Reflection on Philosophy of Religion
Firme, Denice Anne
“Faith must come from within, not from without”
As far as I can actually remember, from the moment I gained my consciousness for the world, I belong and I was raised by both Roman Catholic parents. My mom and dad were religious believers of God and the Catholic Church . So being such, I was embeded qith several religious rituals. I remember how we always attend the mass every Sunday, wherein I have to look presentable because we will be inside the church, I was required to be in my most proper dequorum and at night before I go to sleep my mom would always tell me “oh, anak magpray kana” then I will obediently do as I am told, recite my Angel of God, Hail Mary and etc. Before and after meal, we pray as well. My father will usually tell us bible stories and learn lessons from it. Later on I went to highschool at the Universidad De Sta. Isabel which happened to be a Catholic school. We also observed many religious practices such as praying the rosary every morning, praying before and after every subjects, vigils and so on. Having that kind of foundation still I cannot consider myself as a religoius believer because despite performing all the daily rituals, I am not actually wholehearted about it. Somehow I just do it because it is asked of me, and not really because I wanted it. Nonetheless, my consciousness then was limited to only what they bestow on me. I have never encountered anyone who doesn't belive, so my tendency was just to believe because everybody does. Until I entered college. Yes, there were still Theology classes which is I am very accustomed to, but there comes Philosophy specifically of Religion. From the very first meeting, I told myself “hala baka maconvert ako” because I know for myself that the foundation within was weak. Here my mind was actually liberated, instead of being scared or what, I felt thrilled because for the first time, the other side of the coin became visible. With every lesson I always say to myself, “ay
“Faith must come from within, not from without”
As far as I can actually remember, from the moment I gained my consciousness for the world, I belong and I was raised by both Roman Catholic parents. My mom and dad were religious believers of God and the Catholic Church . So being such, I was embeded qith several religious rituals. I remember how we always attend the mass every Sunday, wherein I have to look presentable because we will be inside the church, I was required to be in my most proper dequorum and at night before I go to sleep my mom would always tell me “oh, anak magpray kana” then I will obediently do as I am told, recite my Angel of God, Hail Mary and etc. Before and after meal, we pray as well. My father will usually tell us bible stories and learn lessons from it. Later on I went to highschool at the Universidad De Sta. Isabel which happened to be a Catholic school. We also observed many religious practices such as praying the rosary every morning, praying before and after every subjects, vigils and so on. Having that kind of foundation still I cannot consider myself as a religoius believer because despite performing all the daily rituals, I am not actually wholehearted about it. Somehow I just do it because it is asked of me, and not really because I wanted it. Nonetheless, my consciousness then was limited to only what they bestow on me. I have never encountered anyone who doesn't belive, so my tendency was just to believe because everybody does. Until I entered college. Yes, there were still Theology classes which is I am very accustomed to, but there comes Philosophy specifically of Religion. From the very first meeting, I told myself “hala baka maconvert ako” because I know for myself that the foundation within was weak. Here my mind was actually liberated, instead of being scared or what, I felt thrilled because for the first time, the other side of the coin became visible. With every lesson I always say to myself, “ay