Essay Analysis Of The Kingdom Of Mat

In the 1800s a Market Revolution began, changing the way in which America operated and in the midst of all that was a Second Great Awakening, causing people to once again, question their religious beliefs and practices. Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz tell the story of Robert Matthews, or the Prophet Matthias and his followers. Matthias had an unconventional childhood, he became an orphan at a young age and was raised by church elders. He worked under one of the elders to learn the carpenter’s craft. He easily found work but had trouble keeping it because he was always preaching at his fellow workers about their sinful ways. Matthias was eager to make good but continually fell into misfortunes, “which led him on a prolonged and erratic religious journey” (49). The Kingdom of Matthias gained and lost members, had changes in beliefs, and was full of ever changing marriages. Although looking back on it now, Matthias’s messages and beliefs seem almost laughable, but at they time his followers found his message, ministry, and lifestyle very compelling.

What were the key social and cultural factors that enabled the Gospel to spread so quickly through the Roman Empire? Using primary and secondary sources, discuss with particular reference to Paul’s writings and the Book of Acts.

One of the most well know historical periods of Ancient China is the era of the Three Kingdoms, which records the period to some of the most well-known historical figures, heroes, and their complex yet intriguing relationships. The Three Kingdoms was a period of unrest, and battles which initiated in 220AD, when Wei replaced the Eastern Han Dynasty, and lasted until the reunification of lands in 280AD. Towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the emperor was losing power and influence, which led to the inability for Eastern Han to unite the whole land. At the same time, the country was in anarchy as groups of warriors were uprising and rebelling against Eastern Han, proclaiming themselves emperor. However, these powers were too weak to claim

The book then addresses the Church and discipleship and looks at some basic questions, baptism, the body of Christ and the visible Church-Community. The book also covers Saints – members called by God. Included in this chapter is sanctification

The Kingdom of Matthias, written by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, examines the story of the self proclaimed prophet Matthias, formerly known as Robert Matthews. They tell the story of how Matthias built his kingdom based on his religious beliefs related to the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a religious movement that took place during the early nineteenth century. During this time period women played the role as the caregivers who stayed at home with the children while their husbands were out working. However, it wasn’t until the Second Great Awakening that women began to play a more dominant role in society, especially in the church. Matthias was one of the main people who was directly impacted by the effects of the Second Great Awakening and the power it gave to women. Throughout Matthias’ life he had numerous troubles with women and this continued to show throughout the reign of his kingdom. Johnson and Wilentz saw that the empowerment of women in the Second Great Awakening was a factor in the demise of Matthias’ demise Kingdom. Matthias refuses the ideas of the Second Great Awakening by making sure that women in his kingdom are subordinate and condemns those who are not. [inserts thesis statement]

Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts

Fr. Justin Havens gave a lecture about the history, principles and practices of the Orthodox church and emphasized that Christ should be the focus of our education, and our every thought and action. He described how religion is primarily about making ourselves better and orthodox focuses on becoming like the best human, nonetheless divine being in existence, Jesus Christ. His attributes, perfections, motivations, teachings, lifestyle and everything about Him is the epitome of goodness. Thus the succession in church leadership, from Jesus, to Peter, throughout the generations to various bishops is described as one of the key reasons why orthodox Christianity is perceived as God’s ordained church on the earth as well as the amazing durability of the religion as approximately 160,000 Orthodox followers were slaughtered, significantly reducing the religion’s population. However, as Fr. Havens

The Kingdom of Matthias by Paul E. Johnson & Sean Wilentz is based on the story of Robert Matthews in the early 1800’s. Which sets place during the second great awakening when evangelicalism was very common in the northeastern part of the U.S. Many Americans through this period were experiencing with various religions, which Matthews tried to benefit from by starting his own religion. Due to constant personal hardships, the market revolution, influences of his new religion, and Americans reaction with different views is what ultimately led not just to the creation of Robert Matthews “kingdom” but also to its collapse.

