...In Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple, sold a piece of land while keeping a portion of the profit to themselves. Together, they brought the remaining money to the disciples to make an offering of it, claiming to have given the full amount. Peter questioned Ananias and he immediately fell dead after lying to the apostles. With no knowledge of what had transpired with Ananias, Sapphira arrived and was questioned in a similar fashion. She immediately dropped dead after providing the same answer as Ananias. The story of Ananias and Sapphira serves as an example of an all-powerful God and of the dangers of sin and deception in the church. The message we can take away from this occurrence is that our God is not a God that can...
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...world. The Bull continues to attack Grendel; however, he ceases to pay attention and falls asleep. Part two: Philosophy: Solipsism. Solipsism is the ideology that only one’s own mind is sure to exist so that knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure (saying there is no objective truth). The confrontation with the Bull and its consistent attack causes Grendel to experience the fact that the world is a chaotic mess of violence. He realizes that everything else doesn’t exist but himself, saying “you don’t exist and I am the only one who exists.” (reveals his egocentric idea toward the world). Grendel concludes “that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that I alone exist… I create the universe blink by blink.” 3. Gemini—the Twins: Part one: Zodiac: The sign of Gemini signifies the dual faceted nature that one posses. According to Grendel, the Twins (Gemini) is indicated by the double- talk that is created by the Shaper’s account toward describing reality that was often distorted or exaggerated. Grendel perceives the different versions of the “truth” that was created by the Shaper and sees how people believe the Shaper’s story even though they have some knowledge of the real truth. Part two: Philosophy: Sophism. Sophism is the ideology that emphasizes rhetoric rather than virtue that also has the idea of egocentrism. Shaper’s story about the distorted version of the...
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...Role of the Judges in Israel Johnnie Hamilton Grand Canyon University: BIB-104 Old Testament Historical Perspectives August 12, 2012 Introduction After deliverance from Egypt, inhabiting the Promised Land under the direction of God through Joshua, the Israelites had experienced a period of bliss. The people were united and fear of domination by another was no longer of consequence at least for the time being. Sadly, in spite of the love, kindness and grace displayed by God to His people, the Israelites continued their cyclical living with periods of obedience followed by periods of failure. The Book of Judges chronicles the times during the early settlement of the Promised Land when there was no king or governing body. This was the time whereby God enlists “judges” or prophets of the people. They were responsible for delivering the people from their captors, then uniting them, relaying messages from God to them and also for providing advice and direction on matters of day to day life. The Book of Judges The Book of Judges is organized around a series of failures that occurred when God’s people ignored Him. The beginning can be summarized into a five main parts that serve as a theological interpretation of the entire period (Judges 2:10-23). How Soon They Forget Not just an introduction to the need for judges but a recap of the inconsistency of the people despite the gifts that they continue to receive. In Judges 2:19-13...
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...Apologetics Application Paper: FINAL Joseph R. Tapp APOL 500 B05 October 12, 2014 Introduction Throughout history the word of God has been spread many ways, by many different methods, some of which were brutal and ugly. Not all people grasped this word as it was spread. Some even started to believe that there was no God, or if there was, based on their observations he wasn’t a God they wanted to know. Such a group are those that call themselves Anti-theists. Anti-theists promote an ideology that denies the existence of God, any god, and that all religion is evil and not good for us. In this paper the anti-theist worldview will be examined to understand the worldview, its key attributes and why one might be so inclined to pursue such an ideology. The worldview will be compared to the Christian worldview, the purpose of which will be to refute the arguments of the anti-theists worldview and provide a basis for which the anti-theist can be presented with information that might enable them to have a change of heart/mind and begin their journey to acknowledging Christ with the hope of ultimately receiving him. Significant Elements of the Anti-Theist Worldview What is Anti-Theism? Anti (against) -theism is quite simply the opposition to theism, specifically to God or to a god. It is not just the opposition to the Christian God, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, no, anti-theism...
