More Than a Carpenter was originally written in 1976(,)??? when a man named Josh McDowell sat down with twelve legal pads, about eight hours of free time, and a lot of coffee in hopes to bring others closer to Christ and for individuals to investigate their own personal claims for Jesus. Mr. McDowell shares in a general way what he used to be like, what happened to him, and what he has been like since. As time went on and more was revealed, the author decided that the book needed a little updating, so he asked his son, Sean, speaker, teacher, and apologetic writer with a double master’s degree (philosophy and theology), to assist him in updating the book.
The book begins with some background information on McDowell, paving the way and painting a picture of his beliefs, feelings, and actions ranging all the way from childhood to his first years in college. He tells us of his experience as a teenager. He was in the church every time the doors were open. He literally threw himself into it but seems to have felt worse when he was in it than when
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He was determined to prove that there would not be the evidence that Christian beliefs are true. He started his investigation with The Bible. He wanted to know what made Jesus different from other people like Buddha, Muhammad, or Confucius. He found that the biggest difference was, although these were great religious leaders, none of them claimed to be God. So, how can this be proven? He continues his spiritual journey with other questions such as, “Was Jesus a Lord, liar, or lunatic? Could it be possible that Jesus really believed that He was the Son of God but actually was not? If He were not, how could He have been able to perform the miracles that He did and forgive those who had sinned against others?” Only God has the authority to forgive someone who has wronged someone else. Only God can perform the miracles that were witnessed by
talks about the importance of sincere prayer as well. He talks of faith and forgivness, all of
Gregory attempted for years to try and convert his father to Christianity without any success. About the time he felt like giving up on his father, he felt the Holy Spirit leading him to go one more mile. That last mile ended up in his father accepting Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior, and thus resulted in the publishing of their correspondence.
I found the book to be a thought provoking and fascinating narrative, that was easy to get into. Author Beck's story of his spiritual journey made for worthy reading, especially, with his grounded, detailed recollections and comfortable writing style that flows fluently in an easy going conversational tone that invites you to read on. At times gritty, sometimes impassioned, and tangibly emotional this memoir of a young man looking to find his place in the world and finding it through the awakening of his faith and love for Jesus Christ was a worthwhile
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 have been introduced to the Father, and the Son, and I ain’t no stranger now!” John’s quest to be closer to God was phenomenal. I too have had a rocky relationship with my father and like John has had to fight the demons caused by that relationship and atone for them.
The story concludes with Andreas recognizing Jesus’ power after so many of the people in his life have been changed by Jesus.
b) Biblical Foundation Many question if Jesus ever claimed to be God. First, Jesus claimed to be the unique Son of God, resulting in the Jewish leaders stoning Him ‘because you,’ the leaders said, ‘a mere man, claim to be God’ (John 10:33). On another occasion, a High Priest asked him: ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ to which Jesus replied ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven’ (Mark 14:61-62). Jesus also claimed to possess the same attributes of God. In the Bible, Jesus has never been recorded saying the exact words, “I am God.” However, Jesus’ original spectators seemed to think He said “I am the Father.” They were even ready to kill Him right there. The controversy is: Jesus didn’t have to say the specific words “I am God,” to claim this. Jesus did, however,...
Goheen, Michael, and Craig Bartholomew. Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. Print.
...fighting his feelings about not seeing Jesus. He feels that he is lying to God and himself by getting up and being saved even though he cannot see Jesus. Even though the reader knows that he truly is being saved from sin. He is doing something good for himself. Therefore, we can see that he truly does not understand the meaning of God. He is a child on the verge of adulthood. He has every right to be confused and misinterpret religion because he is learning. Religion is metaphorical and imaginative; it is what you believe it to be.
The perception of religion is different for everyone and for the grandmother in the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, being a lady with good Christian values was how she defined herself. The grandmother’s innocence of the evil existing in the world cost her and her family their lives. The story “Cathedral” however, has a more positive outlook on faith. The narrator, “Bub”guided by a blind man named Robert was able to visualize and draw a picture of a cathedral, without really knowing what one was. This essay will examine how the outcomes of both stories were affected by the beliefs of those involved.
When Hughes was thirteen he attended a revival with his Aunt it was his turn to "see Jesus," his entire community and church all waiting expectantly for the moment when he was finally saved from sin. Unfortunately for Hughes, salvation did not occur. His fellow peers that he would be delivered, to Jesus convinced him. He was so caught up in the idea that when it did not happen, and when it did not, he felt like an outcast amongst his religious community. People crying, and praying for him at his feet, Hughes did not want to be the reason for all the madness happening around him. He stood up and acted as if his salvation had come to him, although deep within he knew it had not. "My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices” (Hughes 111-112). Influenced by the wales and the cries, Hughes started to feel as if he was the problem, that something was wrong and it was up to him to fix it. As the congregation prayed for him alone, and his aunt cried and prayed by his feet, a wave of social pressure came to him at once. To stop the crying, and the constant praying there was only one thing to be done, although he knew he was never actually saved, he stood to his feet, and the religious community and church all rejoiced as they
A Christian, when faced with the challenge of writing, finds himself in a dilemma: how is he to complete the task? Should he create an allegory? Should he try to teach a lesson reflecting God’s glory? Or should he follow secular trends and current desires in literature? To this, many Christians would say, “Certainly not!” Dorothy L. Sayers and Flannery O’Connor both aim to answer the first question of any Christian writer: How do I write a story with my beliefs?
One way that people found to confirm their belief in a God was philosophy. St. Thomas Aquinas used the science of philosophy to prove God's existence. He showed five ways in which the existence of God must be absolutely concluded. His first proof dealt with the mover and...
While he was studying and learning the scriptures he became exceedingly fearful of God and was quite concerned about how he would ever be forgiven for his sins. This weighed heavily on him to the point that he became eccentric in his attempts and methods to be forgiven. He eventually left for Wittenberg and became a theology lecturer while he was studying for his doctorate. It was that during this time his manner of thinking started to change. He started to read and interpret the scriptures on his own instead of blindly following the message that the church preaches about it. One day while working on a lecture he came across the phrase “the just shall live by faith,” (Christ pp195) which transformed the way he thought about God and the good works doctrine of the church. He now started to believe that God was a just and a benevolent God, and that forgiveness did not depend on his own righteousness. He started to see that humankind could not be righteous because we were prone to sin from the beginning and that all it took was for one to place his faith in Jesus Christ and God would pronounce that sinner
Lloyd-Jones, David M. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1976. Print
In his first opening story his use of descriptive words like lovable and furry helps the congregants envision the story in their mind as if they were watching it unfold. This opening story follows Wilson’s idea to open a sermon by “starting with a not-too-serious experience of the general theme.” The second story encountered in his sermon that reinforces his theme is also descriptive and is told like one was experience watching a scene in a