Matthias based his pseudo religion on principles and standards he was raised with, much of his “teachings” reflect family values that he learned growing up, he saw the changes in people’s lives in the city, and fought to keep it traditional and conservative. He wanted everything to be done the way he was taught and the world to know the truth as he saw it, and live the way he was directed, essentially he wanted tradition to overshadow innovation. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Matthias’ plans were deemed to fail, but they did have their mere moment of victory, the kingdom followed these new rules set by Matthias, consenting open marriages, utilizing the vulnerability of people, naked bathing, but his greater cause and message was he wanted his followers to see was that his kingdom was essentially based on the concepts of prosperity, optimism, tolerance, and freedom. This, one may believe, is the true reason his religion prospered, not because it was something new and different, but because it was a path back home, a reconnection of their roots and where they came from and the

This surge of spiritual awakening brought some to question religion, specifically Christianity. In the years before the “Kingdom”, Robert Matthews “began putting it about that he was no Christian at all…He was in actuality, a prophesying Hebrew.”(Johnson, 64). This marked the beginning of his decent into the cult he called ‘The Kingdom of Matthias’. The Second Great Awakening marked a constitutional conversion of American religion. Many early groups put emphasis on the corruption of human beings, believing they could be saved only through the grace of God. These groups formed as instruments of reform, in reaction to urban growth and industrialization. However, it also put emphasis on the human ability to better their positions, thus creating amore optimistic view of humans and the human condition. Robert Matthews, now called Matthias, delivered a number of sermons regarding the path to forgiveness and just how he, being Matthias, would cast judgment upon all. “In short, Matthias would damn the enemies of the Jews – above all, the meek Christian devils and their disobedient women.” (Johnson,

The Kingdom of Matthias gives us the story of Matthias the Prophet. A religious con that lived in New York in the 1800’s. Matthias made an empire of followers that eventually caused a scandal that spread all around america. Elijah Pierson was Matthias’s main followers, he was a merchant in New York.

The book is very narrative driven and enjoyable to read with many varying contexts described by the authors. Johnson and Wilentz do a great job of showing how the world around Matthias shaped his Kingdom, as well as how the Kingdom was part of the larger evolving world that it existed within. Though there were many other religions around this time in development, the quaintness of the story of Matthias illuminates a very vivid illustration, in addition to describing the failures of the religious revival as other religions succeeded. Thus, allowing for a more complete idea of the religion and society during this era. This way of describing events helped in allowing for a more enjoyable read and left a very positive experience. Now while the Kingdom of Matthias was a very enjoyable and well written book the lack of a clear claim or argument as to why I should believe what they say and why this is important left a very sour taste upon finishing the book. The authors do an excellent job of describing and illustrating what events are occurring, and how, such as the tales of Robert Matthews, and how he became Matthias, but never

This research assignment aims to analyse and interpret an influential part of the New Testament – Mark’s Gospel. An analysis of Mark and his community will be discussed as well as interpreting Jesus’ teachings and his significant theme of Discipleship as it was then and in present society.

Reading Lohfink was an experience in climbing an inviting ladder of which some of the rungs were missing when you got there. His description of how the community of believers lived their faith and the impact they had is truly inspiring. It leaves me to reflect on the life of our own community: Have we indeed left everything to follow Jesus? Are we living toward each other with the kind of love that is uncommon in the world? Are we a people of peace, light to the world, flavorful salt in how we live? Reading the accounts of how the early church lived among the pagans and loved sacrificially, there is a call for me as a leader to teach, practice and exemplify that kind of love among our people, along with making opportunities for us to practice it together. On the other hand, Lohfink’s polarizing reaction to “individualism” failed to recognize that a contrast-community consists of individuals who have been transformed by the cross of Jesus and the power of His Spirit. Lohfink argues that no missionary effort is needed because the church as contrast-society will gather people to itself by attraction. He quotes Bronx, saying: “…if it is possible at all to speak of the ancient church's missionary theory the most that can be said is this. The twelve apostles preached the

This is a summary of a No Travel Seminar on a Study of the Gospel of Matthew. The seminar was lead by Dr. John Dunaway who is a professor at NTS and has served as a pastor for over 50 years. After his brief self-introduction, he began his presentation with an overview of the Gospel of Matthew, followed by a more elaborated narrative summarizing the gospel, and he finished with brief closing remarks. Throughout this enthusiastic presentation, Dr. Dunaway made reference to remarks by multiple prominent commentators, which added substance to his narrative, even though none were explicitly stated upfront.