...Critical Thinking Part I – Analysis of Buddhism Origin A young prince named Siddhartha Gautama was whole heartedly affected by the poverty, disease, old age, and death he witnessed from beyond the gates of his shelter. Gautama rebelled and took drastic measures that included abandoning the life he was given, self denial of nourishment, and extended periods of meditation in which he achieved the highest level of knowledge called nirvana, hence the name the Buddha, which means “the Enlightened One” (Carner, 2005, p. 114-115). Identity Buddhism is a dharmic religion that charted off from Hinduism and thus becoming independent of Hindu’s vague philosophy and unsatisfying goals (Carner, 2005, p. 114). While Buddhism is a religion, it is also a philosophical belief system in terms of life in general; it teaches how to save oneself from life’s suffering and aguish by following very specific rules through doctrines known as Pali Canon, which were developed shortly after the death of Gautama. Pali Canon also called the Tripitaka, contained rules for conduct, methods for spiritual attainment, and the ethics taught by the Buddha (Rast, Contender Ministries, n.d.). Meaning The Buddha developed what is called the Four Noble Truths which he taught were the principles to live by in order to attain enlightenment. According to the beliefs of Buddhism, through his own efforts man can save himself from human desires, misery, suffering, and pain...
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...APOL 104 June 2, 2014 Worldview Assignment Every human being has a worldview. They may not know exactly what that is but every person has an idea of how they think about things and what they believe in. Our worldview makes up the way we think, feel, and act upon certain issues in life. The environment in which we are raised has a lot to do with our worldview. Most people gain their way of thinking through the ways their parents think about issues in life. For example, parents can have a certain political party they align with and growing up the child can feel like they lean the same way but after learning and understanding the issues on both sides they can decide to change their minds on which party they feel best suits them. The media and the people that surround them also can have a major effect on a person’s worldview. Music, television, and internet paly important factors in the learning and growing process of children. They can use their popularity to make a person feel a certain way which can make them associate themselves with a crowd or idea. The friends and other people they are in contact with can also affect a person’s worldview. People constantly share ideas and communicate them to each other which can influence the way they think. Hopefully, the media and people they are interacting with have a good message to share so that the person can have a worldview that is inspiring and good in nature. The origin of the universe and of man has long been a question...
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...Christian Worldview: Effects of Technology On Religion and Interpersonal Relationships xxxxxx GENE 100 xxxxxx Modern technology advancements have transformed the way individuals believe today. Information technology benefits the organizational structure, marketing, advertising and communication approaches that allow individuals to be successful but at what cost are these tools affecting our interpersonal relationships with each other and to God? Advances in phone calls, e-mail, text messaging, video conferencing and social media allow for a faster, more reliable way to communicate but personal interaction is now lacking. I believe societies ‘addiction’ to technology is a vast problem and it is hindering many aspects of our lives including Christian worldview. As technology continues to develop small business are growing, communication is instantaneous and medical advances have grown tremendously because of it. So how does technology relate to Christian worldview development? In every way! Families now sit at their dinner tables looking at electronic devices and individuals walk in the park looking at their phones hoping to avoid an intimate conversation. As people sit in public spaces text messaging, emailing, searching Facebook, technology is withdrawing understanding, closeness and consideration from those around them. Individuals with a Christian faith should be spreading the word of The Lord instead of conducting in these disengaging actions. According...
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...Introduction 1. Summary of the Islamic worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. Evaluating the Islamic Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Correcting the Islamic Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4. Defending the Christian Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Apologetics Application Paper Introduction According to Brown, people everywhere filter what they read and hear through the grid of their own worldview. We all see the world different and the assumptions and prejudices that have about the world have an effect on how we regard the world. The Christian worldview and the Islamic worldview are similar, but they are different in many ways. But, what is a worldview? The ways a person views and understands the world have an effect on everyone. Sire defines a worldview as "a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.” The Islamic religion is primarily in Africa, the Middle...
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...can successfully integrate psychology and Christianity together. It is important to do this because there is a history of conflict that exists between science and religion as well as supernaturalism and naturalism. Science, being naturalistic, believes in things that can be observed and measured which conflicts with religion, which is super-naturalistic, since most things relating to it cannot be observed or measured. Thus began the conflict of science and religion. Entwistle (2010b) spoke of the conflict Galileo had because he believed in the science experiments he had conducted. These experiments taught that the universe does not revolve around Earth, the heliocentric model, however this conflicted with the church and its religious beliefs since they believed in the Aristotelian model (Entwistle, 2010b). After pushing for his beliefs in his books, he received punishment after the second book was released. Entwistle (2010a p. 8) also brought to our attention the question asked by Tertullian, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” This is asking us if there is harmony that exists between the church and teaching institutions or in other words, religion and science. He believed that with the power of religion, we could fix all the problems people may have and they could become better. However, he realized religion did have its limitations so although he was weary of it, he believed integration of the two disciplines could be necessary. By integrating Psychology...
