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.
Peter, one of the most important disciples in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, is portrayed as Jesus’ acquaintance and pupil; as well as one of Jesus’ most important followers. Both of the Gospels seem to portray Peter in similar ways, yet they draw different images of the disciple. In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter has a much larger appearance in the teachings of Jesus and becomes more significant to Jesus throughout the Christian doctrine. However, in Mark, the author portrays Peter as a much lesser character in the life of Jesus and even leaves Peter out of some of the stories till the end of the book. Each Gospel portrays a slightly different picture of Peter’s personality and role.
The Gospel of Peter is one of the non-canonical gospels rejected by the Church Fathers and church leaders of Carthage and Rome, who established the New Testament writings. It was the first of the non-canonical gospels to be rediscovered after being found in the land of Egypt. A major focus of the surviving fragment of the Gospel of Peter is the passion narrative, which puts the responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus on Herod rather than Pontius Pilate. Another important point the Gospel seems to iterate is that Jesus was not actually a human like he had claimed and therefore never really died.
I mean, he was most likely to have been aiming for his head but who cuts off an ear when you’re trying to defend somebody? Now, I don’t know about you but in all four primary schools I’ve been to they’ve all told me to think before I act. Obviously this wasn’t the case for Peter. He drew his sword first and thought second. Even though Peter’s actual denial showed us his cowardice and fear of imprisonment and being associated with Jesus amongst the high priests it also told us that he was a human leader. Unlike Jesus he was not perfect, He was like everybody else. He two, had sins and weaknesses. Along with the fact that he was a natural-born leader, this made him the perfect leader for the
This seems reasonable according to what is written by the historian Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea, in His Ecclesiastical History written in the 300’s. The Ecclesiastical History is a history of the primitive church from the time of the apostles until the 300’s when Eusebius died. Eusebius quotes the then-existent works of earlier writers like the Jewish historian Josephus, the philosopher Philo, Clement, Papias, and church writers like Dionysius of Corinth and Caius who lived before the year 100. In Book2, chapter14 of the Ecclesiastical History Eusebius recounts how the anti-Christian Simon Magus encountered Peter the apostle in Rome:
Yet only in Matthew does Peter have a role in the story. Upon seeing Jesus on the water, he calls out, "'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water'"(Mt. 14.28). He almost succeeds, yet he suddenly gives in to fear and begins sinking. Jesus scolds him by saying, " 'You of little faith, why do you doubt?'"(14.31). This draws a strange picture of Peter. He no longer simply listens to Jesus, but tries to become actively involved in his teacher's lessons. This idea is again shown in Matthew 15.15. After the parable of the blind leading the blind, Peter asks, " "Explain this parable to us." Jesus replies with a rather impatient remark, but dives a little further into the meaning. He often comes to Jesus with questions throughout Matthew and these questions always ask for clear definitions of stories or truths about some spiritual detail. Many times Jesus snaps a little at him, but Peter obviously is not swayed by any impatience his teacher bestows. This seems to paint a closer relationship between the two men, where Peter is not afraid of Jesus and Jesus is not simply polite to Peter, as teachers tend to be. Jesus' obvious favoritism of Peter, shown in the transfiguration and throughout the gospel, leads one to believe that the two are indeed close friends with trust and mutual respect, which allows them to be freer with their words to one another. Friends tend to be less polite and more open with
Commencing the Olivet Discourse, Jesus provides a premonitory prophecy pertaining to the inevitable rise of false prophets/teachers (Matthew 24:3-5, 23-28). Similarly, in the wake of his imminent martyrdom, Peter writes a final letter warning about false teachers and exhorting believers to remain vigilant. In concluding his letter, Peter writes, “Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stability.” These admonitions are not anomalous, as the Bible addresses the issue of false prophets/teachers no less than 65 times. Accordingly, the Christian must remain observant, diligently studying the Scriptures in order to
The first step in the interpretive journey process is to take the text and search for the original situation surrounding it and to search for how the text was interpreted by the biblical audience, thus grasping the text in their town. First Peter was written in Rome from “the late A.D. 50s or early 60s.” Apostle Peter wrote 1 Peter as a letter addressing the Christians in the Asia Minor who where undergoing persecution, to encourage them and to teach them “holy conduct” that they should practice during this time of suffering. The meaning for the biblical audience was intended to remind them to put their
