...Mr. Amin Ladha 21-833 Scollard Court, Mississauga ON Canada L5V2B4 amin.ladha88@gmail.com 416 823 8487 Faculty of Theology Saint Paul University Office of Admissions and Student Services 233 Main Street Ottawa, ON K1S 1C4 Canada 28th October, 2011, RE: Letter of Intent – St. Paul University Joint Honours Program in Theology and Philosophy Dear St. Paul University Faculty of Theology, I would like to express my interest in applying for the Joint Honours Program in Theology and Philosophy. For as long as I can remember, I have always had an intimate passion with theology and philosophy. As a young teenager still in high school I recall summer days where I would dedicate time to write about theology and philosophy, simply to organize my thoughts. From 2008- 2010 I was a counsellor for the al-Azhar program for Isma’ili youth in the Mississauga area. Historically, al-Azhar draws parallels to the university in Cairo, where during the Fatimid Empire there was a revitalization of philosophy and theology in perfect harmony with science and faith. The program offered a weekly class for Isma’ili youth in grades 11 and 12 in which they were able to engage with their Faith in a modern context. In pre-class development, or lesson planning, our main challenge was to hone in on the key concepts, and articulate them or assist in reinforcing them in a modern context. It goes to say that it was challenging, however at times there were moments of creative genius....
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...Introduction Philosophy and religion have always dealt with the same questions. What is real? How do we know what we believe is real is real? How important are these things that I believe to be real to my existence? Many different philosophers have answered these questions in many different ways as people in today’s society would answer it in different ways as well. Some believe that God, for example, is real. Others believe that the world as we know it can be explained through science, and science alone. First we will look at what Aristotle, one of the early philosophers, view on metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory and then look at a current century way of viewing the world. Chapter 1 Aristotle - Biography Aristotle was born in 384 BCE. at Stagirus, a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. His father Nichomachus was court physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia, and from this began Aristotle's long association with the Macedonian Court, which considerably influenced his life. At age 17 his guardian, Proxenus, sent him to Athens, the intellectual center of the world, to complete his education. He joined the Academy and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy he began to lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. At the death of Plato in 347, the pre-eminent ability of Aristotle would seem to have designated him to succeed to the...
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...THEO 201-B21 Short Essay #4 Angelology and Satanology When you look throughout culture there is no longer a longing to know about eternal life or what God wants for our lives. People are happy to live their life how they want to without much thought to how there choices impact the world around them. When you think of religious dualism not many things come to mind. Most people would not understand it or have a good guess to how to define it. Religious dualism designates “two parts” and is the position that the universe consists of two opposing principles. These two opposing principles are God and Satan. They both exist in our world today and have an impact on the way we live our lives. They are the two forces battle for the souls of men. These forces are not equal in strength though. God, according to Scripture, is infinitely greater than Satan and will eventually cast Satan into hell. This could not be done if they were equal and opposing forces. Revelation 20:10 “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It clearly states here the God will have victory and has the ultimate power over Satan. Many disagree on the origin of Satan. They say that God wouldn’t have created such an evil presence in this world if it was up to him. Others say that it is all part of Gods plan for His kingdom and for saving the lost. There are two views...
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...Worldview Assignment Every day is a gift and one we should never take for granted. The way we perceive the world around us takes critical thinking and a strong and faithful framework to help guide us through life. The world we live in gets harder and harder and moral responsibility is constantly being challenged. Having a worldview based on structure and faith is crucial to one’s everyday life. In their book, Consider, Dr. Lew Weider and Dr. Ben Gutierrez explain that a worldview is a person’s philosophy of life, a framework a person brings to decision-making, and a filter or lens which a person uses to interpret life and the world around them. Every one person has a worldview. This can be molded by people who surround us from the time we are born to adults. There are multiple groups of people from different cultural and religious backgrounds craving your attention in hopes to share their worldview with you and persuade you. You have to fully desire to understand the teachings of the Bible and be able to spread the gospel starting from the beginning to end. Everything has an origin from which it is created. Having a Christian Worldview I know there is only creator and that is God. I can remember my worldview being shaped as early as three years old. I remember the days of my youth going to church with my family like it was yesterday. From a biblical worldview you can find truth and meaning in the scriptures Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 139:13-26. We know God created...
