...to believe that because God is merciful and therefore He won't judge them. While others, like doubting Thomas, will not believe unless they see with their eyes or touch with their hands, reject his existence completely. I believe that the two most compelling arguments that the Bible is the word of God are the Empirical Evidence of the Fulfillment of Prophecy and the Convicting, Convincing, Converting Power of the Message. When trying to find the book that is considered the world's best seller, one could think of a million possibilities. According to the Washington Post, the King James Bible is that book. The Bible is not like any other book in history. Within its pages God has revealed to us His plan for humankind from the beginning of our conception to His future plan of complete redemption. In the past he unveiled the future. In doing so, He has shown us that the way is not in man to direct his own steps. God has shown us that only He knows the future. Though many may debate who the original author of the Bible is, I can tell you with certainty that the ideas, the thoughts, and the message are God's alone. Christianity is the only religion that gives fulfilled prophecy as one of its bases for credibility. (Towns, pg. 4, ARGUMENTS THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD) No human knows the future. So, when one has been inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about future events and those events come true; the only conclusion is that this revelation is from God. The convicting, convincing...
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...inspiration. Inspiration is the process by which God chose to reveal Himself, apart from general revelation, through his written word. By his word, we mean being Gods own word written by men and superintended by His Holy Spirit as the divine author, it is whole and was verbally given with the incorporation of the writer’s personality without any error or fault. The Bible itself also testifies that it is the Word of God. Dr Elmer Towns states, “Over 3,000 times in the Scripture the authors claim their message is from God. Expressions like ‘”thus saith the Lord”’ appears approximately 500 times in the Pentateuch and over 1200 times in the prophets.” (Towns 2008) Now if that evidence alone is not enough we cannot deny the empirical evidence we have concerning the fulfillment of prophecy. “The strongest empirical argument that the Bible is the Word of God is based on its demonstrated ability to predict the future”(Towns 2008). In light of the predictions that Scripture has made regarding the predictions concerning the Messiah, His birth, life, death, burial and resurrection, it’s hard not to see the Bible as the...
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...does the term “Scripture” come from? Scriptus which is the act of producing writing. 8. What are three ways the Bible can influence its reader? It’s convicting, convincing, converting power to all who honestly accept its message and believe in Jesus Christ. B. Theology for Today (online excerpts) Arguments that the Bible is the Word of God 1. What three arguments form the basis for arguments from revelation? (1) that the Bible is consistent with itself, (2) that the Bible corresponds with reality, and (3) that the Bible’s claims can be scientifically demonstrated. We shall examine the Bible’s claim that it is the Word of God. 2. What empirical evidence sets Christianity apart from other belief systems? 1. Unique revelation of the Jesus Christ 2. The Bible is from God 3. Fulfillment of Prophecy 4. Convicting, Convincing, Converting power of the message 5. Infinity of Revelation 6. Unity of message from different human sources 7. Transcultural appeal of the message 3. Name two sources that establish an early date of scripture. Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls...
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...Introduction to Empirical research on non-evidence beliefs over anti-vaccination Student Name: Institution: Introduction Vaccines have had an increasing effect on people's health in the world for a long period. Down in Australia, the government introduced the “no jab, no pay” economic policy to detract anti-vaccine movements from ‘confusing’ the public (McCutcheon, 2015).Under this law, children who are not immunized, are denied childcare not unless their parents do declare philosophical, religious, medical or personal objections (Medew 2015). Evidently, in the New South Wales state, only about 50% of citizens receive vaccines for their children. Evidently this is the lowest level in Australia and is compared to South Sudan (McCutcheon, 2015).There are various researches that have come up to explain how conspiracy, paranormal, and spirituality are related to anti-vaccination, but it is clear that none of them was bold enough to explain why. For instance, in line with conspiracy theory, Kata (2010) states of how 75% of the websites she researched on made claims of cover up, where regulatory bodies had information about vaccines they were from the public. Orac (2014) states of how conspiracy in the Muslim world made people into believing polio vaccines were evil plans by the Western nations to sterilize Muslim youth and reduce them in number. In the same sense, 50% of websites stated of how the government purportedly protects vaccine manufacturers and doctors from possible harms...
