Today, after prayer, Rachel, Rachel, Grace, and Clare gave a stunning presentation about Hinduism. Contrary to popular belief, Hinduism is actually monotheistic and, rather than having multiple gods, has different representations of the same God since different people perceive Him differently. They have a Trinity: Brahma (Generator), Vishnu (Operator), and Shiva (Destroyer). (This spells GOD!) Hinduism is a very peaceful religion and accepting of many other cultures.
After this, the class watched the video a group presented from the Muslim community center and the class learned about how Islam should relate to each human being and the importance of each religious aspect in the lives of the religious followers of Islam.
5/10/11
Today in class, after prayer, there was a presentation on a site visit to a church of the Southern Baptist Convention (there are two types of Baptists in the US: American Baptist Churches of the US and the Southern Baptist Convention). The Southern Baptist Convention was organized in Georgia and has about 16 million members overall. The members believe that God's Word tells us the hope is in the future and they believe in one living and true God. They believe that the Father created the universe, the Son died for our sins, and the Holy Spirit enlightens believers. Salvation is received by those who accept Jesus Christ. They also use position statements, such as that the priesthood of all believers, soul competency, creeds and confessions, women's ministry, church and state, missions, autonomy, sexuality (homosexuality is not right, but is forgivable), and the sanctity of life. Also, they work to emphasize the Good News of the Gospels.
5/4
In class today, after prayer, Erin, Kiera, and Jordan presented their project on a site visit to B'nai Shalom, a conservative Jewish synagogue in Olney. This presentation taught the class about such aspects of that community such as their different celebrations and how Rabbi Sunshine works to communicate with the congregation through his sermons and even the arrangement of the chairs. After this presentation and little quiz, we all wrote a retreat reflection about "What is the Fourth Day? How is it going?"
5/2
After prayer, we all wrote service reflections based on the Micha 6:8, "The Lord God asks this of you: act justly, love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God." These reflections had to be one page on how these three things or this entire quote relates to how you completed your service requirement. Next, we watched a video on Christianity, regarding the history of the religion and its ecumenical councils.
4/26/11
In class, we reviewed the history of the Christian churches. The East-West schism occurred around 1054 and some of the differences that exist between the East and the Roman Catholic beliefs include the emphasis on orthodoxy, the geography, the filioque (or Creed), whether or not clergy can be married, theotokos (how important Mary is), the use of icons, and the language in which the Mass was said. Then, the Roman Catholic Church again split. On Oct. 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 99 Theses. The issues addressed in his theses were later resolved, and the split with the Catholic Church occurred because of other matters. Protestants believe in consubstntiation, which means that they believe that either the bread and wine is simply a symbol of Jesus' body and blood, or that they are both bread and wine AND Jesus' body and blood. Catholics, on the other hand, believe in transubstntiation, which means that the bread and wine are actually Jesus's body and blood, although they appear to be bread and wine.
After this, we watched Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" on Oprah, in which he discussed how he has come to terms with his impending death. We then read a reading on eschatology, which is the area of theology about the "last things," or what Christians believe will happen to us when we die.
After this, we watched Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" on Oprah, in which he discussed how he has come to terms with his impending death. We then read a reading on eschatology, which is the area of theology about the "last things," or what Christians believe will happen to us when we die.
Tuesday April 12th, 2011
Today in class we went over the major splits of the Church. The first if these splits took place in 1054, when the Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church to teach what they claimed to be the continuous and "unchanging" teachings of Christianity. The Orthodox Church separated from the Roman Catholic based on their differing beliefs in the Holy Trinity: Roman Catholicism believes that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, whereas Orthodox believes that all three are perfectly equal parts of a perfect trinity. Because Roman Catholicism wanted to "change" the creed by including the Son with the Father and the Holy Spirit, it is often said that the two split up because of a phrase, this phrase being commonly referred to as filioque, which means "and the Son".
The second major splits of the Church occurred on October 31st, 1517, when Martin Luther broke away from Roman Catholicism and founded Protestantism. This split was due to the increasingly hierarchic and corrupt nature of the Catholic Church. Protestantism gives clergy the right to be female, and to marry. It also believes in consubstantiation of the Eucharist, that it is both bread and whine and body and blood, as opposed to the Catholic belief in the actual transformation into the body and blood.
We learned about several other types of Protestantism, including Anglo/Episcopalian, Presbytarian, and Ana Baptist. A conclusion was reached, however, that there is something ludicrous in any claim of being the one version of the truth, and that these splits in the Church do do little more than weaken Christianity as a whole.
The second major splits of the Church occurred on October 31st, 1517, when Martin Luther broke away from Roman Catholicism and founded Protestantism. This split was due to the increasingly hierarchic and corrupt nature of the Catholic Church. Protestantism gives clergy the right to be female, and to marry. It also believes in consubstantiation of the Eucharist, that it is both bread and whine and body and blood, as opposed to the Catholic belief in the actual transformation into the body and blood.
We learned about several other types of Protestantism, including Anglo/Episcopalian, Presbytarian, and Ana Baptist. A conclusion was reached, however, that there is something ludicrous in any claim of being the one version of the truth, and that these splits in the Church do do little more than weaken Christianity as a whole.
April 6, 2011
After saying a Hail Mary and our intentions, some seniors came to visit to give their SSL presentation, which was about helping Gude Dr. Men's Shelter.
Next, we read an article about Pascal's Wager, a selection from Pensees. Some important points from this are: we are incapable of knowing whether or not there is a God; you cannot defend either position; nonbelievers are either right and gain/lose nothing after they die or are wrong and lose everything in the after life; believers could be wrong and gain/lose nothing or be right and gain everything; in essence, one would trade the finite for the infinite; reason dictates that you should wager that there is a God; even if you don't fully believe, in order to convince yourself, you can "fake it."
Next, we divided into our Circumlectio groups and made posters focusing on different aspects on the Christian faith. These are our results:
Who is God?: Trinity, Incarnation (Jesus), merciful, loving, peaceful, omnipresent
Human nature: (theory 1) we all have original sin and we can only be saved by God, (theory 2) we have a choice to be good or evil, we are made in the image and likeness of God, we will be held accountable for how we live our life
How did we get here?: "Adam and Eve," God's image and likeness, Jesus; saving grace opened the gates of Heaven, original sin, God's love and mercy, Genesis
How should I live my life?: 7 sacraments, Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, 10 commandments
Salvation: immortality of soul, faith and good works, Heaven, Hell , Purgatory
Next, we read an article about Pascal's Wager, a selection from Pensees. Some important points from this are: we are incapable of knowing whether or not there is a God; you cannot defend either position; nonbelievers are either right and gain/lose nothing after they die or are wrong and lose everything in the after life; believers could be wrong and gain/lose nothing or be right and gain everything; in essence, one would trade the finite for the infinite; reason dictates that you should wager that there is a God; even if you don't fully believe, in order to convince yourself, you can "fake it."
Next, we divided into our Circumlectio groups and made posters focusing on different aspects on the Christian faith. These are our results:
Who is God?: Trinity, Incarnation (Jesus), merciful, loving, peaceful, omnipresent
Human nature: (theory 1) we all have original sin and we can only be saved by God, (theory 2) we have a choice to be good or evil, we are made in the image and likeness of God, we will be held accountable for how we live our life
How did we get here?: "Adam and Eve," God's image and likeness, Jesus; saving grace opened the gates of Heaven, original sin, God's love and mercy, Genesis
How should I live my life?: 7 sacraments, Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, 10 commandments
Salvation: immortality of soul, faith and good works, Heaven, Hell , Purgatory
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