Pastor William E Combs is a retired Presbyterian minister with a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary. He spent about 42 years in active ministry and when he retired he took a position at Boeing as a computing systems architect. He wrote the book Who Told You Were Naked? in 2016 and was published by Carpenter's Sons Publishing. The text was inspired by a sermon from his ministry and is a reexamination of sin, faith, and salvation The book explores the ideas of sin, faith, and salvation over 10 chapters each ending with a study guide. In the first four chapters the author examined the emergence of sin from Adam and Eve's actions in the Garden. And he explained how sin is not a "lifelong list of errant acts" but how the knowledge of good and evil "is the wellspring of our transgressions." From chapter five through chapter seven the author discusses faith in Christ which leads to salvation. And finally, chapters nine and ten focus on salvation. …show more content…
Combs accomplished this in many ways. First, he used vignettes to help the reader identify with some of the characters in the Bible, such as Adam when raised a little lamb after its' mother was killed by a lioness. Next, he defined many of the terms so that the reader would get a better understanding of the character of the people in the Bible and the situations he was describing. He explained the definition of knowledge stating that the Hebrew word "is represented by discernment, perception, and wisdom. (pg 7)" Finally, he also made it personal by sharing stories or testimony from his time as a boy in Alaska when speaks on the "difference between a wee penlight and the splendor of the aurora borealis (pg iv) to the different stages of his
Ordinary sin, written by Kristen Valdez is a very interesting piece, as it explores the issue of relations with a spiritual leader and a follower who are united by moral and ethical principles. These characters are questioned their actions by people who surrounded them and in some moments in the scenes can see how they feel hopeless, dissolution, rejection, and guilty of committing a “Sin” meaning, disobedience to God. In “Ordinary Sin”, Father Paul and Crystal creates fictional characters who represent different roles in the church are being corrupted in a sense of identity
2 This idea of being punished for an unremembered crime refers to the Christian belief in original sin. 2 According to Christian theology, all humans are sinners, from the time they are born, for which they will be eternally punished. 2 But Only through God’s grace can people be saved. 2 In this perception, humans “forget” their crime, yet are punished nonetheless, just as the Misfit states. 2 Even More, the grandmother has her moment of grace when she acknowledges the Misfit as one of her “own children,” recognizing how very similar she is to the Misfit for the first time. 2 She isn’t morally superior, as she has always believed. 2 Instead, both are struggling in their own ways to come to terms with the difficult, often debatable belief of the Christian faith.
Next, Augustine details what sin and iniquity is noting that those who sin is also does immoral behavior and that sin is also
Catherine Sedgwick’s A New England Tale is the story of Jane a young woman who is cast into a family where she is looked down upon, but through her trial and tribulations remains strong in her faith in God. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God focuses on those who lose faith and overlook the power of God’s hand, and by doing so will be sent to hell to repent their sins. Throughout the novel by Sedgwick and the sermon by Edwards it is the importance of moving forwards in life while staying faithful and true to God without sin remains the focus of the pieces.
The topic that will be discussed in this essay is a difficult one to think through. The book, Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, is an epistolary novel that focuses on a series of letters that a demon sent to his nephew. His nephew was a young demon who had a “patient.” In this fictional world, a patient is a human that a demon is assigned to, in order to keep the human from learning the ways of Christ. The nephew, Wormwood, had a little dilemma. His patient became a Christian. Screwtape, the author of the letters, was trying to help get the patient away from God by sending advice in his letters. This book is very helpful in seeing how Satan pulls us away from our faith. The book shows the manipulation that Satan uses, the character flaws that Satan exploits, and the overall hatred that fills Satan and all of his followers.
Imagine your inner soul trying to rip out of your body all tell people of all of your sins. Also, imagine your sin is floating around letting you see others sin. Finally, you are a product of sin, your life is full of evil, and torture. Until your sin is revealed by your unknown father. These events happened to the character in Nathaniel Hawthorns The Scarlett Letter. Their sin affects the way that these characters live. The Nature of sin can bring the worst and best out of people. Whether it is hidden or know, the sin can bring good and bad things to the people who have sinned. Dimmsdale’s sin was locked inside him, as he ended up breaking down and decoding sick, and then died after revealing his sin. Hester’s sin was know and she was able to be a normal part of society. Being a product of sin, Pearl was a demon or became like the devil, until Dimmsdale reveled his sin and she became normal. The nature of peoples sin dictates what your life is going to belike. When your sin is hidden it can really harm you.
