Who is man? Yet what is man? That one can think so highly of himself to be the oracle of God’s word. To justify or to exempt the truths of the Word that manifested Him in the flesh to dwell among all men of the earth. (1 Tim. 3:16, John 1:1-14 KJV) It is true that God’s way of thinking is not the way a man thinks. For His thoughts are above His own creation, not to be misconstrued as a King without mercy however, it is within the mercy and grace of The King to grant such wisdom to be penned for the human population as guidance and instruction to obtain wisdom from His Son.(2 Tim. 3:16 ,Isaiah 40:8, Psalms 119:105 KJV) Howbeit for those that have convened in council form under the direction of the Holy Spirit and to prayerfully discern the …show more content…
Paul gave the words that when man sees things impossible; God can do all things that are possible. Therefore, by God utilizing men that may have not been rightly in a relationship with Him should not be the focus but to understand these men in fact were used for the outcome for His glory. For a brief moment in Church History consider Marcion. “It is perhaps the case that Marcion is best known for texts he re-wrote, rather than for his own original theological compositions. However, even within his re-writing of texts that later became part of a collection now known as the New Testament, in the very process of omitting certain texts, selecting others and reframing the contents within those texts, much of his theological agenda becomes apparent. Marcion selected a group of texts which he saw as exemplifying his own belief in the disjunction between the evil creator God of the Jewish scriptures, and the previously unknown God revealed through Jesus Christ.” Marcion firmly believed that the Gospel of Luke and Paul’s epistles held the knowledge of Christianity by his own understanding. By doing so Macrion disregarded the very words of Paul as a warning, it is no great thing for Satan to transform his demons into ministers of righteousness. His actions he believed was “reconciling Christianity to its Jewish heritage was in fact striping the Hebrew Roots
Even early church writers contested the validity of what Luther referred to as an “epistle of straw”, even denigrating it as a leftover from Judaic writers. Even recent commentary writer Sophie Laws referred to “the epistle of James is an oddity. It lacks almost all of what might be thought to be the distinctive marks of Christian faith and practice.” The Luther casts further doubt on the authenticity of this epistle.
Marcion believed that the Jewish Scriptures only concerned the covenant between God and the Jews of Israel, and therefore was no longer valid for the Christian church. In his mind, these were two very separate Gods. When noticing that several of Paul’s writings made mention of the God of Israel, Marcion claimed that those writings were not Paul’s original texts, and should be considered counterfeit. Marcion’s views of Paul’s “forged” portions of his letters can be attributed to what many theologians today might call the Slippery Slope Argument. In this case, Marcion chose not to trust in the inerrancy of what God had spoken to Paul. Paul’s writing’s were flawed, or someone must have tampered with them. This lack of trust in inerrancy would ultimately allow Marcion to fall down a “slippery slope”, giving way to forsake other important Christian foundational truths.
On the eve of my twelfth birthday, my father sat me down to have a talk- He says, “Mary Amelia;” his using my full name and not what everyone usually calls me had me paying attention right away. “You’re my only daughter and you’re about to become a young woman. I don’t know much about what I, as a father, should tell you; however, with your momma gone, I feel it is my responsibility to say something in the way of trying to prepare you for womanhood…
Analysis of the Gospel of John 1:1-6 and its comparison with Genesis 1 and 2: 1-3 and Proverbs 8 gives us insight into how a Christian text references Hebrew texts implicitly and explicitly. In chapter one, verse 1-6, of the Gospel of John, we not only witness the explicit references from Genesis and Proverbs, but also see how different ideas present in the two Hebrew texts have been reframed by the Gospel of John. We see a highlight of this reframing in the verse one of the Gospel of John, which states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In this verse, for instance, the notion of “The Word” is, one could argue, similar in its meaning and connotation to the idea of “Wisdom” present in
According to (Ward, 2010), a human is defined as the ability to speak, abstract reasoning and interbreeding. However, the Holy Bible teaches us that humans were created to praise and glorify the Lord. In fact, according to (1 Corinthians 10:31, ASV), God wants us to glorify him in all things. He also wants us to fear him and follow his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13, ASV). Due to the Holy Bible consisting of, parables, commandments and stories that instruct Christians on the correct way to act, it is like a blue print or a map that guides us through life and eventually to
Christianity over the course of history has a vast influence on individuals, society and the way believers conduct themselves. It provides morals, practices and ethics that every Christian attempts to live by. Throughout the many denominations in the Christian church, Paul of Tarsus had a significant influence on the faith. His contribution to the development and expression of Christianity is immense and can be seen to stem from his writing and missionary journeys which have implemented his ideas and interpretations onto the development of Christianity. After Jesus, Paul was arguably the most significant figure in Christianity as his teachings form a significant part of the New Testament. Like may other Pharisees of that time in history, Paul sought to suppress the early Christian movement. He accused early Christians of blaspheming against God and breaking Mosaic Law. However, Paul had a life-changing experience when he had a vision of Jesus, and he spent the remainder of his life as a missionary for the early church. Centuries after his ministry, his teachings still influence Christian theology.
