Culture, Psychology and Religion

I am presenting a lecture at the “Mind Of Christ Conference” at University of Southern Caribbean at Port of Spain, Trinidad
http://www.johnnycpr.com/MindOfChrist.ppt

ABSTRACT:
This paper is written using a psychological view of emotions and presents how the Bible account of various passages describes the feelings experienced by God and how this view differs from the Creed of Nicene that declares God immutable and impassible. The theology of present truth is examined along with New Testament views of Jesus. The practical implications from this theological and psychological study are given using a survey study conducted of breast cancer patients.
Slide # 1
The emotional life of Jesus as a window on who is God and how He feels: What does this means for you and me?
Ellen G. White, God’s Amazing Grace (1973), p. 291, “A Continual Work”.
Religion is not merely an emotion, a feeling. It is a principle which is interwoven with all the daily duties and transactions of life. . . . It is continuance in well-doing that will form characters for heaven.
RELIGION forms Characters = Principles + Emotions/Feelings + Daily Duties of Life + Well-Doing
Slide # 2
I. Introduction–When a child was asked by a tourist-“Do you tire of carrying this child all day long?” She answered-“No! She is my sister!” Who can fail to understand what is meant by such love? As we try to define what emotions are; who fails to experience emotions when you are with your family? Defining terms used for this message is our first task. then we will look at the feelings of God.
Slide # 3
A. What are emotions or feelings
One of the hardest tasks of modern psychology has been to define what emotions are. There are three main ways of defining them: a) ANTHROPOLOGY- the physiognomy of the face and the gestures of the body convey our emotions; b) PHYSIOLOGY- the heart rate, pulse, temperature of the skin, brain’s electrical activity, as well as other physiological endocrine markers define emotions; c) PSYCHOLOGY- what people describe they experience, how they feel, the expressions given define emotions.
Slide # 4
Phillip Shaver, Judith Schwartz, Donald Kirson, and Gary O’Connor, (1987), “Emotion Knowledge: Further Exploration of a Prototype Approach”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, W7, Vol. 52, No. 6, 1061-1086.
Basic Emotions: love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, fear + 135 related feelings
Slide # 5
B. How we define who God is
Some philosophers as well as theologians, even popular writers have dealt with the question of who is God. Here I am interested in defining it from a biblical perspective, but we must first look at the historical definition we have inherited.
Slide # 6
II. Who was God?
A. OT evidence of God’s emotional life Genesis 1:1-5 (NRSV)
1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Slide # 7
Have you ever felt good about something you did? Gen. 1 (NRSV)
4And God saw that the light was good 12The earth brought forth vegetation… And God saw that it was good 18to rule over the day… And God saw that it was good. 21So God created… And God saw that it was good. 25God made the wild animals… And God saw that it was good.
Slide # 8
What does God see in His mirror? What is the image of God? Does God feel the same as a mother when she sees the likeness of her in her daughter or her son?
1. How does God feel?
27So God created humankind in his image,  in the image of God he created them;  male and female he created them. 31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Slide # 9
Abraham- Gen. 12:1- 3 1Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and… I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse…’
Abraham- Gen. 16:17-33 17The Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…? 19No, for I have chosen him… 21I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.’… 23Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous… the Lord said, ‘If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.’ 27Abraham answered, … Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?’… ‘Suppose forty are found there.’… 30Then he said, ‘Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.’… ‘Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.’… 32Then he said, ‘Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.’ 33And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Slide # 10
Tamar- Gen. 38:6-10 6Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 8Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.’ 9But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. 10What he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.
Slide # 11
Moses- Exo. 32:7-14, 30-35 7The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once!… 9The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people,… 12Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them… Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people…. 14And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
30On the next day Moses said to the people, ‘You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’… 32But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.’ 33But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book…. ‘I will punish them for their sin.’ 35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people…
Slide # 12
Abigail- 1 Sam. 25:23-35 23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground…. 25My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him… 30When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.’ 32David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!… 34For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal as much as one male.’… ‘Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition.’
Slide # 13
Jonah- 1:8-17 (NRSV) 8Then they said to him, ‘Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ 9‘I am a Hebrew,’ he replied. ‘I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ 10Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!… 14Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ 15So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Slide # 14
B. Creed of Nicene and the immutable, impassible Jesus
1. The politics of Constantine
Constantine’s Army Prayer Emperor Constantine, ca. 320 AD
We know Thou art God alone; we recognize in Thee our king. We call on Thee for aid. From thee we receive victory, through thee we are made greater than our enemies.  We recognize thy grace in present blessings and hope on Thee for the future. We all beseech Thee, we implore Thee to preserve our king Constantine and his pious sons safe and victorious to the end or our days.
