Teaching And Religious Imagination By Paul Ricoeur

I have been teaching formally now for fifteen years and have learned as much from my students as I have endeavored to teach them. With each teaching assignment I have tried to learn more about the subject matter, my teaching style and my students learning styles. Yet with all I have learned and have strived to teach, there is much more knowledge for me to acquire. Maria Harris in her book Teaching and Religious Imagination draws from Paul Ricoeur the conclusion that we can alter our existence by changing our imaginations. How does one change their imaginations? Better still, how does one know that they have imagination to start with? As an older adult, it takes more effort for me to harness my imagination to the extent I think necessary to engage students in the learning process. My objectives have always been to make the teaching and learning experience one of both excitement and challenge for the students. Some success has been garnered, while at other times, I have failed miserably. I have experienced a major transformation since coming to The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union. I have already learned about and understand to some degree the different learning styles of persons in order to effectively teach and allow students to grasp the subject matter. In her book, 7 Ways of Teaching the Bible to Adults, Barbara Bruce describes the learning styles. The Verbal/Linguistic learner needs to speak, read, write and listen. To engage thisShow MoreRelatedTeaching And Religious Imagination Draws From Paul Ricoeur845 Words   |  4 PagesSome years after I joined the church, I took a spiritual gift assessment. One of my spiritual gifts is the gift of teaching. I had been teaching early in my professional career and was excited to be able to teach in the church. I felt that God would use me greatly to share his word with the congregation. I have recently been appointed Director of Christian Education for my church and I am so excited at the opportunity to positively impact the lives of our congregation and community. I am alsoRead MoreExplain the Purpose of Hermeneutics1564 Words   |  7 Pagestotally authoritive and inspired by God, however is it propositional or not? To be propositional means that God reveals certain truths at whic h we respond in accepting these truths. These certain truths may be found in scripture, creeds and or the teachings of the church. Non-propositional approach emphasise God revealing himself at which we respond with faith being a personal belief in God, resulting in us developing specific ideas and or propositions about God. A non-propositional view believes theRead MoreEssay on A Role for Religion in Public Service3653 Words   |  15 Pagesbe made, accordingly, for accommodating religious views in our political discourse, for they have a history of directing people’s thinking beyond what is to what ought to be, and without them we are ever more inclined to tolerate mediocrity in ourselves and despair in others. While secular theorists continue fine-tuning their exclusivist model of the public sphere, others see a need to open the public forum to multiple voices, including those of religious groups. In particular, recent post-MarxistRead MoreLanguage and the Destiny of Man12402 Words   |  50 Pagesleast three accepted meanings. First, it may refer to a passage or fragment not yet exposed or known well enough. Second, it designates something which is intrinsically unclear or ambiguous. Last, it frequently involves a meaning found in ancient religious hermeneutics: locus obscurus may refer to an enigmatic or secret aspect. We can therefore realise that the phrase had negative connotations only in some definite cases. I will focus in the beginning on a fact that must give us pause: the bizarreRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pagesthen be validated by a higher one. This evokes the common theological question: if humankind was created by God, who or what created God? (And, if God answers to a higher power, to what power does that answer?) * Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard, although religious himself, declared faith in God to be absurd, since it is impossible to know God, or to understand His purpose. In  The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus described suicide as the most appropriate and rational reaction to the absurd — but admitted that this isRead MorePhilosophy of Man8521 Words   |  35 Pagesof man as it differentiates him from the animals. There are, however, other similar unique qualities of man differentiating him from the animals, which have been completely by-passed in Aristotles definition--qualities, for example, of artistic imagination and numinous sense of the presence of the Divine to all things. Aristotle’s- definition could give us only a fragmented man as if a featherless biped. Aristotle’s definition of man in terms of genus and differentia, Plato’s in terms of the tripartite