Laura Kate Music's Archive

Existentialism can be put in the category of new creation. The search for finding meaning and for living life according to that meaning is similar to the goal of living a Christian life towards making it into heaven. I think that it is very interesting that in order to fully live a meaningful life you must come up with what your meaning to life is.
As Christians we are held responsible for our actions for the Kingdom and our actions in life. The idea of responsibleness, an idea that Frankl came up with, can be attributed to that of being responsible for living your life and yours alone. No one can find meaning for you. You are responsible for finding your own meaning to life and for trying to live out that life to the fullest. This is the same as living out the Christian lifestyle to the fullest, and in turn you can find meaning to put to your life.

Carl Jung has many ideas related to religion and its role in individuality. I really enjoyed what Carl Jung said in his video about if you believe in a God, or in God, you then know that there is a God. Because, once you believe something it becomes your reality and truth. Therefore once something is a belief of yours, it is something you know, it is a fact according to Carl Jung. I would have to classify this as a part of the new creation. It is almost like living in your own new reality, once you have become a Christian and you have embraced that lifestyle.

One reason I would classify this as a new creation is that once you have a belief or know something, it cannot be unproven or taken away from you. This is similar to the new creation, that we are living in as Christians as well.

Humans have acquired many problem-solving skills through the ages. Some have been simple and some are the answers to many complex issues that the human race has had to face. Critical thinking and problem solving are not innate in my opinion, but are acquired. In my opinion our problem solving can be linked to restoration. Although I struggle with choosing to put it in any one category, I think that it fits restoration the best. The need and desire that we have to find answers to our problems and solve many pressing issues, stems from the determination to get something right. This determination can be a part of restoration; to me it is the need to prove that you are headed down the right track (as a result of redemption). I don’t know who we are “proving” this too, or even if that is our goal. But I do know that every one of us wants to have answers, and hope to be the one who thought of that answer.
This was displayed in The Chimpanzee that was being researched. The Chimp wanted to get the peanut out of the tube, and used critical thinking (applying the displacement of water to the situation) to find the solution to do just that. Eventually the chimpanzee got the peanut. We are like the Chimp. We know there are answers and solutions to problems, and we use our critical thinking to come to those solutions.

Physiology was a rapidly developing area ages ago. I think that physiology can be related to redemption. God has promised that our downfalls and can be turned around and I think that that can be thought of as going hand-in-hand with the biological and physiological outlook on psychology. Physiology has helped us understand so many things on a biological level, things that we may have never known otherwise. Things such as schizophrenia and the case of Phineas Gage are things that we have gained knowledge about through looking at the body and the mind in a biological way. Now that we have more knowledge about the causes of these illnesses and can address them in appropriate ways. This is how I relate this to redemption. When hearing about the speech centers in the brain and the Broca and Wernicke area’s these were discovered through biological research. Now people that suffer from damage to these areas have explanations to give people versus people making assumptions about the reason why they are that way.

However I think that physiology can sometimes be attributed to the fall. In the case of phrenology, sometimes ablations in the brain were given too much importance the way that the lower class and thieves were studied is strangely unethical. And if people put too much stock into something such as biological predisposal to being a thief, then society loses hope for the people and believe that they cannot overcome their prediction of being a thief.

The idea of the period of romanticism is so refreshing. The focus is on the individual, and the uniqueness and the nature of the person. There is no emphasis on the world, or society, or rationale and rules. I love that there is a period where the things that matter are those of the hearts desires. Romanticism tries to put meaning to the life you live. When I think of romanticism I think of the phrase “what will you do?” To me this encapsulates some of the big points of romanticism.

I think that romanticism can relate to modern Christianity in many ways. Romanticism is about feeling, experiencing, loving, living, and carrying out a life reflective of this. It is very much a life of action, and actually experiencing things, not just reading about them. Christianity today is emphasizing this. There is such a push on mission’s trips around the globe and at home in our own backyard. And in the minds of modern believers, when you hear the words “expanding the Kingdom of God” many picture that as getting up and spreading the message around the world. Expand the Kingdom yourself, don’t just rely on others. There is also an emphasis on what are you doing in your daily life to help expand the Kingdom? Notice once again the use of the word doing as it relates to the individuals work. This can be another form of redemption; doing our duties as disciples to try to expand Christianity throughout the globe.

