Matthew Shepard Act

When it comes to Jesus Christ many Christian thinkers and authors use story, metaphor, or parables to express their Christology. Gregory of Nyssa and Julian of Norwich are two examples. Their writings contain an illustration to illustrate the work of Jesus. For Gregory it is fishing and for Julian it is a story of the Lord and Servant. This essay unpacks these exemplifications thus uncovering the authors’ individual beliefs about the saving action of God for humanity through the work of…

Ephesians; Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians Ephesians is the tenth book of the new testament. It is also the fifth letter Paul wrote to various groups of people. It is an intense, in depth letter about how important the church is for the christian faith. Paul was targeting the Gentiles and Jews to bring their beliefs and differences together. It is highly debated as well if Paul actually wrote this letter or was it an imitator. The importance that Paul chose to write this letter to Ephesus, was…

Donald B. Kraybill’s book “The Upside-Down Kingdom” reveals the kingdom of God that Jesus talks about in first century Palestine. The main point that Kraybill develops in his book is that the kingdom of God that Jesus teaches during His time on earth appears to be upside down in the sense that He focused on winning by serving and triumphed by losing. His principles were seemingly unorthodox as they disregarded the commonality of that time where the wealthy became wealthier and the poor became…

In the last few years, I have been struggling with finding the balance between showing compassion but being truthful about the behaviors that lead people into difficult situations. As a minister and a leader, you confront this on a daily basis. You want to show mercy and compassion because after all, the gospel is all about love! But you also want people to change for the better. And you can’t do better unless someone points out what you are doing wrong that’s causing drama and problems in…

to bridge the transition from Judaism to Christianity. The Parable of the Tenants is a great example of Jesus chastising the Jewish lawgivers and the leadership of the religion. In doing so establishing the 'cornerstone ' of the new church. In Matthew 21, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Tenants while instructing these elders and leaders to listen carefully because he was directing it at them. He tells the story of a landowner that built a phenomenal vineyard with all the necessities to…

source. In the Gospel of Matthew, the author chooses to focus on the teaching and prophecy fulfilling aspects of Jesus over the other possible views. The stories and references were carefully chosen to be suit the intended audience of the author, showing the savior who they needed the most. The gospel of Matthew was written anonymously around 80-90 AD and its genre closely resembles an ancient biography. Christian tradition identifies the author, or at least the source, as Matthew the tax…

“They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Many people have heard these words uttered from Jesus himself in Matthew 13:42, however many different depictions of hell have been asserted. In Dante’s Inferno he travels through the depths of Hell and describes what exactly it will look like and feel like and ultimately be like. However is this depiction actually accurate? In multiple areas Dante’s inferno seems to build off the biblical…

Many Christians focus majority of studies into the New Testament. New Testament catches many attentions because it describes the birth of the church. As people focus more on the New Testament, Old Testament is shunned away to the degree where most think Old Testament is not important to read. Christians have debated whether Old Testament is needed to be read. Many sound arguments from both sides have been posed over these years. Even so, Old Testament is vital literature needed for Christians.…

Illustration: Imagine if you will that you’re driving down a country gravel road on a lazy, sunny autumn afternoon. As you drive down this road you notice there are two fruit orchards one on each side of the road. You become curious as to the type of fruit on the trees and if you can pick it or have to buy a prearranged set amount like a peck or bushel. Without really thinking about it you decided to turn down the drive way of one of the two orchards, dust is flying from your car as it rambles…

convey the same message of the troubled disciple that Peter was on the evening before Jesus’ crucifixion, while also highlighting key differences that exist between the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Mark’s narrative describes a Peter who fails to understand Jesus and his mission up until the very end. Matthew and Mark through the use of redaction criticism of Mark’s gospel in their editing convey similar themes in their narratives but also contain key differences that emphasize the…