The New Testament : Charles B. Hodge, Jr.

In reading the first few chapters of Philip Yancey’s “The Jesus I Never Knew” many ideas and realizations that he has had in the past and present come to light. Throughout the first reading there are many questions that begin to be asked that make you wonder the true credibility of this book, but as I continued to read I found that he was in turn establishing credibility as to connect with his reader on a personal level. I hope to bring to light the main topics of the first few chapters and give my own reflections and opinions of Yancey’s writings.

The foundation of the Christian faith is cradled within truth of the virgin birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As diverse as the world-wide Christian culture is, the truth in the birth and life of Jesus stands without border and language limitations. Just as each individual life story can be adapted to be relevant for a variety of audiences, the birth story of the Messiah was also. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are an example of the well-rounded and diverse narration of the birth story of Jesus—Matthew’s narration spoke to the history of the Jewish people and Luke presented to the citizen of Rome.

The Bible has been translated into 451 languages, sold over 6 billion times, and depicted in over 40 movies. The Bible and the crucifixion of the Messiah are prominent aspects in cultures all around the world today. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been translated, dramatized, televised, adapted, and cartooned. In “The Dream of the Rood,” translated by R.M. Liuzza, the Biblical cross comes to life to tell its own version of Christ’s death and resurrection. The author recreated the Biblical account to appeal to the Anglo-Saxon warrior group to effectively convert them. However, the story from the cross’s perspective matches the crucial material of the Biblical account of the crucifixion without defaming Christ.

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.

N.T. Wright releases “How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels” with the affirmation that the church has come to emphasis almost exclusively on Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection. Although, the gospels devote the majority of their time on Jesus’ life. Jesus’s life, death, resurrection and rise did not hint the end of the old Israel story, but redirected it further to a worldwide effort of adaptation. Wright addresses several New Testament documented interpreters who present the gospels as simply “the prognosis of early Christian faith, reflecting the disputes and predicaments of the early church,” something Wright calls a “half-truth”. Wright argues that notwithstanding the gospels countless differences, none of

A starting point exists and has always existed at the Church's radical center: in Christ. Only one agenda distinctly manifests partisanship for Christ. There exists but one banner hung over worship: a human on a cross. Jesus calls the Church to lay down, not just its burdens, but its banners as well. In Christ, lies the only context in which secular agendas can find a place in the liturgical life of the Church.

“The Dream of the Rood” is a poem about Jesus’ crucifixion from the perspective of the cross and a dreamer. This poem is important because it tells the salvation story of an individual and the entire world, reveals the heavy cost of redemption, and displays a Christian before, during, and after a terrible time of affliction. This poem is considered the greatest Anglo-Saxon religious poem (Greenblatt 32). It begins with a dreamer who sees a rood in his dream. The dreamer notices there is blood on the rood. The rood begins to speak and tells the story about how the Son of God ended up dying on him. Jesus’ death nearly killed the rood, yet God raised them both up, and the rood now “tower[s] in glory under heaven (Greenblatt 34).” After hearing the rood’s tale, the dreamer prays to the rood and becomes a believer. The story of “The Dream of the Rood” may seem like an ordinary and unoriginal work about Christ’s renowned sacrifice, yet when one looks closer, it is evident that this poem is different because its message goes beyond the story of the cross.

Blomberg, Craig L. The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture: Matthew. Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1992.

In Chapter X of Waiting for Gospel, Hall once again reflects on the “theology of the cross” that he discussed in previous chapters, but this time he wishes to speak more directly about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s perspective on the issue. Much of the issues discussed in this chapter about what the theology of the cross, or theologia crucis is, Luther’s opinion on the subject, and how it should relate to Christian beliefs and actions were already discussed in chapter 6. However, in this chapter Hall also to wishes to address “the ethic of the Theology of the Cross,” as well as what it means to carry the theologia crucis “into the context of worldly existence.”

The two books of the Bible, Matthew and Mark are alike in many ways, they do tell some of the same stories. On the other hand, if one takes a closer look there are small changes to the stories that bring a whole new meaning to the way that the story is told. I will focus on the stories of Jesus walking on water and the transfiguration of Jesus. In this paper, I will review the changes that Matthew made to the Gospel according to Mark. I will also explain the reasons why he may have made those changes and to what purpose those changes served.

In the book by Christopher J.H. Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, the author argues the very existence of Jesus Christ in the New Testament is portrayed within the Old Testament. Wright writes, “the deeper you go into understanding the Old Testament, the closer you will come to the heart of Jesus” (ix). Wright explains many Christians love Jesus, but do not know much about the Scriptures that He read. This is the author’s intention of the book, bringing the readers to a deep understanding of the Old Testament and gaining a greater understanding of Jesus. The purpose of this review is to summarize and critique Wright’s work along with presenting the strengths and weaknesses of the book.

John Walden’s critical review states that in the Bible Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us. He was killed because of his loyalty to God, not

Many people believe that there is only one account of the Passion of Jesus Christ or they believe that each story is the same; whereas there are four separate Gospel accounts of the Passion of Our Lord. Each of these Gospel accounts supplements the others, however each gospel account of the crucifixion of Jesus is unique, not only in how the story is told but also in the events and features themselves. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John clearly present different portrayals of the death of Jesus Christ. By examining each account the reader discovers the evangelist's understanding of the death accounts of the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The reader must examine and compare all of the Gospel accounts to have a full and

Matthew 16: 13- 23 is the confession of Peter of Jesus true identity and the Prophecy of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The Book of Matthew, he said, is the most complete account of Jesus’ life on earth, and of His message to the world. The professor says that Gospel of Matthew was written for the conversion of the Jews. He further stated that the writer of this book was obviously interested in the establishment and maintenance of the Church, and the coming of Christ. Hence, the presenter was quite adamant about his