...SHAWN MORRIS’S REFLECTION PAPER INTRODUCTION My topics I will be addressing are Bible Study & Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I chose these topics due to nature of the subjects, what I was reading and learned over the past few weeks in Theology 104. I will give a full analysis of what I have read & implemented in my everyday life as I move forward in this class. TOPIC 1: BIBLE STUDY The Theological Definition of Bible Study: Bible theology is an attempt to articulate the theological aspects that the Bible contains as its writers addressed their particular settings. It is also the study of the Bible that seeks to discover what the biblical writers, under divine guidance, believed, described, and taught in the context of their own times. The Biblical Foundation of Bible Study: are the doctrines & teachings found in the Word of God that Christians cherish the most. These doctrines or teachings are taught very precisely from the word of God. There’s some examples; the virgin birth of Christ, the second coming of Christ, the preservation of the Word of God, & the atonement of our sins. The Practical Application of Bible Study: From the theological definition & the biblical foundation of Bible Study I’m taking in to consideration I am more about the studying habits set forth in learning about the Word of God. I see it along with my fellow classmates in this course how we can all grow closer to God knowing what Christ the Son did for us when he gave his life...
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...Jaimie Scherer GS 2210 Jesus of Nazareth The Existence of Jesus Final Paper 2.27.15 Introduction To this day, the existence of Jesus Christ is still a debate. Not a debate on whether or not He turned water into wine, or was the Son of God, but His actual, human existence is still questioned. The existence of Jesus, and who He was, is a basis of world history. To dispel Jesus’ existence would be rewriting history and the Christianity religion as a whole. Not everyone has to believe the gospels, but Jesus did exist and was an important political figure to the world. Religion is something that is meant to bring people together to create family outside of our bloodline. However, religion is putting larger walls up between us and is the cause of the world’s wars, both past and present. Jesus didn’t want religion to break us down, but bring us together, without judgment, prejudice, or different beliefs. Even though there is much documentation, including outside of the gospels, of Jesus’ existence, people are still skeptical and question His existence. Including documentation, there has been physical, archeologist evidence supporting the places Jesus visited, walked through, and stayed. This paper will outline that Jesus was a person that walked this earth and was very impactful in our history. Continuous efforts of debating this topic should be put to rest and we should discuss Jesus in our history lessons, not as a religious figure, but as a historian who made...
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...The image of women in the Gospel of Luke Name: Instructor Affiliated Institution Paper: Date The image of women in the Gospel of Luke Abstract Many studies have been carried out show the image given to women in the traditional context. These studies show that a woman was inferior to the man who made her perform inferior tasks such as cooking and giving birth. Studies have also been carried out to show the image of women in the New Testament. Luke is one of the gospels that show the clear intention of Jesus mission on women than any other gospel. This research seeks to discuss some of the images that Luke gives to women in the society. The first part of the paper gives a brief introduction to the topic and defines some of the terms the reader will often encounter. The second part analyzes some of the images given to women in the Gospel of Luke. Finally, the third part compares the nature of women in the Gospel of Luke and their nature in the Old Testament. Data for this paper was collected from peer-reviewed journal articles and the Gospel of Luke. Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Definition of terms 3 The image of women in the Gospel of St. Luke 3 Introduction 3 Women as the chosen ones 4 Women as witnesses of the ministry of Jesus 4 Women as examples of faith 5 Women as good examples in Jesus teachings 6 Women as part of the mission of Jesus 7 A comparison of the image of women in ST.LUKE and in the Old Testament 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction...
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...Reflection Paper Brittany Clark February 7, 2015 I. Introduction Although I have been brought up in a Christian environment, it is through this class that I have delved into the meanings behind words that I have heard my entire life. They have a much richer and deeper meaning when looked at with detail, and are very important to know in order to understand our own salvation and relationship with Christ. In this paper, I will be covering two topics: the Trinity and the Death of Christ. II. Part One: The Trinity a. Theological Definition The word trinity in the Greek translates to “a set of three”. The trinity refers to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, this does not mean that Christians are polytheistic. These three beings share one essence. God is singular in numerical terms, yet within God are three individual beings that make up the Trinity. A better understanding of this is looking at Jesus coming to earth as a man. “Although Jesus performed miracles, He was also subject to human limitations by experiencing hunger, and thirst. Even in doing miracles, He relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to do the will of His Father.” (Towns, pg. 8) The reason we know that Jesus is God is how he explained himself while here on earth. “Perhaps the greatest boast of all is when Jesus constantly claimed to be the great ‘I Am’ (Towns, pg. 12). Jesus did not claim to be like God, or even next in command, but he claimed to be God himself! He was the physical...