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...Nature of Religion and Beliefs What is a Worldview? One of the biggest problems of present society is the effect of overall change and acceleration on human psychology. Neither individual minds nor collective culture seem able to cope with the unpredictable change and growing complexity. Stress, uncertainty and frustration increase, minds are overloaded with information, knowledge fragments, values erode, negative developments are consistently overemphasized, while positive ones are ignored. The resulting climate is one of nihilism, anxiety and despair. While the wisdom gathered in the past has lost much of its validity, we don't have a clear vision of the future either. As a result, there does not seem to be anything left to guide our actions. What we need is a framework that ties everything together, that allows us to understand society, the world, and our place in it, and that could help us to make the critical decisions which will shape our future. It would synthesize the wisdom gathered in the different scientific disciplines, philosophies and religions. Rather than focusing on small sections of reality, it would provide us with a picture of the whole. In particular, it would help us to understand, and therefore cope with, complexity and change. Such a conceptual framework may be called a "world view". A model of the world It should allow us to understand how the world functions and how it is structured. "World" here means the totality, everything that exists around...
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...Worldviews of Islam and Christianity A worldview is the framework that one sets their level of standard to in making decisions that are right for them to live by. A worldview is beliefs that you hold near and dear to your heart. You choose to live by these worldviews because it is who makes you who you are. Each person’s worldview is different from others and that is what makes us each an individual. Our worldview is developed and molded through our upbringing, our life experiences, our religion and our surroundings. I do believe nurture and nature both play a huge part in shaping our worldviews. We are shaped into our worldview from being nurtured as a baby, child and then adult. We have our worldviews through nature by the surroundings and society we live in and how we perceive them. The Question of Origin – (How did life begin? How did mankind come into existence?) How would your selected worldview answer this question? Compare and Contrast this with how the biblical worldview would answer this question. According to Islam belief, man came about over a period of time that first stemmed from animals, as they animals got bigger, some sort of rock or stone was formed. With the mixing of this stone from the earth, with added water, man evolved. Eventually, man became intelligent and was able to live and prosper around the others evolved the same way. This took a period of time, it did not just happen. Compared to Christianity, Christianity was formed and...
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...based on their observations he wasn’t a God they wanted to know. Such a group are those that call themselves Anti-theists. Anti-theists promote an ideology that denies the existence of God, any god, and that all religion is evil and not good for us. In this paper the anti-theist worldview will be examined to understand the worldview, its key attributes and why one might be so inclined to pursue such an ideology. The worldview will be compared to the Christian worldview, the purpose of which will be to refute the arguments of the anti-theists worldview and provide a basis for which the anti-theist can be presented with information that might enable them to have a change of heart/mind and begin their journey to acknowledging Christ with the hope of ultimately receiving him. Significant Elements of the Anti-Theist Worldview What is Anti-Theism? Anti (against) -theism is quite simply the opposition to theism, specifically to God or to a god. It is not just the opposition to the Christian God, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, no, anti-theism is opposition to any god, religion or spiritual authority. Anti-theists have “an active distaste for religion in its various forms and believe, to one degree or another, that religion, all religion, is a bad thing”. [1] Joshua Kelly, in Oh, Your God, affirms this when he states that “the idea of god when put into practice as it is done today is inherently evil, breeds conflict, and causes...
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...Hindu Worldview Mildred Gates Liberty University Hindu Worldview There are a total of 900 million Hindus worldwide, making Hinduism the third largest religion. Hinduism has no founder or date of origin. While gathering information about the religion I found it to be a bit confusing and contradicting. Question of Origin In the Hindu worldview has several myths about creation.” One being that of the Cosmic Man, Purusha who was sacrificed by the Gods to create man.” (Rig Veda) It is very different from the Biblical worldview because there is only one creation account. In the Biblical worldview there is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In the Hindu religion they have Brahma the Creator, Lord Vishnu the Preserver, and Lord Shiva the Destroyer. Question of Identity1 In the Hindu religion they treat all living beings from animals to the tiniest creatures with great respect. “According to Hinduism animals are not inferior creatures, but manifestations of God on the lower scale of evolution compared to man, each containing a spark of divine, capable of becoming human and achieving salvation like the rest of us.” In the Biblical worldview humans are more important than animals and one reason is that we use them for food and clothing. Question of Meaning/Purpose. The purpose of life in the Hindu worldview is to perform the proper sacrifices to the Gods. The Hindu religion has four universal goals or purusharthas that shape the meaning of...