Romanticism can be related to redemption. People of the romanticism period wanted to redeem themselves, by getting back to the basics of life and the emphasis of the individual. Redemption can be thought of the same way. It is now the time we need to put the emphasis on our relationship with Christ, instead of our relationship with the church.

During the Renaissance, one of the main themes was emphasis on personal religion. This was different from the dark ages where religion was a public institution. I would classify the emphasis on personal religion as a part of the redemption. In order for one to be redeemed, they truly need to focus on their individual relationship with God. In today’s society, this is where the emphasis still lies. Not so much a strong focus of the church but a focus on the faith and religion that you share with Jesus Christ. So to us, this is an old thought.
But, to those in the Renaissance, this idea of personal religion was a new one. The people didn’t know anything different from the industrialized form of religion that they had been taking part in. This is also a part in the “redemption” of the world/society. God’s love is for his people, and the Renaissance began to put a lot of emphasis on that, and bring the focus back to the people. This was also a form of Individualism, a second major theme of the Renaissance. So together, these both are a part of the redemption story.

Aristotle spoke about the idea of the Golden Mean. This idea of finding your virtue (a behavior that is reflective of elevated morality) is intriguing to me. Aristotle spoke about finding your golden mean or virtue when you are at balance and far from negative aspects of a character trait. One example of finding your virtue would be confidence. If a person is too confident, they could come across as arrogant, on the opposite end of the spectrum, if a person is lacking confidence they come across as being insecure. The golden mean of these two polar opposites is confidence. The extremes of confidence (arrogance and insecurity) are negative but the mean of the two is where the virtue of confidence is found. To me, the search for virtue is a part of the Redemption story. We are all living a life of redemption. In living out this life it is important that we try to find our true calling, our virtue. As Christians, we are supposed live our lives as a reflection of Christ’s love. This includes living a virtuous lifestyle. We are to hold our standards of reality high and aim to find our virtue. A person must be careful of being neither too boastful nor too humble. There must always be a good balance.

The idea of the Golden Mean could also be a part of the Creation story as well. In the beginning as a part of a new creation it was often questioned what is the “good life?” Aristotle could argue that the good life could be achieved by finding your Golden mean. By finding the right balance and living a life of virtue, free from negative human qualities a person has achieved balance and achieved the golden mean. According to Aristotle, this would lead to a life of happiness.

Aristotle spoke about the idea of the Golden Mean. This idea of finding your virtue (a behavior that is reflective of elevated morality) is intriguing to me. Aristotle spoke about finding your golden mean or virtue when you are at balance and far from negative aspects of a character trait. One example of finding your virtue would be confidence. If a person is too confident, they could come across as arrogant, on the opposite end of the spectrum, if a person is lacking confidence they come across as being insecure. The golden mean of these two polar opposites is confidence. The extremes of confidence (arrogance and insecurity) are negative but the mean of the two is where the virtue of confidence is found. To me, the search for virtue is a part of the Redemption story. We are all living a life of redemption. In living out this life it is important that we try to find our true calling, our virtue. As Christians, we are supposed live our lives as a reflection of Christ’s love. This includes living a virtuous lifestyle. We are to hold our standards of reality high and aim to find our virtue. A person must be careful of being neither too boastful nor too humble. There must always be a good balance.

The idea of the Golden Mean could also be a part of the Creation story as well. In the beginning as a part of a new creation it was often questioned what is the “good life?” Aristotle could argue that the good life could be achieved by finding your Golden mean. By finding the right balance and living a life of virtue, free from negative human qualities a person has achieved balance and achieved the golden mean. According to Aristotle, this would lead to a life of happiness.