In the first close reading of the text, I discovered Paul articulated his desire for all believers to be of the same attitude or frame of mind as Christ. Creating a sense of relationship with God through the example of the servanthood of Jesus. This study revealed the traits of Christ’s life and character found in verses: “he was formed of God” (2:6), “emptied himself’ (2:7), “in human form” (2:8), “name above every name” (2:9), “every knee should bend” (2:10), and “every tongue confess … glory to God” (2:11). Looking at each verse, challenged me to read between the lines and wonder what might be happening within the church of Philippi. Textual Criticism
These passages shed light on the way people perceived Jesus during his time. Some said that he was John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah or one of the prophets. However, the most important part of the passage is Peter’s identification of the Jesus as Christ. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say I am?’ Peter answers by proclaiming Jesus to be the longed-for-Messiah of Israel: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The response of Peter is a great profession of faith. Peter is able to make this affirmation about Jesus’ identity because God has enabled him to recognize Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter saying, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Mt: 16:17-19). Yet in the very next passage of the Gospel, Peter wavers and Jesus calls him “Satan”. Why? Because Jesus had gone on to reveal that he was to be a suffering messiah, put to death for the salvation of his people. And Peter was not prepared for this. Peter loved Jesus and firmly believed him to be the Christ, but a Christ conformed to his own ideas, expectations and attachments. How strange – and
Peter received a vision where he was told to take an unclean animal and eat it, which is similar to what God wanted him to do next: bring the message to gentiles. Peter changed much from the time that Jesus was on earth until the day that he died. He was not a man quick to say the wrong thing, but now the wise rock that Jesus had wanted him to be. He even wrote a couple of books to show the power of the Holy Spirit (Mowczko).
During the movie, Jesus foreshadows what will soon happen when he tells Peter that he will deny Jesus 3 times before the cock crows. Peter is doubtful and tells Jesus that he will not do such a thing. Later he does betray Jesus 3 times when he denies knowing Jesus to save himself. However, Peter does not realize that he has fulfilled what Jesus had said would happen until Mary Magdalene talks to him. During the movie, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, Peter denies knowing Jesus in order to save himself.
Observation 1: In verse 14 [If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed…] Peter is comforting the church on the amount of suffering they may be experiencing. This I s important as the church experienced many trails at that time, and to be consistently reminded of the joy it will bring them- even if it is not observed until the end of time.
In the late first century a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, John of Patmos, received a vision of the end the world. John later wrote this vision down and his writing has come down to modernity as The Book of Revelation also known as The Apocalypse of John. When John wrote Revelation was he using it as a coded message to preach against Rome? In this vision, John saw many images that could be read as Rome or Roman if viewed from a historical context. Subsequent generations have interpreted the imagery within their own historical context. With this paper I will argue that Revelation pertains to the Roman world and culture that John and his followers were living in, the events in Judea that are thought to have occurred within his life time and that John used some of the same imagery to connect his writing to the Hebrew Bible. There are two main competing dates for the writing of Revelation, an early date of 69-70 and a later date of 90-92. This paper will be using the 69-70 date and will be providing evidence to prove why this date works better for the context of this paper. First this paper will establish the time frame in which John wrote Revelation.
In order to comprehend and gleam the theological insights of Philemon, or any Biblical scripture, it is imperative that, at least, a basic understanding of the historical and cultural principles be present in the mind of the reader. Without a comprehension of these truths, a false understanding or misrepresentation of the text may occur. This is not to say that nothing can be obtained from the scripture in and of itself. However, many deeper details may remain hidden without further exploration. As is stated in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”