Thesis - 1 The book of 1Timothy takes a radical approach in its description of how Christians are to conduct themselves in church, and in their daily lives as Christians. The radical approach is evident in opposition of the ordinary approach as distinguished by the guidelines given in requisite representation of the new doctrine deviating from the norm. According to 1 Timothy there is a distinct hierarchy organization of the church leadership. Paul was an Apostle who wrote a letter with instruction regarding Christian conduct and daily life, as the church was in its infancy stage. In Paul's letter to Timothy, he charged the church to set the tone for how future churches would govern, and called for the church to serve the world through humility
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
In his recent article for the October 7th issue of Commonweal magazine, David Bentley Hart highlighted how different the Christians of the New Testament are from modern day Christians. Hart’s article, titled “Christ’s Rabble; The first Christians were not like us”, argues that the first Christians were so different than present day Christians that we would have a very hard time getting along with one another if we meet today. Hart, a fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies, came to this conclusion after in-depth study of the text of the New Testament in its original koine Greek. His work translating the New Testament for Yale University painted a clear picture of the character of the first Christians and underscored how far from the original meanings of the text we have come.
This discussion begins by placing its roots in their proper foundation, historic Christian orthodoxy. The reality of the incarnation informs and is informed by all of the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Without an orthodox understanding of any of these aspects, one cannot see the robust, beautiful and awe inspiring truth of the Gospel. Thus, the question surfaces, why have we in the modern church all but completely abandoned the discussion and teaching of the doctrine of the incarnation? The book delves into each of these areas of orthodoxy mentioned thus far, pulling out the intricacies that are brought to fullness in light of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
E. Harrison (p. 275) summarizes the message of the Epistle in these words: The greatest single overall emphasis seems to be on the unity of the local church as the body of Christ, which is brought out not only in connection with the discussion of the groups (i.e.; the factions within the church), but also in relation to the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. A corollary is the sanctity of the church as members of Christ, both corporately and individually, (note, especially, such passages as 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 6:15-20.) We may add, it is in this Epistle that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul most eloquently sets forth the supremacy of love as “the most excellent way,” which the Christian is called to follow (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13
God taught Paul how to lay a foundation and let each man be careful how he builds upon it.. Paul told the facts about Jesus everywhere he went. Paul was God’s agent assign to God’s work. When the time came and he moved on, and others told the Gospel and the churches grew. God the Father is the ultimate architect of all things. Ministers are builders under God, though Paul calls himself a master builder with respect to inferior ministers, he was the highest officer in the church as an apostle. Paul was both a master and a
Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.
The Christian worldview, also categorized under theism, is highly recognized and held by many. This is the belief that there is a single, personal, and relational God who is the creator of all things, this includes a belief in morality and the afterlife. This paper will discuss important aspects and key characters in the Christian worldview, including God and His plan for His children, humanity and the Fall, and Jesus’ role in restoration.
Throughout the history of Christianity, there have been many different ideas on how a Christian should interact with the world in which they lived. From the biblical writings of The Gospel according to Matthew, and The Acts of the Apostles, to the non-biblical writings of On Philosophy, and The Prescription Against Heretics, the ideas of Christianity were brought together. The two non-biblical documents highlight the arguments of whether or not Christians should study Greek philosophy. The books from The Bible showed that Christian beliefs focused on how one should primarily seek their ultimate reward or satisfaction in the Kingdom of God (spiritual), rather than in the here and now (temporal). Christianity, as it began, was a faith that emphasized the importance of acting charitable towards the less fortunate, while understanding that it was ones duty to worship God and spread that love for Him to those who didn’t believe.
Our church structure reflects a modified version of the Staff Based Leadership Model (Whitaker and Jones, 2002); we have a Pastor and an Executive Team. Our church, however, is autonomous and does not function under any higher governing body.
The first section of the book is about “theological foundations”, as its title notes. Among all of the elements discussed in this section – all of which are valid and important, an
At the onset of the Christian faith, its followers faced a difficult period in which they had to deal with many internal and external forces of confusion about their new faith. With Christianity being a rather close subdivision of Judaism, the followers of Christianity are faced with the task of supporting their beliefs and practices deeming why they are justifiable. In this apologetic period, these Jewish Christians embark on the task of defending their church and the religion itself in order to establish its credibility and existence.
In the book of Titus, Paul addresses Titus on how to carry out the task of choosing church leaders. Paul wrote to him so as to challenge him in the way he ought to go. He did this as he was almost leaving Titus behind to go on with the work of God. Titus was to be left with the duty of finishing the work that was pending in Crete. He was charged with the task of appointing leaders for the churches in every town by laying down particular qualifications for the local church leaders[10]. According to the qualifications, it is apparent that the character of a leader matters a lot. The qualifications are divided into
Paul is developing and spreading the doctrine of the Church in his letters. The body of Christ (the Church) is being revealed in his letters to the seven churches. Paul’s revelations about the Church concerned its heavenly calling, promise and destiny. The administration and organization of the Church was revealed to us through the apostle Paul.
Christ is the leader of the Church, Paul in Ephesians 1:22 said “God placed everything under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church” however, God entrusted the authority to lead to his servant whom he set them aside to lead the community. Pastor as a public Leadership is to lead community. A person who is called by God to lead public has a responsibility to be in the community, with the community and for the community. One of best questions raised in the class during public leadership discussion was “How we can be a community pastor rather than just a church pastor?” This really a kind of question we are to consider as pastor especially as rural congregation pastor. In most cases when pastor are called to
If you look at the undisputed epistles, Paul is addressing issues in those churches. Those issues are wide ranging. Some of the issues are theological issues and others of practical problems encountered during that day and time in the church. Paul appears to write with an urgent need to address each one of