...has been a topic of discussion between psychologists and Christian leaders. The debate between the two disciplines has been whether or not the two can coexist together or if the two disciplines should never merge. Epistemology, cosmology, and philosophical anthropology lays down the foundation for integration. Both disciplines seek to understand human behavior and both seek to fix what appears to be broken within humanity. Both disciplines seek for truth. Psychology seeks for truth through science and what has been observed, whereas the source for truth for Christianity is found in God through His Words and His Works. The two may not contradict. There are several models of integration and they look to explain what the relationship between psychology and Christianity ought to be. The Allies model, which is discussed in more depth, holds the view that truth is found in God’s Words and Works and that God is sovereign over all things. Integration Paper The integration of psychology and Christianity has been a topic of discussion for many years and will be for many more years to come. It is important that this discussion is not put aside but rather be openly discussed among members from both disciplines. There are many models within integration and they all offer their own perspectives on the relationship between psychology and Christianity. One is not necessarily better than the other because they all present their own advantages and limitations. It is up for an individual to...
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...develops. The stem cells are then harvested for research purposes. Due to the fact that no infant is born (in fact the embryo never even gets past the blastocyst stage), it is argued that this type of cloning has nothing to do with human cloning. (Hatch Backs Limited Cloning, 2002). For this reason this paper shall take the statement “to clone a human being” as meaning cloning that results in a fully formed human and not on the cloning of embryos for the purposes of research. The issues around cloning are in the main more ethical than theological and yet most of the objections to cloning come from religious sources, even if those objections are not religious in nature. The first objection is that cloning leaves God out of the process of human creation. This only makes sense though if your definition of God is of a being that plays a role in the birth of each member of our species. Even holding to this view it does not necessarily follow that cloning is comparable to playing God (Brannigan, 2001). How can science prevent a supposedly omnipotent and omnipresent being from doing anything, and if it is possible this raises serious questions about God’s divinity and even our own. The second objection is that we are creating an infant independent of human sexual congress and thereby making impossible the divine inculcation of a soul. In vitro fertilisation is equivalent to cloning here as both involve conception of one form or...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY THEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE: FOUR VIEWS ON HELL A THEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE SUBMITTED TO DR. ROBERT WETMORE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE THEO 530 LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY PETER J. FILIPIAK SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................1 SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1 CRITICAL INTERACTION...................................................................................2 The Literal View...........................................................................................2 The Metaphorical View................................................................................4 The Purgatorial View....................................................................................5 The Conditional View..................................................................................6 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................7 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................9 Introduction Four Views on Hell is a book edited by William Crockett in which...
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...1. What are some of the questions religion seeks to answer? Reflect on these deep metaphysical and ethical questions, and give an account of how you have tried to answer these questions, either through a theological or philosophical response. (For some of you this course may be your first opportunity to independently reflect on these deep rooted religions questions.) I think some of the questions religion seeks to answer are questions like: What happens after we die? Where did we originate from? How should we treat others and our surroundings? I have come to a current conclusion on not knowing for definite the answer to any of these questions. I have many thoughts on them. I think that maybe after we die our energy disperses and creates new beings in some fashion, not even necessarily beings but matter. I feel like maybe déjà vu occurs because we are compiled of energies from a million other beings/substances and it’s your energy remembering a similar situation. I think this out of the context that energy cannot be created or destroyed. I don’t know as if we will continue to have the same collection of consciousness or not. I would like to think we would because that’s a fun thought. I have spent a lot of time contemplating ideas such as these. I also don’t know where we originate. I understand our planet’s evolution and a bit beyond that. What I don’t understand (and probably never will) is what is beyond that. So, ok, we evolved through billions of years and I get that but...