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...JOURNAL ARTICLE CRITIQUE of Tratkakis, Nick “Replies On The Alleged Failure of Free Will Theodicies: A Reply to Tierno” Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Spohia, Vol. 42, No. 2, October 2003 Theo 525 LUO (fall 2013) Systematic Theology I Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Jeremy W. Allexon (ID# 25923739) September 22, 2013 Introduction The purpose of this piece is to conduct an analysis and re-butt Joel Tierno’s argument “that free will only accounts for choices that issue in evil” But fail to account for evil choices. 1 (Trakakis) The paper begins by breaking down Tierno’s argument in logical fashion A+B=C. As he is breaking down the argument Mr. Trakakis ask a series of questions and does not outright disagree with Tierno but provides another prospective. Brief Summary According to free will theodicists the existence of moral evil is permitted by God so as to preserve human free will, without which a host of significant goods would be unattainable.2 Joel Thomas Tierno ask if such ideas satisfactorily explain and justify God's approval of moral evil 3 & 4 Tierno according to Trakakis fails to understand free will theodicists. 5 Which he goes on to describe well probing Tierno’s argument. Trakakis partitions the piece into sections “Tierno’s ‘Adequacy Argument’ Against Free Will Theodicies” “The Inadequacy of Tierno’s ‘Adequacy Argument’, and ‘The Intelligibility Question’ 6 Critical Interaction Mr. Trakakis talking about two schools...
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...GOD-IS-DEAD THEOLOGY A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DOCTOR RICHARD ELLIGSON PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF CHURCH MINISTRY BY EL-FATIH J. AJALA (25927535) THEO 510 LUO LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA JULY 21, 2013 Introduction Paul Enns in his book The Moody Handbook of Theology states of theologians who profess this theology, “deny all forms of traditional ontology and allow for no sovereign and unconditioned Being but only a ‘God’ who at some point in the dialectic wills His own self-annihilation” and that, “man must learn to live without God.”[1] The lack of universal truth in our lives in this 21st century can be directly attributed to the lack of morals and moral values begun in the 19th century; and which took root in the 20th century; and might be the death of man in the 22nd century. In stating that God is dead, it has to be shown that: * Is God dead? * Science and technology can solve the world’s problems * God died as a transcendent God when Christ died * The Bible is narrative (i.e. myth) This review of the God-Is-Dead theology focuses on these four questions. Is God Dead? In an article written in the Chicago Tribune in 1963 it is stated that two men (Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton) experienced the death of God. Upon this statement, a “theology” was born...
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...Corey Rivera Dr. Matthew Arbo Phil 201-D20 December 7, 2013 Response Paper Does a belief in an all-knowing, all-good, all-perfect, and all-powerful God provide one with all the answers to life’s inexplicable questions? Conversely, does a belief in atheism offer any insight into life’s inexplicable questions? According to an article titled “On Being an Atheist,” written by the Australian philosopher H.J. McCloskey, atheism seems to do just that. In fact in his article, McCloskey not only bashes the classical arguments for God’s existence using the problem of evil, but also offers it as the reason why one should not hold to the belief in all-knowing, all-good, all-perfect, all-powerful God. However, as seen in the arguments against McCloskey’s beliefs in atheism, such a belief is not only a sin against God, but has devastating effects to all of mankind. McCloskey claims that arguments, named “proofs” in his article, offer no significant evidence to establish a case for an omnibenevolent God, and therefore should be disregarded.1 However, McCloskey is using the classical arguments the wrong way and in a manner they were not designed to be used. The problem with referring to the classical arguments for God’s existence as “proofs” implies a sense of certainty. These arguments were not meant to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of God, as McCloskey believes. Rather these arguments take a best explanation approach for the existence of God. They simply argue the best...
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...Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary A Paper Submitted to Dr. Marcus Tanner, LMFTA in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course, Theology and Spirituality in Counseling PACO 507 - D05 Name of Student: John Santiago Student ID: L24473755 Class: PACO 507-D05 LUO Instructor’s Name: Dr. Marcus Tanner, LMFTA Date Submitted: 03/20/2014 Summary Dr. Crabb’s book “Effective Biblical Counseling: a Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors,” (Crabb, 1997), breaks problematic areas up into two categories. The first categories are those resulting from natural or physical causes. The second is composed mostly of problem that are essentially moral. It has been said by some and demeaned by others that Dr. Crabb has a somewhat unique approach to counseling. His Biblical counseling explained in his afore mentioned book and his first book, Basic Principles of Biblical Counseling, extols upon the basic parts and theories of his system, along with many changes in theology and he places an emphasis on his belief that, “. . . the most basic problem of every human being is his separation from God, a gulf made necessary by the fact that God is holy and we are not" (p. 17). Primary Goal: (What is the desired outcome?). Crabb first describes for us what he terms as; “Separate but equal” approach (Crabb, 1977). This approach representitive of those who would believe through Christ, “scripture deals with the spiritual and...
