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Being a True Believer in God

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Submitted By leone2015
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Being a True Believer In God Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in something or someone”. So what does it mean to have faith in God and in turn how does this faith make itself present in our everyday lives? These are questions that have been addressed by countless authors and poets of history. To fully invest one’s self into the belief of God and to truly call themselves a believer of God, a person must trust, or have faith, in God’s will, power, and plan. It is this faith that God will provide and protect that proves time and again to be an essential part of being a true believer. Authors like John Steinbeck and Robert Bolt have used this faith as essential themes in their greatest works The Grapes of Wrath and A Man for all Seasons. Steinbeck and Bolt both portray what it means to be a believer in God through their main character’s actions and beliefs. John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, portrays life of migrants during the time of the dust bowl and specifically focuses on the migrant family, the Joads. These migrants and their families are traveling westward to California, looking for new opportunities to improve their lives and to provide for their families. On their journey the Joad family encounters death, homelessness, starvation, and extreme poverty that they never expected when starting out on their trip. Every member of the family is extremely affected by these images but none more than Jim Casey, a preacher and friend of the family. At the beginning of the journey Casey considers himself to be a man of God, however after seeing the images of suffering in the American people, loses his faith in God. He can not believe that any God would subject his people to such cruelty and pain as he has seen. For a long time Casey is disillusioned with the idea of God and gives up on his faith. However, after seeing what this hopeless attitude his achieving, Casey’s view on the subject changes dramatically. “Maybe I can preach again. Folks out lonely on the road. Folks with no home to go to. They got to have some kind of home.”. (Steinbeck 435) This is the point of the novel that Steinbeck proves without a doubt that Casey is a true believer in God. For a time he may have left the idea of God behind him, however he returns to it and fully invests himself in what God can do. Casey believes that no matter what position people are in and what they may be going through, God’s love can give them a home. He believes that God has the power to comfort people in their time of need and makes the decision to preach about this power to the migrants he encounters. Through the character of Casey, Steinbeck demonstrates that as a true believer of God, people must trust and have faith that even in the darkest of times God will be there. The author Robert Bolt’s work A Man For all Seasons illustrates the life of Sir Thomas More and his opposal to the marriage of King Henry of England and Anne Boleyn. King Henry had originally asked for an annulment between his brother and his wife Catherine after his brother’s death so that he may marry Catherine and take the throne. However, after a few years of marriage Catherine becomes barren and is unable to provided Henry with a son. He then asks the church for a second annulment so that he may remarry. Sir Thomas More does not approve of this second annulment and in doing so does not support the king. Thomas trusts completely in God’s will and trusts that if he stands up for what he believes in that God will make everything ok in the end. He is highly criticised and called out not only by politicians, but by the king himself. More addresses these criticisms when he says “and when the devil turned around on you? where would you hide Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast- man’s laws, not God’s laws and if you’d cut them down y’d really think you could stand upright?” (Bolt 556) Sir Thomas will not agree to breaking the law because he believes that God’s laws are the only thing protecting him from the devil. Although he opposes something everyone is pressuring him to support and by not supporting it he may suffer, he trusts that God will protect him. More is a true believer of God because he places full trust in God and knows that in the end he will protect him. Sir Thomas’ actions ultimately end up getting him killed but he accepts it with grace, knowing that he will end up in a better place. Completely trusting God is something that is very difficult for most people to do. Fully trusting God often means sacrificing a lot now so that we may be repaid by God later. Authors John Steinbeck and Robert Bolt both fully understand this sacrifice and portray it through their literary works. Casey fully trusts in God and knows that with God’s help people of the great depression will be able to make it through their rough times they may face. Sir Thomas More stands up for what he believes in no matter the cost, knowing that God will protect him. These character’s faith prove them to be true believers in God.

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