Jesus Seminar

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…

This book review offers a critical analysis and evaluation of Sze-Kar Wan’s book, Power in Weakness: The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. First published in 2000, Power in Weakness, examines 2 Corinthians with a focus on Paul’s rhetorical strategies and the various conflicts Paul has with the church. Before launching into the summary and critique of this book a brief synopsis reveals Wan’s interpretation of 2 Corinthians’ construction. After contextualizing the book, attention turns…

This essay will discuss Malachi 3:1-7 and the Indictment against Israel. I will further discuss how it’s the last book before four hundred years of silence and how no prophetic word was spoken to the prophets again until John the Baptist. I will further discuss how the prophets before him looked forward to God’s emergence. I will elaborate on how the transitional nature of Malachi makes the book interesting to any individual concerned with the relationship between Judaism and Christianity as…

In Plato’s story, The Allegory of the Cave, there is a group of people who are living in a cave. When one person escapes, he comes back to the cave to tell the people about the amazing experiences they could enjoy if they would muster the courage to step out of the cave to experience something new, but the people were too afraid to leave the comfort of their cave. Like the people in this story, I too had a cave I was comfortable in; that cave was my elementary school, St.Brendan Catholic School.…

Benjamin Forman’s The Blood of Ahab: Reevaluating Ahab’s Death and Elijah’s Prophecy, analyzes the circumstances surrounding Ahab’s death and whether or not these circumstances negate the fact that Elijah's prophecy was fulfilled. In this article, Forman examines the six top possibilities as to why Elijah’s prophecy was not fulfilled and gives evidence to suppose each possibility. Theses possibilities include the fact that the prophecy was not location specific because it did not specify…

What were Father Le Jeune’s impressions and assessment of Native American religion? Father Le Jeune thought that the Native American religion was actually nothing like what he thought a true religion was. He noticed that they wouldn’t pray to a god and wouldn’t even say “god” or “bless you”. Instead of praying to a god, he found them praying for food, animals, and for survival. After seeing Native American religion, Father Le Jeune thought that their religion isn’t serious at all and that it is…

C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, discusses love throughout but particularly in chapters six, seven, and nine. Lewis talks about how Christians are to practice love through marriage, through forgiving, and through charity. By discussing how Christians are to practice love in these three sense, he also gives a picture of what love/Christ-like love is in his view. His view is different in many ways from other popular secular and religious depictions of love. His love is different than just being…

The Absurd- Kierkegaard’s concept of the Absurd is that faith in Christianity will seem from the outside to be an absurd commitment but, that, by one making the “leap of faith”, it becomes that most rational choice available to the human person. The Absurd is the aspect of faith that cannot be resolved by speculative philosophy and can only be resolved by the way of an individual choice. There is no way to understand the complexity or the vague nature of a religious faith until one is “in the…

A Letter Concerning Toleration Analysis and its Relevance Today John Locke’s “A Letter Concerning Toleration” lays out an argument explaining the need for the separation of church and state with religious tolerance as the foundation of society. Locke defines religious toleration as the acknowledgement of an individual’s right to believe, and practice the faith of their own choosing. Toleration does not imply acceptance, but simply allowance; it is the ability to allow individuals around you to…

discusses missions as means of worshipping God which is found in chapter one. Thus, followed by the power of prayer and the price of suffering in missions in chapters two and three. Part two is devoted to answering two important questions of whether Jesus Christ is the only way towards deliverance from sin and its consequences. Also, if the task of the missions is to attract as many people as possible or to attract people from all types of societies. Part three is all about how Piper examines…