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...worldviews and ideas on Christian doctrines. Hick uses a platform of cultural and geographical ideas, as well as, the “Christian experience,” to launch his theories of pluralism. At a young age, (18) it is believed that Hick underwent a strong religious experience that may have been partly the blame for at least some of his original thoughts on religion. Hick argues that for the ordinary believer, religious knowledge is gained by experiencing God for oneself. Religious knowledge, then, is mediated through our experience of the world, in much the same way that the rest of the know- ledge we have about the world is gained…A primary and unevidenceable act of interpretation is required which, when directed toward God, has traditionally been termed “faith.” Many more philosophical ideas developed in the 90 years of Hick’s life stemming from religious language, religious epistemology, the problem of evil, Christology, and of course, religious pluralism. As pluralistic ideas have expanded throughout the world and many Universities and College campuses embrace its suggestions, Christian exclusivists find themselves in an awkward position, defending the plan of salvation on a Biblical foundation. In Ronald Nash’s book, Is JESUS the Only SAVIOR? He spends almost half of the book dissecting and debating the issues with pluralism, while defending his convictions...
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...Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary The Existence of God; Science As Justification Submitted to Dr. michael chiavone Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For THEO 626 D02 By Daniel Martin Student ID: L25178504 New Orleans, LA December 12, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Introduction 1 a. Thesis and introductory explanation b. Historical development of doctrine II. Arguments for the Existence of God 3 c. Cosmological Argument d. Teleological Argument e. Anthropological III. Atheism Versus Existence of God 11 f. Evidence used to disprove God’s existence g. The believers evidence to counter IV. Conclusion 13 h. Summary of the arguments i. Applications in the church today V. Introduction The existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, monotheistic God has come up against enormous resistance from the beginning of time. Early believers such as Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Peter all had to demonstrate that their God is the one true God at times. These believers even encountered persecution and ridicule for holding on to these beliefs at times. Nevertheless the challenges to these early believers tended to be demonstrating that their God was greater than their accuser’s god or gods. At times, it was through the words of men that the God of the Bible was shown to be greater, and other...
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...Redemption as a means to Salvation Is the story of Jesus mainly about his death and a life that leads to it, or is the story of Jesus mainly about his life and a death that flows from it? On one view, it hardly matters: these are just two ways of looking at the same thing. On a more combative view, the difference is as great as night and day. Does the cross belong on the sleeves (and hearts) of Christians, as the glorious core of their faith, or does it belong in the repair shop, in need of drastic repairs, the primary Christian embarrassment for believers and an offense to outsiders? The disagreement is not over Jesus’ death as a fact. Both sides largely agree about the reality and circumstances of the crucifixion and, for that matter, of the resurrection. At least, the disagreement within one side on these issues is as great as the disagreement between the sides. No, the conflict revolves around a theology of the cross, a theology that says Jesus’ death is the supreme saving act, and that the equation of guilt, punishment and grace worked out through the execution of the innocent, divine victim in place of a rightly condemned humanity provides the essential sum of Christianity itself. This theology is composed of many elements in scripture and tradition -- references to Jesus’ death as a sacrifice, ideas of redemptive suffering, and a deep tradition of eucharistic remembrance that Jesus died "for us." These elements appear in all branches and eras of Christian tradition...
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...THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF RUDOLF BULTMANN one briefly explain the theological of a man whose diversified writings first book How the present decade? Is it extend fromahissignificance review ina 1908 to possible for short essay to disclose fundamental unity in topics which range from source criticism, the history of religion, literary criticism, classical philology, technical exegesis, Gnostic studies, existential philosophy, and hermeneutics to the Gifford Lectures, the theological essay, popular and literate dialogue about the Church, demythologizing, and the relation of the New Testament to daily life?3 If the theological significance is judged in terms of intellectual climate, moral force, and scholarly style or by the more tangible but subtle influence on several generations of scholars, then the theological significance seems almost as elusive as it is palpable. Fortunately, diversity of form and subject is more apparent than real. The theological atmosphere and problematic shaped by Bultmann may be traced to concepts and procedures available to any critical reader. While it is quite correct to note, as did Hans Jonas on the Feiertag celebrated in honor of Bultmann in Marburg, November 16,1976, that it is impossible to separate the man from his writings, for he lived as he wrote,4 we are not here primarily concerned with Bultmann's personal psychological integrity, striking as it is. It may, however, be accurate to say that this escalating unity of life and work...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Exegetical Study of Philippians 2:1-11 Submitted to Dr. Ram Bush, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course NBST 610-B07 Hermeneutics October 5, 2014 Table of Contents Thesis Statement 3 Passage Introduction 3 Background and Context 4 Content of Philippians 5 2:1Unity 5 2:2 Joy 6 2:3 Selflessness 6 2:4 Affirming Selflessness 7 2:5 Christian Humility 7 2:6 Humility of Christ 8 2:7 Sanctification 9 2:8 Humbled 9 2:9 Christ’s Glory 10 2:10 God’s Purpose 11 2:11 Jesus Christ is Lord 12 Application 12 BIBLIOGRPHY 14 Thesis Statement This paper will defend the theory that The Apostle Paul saw a type of arrogance in the Philippians but continued to mentor them towards prolific humility and unity. Passage Introduction “1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made...