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...2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End? 12.22.11 Scenes from the motion picture "2012." Courtesy Columbia Pictures. Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won't be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice. Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we're frequently asked regarding 2012. Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012. Answer (A): Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012. Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012? A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter...
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...LEADERSHIP AND EXPECTATIONS: PYGMALION EFFECTS AND OTHER SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES IN ORGANIZATIONS Dov Eden Tel Aviv University The Pygmalion effect is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP) in which raising manager expectations regarding subordinate performance boosts subordinate performance. Managers who are led to expect more of their subordinates lead them to greater achievement. Programmatic research findings from field experiments are reviewed, and our present knowledge about the Pygmalion effect in the management of industrial, sales, and military organizations is summarized. A model is presented in which leadership is hypothesized to be the key mediator through which manager expectations influence motivation, effort, and performance. The subordinate self-efficacy, performance expectations, behaviors that comprise the Pygmalion Leadership Style are described. Besides creating the one-onone Pygmalion effect, additional ways for managers to assert their leadership by creating productive organizationwide SFP are suggested. An agenda for research on SFP applications is proposed. Expectations play an important role in determining leadership effectiveness. Scholars and practitioners have assumed for a long time that leaders who expect more get more (e.g., Likert, 1961, 1967; McGregor, 1960). Despite this general awareness, until recently there was little empirical research illuminating how and why leader expectation effects operate,...
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...Liberty University Should Christians Pray the Imprecatory Psalms? A research paper submitted to Dr. B. Keith Lester. In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the course OBST 520 Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary By Lynchburg, Virginia Friday, July 03, 2015 Contents INTRODUCTION 3 IMPRECATORY PSALMS 3 Context Matters 4 Problematic Solutions 7 Author’s view of Imprecations 9 Should Modern Day Christians Pray Imprecatory Prayers? 10 “Wrong” is not the same as “Sinful” 12 Concluding Thoughts 13 Bibliography iv INTRODUCTION Between the September 11th terrorists, ISIS, and other terror plots and organizations which openly call for the extension of Christians, more Christians than ever are wondering how to properly think about and handle such violent and gruesome persecution. One idea which is regaining traction is imprecatory prayers or “cursing” prayers. These prayers of cursing are found throughout the Bible but the most notable examples are found in Psalms. Christians struggle, however, with whether or not praying these prayers is in keeping with the orthodox teachings of Christ whose teachings involved mercy, grace, and forgiveness. So can and should Christians utilize the imprecatory psalms as part of their regular prayer life or not? This paper will attempt to answer this question by first briefly examining an example of an imprecatory psalm and the context surrounding it and then comparing it to the New Testament teachings...
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...Secularism A Religion Profile from International Students, Inc. Secularism: An Overview Number of Adherents Demographer Davit Barrett estimates that there are 150 million atheists and 768 million nonreligious people in the world. The combined total comes to more than 918 million people (Barrett). Toward the end of the Renaissance, the modern method of empirical science began to develop. The key players were Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), Johannes Kepler (15711630), and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Although it may seem ironic now, each of these men believed in the Christian God. They viewed science as studying the handiwork of an almighty Creator and discerning His natural laws. Galileo considered God to have written two “books”: the Bible and nature (Hummel, p. 106). Contrary to popular belief, the cause for the diversion between Christianity and science originated not with the Church but with the university professors who were threatened by Galileo’s revolutionary ideas. These professors were steeped in the Greek scientific method, which included observation to a small extent, but mostly explained the workings of nature through rational deduction from first principles, or assumptions, an entire view of the universe had been built up. Consequently, the professors embraced such misconceptions as the sun having no imperfections, the moon being a perfectly smooth sphere that shone with its own light, and the earth alone having a moon since the earth was at the center of the...
