Pharisees

The Gospel according to Mark starts out with a man known as John the Baptist. John along with other townspeople went into the wilderness to repent their sins, and John baptizes everyone. During the baptisms, John told the townspeople that someone with greater power then him will be coming soon. Jesus then comes to the river to be baptized by John, and was recognized by the Holy Spirit of God as His son. After being baptized and being recognized, Jesus was sent into the wilderness for 40…

The destruction of the Jewish temple and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans around 70 C.E. is a significant part of the saga of the Jewish people. The destruction of this famous cultural city and its renowned temple had extreme and far fetching consequences for not only the inhabitants of the city but to all Jewish culture. When examining the causation of this destruction historians turn to one of the most important primary sources of the event the historian Flavius Josephus.…

One of the most reputable novels of the eighteen hundreds is the admirable Scarlet Letter. The renowned author of this work is Nathaniel Hawthorne. He uses symbols and images to help the reader grasp the idea of the good and evil that everyone has in his or her soul. Hawthorne carries the reader through the protagonist, Hester Prynne, life. This shows the battles of the public's opinion that Hester struggles to overcome. In a world consumed of sin, young Heater appears to be alone in the evil…

Throughout the Bible the idea of covenants was promise between God and his people. The many covenants that God made with the people none were so impactful then the one that was made with the resurrection of his son Jesus. Jesus the man with the power of God that walk with the people of Jerusalem. Jesus show us all how we should treat each other “My command is this, that you love one another as I loved you” (John 15:12 NIV). The new covenant is the most important agreement in the history of…

Judaism, Islam and Christianity all have one main belief in common: There is one God and He is the creator of the world. In Judaism, Shema is the essential confession of believing in one God. “This confession is completed by reminding the people to love this God with all their heart, soul and strength; to pray the Shema on arising and retiring; and to bind its words on their hands, foreheads, and doorposts to ensure that the awareness of the one true God might permeate their every thought and…

Introduction Due to his influence in establishing Christianity, Paul the Apostle is consider by some scholars to be one of the most influential early Christian missionaries. In addition, later generations viewed him as the first and greatest Christian theologian due to his commitment to his calling. It was that same dedication to spreading the Gospel that he used in his times as a persecutor of Christians. He was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, a major Roman city, hence was a Roman…

Every heroic story is told from the Hero’s Journey. Jesus follows this same journey. The Hero’s Journey includes 9 different parts; the intro, the call to action, crossing the threshold, meeting the mentor, challenges, temptation, dark inner moments, final battle and the return home. Jesus has every one of these scenes happen when He was on earth. There is a bible verse for every scene in the Hero’s Journey. The first scene is the intro to the hero’s world. The intro to the hero’s world…

Lailah Gifty Akita, once said,“If you do not ask questions, how can you find the answers you seek?” (Lailah Gifty Akita, 2009) In other words if you don’t question your surroundings you will never move forward. This is a common theme in John, a character from Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley. John is a lonely truth seeker, he constantly questions his surroundings, who tries tries to unveil the truth. Although he may seem like a heroic guy, he is a complete alien to society in Brave New…

Old Testament. For example, in Mark 7: 1-2 he tells the story of some scribes who “observed that some of [the] disciples ate their meals with unclean hands.” Mark further goes into detail identifying why this act was unholy by saying “For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands.” (Mark 7-3) The frequent translations of Hebrew traditions are found throughout the book of Mark, often referred to as the “Septuagint”, or Greek translation of the…

In 1988, Martin Scorsese directed and released one of the most controversial films of the decade, “The Last Temptation of Christ.” While many previous films surrounding Jesus portrayed stories that many evangelicals are familiar with, this took a completely different route. The film even begins with a disclaimer stating that it is not based off the Gospels. It can be argued that this takes away from the true historicity of who Jesus was, but the interpretation provided can possibly give…