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...Book Summary Introduction The author, John N. Oswalt, attended Asbury Theological Seminary for his undergraduate studies. He attended Brandeis University in the Mediterranean Studies Department for his graduate degree. Mr. Oswalt has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity, and Wesley Biblical Seminary. According to Oswalt, serious questions about the evolutionary paradigm inherent in the philosophy of Idealism were the result of the economic depression in the late 40’s. Since there was little separation from Idealism and the standard higher critical views of Old Testament that had prevailed for the past fifty years, there was cause for some rethinking about the Old Testament and the associated religion. This rethinking was led by William F. Albright, G. Ernest Wright, and others of the Harvard Divinity School. Sixty years later, it is widely accepted that Israelite religion is just one more West Semitic religion and that its characteristic features can be fully explained on through evolutionary change. Oswalt writes that no new discoveries led to this dramatic change in thinking. Because of the work of Karl Barth in 1950, the scholarly world was ready the idea of revelation in ways not found in the last couple of generations. Revelation assumes that this world is not self-explanatory and that some communication from beyond the world is necessary to explain it. Oswalt states that this idea is distasteful to humans in that humans are...
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...Descartes and Heidegger both set a new standard for thinking, but at completely different ends. Descartes says a subject is a thinking thing that is not extended, and the object is an extended thing which does not think. Heidegger rejects this distinction between subject and object by arguing that there is no subject distinct from the external world of things because Dasein is essentially Being-in-the-world. To Heidegger, everything has an essence, yet that essence is concealed to humans. Descartes’s philosophy placed a heavy emphasis on deductive reasoning and mathematics. He developed analytic geometry and the Cartesian coordinate system which helped scientists use mathematics to model the physical world. One of his influences on today’s world is his philosophy of mind, dualism, where the mind is a nonphysical substance. Descartes proposed that reality consists of two separate realms: a physical realm and a mental realm. The physical realm is the realm of matter and energy. Its properties can be measured and studied by science. Everything in this realm operates only by mechanical properties. Descartes included the body as part of the physical realm, viewing it as a biological machine with no free will. Descartes’s view that the body is a machine has led a mechanical approach in medicine, because Descartes views technology as separate from ethics. This idea is prevalent in today’s philosophy – computer science majors are not required to take a morality course. This means...
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...GOLDEN GATE BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CAMPUS DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN FREE WILL IN REFORMED THEOLOGY, OPEN THEISM AND MOLINISM AN EXAMINATION OF THE VIEWS OF PAUL KJOSS HELSETH, GREGORY BOYD AND WILLIAM LANE CRAIG A RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTED TO PROFESSOR RODRICK K. DURST IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY II, L-1212-11 BY ROBERT MCNAIR BOX # 685 MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA MAY 9, 2014 Contents Introduction 1 Paul Kjoss Helseth and the Reformed (Calvinist) Position 3 Gregory Boyd and the Open Theism Position 7 William Lane Craig and the Molinist Position 12 Conclusion 17 Bibliography 22 DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN FREE WILL Introduction Scripture presents two seemingly irreconcilable concepts that are both expressly affirmed in the Bible as co-existent and true: divine sovereignty and human free will. That Scripture teaches the doctrine of divine providence cannot be denied. The very act of creation was the result of God’s providence, as the created order resulted solely from His will and power. Simply, the world did not have to be; it came to be as a matter of divine choice. As a result, our world is contingent; it has no independent existence, but exists “moment to moment only in and through and unto God (Neh. 9:6; Ps. 104:30; Rom. 11:36; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 4:11).”1 In other words, the world and everything in it is entirely dependent on God for its being as God actively “works all things according to the counsel...
