Thought Paper

1. Who or what is the God you believe in or don’t believe in?

I believe in the God who is the father, creator of heaven and earth. God came to the earth in the form of a person and he was born by a woman and was called Jesus Christ. He grew and attended the church with other people just like a human being. He passed through all the problems that human beings go through before he finally died on the cross so as to save the Christians by dying for their sins. God therefore gave his own life and lived as a person among other people in order to be able to act and see the challenges that people encounter in their daily lives.

God therefore cares about his people and He is ready to do anything in order to see His people living a good life. Furthermore, God is a jealous God who only wants people to worship Him but no one else. According to the bible, God loves people who give freely and open heartedly. Thus God loves those people who are kind and they are ready to help others. On the other hand, the bible also shows that God loves humble people and the bible says, God lifts up those who humble themselves, and He humbles those who lift themselves up. Furthermore, God loves a cheerful giver and blesses those who bless others.

Therefore God is a supernatural being, who Has power over the earth and all the creations. God also dictates how the world operates hence those who believe in God will never suffer but they will live peacefully according to the way God wants his people to live. Therefore God provides his people with their needs and He also protects them against any temptations. God is consequently a God who protects his people and makes sure that they do not suffer hence His people lead peacefully lives. When Jesus was born, He died and rose on the third day. Thus he had power over death, furthermore, he also had power over nature as he calmed the wind which almost made the boat to capsize.

 

1. Did learning about the compatibility of faith and reason and the possibility of dialogue between religion and science influence your thinking about religious faith or on the relationship between science and religion? If so, how?

This really influenced my thinking particularly how science and the religion conflict each other. I wonder why scientists have not yet proved wrong the religion since they have their own theories about how the world came into being and the way people change from time to time. According to my point of view, I think scientists are looking for ways of proving the religion wrong but they do not have concrete reasons to explain why people should believe them and not the religion. On the other hand, whatever the bible prophesises will happen come to happen after a certain period of time. Whereas scientists will often predict things which sometimes don’t happen because they are not factual.

Scientists are mainly looking for ways of making sure that people believe in what they say and not on what the bible stipulates. Thus this has really led to confusions and at some point I was not able to determine between the religion and the scientists who is right, but in real sense, scientists are not always sure I whatever they say or do. Scientists had in the past recorded nine planets including Pluto, but they came to realize that it does not exist. Hence they come out with results which cannot be depended upon. Whatever the religion says has either happened or will happen in future. Thus I can only depend and follow the dictates of the religion since it explains and provides examples and reasons as to why some things have to happen.

 

1. Regardless of whether or not you would describe yourself as a person of religious faith or even a “spiritual but not religious” person, what do you see as the most pressing challenges for people of religious faith in today’s world?

The main challenges affecting religious people in the new technology and lack of a fall up on the religion. Most religious people only seek God in order for their dreams to be fulfilled. After their dreams are fulfilled, they tend to forget about the dictates of the religion hence making it hard for them to be able to remain faithful to God. This consequently annoys God since God love those people who maintain their beliefs in Him and not those who are only following God to get favours.

The new technology and the ever changing face of the world has also led to confusions among religious people. Most religious people tend to fall on the trap of the technology which blinds them to the point of forgetting to pray and to praise God. This therefore distances them from God and hence making it hard for them to remember God. New gadgets such as mobile phones have made most people to get addicted to them and hence they may even forget about God. Furthermore, most people have downloaded bible on their mobile phones which they rarely read since they are usually distracted either through chatting or playing games. Hence they cannot be able to read the bible as they were used to doing in the past. Most people are also into the technology and they often use their free time dealing with the technology and not worshipping and praising God.

Reference

Theological Explorations: Challenges to Religious Faith.