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...1. The first premise of the argument is given in the second sentence of the paragraph. What is this premise? (1 mark) Some things can be measured in degrees. For example, "good, better, best". 2. The second premise of the argument is given in the third sentence of the paragraph. What is this premise? (1 mark) All degrees of measurement are calculated by distance from the "best" of the the set as the benchmark. 3. An interim conclusion is drawn from these two premises in the first part of the fourth sentence. What is this interim conclusion? (1 mark) Therefore, something must exist that is the best and most true of all things. 4. A further interim conclusion is drawn in the next part of the fourth sentence. What is this further interim conclusion? (1 mark) Additionally, this something must also be the most fully in being. 5. A third premise, used in the derivation of the second interim conclusion is given at the end of the fourth sentence. What is this third premise? (1 mark) The best thing of all things will be the most true and fully in being. 6. A fourth premise is given in the fifth sentence of the paragraph. What is this premise? (1 mark) The highest example of something is the cause of it in others. 7. A third interim conclusion is drawn in the sixth sentence of the paragraph. What is this conclusion? (1 mark) Therefore, the positive qualities of things don't arise out of isolation but must be caused by something. 8....
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...Philosophy of religion Why is there evil in the world created by a God who is moral, all powerful and perfect? God is moral, all powerful and perfect. He is also which none greater can be conceived. Any attribute of God is overwhelmingly superior to anything we can fathom. So when we try to measure and configure god’s motives, we are really setting ourselves in a maze. One argument is that, due to mankind's limited knowledge, humans cannot expect to understand God or God's ultimate plan. When a parent takes an infant to the doctor for a regular vaccination to prevent some childhood disease, it's because the parent cares for and loves that child. The young child, however, will almost always see things very differently. It is argued that just as an infant cannot possibly understand the motives of its parent while it is still only a child, people cannot comprehend God's will in their current physical and earthly state. Now why is there evil in the world if God is so supreme. Augustine had his view on why evil exist if god is so good. Augustine based his theodicy on his reading of key Biblical passages: Genesis 3 and Romans 5:12-20 Genesis 3 is the story of Adam and Eve and their ‘”fall” in the Garden of Eden. In it the snake convinces the woman to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The woman picks the fruit, and passes some to Adam. Because of their disobedience God has them evicted from the garden. In Romans 5 Paul describes...
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...Two Kinds of Righteousness Two Kinds of Righteousness is a sermon that Luther prepared in 1519, in which he discussed two different types of righteousness a person could have. First, there was the “alien righteousness”. This righteousness is given to you at birth and when you accept Christ as your Lord and savior and have been baptized; you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and you believe that Christ lives in you. With these actions, it is said that you become as righteous as he and are covered by God’s grace. Faith is what drives this righteousness. The “alien righteousness” requires no work but is given to us, we have to nurture this faith and grow it through God’s word and carry it with us through life and abide by it through our everyday actions. We have choices and are expected to always make the godly choice because of our “alien righteousness”. Luther said that when our faith and knowledge in Christ grows our “alien righteousness” grows and is perfected at death. The second kind of righteousness is “proper righteousness”. This righteousness is judged by our works and how we treat our neighbor on a daily basis. Luther states that with “proper righteousness” it’s not at all about you, in fact, you hate yourself and love your neighbor. According to “proper righteousness,” you should not be jealous of your neighbor and their possessions or success. You should be happy for your neighbors and serve those that are less fortunate than you. “Proper righteousness”...