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...University of Phoenix Material Literary Masterpieces Matrix Complete the following matrix for each of the cultural periods that are shown. Provide examples from at least two (2) literary works to illustrate your entries in each category. If discussing contemporary literature, for example, a thematic focus might be relationship of mainstream with minority literatures and your examples incorporate Rushdie' and Cronin's works. Your entries in these columns must go beyond a few words or a simple bullet point. There is no required minimum word length, but you must go into sufficient detail to demonstrate your comprehension of these literary components. This assignment is designed to be completed throughout the course. It is easier to complete when approached this way; it also functions better as a foundation for your Learning Team paper—The Literary Masterpiece in Contemporary Society Paper—due in Week Five. Note. Ancient and classical literature are grouped together in the first week's readings, but they are separated here to sharpen your understanding of the distinctions between the two periods. | |Thematic Focus |Literary Qualities |Shared Characteristics |Influence of Earlier | | | | | |Periods | |Ancient Literature |The book of Genesis has |Genesis is mainly written |Both books are heavily...
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...exalted at God’s throne and the acceptance of His sacrifice acknowledged by the Father before the entire universe, the Holy Spirit was poured out in its fullness. Like these early disciples, we are counseled, “It is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer; to fulfil the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing. A revival need to be expected only in answer to prayer.” Without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit through prayer; we are powerless to face Satan’s temptations and incapable of being effective witnesses for the Master. The disciples bathed their lives in prayer and the study of God’s Word. Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost was a masterful presentation based on the Old Testament evidence of Jesus as the Messiah. The 3,000 people baptized that day “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42). The disciples “spoke the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31) and gave themselves “continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (v.7). The authoritative truths of Scripture are the foundation of...
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...Regarding salvation, this doctrine of predestination argues that God predetermined the eternal destiny of those He wants to be saved by grace and has conversely destined the rest of humanity to eternal condemnation for their sins, and also for the inherited Adamic sin. Clearly, this doctrine of predestination transcends Christianity and is more or less a key doctrine of faith in virtually all of the world’s religions. Its history goes back to immemorial times – centuries and millennia before John Calvin even though the theology seems now to be most closely associated with Calvin and Calvinists. Elements of the Calvinist theology could be gleaned from the Old Testament bible tradition such as when Job in the midst of his afflictions declared to his cynical wife who was urging him to curse God and die: “shall one receive good from God and not evil.” As far as Job was concerned, all the evil afflictions, disasters and nightmares happening to him were directly predestined and unleashed by God. We certainly have better insights into supernatural realities today than the generation of...
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...LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES EXHIBITED IN THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH INTRODUCTION Nehemiah was friendly, generous, loyal, very much human, and deeply touched by the destruction his people had endured. He felt great compassion and allegiance toward the people of Israel in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was thrust into leadership by God in the ruins of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was entrusted with the task of rebuilding Jerusalem from the ground up. “The city was in total ruin, stones had to be cleared to start new foundations, and people were weary from their many days’ journey back from captivity.” Leadership is an action of leading others toward a goal or the position of being a leader. Every leader desires to be successful in the goals they set out to accomplish; however, not all leaders equip themselves properly to find true success in the eyes of God. What qualities or characteristics make a leader successful in God’s eyes? First, a successful leader in God’s eyes is a man or woman who is prayerful. Second, a successful leader in God’s eyes is a man or woman who is obedient. Third, a successful leader in God’s eyes is a man or woman who is diligent. Fourth, a successful leader in God’s eyes is a man or woman who is trustworthy. Fifth, a successful leader in God’s eyes is a man or woman who is missional. A missional leader exhibits the following qualities or characteristics: receive a calling and vision from God, live a life of integrity, be a team player, be a conflict manager and not a conflict...
