Preston Mundt Man's desire vs. God's will What place should the church have in one's life? This has been a debated question for many decades. In William Blake's poem, "The Garden of Love", Blake declares his hatred toward...

Alfie Johnson 3/20/00 Addiction and Grace I think Dr. Gerald may have done a marvelous job as to the writing and format of his book Addiction and Grace. As a psychiatrist and teacher with years of experience, I totally agree with his statement that all human beings have an inborn desire of ...

During the peak of Puritan ideology, the people strived for the warmth and relief of God's grace. Their numerous sacrifices determined what kind of people they were, and how much faith in God they possessed. Puritan literature reflects the desire for grace because the citizens of the colonial age b...

FREEDOM In "Paradiso", Dante is led by his guide Beatrice, and ascends through the heavenly spheres of Heaven, where he is granted a vision of God's heavenly court. In each sphere, Dante meets many souls who have been rewarded for their cardinal virtues, such as prudence, fortitude, justice, and ...

Did God Create evil or did man? Ever since the beginning of time, our reality has been based on the conflict between good and evil. From the story of Adam and Eve to modern day and everything done by the human race has been a battle between these two. Many theologians and scholars have trie...

DID GOD CREATE EVIL OR DID MAN? Ever since the beginning of time our reality has been based on the conflict between good and evil. From the story of Adam and Eve to modern day and everything done by the human race has been a battle between these two. Many theologians and scholars have tried to...

DID GOD CREATE EVIL OR DID MAN? Ever since the beginning of time our reality has been based on the conflict between good and evil. From the story of Adam and Eve to modern day and everything done by the human race has been a battle between these two. Many theologians and scholars have tried to...

The fundamentals of Christian spirituality lie in the triune God that is the center of Christian faith. In Ronald Rolheiser's book, The Holy Longing, he strives to give the reader a deeper understanding of and ability to practice this Christian spirituality and its different dimensions within the ...

God is not blind that he cannot see our suffering , when the children of Israel were in bondage God instructed Moses to tell them He had seen their suffering and had heard them crying out . I don't think that God heard them because their cry was loud ( although it may have been ) but rather ...

"You will desire your husband but he will be your master, (3:16 Genesis). The story Genesis discourages the notion of gender balance by portraying women as less than man. In this creation story, God creates the heavens and the earth, everything in between, and Adam (man) from dust. The Lor...

When we think of this world and its origins, we as human tend to think in one of two ways religiously or scientifically. Those of us who think religiously obviously go with our religious affiliations. For example, Christians tend to think about the story of creationism in the seven-day time frame ...

Simon Birch In order to flourish a tree must have strong roots. They are essential in the growth of the tree and without them it will eventually wither away. The same can be said about a person and his roots. Not knowing who you are or where you come from can make things very tough. It can fill...

Evil, sinful, lover of Satan and weak are just a few adjectives to describe women through history. Nevertheless, women were not always portrayed as so. Women once held a strong and dominated figure within the society. In the ancient Egyptian society, women were equal to men in status and prest...

Poetry Analysis - - The Village Atheist "The world and it's desires pass away; but, the man who does the will of God will live Forever." - 1 John 2:17 Using literary and poetic devises to stress the importance of hope, intuition, and desire over worldly objects, The Village Atheist warns th...

As William Blake wittily comments, "those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained," The Marriage of Heaven and Hell sneers at restrictions and advocates appeasing sensuous desires that are condemned by orthodox Christian belief. Blake masterfully makes a...

Once encountering the subject of secular spirituality, one is bombarded by a host of modalities which seem to be available in every brand imaginable. Many things can be spiritual; meditation, critical thinking, sports, and the list continues. It points to some very interesting conclusions conce...

Hope Leslie a novel written by Catherine Maria Sedgwick in the 1800's is a tale for our time. As I was drawn into this tale I was struck by the very current views that are expressed by its various characters. Even though it was written in the 1800's, and set in the 1600's, Sedgwick...

Inherent to human nature and their morals, are dualities, such as good and bad, in a character which produces all the emotions, experiences, and forces that motivates an individual to overcome the struggles of life. One, without the other, will not suffice in its existence. Consequently, only the co...

Body and Soul: Springboards for Love Saint Augustine and Catherine of Siena went through distinctive spiritual journeys in order to reach and experience true love. Confessions, by Saint Augustine, and The Dialogue, by Catherine of Siena, reveal these journeys faced by both authors. To begin wit...

The Problem of Evil, and Free Will as the Primary Source Some people view the problem of evil as the most serious challenge to the Christian tradition. "How can God exist when there is evil in the world?" This question arises due to the nature of God. God is understood to be benevolent, omniscient,...

Hill 1 God's Chosen Soldier "Beowulf", is a story of a man who seems to be unrealistic to people of today. Yet the character, Beowulf still arouses the imagination of any generation from all over the world. "Beowulf", is undoubtedly one of the most studied, debat...

In Faust, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe builds a dramatic poem around the basis of human strengths and weaknesses, two traits exemplified by Goethe through his main character, Johann Faust. Throughout his life, Faust becomes knowledgeable in math, science, and the Holy Scripture, yet desires to find...

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince examines the nature of power and his views of power in the leadership that he observed in his time. Machiavelli discusses power over the people, dictatorial power, and the power with the people. The struggle to retain, hold, and apply one power is human nature and ...

Not only that there will be a redemption, but that there must be a redemption act present in several ways in John Milton's poem "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity". The redemption act--not being a reaction of God to Humanity's Fall, for such a dependency on Humanity by God is not ...

Comparison of Creation Myths It is in the nature of humans to wonder about the unknown and search for answers. At the foundation of nearly every culture is a creation myth that explains how the wonders of the earth came to be. These myths have an immense influence on people's frame of reference. Th...