B&Q

The definition of a beatitude according to Merriam Webster is to “be in a state of utmost bliss.” Many would compare it being extremely happy with a feeling of great joy, recognizing what it feels like to be blessed. The message or the Sermon On The Mount is a message for Jesus’ disciples to spread to the world and provide the foundations for love, how to get along with each other, and at the same time, act in accordance of being a Christian – Being In God’s Image. The Eight Beatitudes does not…

During his time of popular ministry, Jesus traveled throughout Israel, and as he traveled he taught. His teachings were recorded by his disciples and are comprised for modern readers in the New Testament, specifically the synoptic Gospels. In general, the parables teaching about the coming kingdom of God, and are fictional stories used to answer questions either asked by one of the disciples, scribes and Pharisees, and in come cases just a member of the crowd. Many of the parables overlap appear…

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness This beatitude blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words, it blesses those who seek right things on the same level as food/water. Righteousness in this beatitude can refer to a lot of things such as good relationships with others and God, morality and justice, generally righteousness seems to be represent anything good. Another way we could interpret this part of the beatitude is by looking at the…

Savior, counselor, friend, redeemer, shepherd, and I Am, are only some of the names brought to mind when confronted with who Jesus is, with a key one being Immanuel, or God with us. The exhaustive list should speak for itself in that Jesus encompasses every plausible Godly characteristic fathomable to man. While the human race assigns numerous titles to describe Jesus, personal introspection of who Jesus is might differ from that of a worldly viewpoint. Thus, deliberating on Jesus in a biblical…

The Broader Context: The Gospel of Luke In order to best understand how to properly interpret Luke 16:1-13, it is best to first read the passage in light of its surrounding context—the entire book of Luke. In his introduction, Luke clearly states his purpose in writing this gospel: “so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught,” (Luke 1:4). This is Luke 's purpose statement, but what is the truth the Luke is trying to demonstrate? The main theme Luke wants to convey…

wording, order and sequence of events; however, the overall report is the same. Further, there are no church fathers that actually articulated support for the Markan priority. The “Two-Source” hypothesis brings into question the reliability of the “Q” source due to lack of evidence. To collaborate and support a theory without evidence questions the authenticity and reliability of the source in…

There is an acknowledgement of the lost document given the name “Q”an abbreviation for the German word Quelle meaning “source”. The existence of “Q” was suggested because of the similarity of materials in Matthew and Luke not found in Mark. (Lea and Black,The New Testament Its Background and message 2003:121) Markan priority is most popular because it seems to coincide with statements by the earlier church fathers unanimously asserting that Matthews predated both Mark and Luke. (Lea and…

God may have placed people here on this earth intending for them to live according to his will and his way, and to fulfill a purpose. However, it appears that many people today are failing to live a purpose driven life. Sadly, they’re not living their life with God in mind at all, possibly because they don’t know how, because they don’t believe in God or because they feel they have plenty of time for salvation. Thankfully, for those who have the desire to live a life that is pleasing to God,…

As discussed in the previous section, the concept of poor in the Lukan writing is not entirely, or even primarily, about the economically deprived, but all those who lived in an inferior status within the Jewish society. The focal point of the Gospel is the treatment of these categories of people that Luke considers to be ‘the poor’. The Gospel doesn’t only focus on the poor being inheritors of the message, but also the message of how the poor ought to be treated by those of power. This leads…

Once upon a time there was a man named Frank, he had a best friends named Joe. Joe always told Frank that they were best friends forever. One day Frank finds out that Joe had a birthday party, but didn’t invite Frank. Frank doesn’t want to be friends with Joe anymore because he was being insincere about their friendship. In the same way God wants us to be sincere about our relationship with him. In Matthew 12:22-37 Matthew warns Christians against being insincere in Christianity. Christians are…