Journal 6

Summary

In this chapter we have studied and discussed a lot of the cases for the existence of God and why Jesus is the perfect model of what it is to have faith. As a Catholic we believe that the existence of God can be found through the natural world and people. It is important to find a proof for the existence of God that works for you because if you can’t truly believe that God exists then there is no point studying religion at all because it is the basis of religion. There are many theories for the existence of God. A lot of them boil down to the fact that humans have a reasoning level and intelligence level that separates them from all other animals and with this superior intelligence we think that something had to create and design us and it is impossible to do just by some freak accident creating something as complicated as human life. There must be some superior being. This is the proof of a God by study of the natural world. However, maybe easier to understand is to look at the existence of God as being proved through humans as people. We have superior intelligence to any other living creature and we have feelings of happiness and sorry and we think about what comes after death. We have a conscience. This is all part of our human nature. We share abstract feelings and things that humans no matter where you are born share and that seems to point to a God as well.

We have also looked at some new perspectives on the Jesus. I was under the impression I knew most I could know about him as it was but in watching a movie I have now seen Jesus as a completely different person. He was fully human and fully divine however in the Catholic Church there seems to be a much greater emphasis on the divine part. It is important to think of Jesus as a human, a real person like ourselves. He faced the struggles as we did. He faced temptation, grief, pain and anger as we do. However he was also free from sin so he can is therefore a perfect example of how to deal with these emotions and how to keep faith even in what may seem the hardest of times. It seems to me that this is a much more identifiable portrayal of Jesus as opposed to the traditional picture of a white skinned blue eyed Jesus with a hallo around His head.

 

 

The Kalam Argument

The Kalam Argument is an argument for the existence of God through the natural world. It states that everything that began to exist had to have a cause outside of itself and since the universe exists the universe must have had a cause outside of itself. I really like this argument for the existence of God because it kind of shows that evolution and all other scientific things still point to an existence of God because no matter what there had to be something here first and the only explanation for that is a God. However the only thing I wonder about his argument is that if it claims that everything that exist must have had a cause outside itself then you wonder well if this is a proof for the existence of God then God must have some sort of cause outside itself that was not God and that is kind of a strange perplexing thought. How did God come into existence?

 

The Human Person

Trying to prove the existence of God through the aspect of human life is probably my favorite way. All people no matter what race, sex, origin, or background you are from, they all have some of the same fundamental feelings. Everyone feels the need to have some meaning to their life and want to be happy. We all want to have some pleasant company and feel the sorrow when no one is there for us especially in hard times. Wondering what happens after death is probably the most fundamental aspect of humans. We want to know that there is something more and that we are not just going to be a piece of matter buried six feet under the soil. We want to know that there is something more to life than just surviving. We are different than animals and in this difference I think there has to be a reason and it must be the design of a supreme being. It is a part of God’s plan.

 

Portrait of a Radical

The movie we watched showed me a whole new perspective of Jesus. I have been schooled and brought up my entire life to know who Jesus “was.” I thought I knew who he was. After seeing this video I realize that I did not know Jesus. I knew one portrayal of Jesus. I am not saying that the original notion I had about Jesus was completely wrong but now I see Him as much more human person. Jesus was a rebel of his time and I had always heard that but I never really thought about it like I did after the movie. Jesus was in modern day terms a “Bad ass” of His day. If he were around now he would probably be hanging around with the poor on the street and the drug dealers and the terrorists. I think that is awesome how much of a rebel against society that he was. The thing to remember though is that Jesus hung with these people but changed them and preached of love and it amazes me what kind of impact He actually had. If there were more people like him around today so much could be done in the world. This is the basis of our religion, that we should act like Jesus, and so it amazes me how in my mind the best route to really understanding this has been brushed aside.

Dissident: characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards

 

Why is the radical portrayal of Jesus not more prevalent?

I do not understand why more people do not ever talk about this different view of Jesus. I have really come to like this view of Jesus and I know that it has definitely changed my entire opinion on who Jesus was. It also showed me that no matter how much you think you may have all the answers there is so much more to learn and understand. This is one of the principles of this course. We’ve talked about it from the beginning of the course with Aristotle questioning things and always examining things. You are the wisest man if you can realize that you can’t possibly know who the wisest man is. There is always more to learn about Jesus and I think that is why he has been followed ever since his death 2000 years ago.

 

Closing

This course has been a very different religion course and I really enjoyed it because I have realized there is a lot more to religion than maybe just the catechism view of don’t eat meat on Fridays during lent and things of the nature. These are just instruments to get us to see what Jesus has always wanted us to see. As a person I have been getting a little sick of these rules and seemingly pointless traditions of the church but I have newfound perspective on what it means to follow Jesus. I have also seen that there is something more to life than this society, and going to school everyday. In the daily grind of things sometime we forget what it means to live and who we are as people. While I did my “This I Believe” paper I was forced to put into words what I try to live by and what is important to me. This was very cool and I think it is important to periodically really find out what you think and who you really are as a person because there is no point to just aimlessly live. I feel you have to have to have goals; you have to be constantly trying to be searching for something.