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...world, but promptly diverts to discussing his take on the religion status of the world. Many of his essays, including this one, have continuously addressed controversial topics and discussions amongst society throughout time. Divinity School Address is an essay that many Christians have discussed, using its comparing Emerson's contradictory and harsh accusations and statements to their own Christian worldview. My goal of this essay is to discuss the reasons why I disagree with the claims that Emerson makes about his worldview and his view of religion as they starkly contradict with a Christian's worldview, as I contradict them when in comparison with a Christian’s worldview....
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...At its most primitive level, Secular Humanism denies any form of transcendence and promotes freewill as ultimate authority. L. R. Bush states that in a modern worldview, one believed to be the heartbeat of Secular Humanism, “Individual freedom became a high priority…But this new, secular freedom ultimately refused to submit even to God…” David Noebel even quotes one core belief presented, “in the 1973 Humanist Manifesto by Paul Kurtz that ‘no deity will save us, we must save ourselves.’” Interestingly, however, Secular Humanism though it often denies the claim that it is a ‘religion’ seems to have been birth of a well-known, widely accepted religion of Christianity. Matthew Englke states that while studying the anthropology of Secular Humanism in England, many of the secular humanists there, claim a Christian or even Jewish background, and for some Christianity is an important orientation....
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...For Hmong who maintain their traditional beliefs in America, the scientific worldview and Western medicine, have challenged their entire means of understanding the world. Likewise, Hmong beliefs have done the same to Western medical practice. The coexistence of sacred space and medical space has created a need for mutual understanding of worldviews. Through stories drawn from Symonds and Fadiman, it is possible to see how Hmong practice has created a therapeutic myth that closely resembles American medical practice of sickness and health. Through analysis of these two worldviews, I will demonstrate how Hmong cosmology and American medical practice are closely related in the story of Lia Lee. For the Hmong, the shaman plays a crucial role in...
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...evaluating my worldview, I realized that I am pantheist which beliefs the universe and God conceiving of both as indistinguishable and entirely consistent with one another. I believe that God created everything except the universe. According to the practical test, I can live my worldview out in the world as we know it because every person has a different point of view. The practical test demonstrates that a person can be a good citizen, but if he gets upset then he will change his worldview. For instance, I became dissatisfied with being Catholic because I stop believing in churches and in the priest. Many times I when to church and would listen how the priest would criticize the people while everyone believe it was funny, I found offensive.Also, how people who attend to church can feel empowered to kick me out as if they had the right to do it....
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...Critical Thinking Assignment Buddhism/Christian Worldview Robert Barbour, Jr. Liberty University Online APOL 104 Professor Robert Hunter September 29, 2014 In Aspect I of this essay, I will make an effort to respond on several concerns regarding the overall viewpoint from which Buddhists see and understand the world. I deem that the Buddhists worldview can be very fascinating and complicated in several ways. In addition, in Aspect II, I will display how the Buddhists worldview makes a large comparison in comparison to a/the Spiritual / Christian worldview. Aspect I Presenting Buddhism’s Multiple Viewpoints on Worldview The question of Origin: Buddhism is a religion that involves a wide range of customs, values and methods mostly depending on lessons linked to Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhist believe the world have no beginning or end. “The Buddha added the notion that all creatures, including man, are fictions: there is really no "self"; only a series of occurrences that appear to be individual persons and things.” (The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error 2. Compiled by Steven Cory. Copyright 1986, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. ). The question of Identity: Buddhism instructs that there is no self, but instead there are individual, ever-changing elements that create who we are. Buddhists also believe “what keeps man in this cycle is known as Karma. Although good Karma can have a positive effect, it is still viewed as a curse; since good and bad Karma keeps a person...
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...Christian Worldview Worldview Essay Many people go about their lives believing and practicing different religions. These beliefs usually develop through how an individual interprets or perceives reality, also known as a worldview. Everyone may not follow a certain religion or believe in the same God or a God at all, but everyone has a set of views and beliefs about the universe and life in general that they live their life by. Whether it is conscious or subconscious, everyone possesses a worldview. A Christian worldview is a more specific belief system that consists of many aspects. It is a view that mediates from our understanding and experiences of the world and I believe that my worldview generally matches up to that of a Christian worldview, but has its differences. Christians generally believe that God is the center and origin of all things, he is self-defining and he created everyone for a specific purpose. For one, I do believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I am also a follower of the Christian faith. However, I am still young and trying to discover different aspects of myself and how I see and interpret the world. Since I am still experiencing the world and seeing different aspects of it daily, my worldview is constantly changing. What I perceive as my worldview has its similarities and differences from a Christian worldview. For example, there are two views to the development of the universe. One is that the universe was an accident and just happened...
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