I recently read the book The Shack, the book is based on one man’s experience with God after the horrible and gruesome death of his daughter at the hands of a serial killer. The book tries to answer many questions regarding God and his existence some of the questions being the following: where is God in a world so full of tragedy, and does, he use pain and misfortune to change other people? Mack experiences three different forms of God, The Holy Trinity. They change and shape him into a person who no longer has “the great sadness” in his life, and has a better understanding of God and his own personal relationship with him/her. However not all people may share the experience or faith the way that the author portrays it. Therefore, I have my own beliefs on God and the idea of a supreme divine being, which differ greatly from the author and most of the United States of America and much of the world.
My opinion on the idea of there being one Supreme Being that made all things that I see before me is one that I cannot accept as truth. There are too many questions and inconsistencies as well as hypocritical points in today’s religions. I understand mainstream religions and in this book particularly the Christian religion is the one being spoke on, the Christian God is kind and forgiving loving all children because they were made in his image and all one must do is ask for forgiveness and they are forgave and accepted back into Gods Holy embrace. To think that such people as Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan, Hans Aumeier, Tomas de Torquemada and even Vlad the Implaer all would be welcome into Heaven is utterly preposterous and morally unjust. My understanding is that God is all-powerful and able to break the laws of nature and he is all...
... middle of paper ...
... make it work for his master idea. The God in Mack’s world also displays that he is forgiving and loves all even the Ladybug Killer, however he also shows that he is ready to accept and repair the problems that have arisen due to his behavior, he loves the young broken boy not the man he became. God is much more sagacious. The Holy Spirit is much like the tools of Papa i.e. God, helping Mack understand how to act in his life and how to relate to them all even after he leaves. The Holy Spirit shows Mack that even though he will not always see them that they will always be with him. Jesus shows Mack how to lead and rich and righteous life guiding him in values as well as helping him understand Papa. I feel like the God in The Shack is a very virtuous and understanding being, and is the only one that could have helped Mack after his deep extraction from the world.
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.
Stuff and money is becoming more important in people’s lives. They forget how much more important the Holy Spirit is in their lives. Forgetting how powerful the Lord is, they begin relying on material items. In eternity, material items will not be of any value! Like the Li family in Safely Home, the Lord wants His followers to rely on Him to provide, instead a sundry of Christ followers begin to depend considerably on money, jobs, and people for providence. In Safely Home, the story illustrates how Christians are to live with God as their provider because when a Christian lives a life in dependence on God, they rightfully focus on the Lord as their provider. God can direct a person’s path in a way no one else is able to. Just like Li Quan, Ming, Shen and all the other Christians in the story accepted, God’s thoughts will become one’s own thoughts and His words will become one’s own words. However, without fully realizing, Ben Fielding was living to serve himself. He was dedicated to his job, being successful, and well-off, but he was still empty inside. This particular successful businessman was always searching for something to fill the hole in his heart until he truly experienced the Lord and His presence. In short, Christians can be challenged by this story to rely on God more and live a lifestyle that pleases
At the novel's end, Esperanza declares that she is too strong for Mango Street to keep her forever. What is the nature of her strength? How does Cisneros establish this characteristic elsewhere in the book?
This was shocking for Young Goodman Brown because everyone from town who were claiming to be Christians were here worshipping the devil. The symbolic part of the story is that all people will sin and even Jesus has sinned. But in Goodman Brown anyone who has sinned cannot be trusted because they follow the devil. The devil is at the altar and a basin which is like a big bowl, but what was in it “Did it contain water, reddened be the lurid light? or was it blood?” (12). As the devil was going to mark them with the liquid from the basin. Goodman Brown yelled “Faith! Faith! Cried the husband, look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one”(12). Goodman Brown did not know if Faith had heard him. This conflict is when Goodman Brown finds out that everyone worshipped the devil and that he was the only one who had stayed true towards his religion. This is ironic because there is no one in the world who has not sinned, and for Goodman Brown to think that he is the one and only one to have not sinned is the reason it is
In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there is an emphasizes on how rough it is to be part of the low economic class . Through her words you can create an image about the way poverty affects children. She goes through the book making great remarks on the topic. The different experiences that Esperanza goes through have a lot to connect with her family's financial status. She specifically describes her feelings about the poverty they live in through three of her short stories. The three short stories in which poverty seems to be an obstacle are The House on Mango Street, Our Good Day, and Chanclas. When the book begins the downgrading of Esperanza's esteem begins with it.
The sweat lodge is a key healing and spiritual practice of most, if not all, Native American cultures. A variant of the sweat lodge is seen in those cultures from the artic to South America. It can be seen as a form of water therapy as it uses extreme heat and water to produce its effects. Specifically I will explain my personal journey and experience as a participant of a Mohawk sweat lodge. Each tribe has its own unique way of performing the sweat even if they all share the same base upon which to personalise it.
