Gospel Of Mark Essays (Examples)

Jesus then recruits other disciples, such as James and John, and decides to spread the Word of God to other parts of the region while doing good deeds, like miraculously healing the sick and the blind. As a symbol of his personality, Jesus does not accept the role of prophet and then forbids his disciples to spread the idea that he is the messiah, due to "the contemporary messianic ideals of the Jews which he rejected" (arclay 234). For the first time, this appears to be a weakness in the text, for after all of the exposition on Jesus as the Son of God, the "expected One," the author throws the reader into a contradictory quandary, for how could Jesus be prophetized as the Son of God while not acknowledging his role as the Messiah?

However, in Chapter 8, verse 31, Jesus clears up any questions concerning his role as…

Gospel of Mark centers on the controversies of the Little Apocalypse and the narrative of Jerusalem Barabbas. At heart, it is the soulful Christian struggle between the good symbolized at the heart of Old Testament philosophy and made personally physical in the Christ. As in all Christian texts, the conception of evil is posited against the Good News of Jesus. Steeped in Palestinian and Roman tradition in a way not seen in the Epistles of Paul, