Genealogy of Jesus

In the Farewell Discourse, Jesus provides various examples as to what love can be displayed to be. John 15 provides an explicit example in which Jesus provides a reference of love in relation with both vines and branches. Jesus explains to his disciples, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). By Jesus expressing this statement, he simply states that by having a relationship with God, one…

understanding of the Kingdom of God. I have come to understand that the Kingdom of God is between the already and the not yet. Jesus already brought with him the Kingdom of God, but the fullness of the Kingdom of God has not yet been accomplished. Jesus’ first coming brought about the beginning of the end for the Kingdom of God and the fullness will not be accomplished until Jesus’ second coming. While I do understand much of the Kingdom of God, the one major thing I do not understand is why God…

Dreadlocks: This is an important aspect of the Rastafari movement because they believe that their hair is a source of their strength and is written in the Old Testament such as Leviticus 21:5. Another belief, is that it’s a representation of the lion’s mane (Frank, kevin). Ganja: Rastafarians are known to smoke the herb for ritual purposes. Ganja is usually smoked during what they call reasoning sessions. It is smoked to bring them closer to Jah and bring them spiritual awareness (Pretorius,…

Have you ever wanted to learn about other religions other than your own, but wondered if it was appropriate and where to even begin? In Paul F. Knitter’s novel, Introducing Theologies of Religions, he discusses a variety of techniques that Christian theologians use to approach other religions. In Knitter’s novel, his goal was to bring light upon a heavy topic and common theological problem called religious plurality. Knitter also intended to inspire people around the world to change their…

“Don’t be an Indian giver!” it may sound like an innocent phrase. However, that phrase underlines a lot of differences between Native culture and Christianity. The main point of Christianity is to give yourself without expecting anything back just as Jesus gave himself for the world. However, Natives, as a barter economy, were used to giving and expecting something back. In the eyes of the Christians, this was not a good thing. But Natives considered giving and expecting back an honorific task.…

In John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity,” he describes his founded city as a “prototype” society. More specifically, everyone is going to see if the society succeeds or fails. It is not exactly called a prototype it is known as “a city on a hill.” America in relativity is a city on a hill. In the agreement, Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama have all included this ideology into some of their speeches. The origin of the phrase “city on a hill” comes from Winthrop himself. He stated, “For we…

Through the perspective of Niccolo Machiavelli, the importance of realistic goals, plans and the execution of said plans are clearly described in his book the prince. A ruler speakers concern must be internal security the states' ability to protect its self from external threats and practicality to keep his state. Machiavelli with especially clear how little he values Christian morality and principalities. He argued that the realm of idealism would only bring a pretty downfall for the prince…

In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards went back to get sinners and also just people in general to get back into the church so that they could continue to be with God. The intended audience for this passage is people who are doubting God and are going against his wishes. Jonathan wants to persuade the sinners to go back and reconnect with God. He uses the fear that they have to convince them to go back to church. By doing this he wants the sinners to know that they are only…

Chapter 1 (September 1, 2017): There are a lot of problems that are in this world, and they all stem from sin. Sin is defined “as a condition that results in behavior” (Tripp 10). We live in a sinful world, and as a result we deal with sin in a multitude of ways. People are broken, relationships are torn, and there is a lot of evil and injustice that pervades our world. In my counsel, I must remember to teach about the problem of sin instead of trying to deal with the repercussions of sin. A…

The three types of belief systems are extremely different when it comes to their principles, affirming religious beliefs and the amount of evidence needed to affirm said beliefs. Critical rationalism, fideism, and strong rationalism are the three positions and they all have been discussed by different philosophers and people throughout the years. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses and ways of rationally affirming their beliefs. Strong Rationalism believes that it is rational to…