Kim's Anti-Imperial Interpretations

It is determined by the readers and writers’ religious response to the world and by a person's final cultural categories of rhetoric. Apostle Paul’s journey to minister and teach the church, embodied more than one religious response, his primary response was the Reformist view of the world (see Table 1). This assumes that salvation would come from supernaturally given insight to deal with corruption in social organizations and structures (Robbins, 1996). His secondary religious response to the world was Revolutionist (see Table 1). This view declares that a supernatural power has to destroy the natural earth for salvation to come, as believers feel compelled to participate in changing the world in word and in deed (Robbins, 1996). Apostle Paul encouraged the church of Philippi to be humble and work together because others are watching their example. It is clear that his ministry was a religious movement due to his consciousness of the group. In chapter 2 verse 4, the Apostle Paul appeals to keep the harmony and solidarity of the group (Desilva, 2004); explaining that Christ’s example of humility is the solution to selfish motivations and vanity.

Romans 1-4 is the first section of Paul’s letter. This section has two major structural units. The first unit defined the human problem of sin. The second unit of the first section defined the solution to the human problem of sin. Paul’s outline of this solution is the first section’s single most compelling issue. Romans 3:22-24, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The solution to our human problem, righteousness credited to us as a result of faith in Christ’s sacrifice, is available to all of us only because of God’s compassionate grace.

Paul’s messages to the Corinthians was that the spirit brings life but the letter of the law kills. While Roman law made a significant contribution to our modern culture, their rejection God’s truth and the security of his absolute values would place them on a path to destruction. History shows the vast success

Paul’s letter to the Romans is known as one of his greatest theological works. It has been passed down for thousands of years and is still just as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern day Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes strong sentences such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18) one may say that the times have changed. Some may say that these issues in Paul’s time are acceptable in society today. Jesus is all loving not wrathful. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

Paul addresses several issues that can been seen in today’s society. Taking from the scriptures we can see that Paul’s understanding of God’s plan for his people is very clear. If we look at how our own lives we can relate to these eight chapters in Romans that we can see they have just as much meaning in Paul’s time as they do today. The letters that Paul writes to the Roman’s seems they are harsh, but if we look at them closer we can see it is God’s plan given to Paul for his people to follow.

Paul’s letter to the Roman’s was an occasional epistle as opposed to a systematic theology. However, Paul did present the Gospel in a systematic way. He was writing to an unknown audience of Christian’s, so he made sure to explain himself thoroughly in all areas, more so than if he was writing to those who knew him or had heard him speak before. He wanted to give the Roman’s a good foundation to work from. In doing so he has given Christian’s of today a good foundation for their biblical worldview. While one certainly cannot extract their entire worldview from the book of Roman’s, it is certainly a good basis. Paul covers several areas that are important to one’s worldview in this letter. They will be discussed in this essay. They are creation, sin, salvation, eschatology, ethics and theology. Each topic will be given a closer look as we proceed.

Paul now directing his attention to how we as Christians are to obey the governing authorities (President, police, all authority)

Paul’s letter to the Romans is of his greatest theological works, passed down for thousands of years and still as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes statements such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18), one may say that current times have changed. Some may say that the issues Paul addresses are acceptable in today’s society. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

The book of Romans 1-8 was written by Paul the apostle to the Jews and Gentiles. It talks about the Christian life. I will be discussing what it teaches about the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture as taught by Paul. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, it shows that we should not just strive to be a good person, but to always give in to God’s will for us in our lives.

From analysing and comparing both Barclay and Wrights text, it is very noticeable that N.T. Wrights text involves more themes and issues which prove to be important in the Roman empire in Pauline thought. As this particular text emphasises the language, symbolic fabrics used to represent paganism Jewish and Gentile beliefs, Wright makes it known that Paul’s main goal is to express the meaning of one God, while he travels throughout the Roman Empire converting non-Christian believers. Barclay’s text represents Paul against the Roman empire, and states that there is a competitive relationship with Caesar and god when talking about titles, however, wright makes it clear that Paul believes there is only one God, regardless of different religions.

Readers of the Gospel of Luke often try to identify Luke’s intended audience. Understanding Luke’s intended audience can provide insight into how Luke used current culture to strategically spread the word of God. Specifically, we can look at the period of Hellenization, along passages, to interpret Luke’s Gospel as intended for a Greco-Roman audience.

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.

Luke and Acts tells the story of what Jesus did and taught during his ministry, first in his earthly life and then as the exalted Christ and Lord through his disciples. This essay will outline the various titles Luke used to portray or described Jesus in his two-volume narrative, in doing this we hope to get a better understanding and a complete picture of who Jesus was. Luke in his two volume work described Jesus in numerous ways and I am only going to be discussing four which referred to him as Christ, Lord, Prophet and Savior. The main Christological themes that appear in Luke-Acts highlighted and emphasised on the concept of the “Lord 's Christ”, meaning the coming ruler of God 's people, who will serve as their Savior and performing prophetic work [2 pg. 123-143]. Moreover, Jesus’s role was not assumed on his own initiative, but rather it was the work of God. Thus we can say that God’s work and plans were at the center of the Book of Acts and Luke’s gospel [1 pg 22].

In this article Harold Attridge examines Luke’s background, the scriptures Luke wrote, Jesus’s values, the context and purpose of Luke’s gospel and the treatment of Christians at the time of Luke’s writings. The article expresses that Luke’s Gospel was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and at a time when Christians were being persecuted for practicing their faith so consequently the purpose of his Gospel was to show an ethical example and imply that Christians could be good citizens. This source is relevant to the topic as it suggests the purpose of Luke's Gospel and the treatment of Christians before the fall of Jerusalem. A limitation of the website is that it has not been recently published, it’s publish date is April 1998 so it may not be up to date with the latest, accurate information. Nonetheless, this source is very beneficial and appropriate to the task as it provides facts and research on the chosen sacred text. This source will not be the cornerstone of my research but will add a good understanding to the purpose of the sacred text.

Paul begins the letter of Romans by introducing himself and stating his mission. Concisely stating the gospel message, Paul encourages the Roman Christians to “bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name” (1:5), or for the glory of Jesus Christ. He goes on to write of his desires and intentions to visit Rome in order to preach the gospel of Christ to the Jews as well as the Gentiles. Paul continues by explaining his excitement for the gospel as well as the need to live the gospel out in our lives. Finishing the first chapter, Paul presents the inexcusable idolatry, sinfulness, and evilness of the ungodly.