Slide # 15
2. The politics of theology
1st COUNCIL of NICAEA, 325 AD declared
Jesus is the same substance as the father
God & Jesus are immutable and impassible
(i.e. God does not feel nor does God change; God is not affected by humans)
Slide # 16
3. The words of a creed
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH OF THE 318 FATHERS
1. We believe in one God the Father all powerful, maker of all things both seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten begotten from the Father, that is from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came to be, both those in heaven and those in earth; for us humans and for our salvation he came down and became incarnate, became human, suffered and rose up on the third day, went up into the heavens, is coming to judge the living and the dead. And in the holy Spirit.
2. And those who say
1. “there once was when he was not”, and “before he was begotten he was not”, and that
2. he came to be from
• things that were not, or
• from another hypostasis or substance, affirming that the Son of God is subject to change or alteration these the catholic and apostolic church anathematises.
Slide # 17
C. Adventist theology of “present truth”
On November 18, 1848, Ellen White was shown in vision that her husband, James, should start a little paper. Like “streams of light,” it would eventually go “clear round the world.” That was quite a challenge considering he had no money, and there were fewer than 200 Sabbath keepers.
Slide # 18
Manuscript Releases Volume Twenty-one [Nos. 1501-1598] (1993), p. 398, MR No 1583
“I present to you some important matters to present to the people as practical present truth. There is no need to dwell upon subjects that are not light and truth. We are to think of those things that will give spiritual nourishment.”
Slide # 19
Testimonies for the Church Volume Two (1868-1871), page 693-694
“Special truths have been adapted to the conditions of the generations as they have existed. The present truth, which is a test to the people of this generation, was not a test to the people of generations far back. If the light which now shines upon us in regard to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment had been given to the generations in the past, God would have held them accountable for that light…. Those who died before the light was given upon the law of God and the claims of the fourth commandment were not guilty of the sin of violating the seventh-day Sabbath. The wisdom and mercy of God in dispensing light and knowledge at the proper time, as the people need it, is unsearchable. Previous to His coming to judge the world in righteousness, He sends forth a warning to arouse the people and call their attention to their neglect of the fourth commandment, that they may be enlightened, and may repent of their transgression of His law, and prove their allegiance to the great Lawgiver.”
Slide # 20
“He has made provision that all may be holy and happy if they choose. Sufficient light has been given to this generation, that we may learn what our duties and privileges are, and enjoy the precious and solemn truths in their simplicity and power. We are accountable only for the light that shines upon us. The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus are testing us. If we are faithful and obedient, God will delight in us, and bless us as His own chosen peculiar people. When  perfect faith and perfect love and obedience abound, working in the hearts of those who are Christ’s followers, they will have a powerful influence. Light will emanate from them, dispelling the darkness around them, refining and elevating all who come within the sphere of their influence, and bringing to a knowledge of the truth all who are willing to be enlightened and to follow in the humble path of obedience.”
Slide # 21
1. Present but not truth
2. Truth but not present
3. Present and truth
Manuscript Releases Volume Twenty [Nos. 1420-1500] (1993), page 225, paragraph 5
Chapter Title: MR No. 1471 - The Fallacy of Thinking Human Ideas and Positions Are Infallible and Unchangeable
It is a great fallacy in a man [to claim] that because he has accepted certain theories, his ideas are infallible. If others cannot see these things in the same way another sees them, what then? Because he has expressed his faith in that sentiment,    -226-   has he immortalized that idea in his mind as unchangeable? There are some who express ideas as the truth, but is that man’s mind immortalized? Is his view of matters unchangeable? We need good, sound, common sense. If we have certain ideas of things and another views these things in a different light, and expresses them thus, what shall be done? Withdraw fellowship from him? No, but these objectionable things, if expressed, cause dissension and strife.
Slide # 22
III. Who was Jesus?
A. Gospel accounts of feelings
1. Jesus and fear
Matt. 26:36-46 (NRSV) 36Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ 37He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ 39And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ 40Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ 42Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ 43Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’
Slide # 23
2. Jesus and sadness
Matt. 11: (NRSV) When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ 37But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Slide # 24
3. Jesus and anger-a
Matt 21:12-17 (NRSV) 12Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”;  but you are making it a den of robbers.’ 14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, they became angry 16and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies  you have prepared praise for yourself”?’  17He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Slide # 25
3. Jesus and anger-b
Matt. 21:18-22 (NRSV) 18In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. 20When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ 21Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. 22Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’
Slide # 26
4. Jesus and joy
Luke 10:21-23 (NRSV) 21At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ 23Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’
Slide # 27
5. Jesus and love-a
John 11:5 (NRSV) 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus…
John 13:23 (NRSV) One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him;
John 19:26 (NRSV) When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’
John 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’
John 21:7 (NRSV) That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake.
