“The Christian Response to Atheism: Dostoevsky”). Many characters in Dostoevsky writings voice their philosophical beliefs on God and religion. Alyosha and Zosima advocate for a Christian lifestyle and acknowledge that, “those who kill God also kill man” (Mcinerny, Ralph. “The Christian Response to Atheism: Dostoevsky”). Others such as Ivan and Prince Myshkin either refuse to accept God out of pride or attack the Church, especially the Catholic Church, with false or misunderstood principles.
It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). When compared with this concept, Portia’s deceitful actions become more egregious, and her motives become more apparently devilish, as she is literally declaring herself as righteous and impartial, but is actually motivated by self interest and deception. Signifying this biblical allusion, Portia assumes the name Balthasar for her disguise, which both functions ironically,
Therefore, Faustus proves that not trusting in and straying away from God can corrupt the mind and behavior, which influences Christians to take up sinful ways. Faustus first uses scriptures to justify his reasons for resorting to black magic because he has become arrogant and feels that his Doctorate in Divinity is not enough anymore. He bends scripture and says, “The reward of sin is death,” (I, i, 40), and so he makes the reader believe that his human nature makes him sin and that he is to die anyway, so he might as well sin. He says, “‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.’ Why then, belike, we must sin, and so consequently die” (I, i, 42-45). He is making the point again that he is human and that he has fleshly desires, so he might as well do whatever he pleases because he will die anyway.
This poem heavily leans on the religious side of this problem, specifically Christianity, as the poem talks about a circle in a Christian version of hell, a circle specifically created to house these types of people. The title ‘Ersatz’, a word which means ‘not real or genuine’, also alludes to these ‘false shepherds’, without giving the entire premise away. Kokabiel and Tamiel are names of fallen angels. Form and Structure: The verses of this poem, for the most part, are tercet that follows an ‘a,a,b’ rhyming scheme. I choose a tercet because the number 3 alludes back to classical renaissance era, where many songs where written in ¾ time.
While man’s desires is the reason he becomes tempted, Satan is the one who encourages him to pursue his lustful desires. He first makes one question the truth of what God has said, and once he causes one to doubt, as a result causes man to believe a lie which then ends in man commiting a sinful act. For example, Elmer Towns, the author of Concise Bible Doctrines, eloquently states how the fall of man in which Adam and Eve sinned against God which resulted in the downfall of mankind, all started with Satan appearing as a Serpent placing doubt into Eve’s mind (234). Satan tricked Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit by questioning God’s intentions. Satan told Eve “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).
The Antichrist will be on the throne during the great tribulation exercising his rule. The word “anti” means instead of or against. Thus, antichrist means a false or Counterfeit Messiah. Jesus Himself prophesied of the coming person of the antichrist when He rebuked the Jews thus, “I [the true Messiah] am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another [a false Messiah] shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43) The Lord actually warned that (because the Jews rejected him as their Messiah) they will sadly be deceived to embrace a false Messiah when he comes in his own name. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:11, 12).
Reflection Paper In this reflection paper, I choose Marx and Freud’s religious view to discuss, because in some ways their perspective of religion was similar. Marx thought Religions is pure illusion. It will be leading a worse consequence. Freud thought religion is a type of psychological tools to let us put our hopes、morality and ideality on the man who was called “God”, is a supernatural being，and trying to belittle their own value. We can see that, Marx and Freud hold negative views on religion.
Voltaire criticizes both the religious practitioners and the theory of optimism through the various characters in the novel. Contrasting characters such as the Protestant Minister, the Pope, and Pangloss are used contradict the morals and beliefs exhibited by James and El Dorado. Voltaire uses a sense of irony to portray the Protestant Minister as morally flawed. James the Anabaptist and El Dorado represent exactly what religious practitioners strive to be. Voltaire suggests that a true and honest religious practitioner would overlook religion in a time of need.
Augustine’s conception of the sin in The Confessions is vastly different from today’s version of sin. In the modern world, Christian sin is mainly focused on the seven deadliest whereas Saint Augustine added more onto this list. The book mainly explores St. Augustine’s struggle for celibacy and converting himself to Christianity. Augustine also created a concept he termed as original sin. Original sin states that sin is inherently within all of us, we are all born evil and thus have to fight to be good.
However, when sin came to lord over human lives, they became self-centered with a heart bent on evil desires. Jesus Christ came into the world in order that through His death and resurrection, He could redeem humanity from the power of sin and be reconciled back to God’s love. Therefore, those who have been restored to God’s family, believing