First Epistle of Peter

During the time that Dante wrote The Divine Comedy, the Catholic Church was very corrupt led by popes that were more interested in making monetary gains rather than being spiritual leaders. One purpose of The Divine Comedy was to express disgust with the Church of the time and to suggest what the reformed Church should look like. One way Dante demonstrates that he intended to present a picture of the ideal Church is by making his final guide Saint Bernard, a “critic of the institutional church…

was born in the year 6 AD in the city of Bethsaida. Bethsaida is located near the Sea of Galilee. John was the son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman, and Salome. John became one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. His brother James was also one of the first disciples of Jesus. Their mother Salome and Mary were sisters, this made the boys cousins to Jesus. Jesus referred to the brothers as "Boanerges," meaning "sons of thunder." This was because they wanted to have fire sent down onto a town that…

during John’s childhood. John worked with his brother and dad as a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee to support his family. John had one sibling named James. James was also known as James the Son of Zebedee and James the Greater. James was one of the first Apostles to die as a martyr. They were also cousins of Jesus because John’s mom, Salome, was the sister of Jesus’ mother, Mary. After their jobs as fishermen, John and James became followers of John the Baptist, who later baptized Jesus. After…

Internal Evidence of Early Authorship All of the New Testament was written in the first century. Some scholars date them toward the middle and others toward the end. Usually, the late dating of the gospels is based on knowledge and predictions around the destruction of the temple. That is since some do not believe in the message of the New Testament––they do not believe Jesus could predict future events––and so the gospels must have been written after AD 70 if they predict these events. This is…

James, and 1 Peter are the first three of eight general epistles found near the end of the New Testament. All three letters were written by different authors: Hebrews probably by the apostle Paul, James by James the eldest brother of Jesus, and 1 Peter by the apostle Peter. These three letters also had different recipients. It is assumed that Hebrews was written to primarily Jewish Christians who had been scattered across the known world and likewise with the book of James, but 1 Peter appears…

that has been opened to him by the Lord, which is his final and eternal destiny (Kushiner, 2011). How did the death of the Peter a disciple of Jesus Christ reveal the missions and their methods and purposes of Christianity in the early church? As we look at the mission of Peter that led to his martyrdom, one quickly see the Holy Spirit empowering him as revealed in Acts 2:1-4. Peter was preaching the gospel with confidence, conviction and compassion. As he carried the word of God, he drew crowds…

Practical Truths from the Pastoral Epistles. This saying is often debated whether or not to include verses 7 and 8a. For this passage, it makes sense that Paul would not make an important statement about the lack of profit of exercise. Paul, instead, showed that in verse 8a as an introduction for a comparison. A. Doctrine Paul emphasized the fact that godliness is of profit in all things and in all situations. When Paul compares the profit of bodily exercise…

us that the ministry of reconciliation is not chiefly something that we do. Instead, he emphasizes that for Christians, the principle of reconciliation is something that has been done for us: Jesus Christ has reconciled us to God. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (5:17-21), Paul provides us with a precise statement regarding the establishing of a new condition, a new status, and a starting point for us in Christ Jesus. We are given a new beginning—throwing off the chains that held us in…

action in order to help reform the ways of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther lays out a foundation by saying that the Roman Catholic Church has built three walls in which to hide behind and protect the so-called authority that it possesses. The first of these “paper walls” is the declaration that temporal powers have no jurisdiction over the clergy, but Luther argues that every Christian is on the same playing field. The members of the clergy merely serve as the elected speakers of the body…

Another area of divergence concerns the act of circumcision. It is clear that Jesus and Paul are Jews who are circumcised, yet throughout Paul’s epistles, he repeatedly and vehemently states that circumcision is not necessary. For example, in his first letter to Corinthians, he writes, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything. Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called” (I Cor. 7:19-20). The significance of…