How to Make Sense of GodRowman & Littlefield, 1995 - 327 Seiten Does God exist? In this modern, scientific age, is it still reasonable to believe in God? Does God cause evil? How can an "all-good" God allow the suffering of innocent children? In 65 brief, readable chapters, How to Make Sense of God answers these and many other basic questions about God's love and care, the pgift of human freedom, and the real power of prayer. Wijngaards shows clearly and convincingly why belief is, in fact, eminently reasonable in the modern world |
Inhalt
1 Religion is all about the mystery of our life | 5 |
2 Yes religions are shaped by human imagination but they point at something real | 7 |
3 Religions respond to human psychological needs this does not invalidate their basic claim | 11 |
4 All human concepts of God are limited and flawed | 18 |
5 Science does not supply answers to the ultimate questions of meaning | 22 |
principles | 27 |
7 Scientists too derive their values from outside the realm of science | 31 |
8 We must return to our roots by recapturing what is mysterious and sacred | 34 |
34 I dont need God in order to be a good and responsible person | 156 |
35 Religion hinders human progress | 160 |
36 Religion erodes our sense of responsibility for others | 165 |
37 Morality is ultimately based on selfinterest | 169 |
Encounter | 173 |
38 If we have a mind God has Mind | 175 |
39 God is personal because God is the Ground of our personal self | 181 |
40 The ultimate nature of our universe is personal | 188 |
9 Religion is useful for social functions Thats all | 39 |
10 The history of all religions including that of Christianity is a litany of injustices and failings | 43 |
11 Religion makes us hate ourselves | 48 |
Creation | 53 |
12 The universe in which we live demands an explanation outside itself | 55 |
13 We meet Gods creative mind in the ocean of truth that surrounds us | 59 |
14 We feel in our bones our total dependence in being | 62 |
15 We touch God in love and in whatever concerns us most | 68 |
16 Believing that the world is created is not an abdication of common sense or sound reason | 71 |
17 We should drop the awkward image of a supernatural Creator not the reality of creation | 74 |
18 If it is true that we are being created in Gods image we have found the deepest source of our selfworth | 78 |
19 Creation presents us with a larger frame of meaning | 83 |
20 Being aware of the creative dimension of life improves lifes wholeness | 88 |
21 Has evolution not disproved creation? | 92 |
22 Does the Bible not contradict evolution? | 94 |
23 You may not apply the laws of causality to the whole universe | 96 |
24 You accept the socalled proofs for God because you want to believe in a God | 99 |
25 Why do the same arguments that convince some people leave others cold? | 104 |
Conscience | 107 |
26 Our inherent dignity as a human being derives from a higher principle | 109 |
27 Every individual possesses inalienable rights which no human power may disrespect | 116 |
28 We can be free and autonomous people because God makes us free and autonomous | 121 |
29 God does not interfere with the responsible use of our human freedom | 128 |
30 Conscience is a universal experience that points to objective morality and God | 136 |
31 The fact that human conscience developed in evolution does not disprove its role as a sensor of Reality | 142 |
32 In conscience we ultimately respond to a Reality that is personal to God | 146 |
33 Belief in a personal God frees us from moral scepticism | 150 |
41 It is perfectly logical to call God a person | 194 |
42 Doesnt Scripture present God as a person? | 198 |
43 What about the three Persons in the Blessed Trinity? | 201 |
44 God makes contact with us from the beyond within us | 203 |
45 Gods incarnation continues today in sacramental realities | 208 |
46 Religious experiences can be proved true or false by critical perception | 212 |
47 The validity of Gods incarnation can be seen in its effects on our life | 222 |
48 If there is incarnation why on earth? Why not on other planets in the universe? | 230 |
Love | 233 |
49 We have to acknowledge squarely that evil is part of our evolving universe | 235 |
50 We should own up to the evil which we as autonomous free persons inflict upon others | 242 |
51 God the creative energy shares our suffering and the suffering of all creation | 247 |
52 We may paradoxically experience that suffering has brought us great good because it was transformed | 253 |
53 How can a good God allow innocent children to suffer? | 260 |
54 Only a cruel God could design a Hell | 264 |
55 Prayer of petition is riddled with contradictions | 268 |
56 Gods being Love reveals a structure of mutual dependence in our universe | 273 |
57 Gods Love offers us forgiveness | 279 |
58 GodisLove means that we have been made capable of giving and receiving real happiness | 285 |
59 Gods love guarantees life beyond death | 292 |
60 Still the lake of your mind | 299 |
61 Think aloud in the presence of God | 302 |
62 Talk to God by talking to friends | 307 |
63 Join a community of believers | 312 |
64 Make the gift of selfless love your highest priority in life | 315 |
65 Appreciate Gods presence in all the love you come across all the time | 321 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
accept Aegistheus affirm argument atheists autonomy aware basic believe Bertrand Russell Charles Darwin child chimpanzee Christian Chuang Tzu Church conscience created creation creative Creator D. Z. Phillips death divine earth ence everything evil evolution existence explain express eyes face fact faith Father feel forgiveness friends fundamentalist Christians give God's happens happiness he/she he/she/it heaven hell himself/herself human freedom human person incarnation individual inner intelligence J. H. Newman Jesus Christ live London meaning mind moral mother mystery natural law never one's ourselves pain parents perception philosopher prayer present principle Problem of Evil question Read realise reason reflect relationship religion Religious Experience responsibility rience scientific Scripture sense Simone Weil social speak Spirit suffering Summa Theologica supernatural talk things Thomas Aquinas thought tion true truth two-tier world Ultimate Reality universe Vauxhall Station whole words wrong York