Bible homework - Due Friday, Oct 14th

1) Read Chapter 5 of Questions of God (there will be a reading quiz on Friday's class)

2) The assignment will be 1000-1500 words in length, typed in WRCA format

2) To help determine which of the nine topics would be best for you to write on, identify the top 4-6 "TSN turning points" - incidences, occurences and events that have happened to you, personally, that you feel are most responsible for shaping the worldview that you currently possess today. See what these 4-6 events have in common with each other. Do they all have to do with relationships and the way they have impacted your life? Do they have to do with good or bad things that have happened to you in your life? Or maybe they all have to do with the way you view good and evil in the world. See what theme emerges from these events and match this theme with the question that is the closest match because this will be the easiest for you to write about! Topic chosen!

Once you have chosen your topic, the rest is easy. Have a look at the website below and surf around- it has TONS of helpful stuff that will help to give you direction. Above all else, remember that the purpose of the assignment, is to talk about YOU! While it will be helpful to engage in the questions raised by both Lewis and Freud, ultimately 90% of what you write should be about you- your experiences, how your perspectives and opinions have been shaped and formed.

Have a look at this website for ideas- TONS of helpful stuff!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/

Questions of God

1. Transcendent Experience

· How much do our early childhood experiences shape our worldview and our choices?

· Education/ school experience

· Family and personal trials

· Standards/morals

· Relationships that have shaped you

2. Science or Revelation?

· Is the scientific method compatible with the Bible and concepts of revelation?

· Connections with God = emotional vs. rational

· Science is theory based vs. God/Christianity provable (?)

3. The Exalted Father

· Do our early relationships color the attitudes we develop later in life either toward or away from the concept of an ultimate authority?

· How does our early life affect the choices that we make later in life?

4. Why Believe?

· Does the persistent human longing for God prove His existence?

· Transition from child worldview to adult worldview

· Meaning of joy for believers vs. unbelievers

· Intellectual transition vs. emotional transition

· Longing for God

5. Miracles

· How would Jesus Christ be received if he lived here and now?

· Definition

· Do miracles exist in the scientific worldview?

6. Love Thy Neighbor

· Is it really possible to love our neighbor as ourselves?

· Personal experience with the 4 loves (Lewis’ description)

· Connection between love and happiness (believers and non-believers)

7. The Human Condition

· How can one look at and explain evil in the world?

· Do we all have a dark side (role of sin)

· Are we created evil? (believers and non-believers)

· Was evil intentionally created/planned?

8. Moral Law

· Where and how do we get our concept of right and wrong?

· Are we created with a moral law (God-given vs. other origins)

9. Suffering and Death

· How do you equate an omnipotent, all-loving being with what we’ve come to expect and experience in our lives?