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...God existence In the Middle Ages the existence of God was unquestionable to theologians. They simply knew that He was not an invention of humans. Even so, many of them tried to prove that God was real. The main conflict in the XI century was between two social groups: First of all, those who saw theology as a Bible commentary –and said that God was unreachable and a mystery-. Secondly, those who thought that rational analysis would be better -and were in favour of a more empirical and rational knowledge-. Religion and philosophy were largely mixed. The task of philosophical theology was to clarify, determine and explain the existence of God. How were philosophers supposed to do it? What are the different approaches taken by two of the most important medieval thinkers –Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas-, and how do they differ? ***** Both Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Canterbury identified God as a supreme being with a large number of attributes, necessary for life and the cause of the universe. They acted as mediators between the philosophical problems of their time. Anselm of Canterbury defined God as "that than nothing better can be thought" -meaning that we think of God as the most perfect being, the supreme being-. He considered it possible to demonstrate the existence of God from the mere intellectual understanding of the concept of God. He rejected the observation of the world. The existence in reality is greater than in the mind alone...
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...EVALUATING THE TYPES OF EVIL III. ATHEISTIC AND SKEPTICAL ARGUMENT IV. FREE-WILL THEODICY V. POSSIBLE WORLDS VI. THE ALTERNATIVE APPROACH VII. CONCLUSION VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION Evil is a universal problem with many categories. Philosophers like David Hume and Alvin Plantinga have attempted to explain the presence of evil despite there being a God. One can choose from many theodicies on moral and natural evil. Lately work has shifted to the notion of gratuitous evil. If gratuitous evils exist, is God morally responsible? Gratuitous evil and natural evil appears to bring the most plausible charge that something malevolent has occurred. This paper will critique various arguments concerning evil. Biblical Theology will show that the arguments are missing a key to understanding evil. EVALUATING THE TYPES OF EVIL The complexity involved in addressing evil persuades us to define what is meant by natural and moral evil. It is noted, by Steven Layman, that the distinction between natural and moral evil is not always sharp. It is Erickson who provides very distinctive definitions. Natural evil are the destructive forces of nature. Forces of nature such as earthquakes and hurricanes are out of the control of man, and due to the resulting suffering are deemed evil. Moral evils are those evils committed by free moral agents. Moral and natural evil are at time corollary. Layman suggests that among the losses of natural evil is the loss of moral agency...
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...1 Kristine Williams THEO201_D01_201240 Short Essay 1 Authority, Inspiration, and Inerrancy The word of God has been a book that has touched the lives of many, whether leading to professions of belief or unfortunate rejections of faith. In all of its glory, the Bible has complete authority, inspiration, and inerrancy from God because it is God. These three attributes go hand in hand to the overall divine nature of the scriptures while having their own impact in the argument of Christianity. Since “authority is the right and power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine or judge,”[1] to say that the Bible has its own authority is a simple, but faith-demanding concept. The Bible is authoritative in that its information can be trusted and is completely valid. This is mainly due to the fact that the author sends that authority. The Lord and creator of the universe gives His word evidence simply because He is truth and portrays accuracy. As God’s word the Bible reveals God’s authority. In reference to the Bible, inspiration simply means that God is the author of all scripture. I believe this way because in His authority He says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”[2] I am fully confident that every word in the Bible comes divinely from the creator of the universe, not only because that is what His word says, but because it gives explanation...
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...Theory Critique Sandra D. Wilson, Ph.D.: Hurt people hurt people By Carla LeDane Student ID: L22459513 Presented to Dr. Johnny Baker In partial fulfillment of the requirements of Theology and Spiritualty in Counseling PACO - 507 Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Lynchburg, VA February 8, 2013 Wilson Theory Critique Summation: Dr. Wilson writes that hurting people is a cycle that needs to be broken. She states, “all of us have been hurt by people who were all hurt by other people. In turn, we-- as hurt people-- all have hurt other people to one degree or another. And on and on it goes.” (Wilson, 2001) She says that hurts can be from our actions, words and attitudes that can be intentional or unintentional. The wounds and injuries can and usually manifest in physical, sexual, emotional, intellectual, verbal or spiritual neglect or more times than not, abuse. Dr. Wilson believes that everyone is a hurt person in some way who will hurt another person, knowingly or unknowingly. This cycle is usually generational. You hurt me, I hurt the next person, and on it goes. It is one thing to see the abuses that are physical. We can see the bruises, breaks and scars, but emotional hidden unseen wounds can be hidden for years. Dr. Wilson explains that if you have been hurt deeply, emotionally in the past you often take out that hidden pain on someone else. This is where the cycle must end. By recognizing the nature of our wounds and to what extent...
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