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...Research Paper: Discipleship Because I became a Christian at an early age, there are many terms and ideas used in the church that I never pondered upon; I simply accepted them. For example, the term "disciple" I identify as one of Jesus' twelve closest followers, one of the paper characters placed on the felt board during Sunday school. Through my research, I have discovered that while accepting Christ through faith alone grants us salvation, to become a disciple of Christ, or practice discipleship, requires work and commitment from the believer. The word disciple, or the Greek word mathetes, is used over 220 times in the Gospels, but not once in the Epistles, those letters written right after Christ's resurrection ("A Church-speak, n. d.). As customary for the Greek usage of the word, mathetes refers to a student who has personal interaction with their teacher. This offers one explanation as to why the word disciple is not used in the Epistles. No one had direct contact with Jesus anymore because He had gone on to Heaven to be with God. Another explanation for the absence of the word in the Epistles is that the churches that these letters were directed to were aware of Jesus' teachings about discipleship. It is possible that the writer did not mention discipleship because it would have been redundant to do so (Haines, 1999). According to the lecture notes, a disciple is a "student" or a "pupil" and the act of discipleship is "advancing the cause of the kingdom". During...
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...Below is a free essay on "Principal Beliefs Of Christianity" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. Referring to their importance, examine the principal beliefs of Christianity. Christianity is a monotheistic religion whose adherents are followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity reformed out of Judaism in the first century CE and originated in Palestine. Christians preached their faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, who is saviour of all peoples through his death and resurrection. The principal beliefs of Christianity are highlighted in the Ten Commandments, the Nicene Creed, the Beatitudes and the Golden Rule. The principal beliefs of Christianity are influenced by Judaism. As a monotheistic religion, adherents believe there is strictly only one God, originating from the Jewish YHWH. Christians believe that God is the Trinity, meaning one being of three co-equal persons – the Father who is the creator and sustainer of all life, the Son who is the redeemer, and the Holy Spirit which is the sanctifier. Christians believe that God created the world and all that is in it. It is believed that humanity is created in the image of God, and that God gave people free will therefore there is good and evil in the world. The Ten Commandments are guidelines received by Moses from God on how adherents can lead good lives. They should not be avoided in fear of punishment, but embraced as a way to be saved from The Fall...
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...I. Introduction Predestination is a Christian doctrine, which falls under the larger philosophical rubric of determinism. Calvinists especially adhere to the doctrine of predestination. There are two aspects to the Calvinist belief in predestination. The first declares that God basically has ordained everything that occurs, or will occur. In regard to salvation, the Calvinist code of predestination is more specific: Scripture teaches that there are certain people – ‘the elect’ – who are chosen by God, through Christ, to be called to Christianity, and thus be saved for eternity. Calvinist interpretations of predestination often get into trouble over issues of free will; indeed, some interrogate the notion of God’s omniscient power to create all events and actions, given the fact that humans clearly possess the power of free will. II. Part One a. Theological Definition Predestination is a Calvinist doctrine, which governs the degree of control which God exercises over the affairs of human beings, and, indeed, all things that occur on Earth. Calvinist predestination insists that God basically has determined all things which have occurred, and will occur. A second meaning is also accorded to predestination by Calvinists. ‘Predestination,’ in this sense, refers to the notion that God gave to some grace, which grants them eternal salvation, while to the remainder is allotted eternal damnation, owing to their sins. The former state is referred to as ‘unconditional...
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...there is a term called “triple point” Triple point in simplified terms refers to the point at which a substance reaches a specific temperature and pressure which enables it to be gas, liquid, and solid. A popular example of this is water, which has a specific triple point of 273.16 K. At this point the water, is a gas (water vapor), a liquid (water), and a solid (ice). (Çengel 135) This all happens at a microscopic level and at fractions of milliseconds, and yet it is the best real life example of how anything can be three things at once. God may have included this little element in earth science while creating the world to reflect on his true nature. This scientific fact could be a great way to defend the idea of how Jesus could be both God and Man. However as with most of the bible faith plays and biblical evidence plays a large roll. Good information on thermodynamics, however also make sure that your introduction fully introduces all of the topics that your work intends on addressing. The Bible makes unambiguous claims as to who and what Jesus was. Jesus claims several times throughout his walk on earth that he was in fact God and that he existed before the time of the decibels. He alludes to Exodus by saying "before Abraham was born, I am " (John 8:58). Obviously the phrase “I am” was a big deal to those alive as it was the name God called himself to Moses. While claiming to be God and doing Godly things like performing miracles Jesus also went...
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...Clarifying and renovating the laws of the Old Testament was central to Jesus’ teachings. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses a crowd of people and delivers a teaching that legitimizes yet builds upon the work of Moses. The sermon is believed to have taken place early in Jesus’ ministry, around the end of the third decade of 1st century AD. At this time, the teachings of the Old Testament became distorted through sociopolitical complexities. Among the numerous laws Jesus explains and reinvigorates, one struck me as especially provocative. He states that not only will those who kill be punished, those who feel anger will also be held accountable by God. Anger strikes me as a natural human emotion, how could it be beneficial to suppress it? There is an important lesson here that requires a more in depth analysis to fully understand. Jesus begins by warning that “if your virtue goes no deeper...