John 21:20 (NRSV) Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’
Slide # 28
5. Jesus and love-b
John 21:15-17 (NRSV) 15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ 16A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ 17He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.
Slide # 29
B. The Jesus of Paul
Philippians 2:1-5 (NRSV) 1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus
Slide # 30
C. The Jesus of Steps to Christ, pp. 137-138
Jesus himself, while he dwelt among men, was often in prayer. Our Saviour identified himself with our needs and weaknesses, in that he became a suppliant, a petitioner, seeking from his Father fresh supplies of strength, that he might come forth braced for duty and trial. He is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, “in all points tempted like as we are;” but as the sinless one, his nature recoiled from evil; he endured struggles and torture of soul in a world of sin. His humanity made prayer a necessity and a privilege. He found comfort and joy in communion with his Father. And if the Saviour of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.
Slide # 31
IV. What to do with all of these things?
A. Seeing myself as God sees me
a) In Heavenly Places (1967), page 126, “Feelings Not a Test”
The religion of Christ is not a religion of mere emotion. You cannot depend upon your feelings for an evidence of acceptance with God, for feelings are variable. You must plant your feet on the promises of God’s Word . . . and learn to live by faith. As soon as one begins to contemplate his feelings he is on dangerous ground. If he feels happy and joyous, then he is very confident and has very pleasing emotions. The change will come. There are circumstances that occur which bring depression and sad feelings; then the mind will naturally begin to doubt whether the Lord is with him or not. Now, the feelings must not be made the test of the spiritual state, be they good or be they discouraging. The word of God is to be our evidence of our true standing before Him. Many are bewildered on this point. . . . If you confess your sins, believe they are pardoned, because the promise is positive. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Why, then, dishonor God by doubting His pardoning love? Having confessed your sins, believe that the word of God will not fail, but that He is faithful that hath promised. It is just as much your duty to believe that God will fulfill His word and forgive your sins as it is your duty to confess your sins. Your faith must be exercised in God as one who will do just as He has said He would do– pardon all your transgressions. . . . Oh, how very many go mourning, sinning and repenting, but always under a cloud of condemnation! They do not believe the word of the Lord. They do not believe that He will do just as He said He would do. . . . You hurt the heart of Christ by doubting, when He has given us such evidences of His love in giving His own life to save us that we should not perish but have everlasting life.
Slide # 32
1. Love your neighbor as yourself
2. Love God above all
Daughters of God (1998), p. 144, “Bible Study and Prayer Essential” 9MR 305 (1896).
Respect Self, for You Are Bought With a Price.–This feeling of guiltiness must be laid at the foot of the cross of Calvary. The sense of sinfulness has poisoned the springs of life and of true happiness. Now Jesus says, “Lay it all on Me; I will take your sins. I will give you peace. Banish no longer your self-respect, for I have bought you with the price of My own blood. You are Mine. Your weakened will I will strengthen; your remorse for sin I will remove.”
Slide # 33
B. Seeing others as God sees them
1. To see or not to see
2. What is the question?
This Day With God (1979), p. 63, “How to Get Rid of Guilt”, Letter 38, Feb. 24, 1887, to “My dear Sister”.
This feeling of guiltiness must be laid at the foot of the cross of Calvary. The sense of sinfulness has poisoned the springs of life and true happiness. Now Jesus says, “Lay it all on Me; I will take your sin, I will give you peace. Destroy no longer your self-respect, for I have bought you with the price of My own blood. You are Mine, your weakened will I will strengthen; your remorse for sin, I will remove.” Then turn your grateful heart, trembling with uncertainty, and lay hold upon the hope set before you. God accepts your broken contrite heart. He offers you free pardon. He offers to adopt you into His family with His grace to help your weakness, and the dear Jesus will lead you on step by step, if you will only put your hand in His and let Him guide you. Search for the precious promises of God. If Satan thrusts threatenings before your mind, turn from them and cling to the promises.
Slide # 34
C. Dealing with my emotions with God
1. The example of David
2 Sam. 12:15-23 (NRSV) The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. 16David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17The elders of his house stood beside him, urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, ‘While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.’ 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, he perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, ‘Is the child dead?’ They said, ‘He is dead.’
Slide # 35
20Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; he then went to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, ‘What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive; but when the child died, you rose and ate food.’ 22He said, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.” 23But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.’
