Scorgie understands that to accomplish his task as the tour guide, he must accommodate the vast variety of readers the book will inevitably have. As such, he utilizes both a persuasive and logical approach towards connectivity with his reader. Scorgie acknowledges Samuel Rutherford, the seventeenth-century mystic, and theologian, who believed that academic learning and mystical piety should be integrated into the life of the believer; furthermore, this forms the intention of the book (pg. 16). Using the Bible as his primary source and the writings of saints of Christian history (pg. 17), Scorgie uses divinely authoritative and tested writings to theologically, and for orthodox Christians, logically support his thesis. Biblical references …show more content…
Regarding the need, being led by the Spirit, the Christian must go beyond understanding and have a passion for Christian spirituality, pursuing God with their whole heart (pg. 158). Christians must give space in their increasingly busy lives for God. Space for time (pg. 161), space within our minds (pg. 161) and physical space to be alone with God, where a connection can be profound and intimate (pg. 162). Scorgie makes it clear that every aspect of the Christian life is meant to be lived for God and accordingly life must be disciplined to accomplish this, and through these disciplines, we are positioned to receive grace and enablement from the Spirit, which is not earned but given (pg. 160). Scorgie’s three dynamics thoroughly cover the essential aspects of Christian living and relating to God. Remarkably, he capably summarizes the broadness of Christian life into succinct and tidy “dynamics,” which are naturally woven together, flowing to one another and are utterly dependent on one another. This is no light task. Scorgie maintains a deliberate and intentional approach, which does not alienate the individual reader. Prescriptively he addresses what Christian spirituality consists of; however, he never instructs the means or methods by which the reader should achieve these elements. …show more content…
However, I found the anecdotal stories of Scorgie’s past appeared too frequently and were too long. Starting in the prologue and being infused throughout every section of the book, I found myself desiring he get to his point. Admittedly, some stories added to the theme, others, I found less useful (pg. 59-60). Notwithstanding that point, I recognize how these stories fit within the objective of the book and the vastness of its readership. Many people are undoubtedly drawn in the by the stories provided by Scorgie, whereas I was captivated by the examples of the Early Church and other heroes of the Church, and the direct Biblical and academic aspects of the book. As such, the critique of the anecdotal stories is mild, and with a great understanding of the overall purpose of the book and the stories
Upon finishing NT Wright’s novel as well as finishing Theology 111, there are many connections to be made within the chapters we read and the excerpts of the bible we covered as a class. After reading the bible, I had many questions about how these topics relate to my life now and how to interpret what was written so long ago. NT Wright in Simply Christian discusses what it means to be Christian and simply walks us through it step-by-step explaining answers to questions that many of us, as Christians, wonder. In chapter 16 Wright discusses the connection between heaven and earth and the Christian take on what that entails.
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
Jenkins, Phillips. The Lost History of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. Print. Phillips, Jonathan.
The Holy Bible, prepared by the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966.
Gonzalez, J. L. (1970). A History of Christian Thought: From the beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Life is full of frustrations and confusion. There are times that questioning the purpose of one’s life to be living at all from their belief and faith in the one they believe. Christian Adherents are faced with these issues and are misguided by the loquacious talk of philosophers and scientists that seem to argue that the existence of human beings have been derived by something else other than God. These are illustrated through various forms of media and deem to be very convincing for most. However, there are people and ideas of the Christian Religion to comply back with what is said against it. Pope John XXIII was a significant role model for the Christian Religion as he showed true belief and faith to God through his deeds. Topics in debate of Bioethical issues are in question and the practices of the Christian belief are fact to the individual of the means of questioning the purpose here on Earth. Regarding the letter from Paul to the Corinthians, it says “Be on guard; stand firm in faith; be men of courage, be strong.” Its significance to believers is that they can be deceived in time of desperation and at times of hardship but God tells them to stay strong in faith and in courage no matter the distress they are facing.
“First, there is the call to be a Christian. Second, for each individual there is a specific call—a defining purpose or mission, a reason for being. Every individual is called of God to respond through service in the world. Third, there is the call that we face each day in response to the multiple demands on our lives—our immediate duties and responsibilities” (Smith, ...
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
Scholars have been trying to come up with a well-founded, acceptable and universal definition of religion for years; however, none of these definitions so far are a perfect fit for all religions of the world. There are many things in our life that are well defined and well understood but, unfortunately, religion is not one of them. There is no common ground and understanding of what religion really means. Religion is what we make of it, so no one can truly define religion in a way that is meaningful across all borders as it is outside of the realm of reason and rationale and the definitions we give could be either too exclusive or inclusive.
Kerr, H. (1990). Readings in christian thought (2nd ed.). H. T. Kerr (Ed.). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
I will be analyzing the above selection from Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History for religious context. At this time, England is transitioning from Nordic paganism to Christianity, and this piece depicts the way that Christian leadership persuades secular leader to convert to Christianity through condemning their practices and praising their own. At this time, though some missionaries had come to England, “for much of the first half of the seventh century there were very few Christian kings in England.” This passage documents a letter written by the Pope to King Edwin, openly condemning pagan religion and heavily insisting on his conversion to Christianity.
Christology: A Global Introduction Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen is associate professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and holds a teaching post at the University of Helsinki and Iso Kirja College in Finland. He is the author of Christology: A Global introduction, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical, and Global Perspectives (Back Cover). Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen presents the latest, comprehensive introduction to the various opinions about Christology from around the world.
In this essay I will be telling you about Christianity. Christianity is one of the most popular religions, with an average of two billion followers. I will be telling you the supreme being, sacred book, holidays, place of worship, and the symbol of Christianity. In my opinion Christianity is a religion that you have things to follow but you can still be yourself and be independent.
This theme was apparent when reading about how St. Frances de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal utilized Salesian spirituality in their lives and in their letters to one another. I think this is beautiful, because Salesian spirituality emphasizes that God is our friend, and we should live from the heart, in his image and likeness. Chantal and St. Frances de Sales set an example for how our prayer should be – with love. In class, one quote from the “highlights from the Salesian spirituality” handout stuck out to me, which says, ‘The motivation with which you perform some action may be far more important and powerful than the action itself”. I pondered this quote because in my life, there have been a lot of things that I feel like I was forced to do, but didn’t always like doing them. On the other hand, there have been some things I have done in my life with a lot of passion, and it was difficult for me to understand why others weren’t as motivated. If your heart isn’t present and you’re not passionate about what you’re doing in life, then your heart may not be fulfilled. I learned that whatever I want to do, I must do it with love, because God is love. That is the concept of Salesian spirituality – just as prayer should be intimate, personal, and use the touch of the heart, so should your life be filled with love, compassion, positive energy and sincerity.
World Religions 110 has been such an amazing class to me. It will be hard to put into words how much I loved taking this class and learning about the different religions. Not only did we learn about religions, but also I feel we also learned about character, compassion, and actualization. Out of all the different topics to discuss, I feel the most important to me are: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.