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...For a number of reasons, people do not always stick to the truth when they speak. Some of the reasons are justifiable—for example, humane considerations such as tact and the avoidance of greater harm. Reassuring an ungainly teenager that he or she looks great may be a kind embroidery of the truth. In a more consequential instance, misinforming storm troopers about the whereabouts of a hidden family during the Nazi occupation of Europe was an honorable and courageous deception. Honesty is not a wholly detached moral virtue demanding strict allegiance at all times. Compassion, diplomacy, and life-threatening circumstances sometimes require a departure from the entire unadulterated truth. Some vocations seem to demand occasional deception for success or survival. Politicians, for example, are especially hard-pressed to tell the truth consistently. Perhaps this is because, as George Orwell once observed, the very function of political speech is to hide, soften, or misrepresent difficult truths. Orwell was clearly skeptical about any expectation to the contrary. In “Politics and the English Language,” he put it this way: “Political language—and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists—is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Although in this case Orwell himself may have been guilty of overstatement for purposes of rhetorical effect, his claim cannot be totally...
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...Good and evil are moral concepts that coexist in modern society, categorizing actions and feelings based on a philosophical concept. Both are linked together, like the concept of ying and yang; one cannot exist without the other, they form a balance. According to team member Erika Alati, when using the word values, you must think of the subjects that a person views as important to his or her life. For example, a person with strong familial values may put family before other facets of life. A person’s morals refer to what is internally viewed as right or wrong. Morals are almost like personal traits; they are inborn into an individual’s character. As a person is growing older, they are exposed to many different ideas. Using this input of information, a person forms different beliefs. One of the most common examples refers to religious beliefs, for example Christianity. Team member Kelly O’Brien believes that a moral, a value and a belief are all uniquely correlated. There are some distinct differences, but all combine to determine the good or evil nature of an individual. A moral is an internal sense of what we believe to be right and wrong. Values are the principles by which we construct decisions about right and wrong; while prioritizing the importance of the value(s). Morals encompass more about good and bad leading to a stronger contradictory judgment, such as being immoral. A belief, however, is a more incendiary device. Satre (1956/2003) stated “we are always...
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...Annual Jewish Barley Harvest Festival was the setting for the initial out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. It was Israel's Thanksgiving Day. What the Jews celebrated on that day help us to understand the coming of the Holy Spirit. It signaled the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant. Covenants play a big part in the history of God's relationship with the people. God's covenants are formal statements describing his commitments to us. At that particular Pentecost it was the anniversary of the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit introduced a New Covenant (new terms for relating to God). It was the start of a new way to accept God, know and live with him. Today we relate to God through his Spirit who lives in everyone who trusts Jesus. God's Spirit living in us writes God's law into our minds and hearts and guarantees God's commitments will be carried out. (Corporation, 2002) It is the fiftieth day after the Sabbath of Passover week. It is called the Feast of Weeks. The people were bewildered that day because the disciples were present and they were Galileans and not known to be a well educated. It was the morning of the tenth day after Jesus was lifted to heaven; thousands of pilgrims moved through the streets of Old Jerusalem to the temple are for worship. The prayer of approximately 120 people was interrupted by a deafening roar, as if a tornado was there. The image of wind conveyed that God was being experienced as one who refreshes the chosen people, like water...
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...Lesson 13 *September 22–28 (page 104 of Standard Edition) Keeping the Church Faithful (2 Thess. 2:13–3:18) sabbath afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Thess. 2:13–3:18, Acts 17:11, Luke 10:25–28, Matt. 7:24–27, 18:15–17. Memory Text: “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15, ESV). Key Thought: Even with all the grand and glorious promises for the future, we have to deal with daily challenges and struggles in the church. The Thessalonian church was no exception. hurches are a lot like plants. If a plant does not grow, it will die. In other words, change is wired into the way plants were designed by God. Similarly, a church that does not change and grow also will die. But not all change is good. Change can lead us away from who we are. It can cause us to lose touch with God’s purpose for us. The Seventh-day Adventist Church must be especially on guard because this present-truth message is being proclaimed by no one but us! That’s a heavy responsibility—one we all, whether laity or ministry, must never forget. Through revelation and Spirit-guided consensus, God has led the church to even more light. The light of the past helps the church to navigate its way through the treacherous waters of change. Paul’s final word to the Thessalonians gives us inspired guidance in this crucial area. *Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 29. C 149 S...
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...the New Testament, the Historical Jesus, and How Manuscripts Can Reveal What Texts Conceal Tom Dykstra I grew up with a picture of Paul traveling through Asia and Europe, founding congregations, counseling and teaching the men and women who had given their life to Jesus. If he could not visit them, he sent letters. When Paul died, his letters were kept as treasures. Each church that had received one of his letters saved it, had it read during worship services, and exchanged copies of the letter with other congregations close by. Later the congregations tried to complete their collection. But this view does not match the uniformity of manuscript evidence. --David Trobisch 1 It is even more remarkable that attempts to reconstruct the supposed document 'Q' (the lost collection used by both Matthew and Luke postulated by those who argue that Matthew and Luke are independent) use text-critical terminology to describe their activities. However, since all they are doing is making selections from a twentieth-century printed text, which does not even presume to provide confidently the text of the four-Gospel collection, never mind that of the independent first-century texts, this use of language must be dismissed as illusory. --David Parker 2 Modern scholarship has produced detailed biographies of Paul, massive multi-volume inquiries into “the historical Jesus,” and mountains of exegetical literature that claims to extract the author’s meaning from each word of each New Testament book....
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...Dear Charles, Here's a possible rewrite of your thesis: "This paper will examine Augustine's teachings about 'conferred faith' upon infant during baptism. My claim is that Paul misrepresented Paul's teachings on the family's effect upon the holiness of the child." You'll find the "claim" in chapters 1-14 of Turabian's Manual, which is something that our rubric doesn't bring up, but I think it's a good technique. I notice that you have Greek written in Times New Roman font. I have seen other students do this. I have never been able to figure out how this is done. I notice that when I try to add a letter than it comes out in Latin script. These are quotations that you've pasted. This is amazing. I don't know how they do this! Let me know if you can help me! The only defect in this paper that I want to point out is that much of your paper is not really about Augustine's teaching on infant baptism. All subsequent developments of his teachings really have nothing to do with what happened in Augustine's head. Let's take Pannenberg as an example. He may have followers up there in Lutheran country where you minister. His ideas are influenced by Augustine, but Augustine was not a Lutheran. Some seem to think he was a Lutheran or a Calvinist, but they deceive themselves. You must, of course, take Paul into account because Augustine worked with Paul's writings. Paul was a source that Augustine used—or better, abused or misused, as you and argue. Students find it impossible to focus on one...
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...responsibility. Opinion that the financial well-being of the least compels her to ethical behavior, is fundamentally wrong, the very life and business practice postulated the following statement: "Good ethics is good business." Otherwise, a negative reaction on the part of customers and partners will inevitably lead to a significant reduction in the profitability of the company, and widely disseminated by the media unsavory reputation will lead to a lack of any credibility. Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman wrote that "the true role of business! "PICs in its use of energy and resources in activities designed to increase profits, provided that it adheres to the rules of the game ... participate in an open competition, without resorting to fraud and deception." Ethics imposes restrictions on the business system, being the moral rules and practices of a given society. Business Ethics - Business ethics based on honesty, openness, fidelity to one's word, the ability to function effectively in the market s compliance with applicable laws, rules and established traditsiyami.22 Experience confirms the importance of international business to business ethics in shaping the success of the company. So, dishonest behavior of the firm Coca-Cola, cases of bribery of competitors as compensation in lawsuits with them cost the company market share, given away Pepsico, as the latter had evidence information about the unseemly activities of the company Coca-Cola. By the early 80's. in business ethics has...
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