God is presented as being all-powerful and all-knowing. He’s aware of all the shortcomings and misdeeds of humanity for every individual person. The existence of God and the afterlife are two questions that merely rely on the matter of faith and belief. Jonathan Edwards and Anne Bradstreet both have relatively similar religious beliefs; however, their individual view point on God could not be further aside from one another. Jonathan Edwards preaches a literal fear of an arbitrary, unpredictable and vengeful God (Baird). Anne Bradstreet, on the other hand, believed with human error in a loving, trustworthy God.(Baird) It is almost unimaginable that these two authors’ views are traced back to puritanism due to their vast differences.
The pastor views Kate Swift whom he is lusting after as God, and the speaker in the poem lusts after God directly. They both are in conflict with carnal lust and sexual desire for what they believe to be God in some form, which means that God is causing them to sin. God is the one who came to Earth as the flesh so that sin could be erased, but in the short story and poem, God is the one who is causing the two characters to sin. This reverse effect is the basis for the irony in both “The Strength of God” and “Batter My
Everyone has specific characteristics and qualities that make them the way they present themselves. Young, middle-aged, and old people are constantly forming the essentials that affect their self-awareness through their daily activities. Forming one’s identity is an ongoing process, because every person in the world can change people one way or another. In The House on Mango Street, the experiences young Esperanza faced day to day develop her true individuality.
They have been called "gods." These almighty, powerful beings that are far too superior for us to understand; or so most of us have been made to believe. Some may say he is a Great Examiner, others could say he is the Creator. Some could even say he doesn't exist. Frankly, what I want to emphasize is how such beliefs could reduce even the bravest and strongest of us all to a whimpering child. Something that we ar...
Doctrines have influenced and been influenced by the ongoing development of secular history, science, and philosophy. Christian view that there is evil in the world. If there is a force of evil, there must be a force of good. Christian view a religious uprising from divine law leading to sainthood. They view God as the divine power or the all-knowing figure. The devil is viewed as malevolence figure and an irrational force. Compared to this novel God is seen as more as a human-like figure. The author allows God to take form in both genders, and the author doesn’t define the God as omniscient. The author portrays God as physical and spiritual guide for Herman rather than his Lord. This helps to create this image of God that he is source of good that appears time to time when needed. There are some differences between the bible and this novel. God wants a relationship with humanity. The main focus, in both creation stories, are humans and humans were God 's only creation that was made in his image. Therefore God is seen as a creator who wants a relationship with us as he makes us special. Furthermore, in the second biblical account of creation the writers of the portray God as a creator who seeks. Compared to this novel God states “That’s the only real commandment…after you learn to stop hurting people, which I assume you’ve done or you wouldn’t be up here in the first place”
...ouls to exist. It is a fitting punishment because he wanted to rule like God. Now he does, but he rules over the souls who could not achieve the presence of God after death.
To make a long story short, eighteen months ago my husband suffered a broken neck due to a swimming accident. We as a family had been in debate over our family’s relationship with God. As we discovered, ones religion is often decided during the darkest times of our lives. It was at that time we discovered that there was something more to life than money, possessions, or “facts”. The specialists couldn’t explain what had saved Shane’s life. Their science failed them. Luckily, the neurologist was a Christian, and her only explanation was God wasn’t finished with him yet.
The concept of God can be a difficult one to grasp especially in today's world - a world in which anyone that believes in God is trying to define exactly what God is. To even attempt to grasp such a concept, one must first recognize his own beliefs in respect to the following questions: Is God our creator? Is God omnipotent (all-powerful) or omniscient (all-knowing) or both? Does God care? Is God with us? Does God interfere with life on earth? These questions should be asked and carefully answered if one should truly wish to identify his specific beliefs in God's existence and persistence.
"Who Is God To Me" God means many different things to many different people. There are a lot of people who believe that there is no such thing as a God. There are people who believe that there is no God because no one has ever seen him. I personally believe that there is a God because of my faith. I have faith in God and I feel that God is real. I have many reasons why I believe in God and who God is to me. But I have three reasons that stand out for me about who God is to me. They are the following: God is always there for me, God is my friend, and God is my creator. These are my three most important reasons of who God is and what God means to me. God has never let me down in my life. Sometimes I feel that God has let me down or that He did not answer my prayers in times that I most needed Him. But I have to realize that everything that God does is for a reason. God has taken a few friends of mine from this Earth at a very young age. I have prayed to God and asked Him why? But I have never seemed to fully understand why. I have come to the conclusion that God works in mysterious ways. I do not think that anyone can fully understand why God does what He does. So for this, I do not feel that God has ever let me down. He just does these things for a reason and if you believe in Him, He will never let you down either. God is the longest lasting friend I have ever had in my life. He was there for me before I was born and He will be there for me after I leave this Earth. God is the best listener also. I can talk to God anywhere at anytime. Every time I want to talk to Him or ask Him a question, He is there for me. Most of my other friends are at least a phone call away, but not God. He has always been there in time of need, even though sometimes I feel like He is not. Even when I do something wrong, He is there to forgive me and set me straight.