revised periodically. This amendment should be prompted to change pricing, product, customer focus and market share strategy to improve corporate profitability.
Lambert, T. (2014). A brief history of Christianity in England. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://localhistories.org/christian.html
Christ states that he was brought into this world to deliver the message that the Lord has for humanity. He was sent to this world to preach about the word of the Lord. Christ announces his only purpose which is to save humanity and to preach about the good news that comes when humanity stops engaging in violence. In Nazareth, Jesus reads from the book of the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). This is one of the most striking moments of Christ ministry. The message of this passage is that the word of the Lord has been fulfilled and that God has sent him to proclaim the good news to the poor. The good news that God was referring meant that both the sick and oppressed would be
There is no doubt that the fundamental idea of Church, faith, and prayer lived by the early Christian, needs to be rediscovered among many contemporary Christians. The conviction that the apostles had to preach the Gospel of Jesus certainly was aided by their idea of Church, faith, and prayer. In his book “Catholicism: A Journey to the Heat of the Faith”, Father Robert Barron tries to revive the idea of Catholicism that seems to weaken and lose its real sense. With my understanding of Church, faith, and prayer, I argue that because of the lack of understanding about Catholicism that exist today in our midst, many people fall short about what Catholicism really means. However, it is not my intention to answer this question.