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...THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NIGERIA SERMON CRAFT FOR ELDERS By REV DR. OKEKE O NDU WHAT IS SERMON? Sermon is the principle of giving voice to the written word of god so that god will act to bless the believers. “Bless the LORD ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the VOICE OF HIS WORD”. Psalm 103:20 “And they went forth and PREACHED EVERYWHERE and while the Lord worked with them and CONFIRMED THE MESSAGE BY THE SIGNS that attended it, AMEN Mark 16:20 “He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions” Psalm 107:20 The art of preaching is popularly called Sermon. God is ready to confirm sermons that say exactly what he wants his people to hear and be healed. How do we know what God wants the pastor to preach. To get the right message the Preacher like his brethren Apostles, evangelists etc. The PREACHER must listen to God, He must tarry with the Lord, He must get a message from him. This process of getting a message from God is what is called SERMON PREPARATION. To prepare a sermon, the preacher must bear in mind THREE ACTIVITIES that must be done. These three activities are studied in our Theological Seminaries as: 1.Hermeneutics, 2. Exegesis, 3. Homiletics A sermon should have the following in whatever order. The acronym is THECIA RESEARCH OR FACT FINDING SKILL 1. THEME/TEXT (Caption of the message) 2. HERMENEUTICS: Meaning of the theme or text 3. EXEGESIS: Other Related Bible references 4....
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...easily becomes a step by step description of how to rebuild the believer’s heart. God is relentlessly in pursuit of his children and He desires to welcome them home with applause. Through the Beatitudes, Lucado hopes to convey this message to rekindle the love inside God’s children. Within the first couple of chapters, Lucado immediately introduces the bi-product of Christ’s reconstruction of the believer’s heart. He begins his series of insights by introducing the idea of the Sacred Delight. This Sacred Delight is a holy joy that comes from God and is the gift received when a person surrenders everything they have come to know and cherish. Lucado recognizes this shift and says it starts with, “a demolition of the old structure and a creation of the anew,” and explicitly interjects that, “the more radical the change, the greater the joy. And it’s worth every effort, for this is the joy of God,” (Lucado, p12). Lucado breaks down what the idea of the Sacred Delight means. He says, “Sacred Delight is good news coming through the back door of [one’s own] heart. It’s what [one had] always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true,” (Lucado, p10). Lucado is an excellent narrator and uses his words to truly convey an idea in a multitude of ways. He even goes further than just simple illustrations to explain what makes this Sacred Delight so joyful. “It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is a delight because it thrills. Since it is sacred, it can’t...
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...on What is the Relation between Science and Religion William Lane Craig Examines several ways in which science and theology relate to each other. Back in 1896 the president of Cornell University Andrew Dickson White published a book entitled A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. Under White’s influence, the metaphor of “warfare” to describe the relations between science and the Christian faith became very widespread during the first half of the 20th century. The culturally dominant view in the West—even among Christians—came to be that science and Christianity are not allies in the search for truth, but adversaries. To illustrate, several years ago I had a debate with a philosopher of science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver , Canada, on the question “Are Science and Religion Mutually Irrelevant?” When I walked onto the campus, I saw that the Christian students sponsoring the debate had advertised it with large banners and posters proclaiming “Science vs. Christianity.” The students were perpetuating the same sort of warfare mentality that Andrew Dickson White proclaimed over a hundred years ago. What has happened, however, in the second half of this century is that historians and philosophers of science have come to realize that this supposed history of warfare is a myth. As Thaxton and Pearcey point out in their recent book The Soul of Science, for over 300 years between the rise of modern science in the 1500’s and the late 1800s the relationship...
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