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...LEARNING FROM OTHERS With the right foundationr practice makps p6~ "Googol" is a mathematical term standing for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. That's a really big number. It's also symbolic of the reach and impact achieved by Google,a firm that is so successful its name has become a common verb. The firm's origins trace to the day when Larry Pageand SergeySrin met as students at Stanford University in California. Their conversationsled to collaboration on a searchengine they called SackRub. It became so popular on campus that they kept refining and expanding the service as they worked in Larry's dormitory room. Google Inc. began with a goal of bringing order and transparency to the information available on the Internet. Even though it hasn't stopped running, or growing, since, the goal endures. The firm's mission is: "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." And if you want to talk about success, take a look at Google'scorporate information and follow its new initiatives in the news. What is the Google difference? How did it gain such runaway popularity? The answers start with a commitment to performance excellence Courtesy Google Inc. based on solid foundations of speed, accuracy, and ease of use. These have been the guiding performance criteria from the beginning, the basis for generating user appeal and competitive advantage for Google's products in the marketplace. Google'sbelief in people also sets it apart. Recently ranked...
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...Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2005, Vol. 4, No. 1, 75–91. ........................................................................................................................................................................ Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices SUMANTRA GHOSHAL Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), UK and London Business School The corporate scandals in the United States have stimulated a frenzy of activities in business schools around the world. Deans are extolling how much their curricula focus on business ethics. New courses are being developed on corporate social responsibility. Old, highly laudatory cases on Enron and Tyco are being hurriedly rewritten. “What more must we do?”, the faculty are asking themselves in grave seminars and over lunch tables (Bartunek, 2002). Business schools do not need to do a great deal more to help prevent future Enrons; they need only to stop doing a lot they currently do. They do not need to create new courses; they need to simply stop teaching some old ones. But, before doing any of this, we—as business school faculty—need to own up to our own role in creating Enrons. Our theories and ideas have done much to strengthen the management practices that we are all now so loudly condemning. vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil” Keynes (1953: 306). This is precisely what has happened to management. Obsessed as they are with the “real world” and sceptical...
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...Organizational Behavior: 1/10/13 * Real life decision making is not rational * “Sunk cost bias” – violates economic assumption of reality * ex: $20 auction * Escalation * Influences of Escalation * Project features encourage it * Psychological factors encourage it * Social factors encourage it * Structural factors encourage it * ex: Vietnam war – committed large number of troops to combat * Reduce escalation of commitment * Separate initial decision-makers from decision evaluators * banks making problem loans * get a fresh set of eyes to evaluate * Shift focus of attention * think about others, pro-social view * hopes and aspirations, growth * Hold people accountable for decision processes, not only outcomes * Maximizers vs. Satisficers * Maximizers – 20% higher salary * Maximizers less successful * less satisfied with outcomes * more negative emotions during search * Maximizers tend to do better but feel worse than satisficers * ex: Silver medal in Olympics * Maximizers at greater risk of escalating commitment * Irrationality * Often can not articulate why we make decisions * ex: Predicting double faults * when asked to justify, they do not really know but may give an answer * Irrationality is unconscious * people’s decisions are also shaped...
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...******Created by ebook converter - www.ebook-converter.com****** ******ebook converter DEMO - www.ebook-converter.com******* ******Created by ebook converter - www.ebook-converter.com****** KOINONIA HOUSE Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83816-0347 ******ebook converter DEMO - www.ebook-converter.com******* ******Created by ebook converter - www.ebook-converter.com****** COSMIC CODES Copyright © 1999 by Koinonia House Revised 2004 P.O. Box D Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816-0347 Web Site: http://www.khouse.org Second Printing 2004 Third Printing 2011 ISBN 978-1-57821-072-5 Design and production by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may reproduced in any form without the written permission of the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America. ******ebook converter DEMO - www.ebook-converter.com******* ******Created by ebook converter - www.ebook-converter.com****** “Cosmic Codes was the authoritative resource that we relied on in the research of our PAX-TV/Discovery Channel television special Secrets of the Bible Code Revealed. It’s absolutely packed with fascinating factual information on all of the Bible-related codes.” DAVID W. BALSIGER PRODUCER, SECRETS OF THE BIBLE CODE REVEALED “Chuck Missler writes from a technological and Biblical background in this cutting-edge analysis of the hidden codes...
