Over the past two years I have learned a significant amount about my faith. I learned that it wasn’t strong enough, I’ve learned that I need to pray the Jesus helps increase my faith, and I’ve also learned the importance of faith when it pertains to Christianity. In his document, Discipleship and the Cross, Dietrich Bonhoeffer takes a look at the Christian faith as he describes what he feels it should represent. There were certainly some most excellent points that Bonhoeffer pointed out that actual like up with my idea of Christian faith. In the duration of this paper, I would like to explore those ideas, and compare them to what I think.
The first passage that I would like to go over that Bonhoeffer discuss in this article describing Christian Discipleship is the fact that “The cross is laid on every Christian ” I didn’t realize exactly how
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This is a huge issue that most Christians need to come to the realization of. Christians in this modern day think that just because they are followers of Jesus Christ and he is their Lord and Savior…that they won’t have any problems in their live. They believe they shouldn’t have to suffer because they belong to the Lord, but if they only knew how false of a statement that truly is. Every single glorious day, a Christian will be met with a new temptation; and this as Bonhoeffer so eloquently puts, “is another kid of suffering and shame which the Christian is not spared ”. The reason for that is simpler than we make it actually; Jesus Christ has suffered and borne the sins of the world. As the teacher does so does the student, so, if Christ was tempted and Christ had to suffer…why would the Christian think that if they are alive in Christ that they should not have to suffer the same with Jesus. Just as the Master bears our own burdens, so we ought to bear the burdens of our fellow brothers and sisters in the
Through the journey home, the journey from pain, and quest for earthly material, these paths can either destroy or refine the the believer. As most Christians believe, the life of a Christian ultimately ends with Christ’s open arms. However, Christ did not guarantee an easy pilgrimage. In fact, he often reminded his disciples of the fact of pain and temptations.
Bonhoeffer in this chapter talks about the call to discipleship that is given to all believers, something that is irresistible from God himself. He breaks down Jesus’ talk with the rich young ruler, and talks about how the ruler instead follows in his own self-conceit instead of submitting to the will of the Christ himself. In doing this, he would not be fulfilling the law, but instead be obeying a direct call from Christ to come and follow him, something he will not do because of his great possessions. I love how Bonhoeffer explains this story, because he breaks down the true meaning of the rich young ruler, and gets to the heart of the problem that many lay people would not understand through reading the story and the immediate context. Bonhoeffer
Genocides test their victims not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually. This was observed during the Holocaust, where the “lucky” survivors at the concentration camps had to come to terms between their reality and their idea of faith. Author and survivor, Elie Wiesel, shows this in his memoir Night. Throughout the memoir, Wiesel shows that during these times of trouble, faith in humanity was more insidious than the faith in God. Even though times of great prosperity, or of great ruin, turn men to faith as a cure-all, events such as the Holocaust spiritually exhausted their victims into a state of losing faith.
This causes one to feel anxiety that you’re simply one step away from hell. In the other hand, god feels pity towards us, “and now you have an extraordinary opportunity… Christ has thrown the door of mercy… standing and crying to
As a Christian facing trials and tribulations are a guarantee; the way we react makes us who we are. We will be tempted and persecuted and left with many decisions to be made. The world is always willing to battle our beliefs, so as Christians we should be able to defend our Lord and put up a fight. To be men and women of God; experienced and well equipped. In a similar sense during physical battle there are so many decisions that must be made, with little time to make them; the decisions you choose to make can define your character.
And if God is God, why is He letting us suffer?” (1) The lifelong quest for answers to these questions shaped his theology
Rosner notes that Bonhoeffer had raised questions of self in his other works, and in his letters, Bonhoeffer had written, “One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself . . . [instead] we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God” (qtd. in Rosner 349) . Rosner explains how that being known by God can be comforting.
One could think of hardship not only as a test, but as the idea that God cannot intervene when it comes to a person’s free will, no matter how horrific the situation might be. This is true, especially when it comes to Christian teaching. The Christian God cannot interfere with the freedom He has given His people. Those who are followers of Him can only worry about themselves and leave the judgement up to the Almighty. They are responsible for themselves and only themselves.
The role of faith in people’s personal journey can be seen as multifaceted. Ultimately, it depends on what one chooses to put faith into. If we are being honest, growing up, faith was not a big part of my home life. My family is Catholic, and I was baptized Catholic- but outside of that, we never practiced our faith.
Faith is a relative concept to many people. Whether they see it as simply an action to participate in or a way of life, it dictates what they do. Through various literary devices, Meditation 17 by John Donne, How I Found Religion at a Baseball Game by Robert Fink, and An American Childhood by Annie Dillard all effect the reader and makes them think deeply about what the author is saying while utilizing various methods to do so. One similar aspect of the three essays is the author’s idea and opinion of God. Their views of God and their faith may have been different, but the main idea and concept of God remains the same.
In Thomas Long’s The Witness of Preaching, he aims to urge the reader to become a reliable witness of the gospel by way of ample preparation before entering a pulpit. The text offers to the reader a deeper understanding of the ministry of preaching. A useful component of the text contains informative bits of information that make the reader aware of the lengthy but necessary preparation needed for an adequate explanation of the scripture. Of primary importance is the consideration of the congregation when a preacher is first approaching the text. This point is of vital importance as it signifies that the speaker is a member of the body of Christ and the congregation.
The theologies of Tillich and Bonhoeffer are different types of theologies, but some of the same fundamental ideas connect these two different theologies. This essay will look at analyze the connection between the thoughts of Bonhoffer and secular theology and the connection between Tillich and process theology. The essay will also look at these two theologies in regards to the legitimacy of their views of the nature of God. Process and Tillich Theology Before the connections between process theology and Tillich, it is needful to understand the key principles beliefs of the theology. The principle beliefs of process theology contain ideas such as the belief that God is not all-powerful and that the world changes because of free will.
The thesis of this article is that there are five broken views of discipleship such as, we equate discipleship with religious knowledge, we try to program discipleship, we equate discipleship with our preaching, we think that we will grow without
Question 1: The term “anonymous minister” means that there is an unspoken and close connection between nursing and spirituality. Among all the nurses interviewed, many of them saw their professions as a calling from a higher power. For example on page 78, Catherine who has been a nurse for 25 years states” I see nursing as a spiritual vocation. It is much more than work; I find it a way of serving”.
Throughout life, people are often faced with many decisions. Some of these decisions are easy to make, while others are excruciating, as they can be life altering. From a Christian’s perspective, however, people never have to make these decisions alone. God promises that he will never abandon his people, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (New International Version, Deuteronomy 31:6).