Richard Coleman Secularism

Justice is the universal word that connects Habakkuk’s concern for the struggling righteous to the undeserving evil. Habakkuk’s prayer revolves around justice and it interpretes that justice is not being served to the right people (Haak,”EDB,” 536). The adversity given by God allowed those who truly had trust and faith in his words to be

“Holy Sonnet 5” makes it evident that only a sinner who is genuinely repentant and willing to pay for his sins can attain God’s salvation. Although the sonnet seems to advocate sin as seductive and alluring, an analysis of the poem’s structure, symbolic imagery, and sound reveals that sin can be controlled. By choosing to focus his attention on biblical allusions that aid the speaker in developing a solution to his convicted sentence, he is able to remove sin’s illicitness and wields that strong emotion into a method of redemption. Although Donne focuses his attention on sin’s seductive nature, which had previously lured his body and soul with its “lust,” he is able to skillfully channel the same emotion elicited by sin into longing for religion. By expressing rebirth as a process only possible though flames, the speaker removes the sexual connotation from sin itself and implicitly adds it to his religion by boldly asking God to punish him for his transgressions.

Augustine attempts to inform others about the various enjoyments life has to offer. His big argument is that people can attain true happiness by accepting God into their lives, and refrain from participating in worldly pleasures. He believes that rejecting the temptations of all worldly pleasures is essential in developing a true and fulfilling life devoted to God. The argument to be had here is that some could debate that Augustine’s strict views of steering clear of the pleasures our world has to offer is excessive and can prevent him from attaining a balanced lifestyle. Society views overeating as outrageous and unhealthy, and the same could be said for Augustine’s belief of self restraint.

To be objective, moral values must be transcendent. The answer to the question of secular humanists is found by the One who dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. A pantheistic worldview is talked about in chapters 5-6 on how humans can escape suffering. Pantheism argues that the cause of pain and suffering is within humans, yet it is from within humanity that the solution lies.

3. The State of Questions The Thomist philosophy holds the great evil can separate man from God, while the great good is a loving union with God . Stumps, then, underlines suffering as a way to temper the human soul. The account of God’s love and the human desire for unity between God and man are morally sufficient reason for understanding God’s allowing of suffering.

“Man cannot grasp how death could be the source of life and love; yet to reveal the mystery of his saving plan God has chosen precisely that which reason considers "foolishness" and a "scandal" (John Paul pg. 21). The main justification that Paul provides is the truth about the deeper meaning of the Cross of Christ. The cross provides the wisdom needed to understand the motives of God and the amount of love that humans are truly capable of. In total, reason alone cannot fully eliminate the reason for the crucifixion itself. Faith is needed to fully understand His death and that faith in the Cross can lead to the ultimate answer of

Christian humanism involves “the belief that human freedom, individual conscience and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine”. It developed ideas, attitudes and programs swayed by humanism, but influenced by Christianity; it stressed the “greatness of the individual”. In Pico Della Mirandola’s work, the influence of this greatness shows the comparison of the characteristics of mankind to the rest of the world. In the first half of the article, the author states that although humankind is being praised, they are being praised for the wrong reasons.

O what a disfavor if such a loathed and base race, which loves evil presences, ought to overcome a people which has the confidence of all-powerful God and is made great with the name of Christ!”. In spite of the fact that he presumably did not mean what later came to be called liberalities. The reduction of the sins is tremendously appealing to those who did criminal acts, they achieve chance to get rid of them. They do not need to do an extreme matter, they just need to go and protect Byzantium. Which shows why so many Christians would attend this

One of the most integral parts of Shaw’s argument in regards to sexism is that it is a learned and unnatural behavior, a system that is imposed rather than organically created. Shaw argues that it is the institutions of the government and Catholic Church that foster sexism. As such, the common people- particularly the country folk who have had limited exposure to these groups- are not portrayed as sexist while the clergy and government officials are. This disparity is eloquently displayed in the following excerpt. "I will go out now to the common people, and let the love in their eyes comfort me for the hate in yours.

(Matthew 7:21-23). When people are concerned more with their families, friends, beauty, strength, and worldly possessions than with pleasing God He will declare depart from me (unto death?). With faith and believing in the words of the Bible man can be saved, and acquire a desire to complete good deeds. As Everyman is forsaken by his Kindred, Cousins, Goods, and Fellowship he begins to gain Knowledge and learns of Confession and this causes his Good Deeds to become stronger meaning he gains a desire to complete Good Deeds and please God. In the end one can only take good deeds with them when judged by God. Good deeds do not give Christians salvation.

John Calvin and Martin Luther both believed that at glorification, man will be restored back into the complete image of God. Luther says, "the Gospel [which] brings it about that we are formed

Whereas groups with a scared basis turn to a supreme being for guidance or answers. Contradicting the superior Christian scriptural view that human nature was essentially corrupt and in need of divine guidance and salvation from itself, Kant and Jefferson enforced the positive view that accounted humans as centrally rational and completely able to be educated. Knowledge resulting in departure, open analysis was viewed as providing not only the basis for understanding the natural world but also for the understanding of human themselves, including their political and social selves. Furthermore, humans came to be kept exemplifying the capability as embodying the ability to consider and value the common good or morality and to provide for the social and political preparations that serve for the better of human condition.

When all else fails, religion is what people turn to. However, a multitude of principles and spiritual beliefs established by religious institutions are not always obeyed by all of the people who practice and believe. In the novel, Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, chapters 4-6 present a considerable amount of antireligious sentiments. Contrary to previously holding a large role in a church, Jim Casy is the character in the novel who seems to be the most antireligious. Despite being religious with spiritual aspects of life, Casy seems to be against the concept of religious institution.

Summary of Major Ideas In his article, “Why the Secular Needs the Sacred,” William Kirk Kilpatrick accurately discusses the need for the sacred view of life. Kilpatrick says that the world tries to get along without religion, and shows how it does not work. Society has no good person or supreme being to turn to if not God because of all the different opinions flawed man has of what is right and wrong. People turn to a business agreement to try to explain authority even though the point of authority is always changing.

. In chapter five, McMinn’s main emphasis is on the concept of sin within the counseling session. The author discusses prayer by explaining the psychological perspective of sin, theology perspective of prayer, and spirituality perspective of sin. McMinn (2007) acknowledges that there is a lack of empirical research regarding sin in counseling instead there have only been a few authors who have written about the role of sin in relation to mental illness (158).