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...as the ‘New Perspective’ on Paul (Thompson 2002, p. 11) This group is known for its fresh understanding on certain aspects of Paul’s thought, particularly its views on the doctrine of justification (discussed below) and first-century Judaism, and has caused considerable controversy amongst other Christians, particularly those who hold to more tradition perspectives. However, although various authors are all termed ‘New Perspective’, there are probably as many ‘New Perspectives’ as there are group members, as each has distinctive contributions to Pauline theology (ibid., p. 12). Specifically this paper will consider justification (and the actual meaning of the term) and the three different types of languages used when talking about justification: covenant language, law-court language and eschatological language. The paper will also be discussing Wright’s opinion on the death of Jesus and how its occurrence has actually transformed this current age in which we live in,...
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...The Lord Prayer The Bible verse that I have chosen for my Exegesis paper is Matthew 6:9-13. This verse states: (KJV) 9 After this manner therefore pray ye; Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us our day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and glory, forever. Amen I have include an excerpt from my thematic paper in reference to the author of this verse. I find that it is important and is relating to the structure of the Gospel and the verse. Matthew: Many sources have the Gospel of Matthew being written in Hebrew and its intended audience were the Jews. Many people say “there are no Hebrew manuscripts of this text.” Upon further investigation this is true to an extent. This question first arose in the 16th Century by the Dutch Theologian and patristic scholar Desiderius Erasmus.” He concluded that there was no evidence of an Aramaic or Hebrew original of Matthews Gospel; it is ineffective to argue Matthews Gospel originally appeared in Aramatic and was translated to Greek.” Matthew’s Gospel relies heavily on the quotations and prophecies from the Old Testament, some believe that the author was a Jew who wrote his gospel for other Jews. We later learned that the Gospel was written in Greek and the Old Testament references were taken...
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...Apostles: History, Function, and Theology “In the history of the Christian church, the Apostles form a first central group – a nucleus, from which all future effort takes its beginning” (Wayland 5). This quote from biblical historian John Wayland epitomizes the importance of the Twelve Apostles, even close to two thousand years after their deaths. Ultimately the apostles played a pivotal role in connecting Jesus and His message to the people of the rest of the World. Without the apostles, the foundational message and teachings of Jesus would not have been able to be passed on to future believers. In this paper, we will highlight the lasting theological impact of the Twelve Apostles, why they were chosen and the symbiotic relationship between them and Jesus. Before one can understand the everlasting impact of the Twelve Apostles, author Bernard Ruffin states that, “it is important to distinguish between the terms “the Twelve,” “the apostles,” and “the disciples.” They are not interchangeable. “Disciple” is the broadest term, referring to all those who followed Jesus and studied under Him. The Twelve and all other apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles, and not all apostles were members of “the Twelve” (Ruffin 11). Even with a better-defined perspective of the Twelve, the biblical accounts of who they were are slightly different. In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) all three authors agree that there were twelve original apostles, however...
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...clear evidence that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in Him believers in Christ may have eternal life. In the Gospel of John, it is easily discovered that John discusses the issue of sin compared to the other Gospels. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Therefore, John makes it very clear that unless sin is cleansed through faith in Jesus Christ, people will perish eternally. Thusly, this scripture illustrates the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for believers by giving the gift of eternal life through the sacrifice and resurrection of His only Son, Jesus Christ. Further, despite there being a final judgement in the future, eternal life is in the preset-tense. For example, in John 5:24 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to...
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...Rosemarie Stanislaus Term Paper August 1, 2014 The Quest for the Historical Jesus INTRODUCTION Over the centuries scholars from around the world have written a lot about religion, its meaning, relevance and contribution to humanity. There have been many speculations upon the nature and historical background of Jesus Christ. Many scholars have tried to dig into the few clues as to His identity and come up with a human side to which we can all relate. The study of Christianity and how it relates to Jesus Christ is very important to the whole world. Concerning the issue of Christianity, for example, the majority of people are taught in most schools and churches that Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure and that the only controversy regarding him is that some people accept him as the Son of God and the Messiah, while others do not. While the historicity of Jesus is the most debated subject in the field of religion today, the most enduring and profound controversy in this subject is whether or not Jesus Christ really existed. This paper will discuss who Jesus is, the controversy and biblical sources based on the views of scholars surrounding the historicity of Jesus. Finally, this paper will give Biblical evidence that Jesus existed. WHO IS JESUS? It is generally accepted that Jesus was truly a man who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Almost every religion teaches that Jesus was a prophet, excellent teacher or a Godly man. The...
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...accomplished everything they have wanted to in their life? I feel these things attribute to the fear that people have with death. There are several examples of death throughout the Bible. Thousands died from diseases, crimes, and committing sins which they were instructed not to do. One example of this is one of the Ten Commandments, thou shall not kill. So why is there so much murder that takes place throughout the Bible and in our world today? Do people not understand the magnitude of this commandment? I cannot attest to witnessing a murder myself but have seen several news reports on them. In fact the news is normally scattered with terrible news of death and murderers. Life is such a precious gift given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ they think it is something to which they show little value. One day, hopefully, more individuals will value life and the murdering that happens throughout God’s creation will come to an end. One of the greatest fears associated with death is how they might die. I’m sure billions of individuals who are no longer living thought to themselves, how will I die? Whether it is by natural causes, burning to death, or drowning, we have all thought of how we might leave this life. I myself have had close neighbors that have experienced these...
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