The Church On Earth

In conclusion, Paul teachings help us to understand how God views sin and its consequences. His message also reveals God’s righteousness and forgiveness through Christ. Our natural world, our human

With the ability to assimilate to various aspects of the universal Roman society, the apostle is able to relate to and address many different types of people. This aspect of his life makes Paul able to apply the collective ‘we’ when instructing believers of opposing backgrounds. Likewise, after his conversion

The Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, and Martin Luther have been three very important figures in the Christian church. Each went through a unique personal experience that changed the course of their lives. Those experiences were important to them and they should be important to anyone of the Christian faith. In this research paper I will explore these experiences and how they do and do not relate to each other.

To begin, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary, has always been present in the Catholic Church but was first seen in 1531 ("Our Lady of Guadalupe"). The first time she was spotted was on the Hill of Tepeyac where she met Juan Diego, a farmer, so he would talk to the bishop and request to put a monument or basilica in her

“In just seven years, from 1532 to 1538, eight million Indians were converted to Christianity.” Whether one believes the Virgin de Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego on the hill or believe that Guadalupe was created to convert the Indians to the Catholic Church, the legend of Guadalupe as we know her today begins at this time.

(Nabhan-Warren, 43) Estela considered these dreams to be some kind of preparation or conditioning for Mary's messages and apparitions. The first actual apparition happened the night of December 3rd, 1988 after Estela prayed for her youngest son and his drug addiction. She recited the last rosary and she began to see a light shine from her husband's portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Estela says the Virgin was listening and reassured her that she would take care of her children. This was the turning point for Estela. (Nabhan-Warren, 25) After these dreams and apparition, Estella began to see herself as an instrument of Mary and being used for a higher and greater purpose. Her skepticism melted away, and for the next 5 years after the first apparition, Mary appeared every Tuesday and Saturday morning with messages for the community. (Nabhan-Warren, 45) This depiction of Mary, know as the Virgin of The Americas (although she asks to be called the same name as the Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe) and is bilingual in English and Spanish, and has a lighter skin tone than Guadalupe. (Nabhan-Warren, 7 and 191) The messages that Estela was received could be in either English or Spanish, and she and her family would translate the message for both languages. A shrine to the Virgin of The Americas was built a year after the first apparitions in 1989 and was publicly available

In records describing the Virgin of Guadalupe’s appearance in Mexico, Juan Diego is the man identified as the one she first appears to. He was a poor, indigenous man who was in the process of converting to Christianity. The records say that in 1531 he was summoned by a voice as he was on his way to his catechism class. The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to him and told him to go to the archbishop and tell him to build a shrine in her honor. Juan Diego did as he was told, but the archbishop did not believe that the Virgin of Guadalupe would appear to an indigenous man. The third time Juan Diego came to deliver the Virgin’s message, he opened his cloak to reveal flowers and the image of the Virgin, forcing the archbishop to acknowledge the truth in his message. Juan Diego is a significant figure as he demonstrates that indigenous people could have a deep, holy connection to Catholicism. He is therefore an important part of how the force of transculturation influenced the development of Christianity in Mexico, his story melds the indigenous with the Christian. Furthermore, by choosing him as her messenger, the Virgin of Guadalupe made Juan Diego’s relationship to Christianity independent of Spanish control. In this way, he is a subversive figure in the Mexican religious tradition, as during the colonial periods the Spaniards made every effort to control how the indigenous people worships and interacting with Christianity.

The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in Tepeyac Hill Mexico City on December 12, 1531. She appeared on his cloak before Bishop Zummarraya. Suddenly after flowers fell to the floor. The Virgin of Guadalupe is seen among many Christians as an iconic symbol. Within this community are variations of cultures. However, for the Hispanic culture it is very important since it took place in Mexico. So it

Saint Paul, originally named Saul, was a crucial part in the development of Christianity. Paul, who was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, grew up Jewish and was trained as a rabbi (Adcock). Paul eventually converted to Christianity, but before he did, the future of the religion was looking very slim. Rome had made it illegal to practice Christianity. Paul was a pious Jew, so his conversion to Christianity surprised many of his followers. They viewed him with much suspicion and treated him with hostility. Paul was dedicated to his new life and made it his mission to spread Christianity throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and eventually to Rome itself. Paul made two separate journeys throughout the Mediterranean. He preached about the message of Jesus to many and sent his letters to the people he had not visited. Paul saw that his new faith had a message for everything and everyone. By converting to Christianity, St. Paul has saved Christianity from extinction, has written crucial letters about his faith, has preached to hundreds of people, has spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, has caused

Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis emphasizes the two overarching principles that govern the practice of church and mission, that is: Being gospel centered and being community centered, where the content of our message is the gospel, and the context of our message the Christian community. Only when those principles are put into practice does the Word is carried away, with the mission of the church being carried out and the mission of the church of making relationships a priority is carried out.

The first attempt is an extremely successful one, being the Americanization of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the late-eighteenth century. The Virgin of Guadalupe is localized in New Spain through the lore by Miguel Sánchez, that details of her apparition to the indigenous Juan Diego and her Criollo origin. Similarly, lore is spread that the Gospel came to the Americas through the Toltec hero, Quetzalcoatl, before it had ever reached Europe, though this idea was not nearly as popular as that of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Furthermore, Cordoza elaborates in detail on the role of New Spain's prized nuns in elevating the nation's recognition. These nuns were said to be Aztec princesses, who were thought to surpass the land's negative influence, therefore negating the European notion of New Spain's inferiority. The discalced nuns of New Spain were favored by the Church due to their conformity to counter-reformation efforts subsequent to the growing pushback in Europe against Catholicism. The discalced nuns were thusly prized in New Spain for their blend of European and American qualities, however, the calced nuns were cherished for their overt locality in New Spain. Similarly, the crowned nuns identified in New Spanish Patriotism and Nuns are esteemed for their local qualities, being

It seems strange that so little is known biographically about one of the most important figures in Christian history, but this only serves to add to the mystery and grandeur surrounding the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Much, however, is known of the time after his conversion to Christ and what he did to contribute to Christianity in this period, and it is this that leaves a greater legacy than the simple facts of his life. The contributions that he made towards the cause of Christ and the spreading and formation of Christianity are what he is perennially remembered for.

Paul wrote letters to churches and went on long, dangerous journeys in order to share the Word. Humbly serving the Lord, no matter what the cost, he became a disciple who made disciples. His personal, deep relationship with Timothy reveals the kind of atmosphere and level of commitment required in discipleship. The discipleship model Paul follows allows for a personally invested relationship between any amount of gathered people whether it be an entire church congregation, a small group, or

In his hardback titled The Church: Contours of Christian Theology, Edmund P. Clowney writes a systematic presentation about concerning the doctrine of the church. In chapter eight of his book, he describes the Marks of the Church. Clowney writes about the marks of a true church of Christ, which include the true preaching of the Word of God; the proper observation of the sacraments; and the faithful exercise of church discipline.

There are going to be times in our lives when we disagree with what someone says or another person’s opinions on a particular matter. It’s unlikely that we will agree and be content with everything that happens in our lives as we do not live in a utopian world. It is also inevitable at one time or another that we will disagree with what the Church is teaching us especially when it comes to moral issues such as divorce, birth control, and abortion. This is called non-reception. When non-reception ensues in the Church, the teaching in question is ineffectively expressed or judged to be unbelievable by a large population of good, faithful Catholics (Kennedy).