The New Testament And The Christian Message

No emotion has such universal meaning as love. It is an integral part of the human condition. Love is the basis for by which all other emotions can be gauged. Friendship and even grief are steeped in love. Love is so central to our lives that it is fitting and proper that it should be the topic of so much discussion. Every culture and every writer has some commentary or evaluation of love. The New Testament has its share of love commentary. The entire basis of the Christian tradition is God's love for humanity. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." (John 3:6) Jesus preached a great deal about love of neighbor, love of God and even love of enemies. (Matt 5:44) Shakespeare's Biblical knowledge is well known and he

by one spirit of peace for everyone is a worthy servant of Christ. On the other

In Medieval Al-Andalus, many religions took control through the middle ages. This continuous variation of control raised questions about the value of peace. Peace can be defined as a state in which physical battles or fights do not occur. Indeed, when people were often settled, fighting did not have a great presence, and peace was often valued as long as people did not interfere with another’s religion. However, peace often came with people in subtle disagreements about the way of living.

[Throughout A Separate Peace there are demonstrates very literal and symbolic interpretations of the words “a separate peace”.]

The Harper Collins definition is, “The chief purpose of love is to bring one’s neighbor into communion with God. True self-love and love for God are coincident or coextensive.” This definition says that to love others you have to bring others to God, just as St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times. When

‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two precepts hang all the law and the prophets’ (Mathew 22.37, 38, 39, 40). ‘By this all men know that they are my disciples, if ye have love one to another’ (John 13.35) …’He who loveth God loveth his brother also’ (1 John 4.21) …’If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar’ (1 John 4.20) …The first thing that takes our attention is the saying of Jesus, ‘Thou shalt love,’ etc. (501-2)

The message given by Jesus and the apostles is resoundingly clear. Whether our conflicts involve minor irritations or major legal issues, God is eager to display his love and power through us as we strive to maintain peace and unity with those around us. Our dependence on him and obedience to this call will show the power of the gospel and enable me to enjoy the personal peace that God gives to those who faithfully follow him.

Some Christians believe achieving peace means rejecting the use of violence. Christians who hold this reject this view focus on Jesus teaching on ’love thy neighbor’, even when Jesus faced his own enemies (the Romans) Jesus gave himself up to death. Also, when Jesus own follower slices off an ear of a servants, Jesus heals the ear of a servant and criticizes his follower for using violence to interfere with God’s plan. This shows that Jesus used pacifism instead of violence and that means all Christians should be

The Scriptures also tells us how we are to speak the truth: We are to speak it “in love”.What is "love" and how do you speak the truth in it? We might think of "love" simply as doing what benefits others the most. The original Greek word (agape) conveys this. It is like the love which God and Christ manifested for us. They did something for us! God loved us enough to send His son to this earth as the only acceptable, perfect sacrifice for sins. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Christ loved us enough to suffer the cruelest kind of death to pay the penalty for our sins. When we are told to love one another as Jesus loved us, we are talking about sacrificial good will. That is

Before the gospels and Pauline epistles, early church Christians related to the Old Testament as Scripture and viewed their Christian walk as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel from the Old Testament, which foretold of the coming age of the Messiah. The first New Testament Christians understood the importance of the Old Testament; it was their “Bible” they preached from. Just as in the early church, Christians today need the Old Testament for preaching and in which to reference and understand Christ’s purpose for why he came.

Albert Einstein once said “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” This is an extremely powerful quote, and I will seek to convey its strength, as applied to our lives as Christians, upon the careful review of Sandra L. Richter’s The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Richter designed this text as merely a tool by which we might further our understanding of the Old Testament narrative. With one minor glitch in her system, Richter handled the task as that of an expert in the field would - with patience, attention to central detail, and arresting

Many worshippers in the great monotheistic religions associate their faiths with peace. Christ, himself, is sometimes called “The Prince of Peace.” The Pope, leader of the Catholic Church, often prays for world peace and encourages all sides in bloody conflicts to lay down their arms. It is not just Christianity that is associated with peace; Muhammad hoped Islam would bring peace to the clans of the Arabian Peninsula, and the traditional way to refer to Muhammad among Muslims is, “The Prophet, peace be upon him.” It is, therefore, ironic that these monotheistic religions, in the period between 1300 BC and 1452 AD, created far more conflict and disharmony than they did peace. Internal and external conflicts created

Analyse using sacred scripture and a variety of sources the principle teachings about peace in Judaism and Christianity and how these teachings impact on the life of each adherent’s tradition, as a means of achieving inner peace.

Through times of peace and violence,

In the Christian sacred text, the bible, Jesus’ ‘Golden Rule’ is “do unto others as you would have done unto you”; which in relation to peace infers that one must act peacefully to receive peaceful treatment in return. One of the key teachings regarding peace is to respect all humans; as everyone is equal, this includes one’s enemies. As stated in Matthew 5 “love your enemies and pray for your prosecutors”. The core belief of Christianity is the belief in one God, the creator. As the instigator of creation, God commands humanity to live in peace. This also leads to living peacefully within the environment, as stated in Genesis; as stewards of the earth it’s our duty to respect and care for the earth and all aspects of creation. Another principal belief is that the peace of God is beyond this world and will be achieved in heaven; hence, it is imperative for one to live peaceably to achieve peace in heaven. The principal teaching to live in peace is again outlined in 2 Corinthians; “live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you”. The bible outlines the most prominent principal teachings regarding peace.