This week we surveyed various ways people tend to view God (as just a punisher, as soft on sin, as just a wish-granter, or as distant and uninvolved), and how our view of God often tends to be too small. Students were encouraged to reflect on how they view God, and we analyzed some of the pitfalls that come along with having too narrow a view of God. We also looked at what it means to be made in the image of God, emphasizing how there was no statue "image" in the Israelite temple because God had already made images of himself- us! When we're operating at our best, we work like an angled mirror: we reflect God's character and love out to others, and we reflect worship from ourselves and the rest of creation back to God.
Then, students spent time writing and reflecting in class on their worldview interviews, and they shared about their interviews in small groups, completing peer evaluations along the way.
We took some time this week to talk about 9/11 and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The emphasis here was that violence should be condemned by Christians, regardless of political persuasion. In addition, our primary allegiance needs to be to the Kingdom of God first, and not America (or any other nation). If allegiance to country leads to actions that contradict the heart of Jesus and the fruit of the Holy Spirit, then it has become an idol. The world can be be dark, but God is still on the throne and in control, and we can find peace in that reality!
Daily scripture reading and response (in class)
Interview Project Part 1- submitted on 8:00 AM Wed. Sep. 10th (see Canvas)
Interview Project Part 2- completed in class Wed. Sep. 10th (see Canvas)
Next week we'll begin by asking "What is Philosophy?" Then, we will survey the first three out of four major worldviews: Idealism, Materialism, and Monism. Many world religions can be categorized into one of these. We'll look at how they compare to a Christian worldview, and where each of these worldviews show up in our world/culture.