Personality Test

After taking the personality test I found that I was ESFJ. I am an extraverted (33%), sensing (38%), feeling (38%), and judging (33%). After taking this personality test, it suprised me that it was so accurate! I do agree with everything that it said. People who are ESFJ are caring and sympathetic, as well as cooperative. I fit well into each of those categories. I am a caring person and a good friend. Overall, I found this test to be very interesting and accurate and enjoyed looking at possible occupations.

Free Will or Predestination?

Christians have been in disagreement over the topic of free will versus predestination for many centuries and it looks as if this debate will continue to last until Christ comes back to earth again. This controversy is probably the most famous topic that is debated within the Christian religion. Both who believe in predestination and freewill claim that they have adequate information from the Bible that support their cause. Those who lean towards the predestination camp believe that God has predestined or already chosen an “elect” group of people who will be with Him in Heaven. They also believe that He has predetermined those for damnation. On the other hand, those who believe in free will believe that God has given us the choice to accept or deny Him, thus our future will be determined depending if we accept or deny Christ. Arminians, those who believe in free will, believe that we are given the choice, where as Calvinists, those who favor predestination, do not. This topic of being predestined or having your own choice, captures the attention of many eager Christians who seek out an answer they believe is correct.

But does the Bible take one side in this debate? As Christians, there are many aspects in our religion that are left unsolved. God doesn’t clearly come out and say that this is what you should do regarding this, and not do regarding that. He provides us with many commands and rules in which we are instructed to live by, but He doesn’t cover every question or detail that arises. This is why the topic of free will and predestination is so often debated. If predestination is true, then why would Christ call us to go out and evangelize to others? If God knows everything, then technically doesn’t He know who will be with Him someday in Heaven? If so, then that sounds like it supports predestination. In regards to predestination and freewill, does the Bible tend to lean more towards one side, or are there aspects of both sides that the Bible strongly supports?

Test Blog

Chinese/Taoism Response

After learning more about the Chinese culture and beliefs, it is interesting to see their kinds of philosophies and beliefs. This week as we talked about Taoism, I realized that there were some aspects in it that sounded appealing. For example, the fact that they believe in a life of simplicity which sounds very nice. Also, the fact not to worry about anything, being content, and being yourself. Those were a few aspects of Taoism that I thought were appealing. When we read the "Pooh" book this week, I thought the simple lifesyle of Pooh sounded very nice. However there are also some aspects of Taoism that I don't really agree with. For example, they believe that the world is unchanging and that we are not to interfere with it at all. As christians, we are called to make a difference in this world, to go out and bring others to Christ. I found this week beneficial because now I have a better understanding of the Chinese culture and religion.

Qur'an Response

Despite the difficulty when reading the Qur'an, I can definitely understand why they believe what they believe a little bit better. I thought that this book was very hard to understand and made no sense, however it is beneficial to know why they believe these certain things. As a Christian I think it is good to know about other religions, just so we are not one-sided, and really understand our religion and why we believe what we do. I found Christianity and the Bible more reliable and appealing because it is easier to understand the storyline, therefore being more reliable because the Bible was written during the same time frame of Jesus as well as prophesized before. Unlike Muslim, where Muhammed came out of the cave and told people what was spoken to him, and then that wasn't written down until a while later. Therefore, I think that studying the Qur'an is beneficial because now we know some of their reasons for their belief, and maybe won't be so judgemental next time we are around Muslims.

Camelot Response

I thought the overall portion of the movie was not too bad. Despite it being an older movie with weird singing and what not, it was pretty easy to follow the story line. I appreciated how the plot of the story was not too difficult. Also, I thought the movie gave us a good look at what life may have been like during that time period. Despite the singing, I thought they did a good job of getting the story across. The film has universal human appeal in many ways. For example, there is a love story involved, which appeals to every human. Also, there is always violence and fighting involved. The violence can appeal to many humans across the world, however there is an opposite effect as well that humans have-especially when the guy almost dies after being jousted by Lancelot. I think this movie does show some Christian significance. For example, we see the sinful desires of humans in here between Lancelot and Arthur's wife Genvieve. They secretly are in love behind Arthur's back. This shows the sinful temptations and desires of humans. Also, we see that Arthur has hope that his relationship will become better and that his kingdom won't be corrupted and fall. Therefore, I thought that they did an okay job in this movie, but it would appeal to me much more if there was no singing.

Iliad/Troy Similarities and Differences

There are a number of similarities and differences between the movie Troy and the Iliad. Some similarities that I saw between the two was how Patroclus put himself in Achilles armor, went out and fought and got himself killed. Another similarity portrayed in both is the anger of Achilles. Especially after Patroclus is killed, it shows both in the movie and book how Achilles really lets his anger take control of him, and how he goes straight to the man who killed his cousin, Hector. I think they do a good job showing that heroes aren't perfect, and that they have downfalls.

Some differences between the two include how they mixed Chryseis and Briseis into one person in the movie. I would say that they probably would have done that to make it easier to understand the plot line. It may be more confusing having those two characters, as well as every other main character to remember. Also, in the movie there is really no intervention and involvement of the gods as there is in the Iliad. I think that they would have done this because most people aren't familiar with the Greek Pantheon and it would add to the difficulty of understanding the movie. In the book, Athena, disguises herself as one of Hector's allies, and then when Hector looks over for help, she's gone, and he is killed.

I think that the overall purpose in having changes in the movie, is to help the audience better understand what's going on. There are less names to remember, which simplifies the plot and allows for an easier understanding.