Slide # 36
2. The example of breast cancer patients-1
What is it about faith that has such a grip over people allowing breast cancer patients to change the meaning of life and its cruelest manifestations of terror into a positive door to ‘God’s will’? For instance, a 76-year-old charismatic Protestant patient described her experience with faith: “Faith is real [the Bible says substance]. When I pray and find God’s will, I receive that thing or way, and there is an exhilaration that is equal to or more satisfying than if I had it right now because I have Jesus; Whatever He gives is precious.” Her beliefs and faith are intertwined with her feelings and emotions; her faith follows her feelings, for her beliefs and emotions go hand in hand.
Ramírez-Johnson, J. Carlos Fayard, Carlos Garberoglio, Clara M. Jorge Ramirez. “Is Faith an Emotion? Faith as a Meaning-Making Affective Process: An Example from Breast Cancer patients,” American Behavioral Scientist 45 (12)1839-1853.
Slide # 37
2. The example of breast cancer patients-2
Times and % of Shaver’s et.al.’s (1987) basic emotions Reported Defining faith (n=58)
n %
Pos. Emo. - love 15 25.8
Pos. Emo. - joy 19 32.7
Pos. Emo. - surprise 0
Neg. Emo. - anger 0
Neg. Emo. - sadness 1 0.0017
Neg. Emo. - fear 6 10.3

Slide # 38
2. The example of breast cancer patients-3 Meaning making and faith
BC patients used meaning making in the context of faith. A BC patient (a White upper-middle-class 45-year-old self-described nondenominational Protestant) felt so compelled to share her views on faith that she attached a typed, full-page, single-spaced statement to the questionnaire she returned. As part of the long statement she submitted, she described her “will to meaning” via faith and her Christian understanding of it. “Having cancer isn’t a death sentence as everyone is on the road to death—it’s inevitable. It just means that I am more likely to know what is going to kill me than others. It also has given me a stronger desire to live life as full as I can, and to tell as many as I can about Jesus and His grace.”
Slide # 39
2. The example of breast cancer patients-4 Breast cancer experiences
Meaning Making Emotions & Faith Redefining Relationship with God Expressing Trust in God or Self Expressing Emotions
As you cope with cancer, what has your religious faith done for you? Having cancer isn’t a death sentence as everyone is on the road to death—it’s inevitable. It just means that I am more likely to know what is going to kill me than others. I just prayed and trusted in God that I would be OK; so far, I have done very well through chemo and three surgeries. Kept me free from fear. I have felt a stronger sense of support and love than at any other time in my life.
How do you define faith? A hundred years from now, it won’t matter if I drove a Lexus, was head of my class, or made a fortune while I was here. Faith is my belief in my higher power, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and includes my belief that everything will work out OK. An innermost feeling that
God is with me at all
times.

Slide # 40
3. The Jesus of Revelation, an altar call
Isa. 43:1-7, 25 (NRSV)  But now thus says the Lord,  he who created you, O Jacob,  he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have called you by name, you are mine.  2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,  and the flame shall not consume you.  3For I am the Lord your God,  the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom,  Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.  4Because you are precious in my sight,  and honoured, and I love you, I give people in return for you,  nations in exchange for your life.  5Do not fear, for I am with you;  I will bring your offspring from the east,  and from the west I will gather you;  6I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,  and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away  and my daughters from the end of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’
25I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Slide # 41
How God feels?-1
Isa. 48:9-11 (NRSV)  9For my name’s sake I defer my anger,  for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,  so that I may not cut you off.  10See, I have refined you, but not like silver;  I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.  11For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,  for why should my name be profaned?  My glory I will not give to another.
Isa. 61:10 (NRSV) 10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,  my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,  and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Slide # 42
How God feels?-2
Isa. 62:1-5 (NRSV) For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,  and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn,  and her salvation like a burning torch.  2The nations shall see your vindication,  and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name  that the mouth of the Lord will give.  3You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,  and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.  4You shall no more be termed Forsaken,  and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,  and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you,  and your land shall be married.  5For as a young man marries a young woman,  so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,  so shall your God rejoice over you.
Slide # 43
Matt. 22:37-40 (NRSV) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 39… “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
1 John 4:12, 20-21 (NRSV) 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 20Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Slide # 44
[Concentric circles--self//family//society & institutions]
Slide # 45
[Concentric circles--self//family//society & institutions]
[God is everywhere]
Slide # 46
• God created, forgave and redeemed us for His sake and for His glory
• God has vested interest in us, God craves been with us and having a relationship as a bridegroom over his bride on the wedding night!
• God is affected by our doings as we may affect God as a bride can affect her bridegroom on the wedding night!
• Since God feels this way toward us how shall we feel towards ourselves and towards others?

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