When considering the strengths and weaknesses of the book, the strengths dramatically outweigh the shortcomings. Allen succeeded in showing the reader that there is no excuse to discount the ministry of Paul as irrelevant in today’s missionary setting. He powerfully implemented scripture throughout the book with precision. Every verse, story, and biblical example of Paul’s practices and teachings that Allen used were necessary and served to back up his claims with ultimate truth. Also, the open addressing of his opponent’s arguments served to strengthen Allen’s thesis in a way that a simple stating of facts would be incapable of
Paul was disquieted about their lack of expectancy as it pertained to the gospel and the hope that was. Imaginably they were bemused by the situation that life present. Maybe their toil with hope was because of their misconception that God was not rich or charitable towards them, they had trouble believing God to be so rich to them. Because of their vulnerabilities, that really were issues of faith, they robbed themselves of experiencing the fullness of God's power. The power to:
Faith plays an important role in the Mende’s road to freedom. When the word “faith” comes to mind, it is one that concerns a belief in some power and requires perseverance in that belief. The Mende people certainly showed faith in more ways than one, but an example that is true to the definition mentioned before is one where Cinque and one of his fellow Mende look over the Bible. After examining the pictures, the Mende man pieces together the story of Jesus Christ despite knowing very little English. He shows the story to Cinque, and both men see how Jesus had unrightfully died, yet in death he had arrived in a place more beautiful than the world on which he lived. As a response, Cinque and his friend mustered up the faith to propel them
Its scriptures are used as the declaration of God’s word. The bible scriptures give clear guidance for most of one’s decision making. No one has to spend a lot of time brooding if God would be satisfied with the choice that he or she will make about career or any type of decisions. The confusion comes when one can not perceive a direction from the biblical scriptures that is God’s word (Barnes, 2010). Biblical scriptures give one strength, understanding and confirmation for most problems, decisions, faith, a repetition of history, understanding of today’s time, and predictions. The bible gives a universal standard for ethical behavior (McMinn, 1996). Horton (2009) suggests that people who support biblical understanding for spiritual discernment the root of their decision making should be based on biblical standards because the bible is sound, reliable and it is God’s holy word.
God is an intelligent, creative, relational Being. God created all that exists (Gen 1-2) and right from the beginning God affirmed and blessed man’s participation in His creation (Gen 1:28-30, Gen 2:19-20). He created man in His image (Gen 1:26-27, 2:7) and for His fellowship (Gen 3:9). Because man was created to fellowship with God, man was created to seek truth. An aspect of seeking of truth is the gaining of knowledge. How one processes knowledge is dependent on how one views reality and truth. One’s worldview is
As Paul reflects on his escape he starts to understand the need for reliance on another power (as in God)
The bible was written as an account of what many viewed that God had accomplished so his actions and words could be passed on for generations. Some believe it is a literary account and some believe it is a historical account. The word of God in the bible comes in many forms and is left up to interpretation by the reader. Some believe that the word of God should be the only word and should be strictly followed. Some believe that the words are meant as a guideline to help us through life. Whatever your belief is you can always seem to find the meaning behind your belief through the word of God in the Bible.
Perhaps the greatest achievement to come from early church history is the establishment of a universal New Testament Canon. While we may not put much thought into it today, which books should be included or excluded from the New Testament was once the center of much controversy. It took the church many years to settle upon the current collection of books as being the proper Canon, making it more of a process than an event. Ironically enough, the need for a universal Canon was only realized after many disputes over the version suggest by the Christian heretic Marcion. Marcion’s collection of books were revised by Athanasius and later endorsed by the church through councils. Once the New Testament Canon was established, all other suggested books became part of a collection known as the Apocrypha and their use dismissed by the church.
?And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all those heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.? Luke 2:46-47