Unforgivable Sin explores the devastation of loss, the pain of unrequited love and the power of forgiveness.
Saint Augustine’s On Faith and the Creed breaks down the Apostles Creed and expresses the essence of the Christian faith. The 11 chapters within On Faith and The Creed express many truths of the faith. Chapter one explains the origin of the creed and object of its composition. The Apostles Creed is a sufficient summary of the faith for beginners and those who who are more diligent in their faith. Many heretics have tried to corrupt the interpretation of the Apostles Creed. Yet, since it is written according to the scripture, the Apostles Creed is based on complete truth. Chapter two expresses the fact that eternity is exclusive. Saint Augustine talks about how the Apostles Creed will not truly be understood or impact a person if they are not
It has always appeared to be fact that sin was an easy word to define and that merely doing anything that goes against God and his teachings is a sin. In order to avoid sin, one must possess an infinite amount of faith and be able to follow the teachings of a master that one can’t always see, but needs to understand is always there. In literature, many works have been created dealing with faith and sin, but most are usually not written from a perspective in which a sinning man does not seek redemption. Most stories are not allegories dealing with a man leaving his wife – named Faith – so that he can go off into the woods and, literally, dance with the devil. Most stories, however, are not Young Goodman Brown and most are not written by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a response to the guilt he felt over being the descendant of people involved in the Salem Witch trials. An immensely important part of this allegory is the character of Faith, Young Goodman’s wife, who represents just what her name says, and how her character affects the entire story. Her existence alone allows for the crisis Young Goodman Brown feels and even later further enhances that same crisis. She is both the cause and solution to all of Brown’s problems, if only he would allow himself to accept his faith rather than enter into the kingdom of the devil.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” portrays the basic concept of good and evil in a Puritan New England society during the 1600s. It is told through a narrative about one woman, Hester Prynne, who committed a great sin against her virtue. This sin consumes not only Hester, but also the small rural community that she calls home. Just the word “sin” pulls the reader into the story. “The Scarlet Letter” is full of complex symbolism with a variety of avenues to analyze why the focus of sin makes an appearance in the main topic of this fictional story. Sin can imply to some a struggle of good versus evil in every individual based on one’s belief in Christianity in the long time battle between God and Satan. Furthermore,
...eeds to come to terms with his self-created "sin," not just make up for it. Similarly, Mrs. Sandy spends so much energy worrying about the consequences of sin that she never really explores the definition of it.
Among the most paramount themes in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is that of the connection binding sin to humanness. Throughout the novel, sin is portrayed as necessary and normal to everyday life, however, the Puritan outlook of sin differs immensely. Sin is left unforgiven and the strict conditions on humanity within the Puritan community are called into question. Characters who accept their mistakes and grow from them are more prosperous in the novel’s resolution, while those who bend to the restraints of society are displayed as a detriment to themselves. From this, a more comprehensive message takes form. Hawthorne is not only attempting to connect sin to humanity but is also going as far to state that one must accept their sin in order to live a fulfilling life.
The approach to religion in the pieces helps to aluminate this chapter. The way the author wrote the pieces makes it very obvious to see the impact that religion has on everyday life. For example, in the tale “I Shall Never Eat Elephant Flesh” as all of the men make
The message of this book is basically never give up and always try to do your best no matter what the situation and you should remember that God is with one and he should be the priority in ones life. Well for different people the message of this book could be considered important or unimportant. The ideas of this book are of importance to certain people and these certain people should consider it. There are expressions of the author shown through certain incidents like when mid-terms came during a year at Yale he was unprepared because of his procrastinating studying techniques but the night before the exam while reviewing his notes he prayed for god to help him do good on the test and he had a dream about the test and the answers were in front of him, this expressed his philosophy of god helping one if they ask.
The story also presents another facts of the Christian belief about sin and punishment, which is based on the strict principles of repentance and forgiveness.