The Roman church had not yet been visited and had no New Testament because the gospels were not yet being circulated in their final written form. Thus, this letter may well have been the first piece of Christian literature the Roman believers had seen. In Roman culture to choose to be a servant was unthinkable. Paul was a Roman citizen but chose to be entirely dependent on and abide in Christ Jesus (Romans 1:1). Paul’s impact was made known because of his citizenship and willingness to serve and obey Jesus…
“Jewish History.” Jewish History, Jewish History, 19 Sept. 2016,…
Christianity. It is a single word with great and powerful meaning, but one that is defined differently by people of many different denominational backgrounds. According to Dictionary.com, christianity is “The religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, sent by God. They believe that Jesus, by dying and rising from the dead, made up for the sin of Adam and thus redeemed the world, allowing all who believe in him to enter heaven.…
As the body of Christ (the Church) redefined itself again and again throughout history, believers were hard-pressed to embrace and work through the multiple denominations amongst them. Fast-forward centuries and thousands of denominations later, and we find the Church at odds against the idea (or the classification) of evangelicalism. In Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Daniel J. Treier’s Theology and the Mirrors of Scripture: A Mere Evangelical Account, they raise the awareness that the problem of evangelicalism lies in the fact that there are no set doctrines that form a whole theology accepted by those who call themselves evangelicals or even other believers, as one would expect from a popular form of Christian denomination (i.e.: Calvinism, Baptist, Presbyterianism, etc.). The authors then liken Scripture to a mirror in order to illustrate the reflection (connection) between the Triune God…
Based on what I’ve read from this book, is that the Jews weren’t treated equally or fair. They weren’t getting the respect people deserve to get. Jews were treated as if they…
Though many believers will negate the important effect that their worldviews have on their lives, their worldviews function as a critical pivotal point by which they understand and relate with the rest of the world and by which they motivate themselves. Since humans unconsciously rely on past experience and knowledge to prompt their next move, a worldview provides a lens of understanding through which past perceptions reveal how to understand the present reality. However, many people like to bury their heads in the sand, so to speak, when it comes to acknowledging their worldview’s impact or changing a fault in their worldview. Unfortunately, these people are like someone who refuses to wear corrective lenses, and whose gaze is therefore obscured…
Discuss the stories of Abraham and the Exodus. What origins do they signify? What are the social functions of these texts? Abram, later to be renamed by God Abraham, originated from Ur, which was considered to be a cultured and ancient city.…
The Old Testament is filled with the history of ancient Israel. It relates to us stories and facts of what the people of Israel endured, as well as what their way of life was like. In Genesis we find out the lifestyles of many people. For example, we read about Abraham and Sarahs hospitality, the Sodomites and Gomorites, who did not please God, as well as how to people acted in the times of Noah. The book of Exodus is filled with the history of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt, and led to freedom by Moses.…
In The Primary Chronicles, the establishment of Christianity is strategic via the characterization of two female characters, Anna and Olga. In Kievan Rus’, women are expected to be passive; they must serve their husband and worship God. The concept of passivity is widely associated with Christianity whereas activity is perceived to be pagan. Anna is a representative of this ideal because she accepts Vladimir’s marriage proposal in exchange for the conversion of Rus. Olga, on the contrary, emanates a quite violent, pagan like character when she ferociously avenges her husband 's death.…
Christianity and Judaism was a big deal in Roman and Greek culture during the period of the New Testament. Religion seemed to be the center of many conflicts and separation between civilizations during this time. The birth of Jesus brought in a lot of controversies within Hellenistic cultures and therefore we see many influences of the new covenant in several of the sculptures and art work created by Greco-Roman artists. Going to the Getty Villa, I was able to find many connections between the collection of Greco-Roman antiquities—including the sculptures and even the general atmosphere of the museum—and the historicity of the New Testament. Driving into the Getty Villa It is hard not to note the stone pavement which makes for a bumpy ride.…
The Patristic Era was a time of great growth in the early Christian movement. Experiencing period waves of persecution, the early Christians were not deterred from spreading the good news of the gospel message. Patristic theologians such as Origen of Alexandria would leave a lasting impact on the church as it continued to develop theological dogmas and methods of the interpretation of Scripture. The method of Scriptural interpretation introduced by Origen addressed the questions and heresies of his time, resulting in an impact not just in his present cultural context, but the future methods of critical thinking as well.…
Weksler-Bdolah, Shlomit, and Alexander Onn. “ Modi’in: Hometown of the Maccabees.” Biblical Archaeology Review 40:02 (2014): On-line. The authors begin with explaining that Modi’in is the hometown of the famous Maccabee family and the author Alexander Onn passed before this article was released.…
In the book The Drama of Scripture by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, they take the Bible and break down all of the stories. Bartholomew and Goheen start off with explaining the Creation story. In Act 1 they talk about the importance of names, especially God’s name, and the men describe how God made humankind in his own image. They do a great job of examining each little thing that God does towards Adam and Eve. Such as, God showing his immense love for his creations by giving Adam a partner after realizing that Adam was lonely because all of the other animals had a partner to be with as read in Genesis 2:18-25.…
The true heart of Christianity, Scripture, and Jesus have all been shown to me through years of faith training and religious course. The world is broken and as christians we are able to fix it through our actions. With open hearts we can show the love of Jesus. In the scripture we can describe messages of hope to those who need guidance. Also through christianity we can show that redemption is easy to obtain if you look in the right place.…
Introduction into this book and videos covers how we need to set long term goals, but before doing so we need to ask ourselves some questions. Before we can set those goals we should seek to know Christ. This can be done by reading the four gospels and seeing what Jesus did, what we can learn from him, and how does it relate to us? Jesus’ last commandment was to go and make disciples, and while principles never change, our methods have to change in order to reach the current generation, and each beyond. As we get into the chapters we learn that men are God’s method and while they may seem unlearned or ignorant by man’s standards, God uses those willing to learn and raises them into leadership.…