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...seemingly overwhelming empirical evidence of the decremental effects of reward on intrinsic task interest and creativity, the use of reward to alter human behavior has been challenged in literature reviews, textbooks, and the popular media. An analysis of a quarter century of research on intrinsic task interest and creativity revealed, however, that (a) detrimental effects of reward occur under highly restricted, easily avoidable conditions," (b) mechanisms of instrumental and classical conditioning are basicfor understanding incremental and decremental effects of reward on task motivation; and (c) positive effects of reward on generalized creativity are easily attainable using procedures derived from behavior theory. bservers of American culture have long noted a Istrong emphasis on individualistic values, including taking responsibility for one's own actions, pursuing personal interests, and exploring one's creative potential (e.g., Badia, 1990; Huber, 1971; Tocqueville, 1840/1990). Consistent with the c o m m o n presumption that individuals function most effectively and happily when they are guiding their own behavior (see Geller, 1982; Hogan, 1975), an increasingly dominant view has developed over the past quarter century contending that the strengthening of performance by reward (reinforcement) causes the unpleasant experience of being controlled by others and reduces task interest and creativity. Based on seemingly overwhelming empirical evidence of such effects, the value...
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...Extraterrestrial Hypothesis The extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is the hypothesis that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being physical spacecraft occupied by extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets visiting Earth. Etymology Origins of the term extraterrestrial hypothesis are unknown, but use in printed material on UFOs seems to date to at least the latter half of the 1960s. French Ufologist Jacques Vallee used it in his 1966 book Challenge to science: the UFO enigma. It was used in a publication by French engineer Aimé Michel in 1967,[1] by Dr. James E. McDonald in a symposium in March 1968[2] and again by McDonald and James Harder while testifying before the Congressional Committee on Science and Astronautics, in July 1968.[3] Skeptic Philip J. Klass used it in his 1968 book UFOs--Identified. In 1969 physicist Edward Condon defined the "Extra-terrestrial Hypothesis" or "ETH" as the "idea that some UFOs may be spacecraft sent to Earth from another civilization or space other than earth, or on a planet associated with a more distant star," while presenting the findings of the much debated Condon Report. Some UFO historians credit Condon with popularizing the term and its abbreviation "ETH". Chronology Although ETH, as a unified and named hypothesis, is a comparatively new concept - one which owes a lot to the saucer sightings of the 1940s–1960s, it can trace its origins back to a number of earlier events such as the now...
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...WHAT IMPACT DOES TRAINING HAVE ON EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AND EMPLOYEE TURNOVER? SCOTT BRUM University of Rhode Island Training is of growing importance to companies seeking to gain an advantage among competitors. There is significant debate among professionals and scholars as to the affect that training has on both employee and organizational goals. One school of thought argues that training leads to an increase in turnover while the other states that training is a tool to that can lead to higher levels of employee retention (Colarelli & Montei, 1996; Becker, 1993). Regardless of where one falls within this debate, most professionals agree that employee training is a complex human resource practice that can significantly impact a company’s success. The training industry as a whole has shown significant growth through the years. Statistics indicate that investment in training is continuing to grow as more and more companies realize its importance. In 1995, $7.7 billion was spent on the wages and salaries of in-house company trainers and $2.8 billion was spent on tuition reimbursement (Frazis, Gittleman, Horrigan, Joyce, 1998). The American Society for Training and Development found that in 2004, the average annual training expenditure per employee was $955, which is an increase of $135 per employee from the previous year. The number of formal learning hours per employee also rose from 26 hours in 2003, to 32 hours in 2004 (atsd.com, 2005). As the investment in various training...
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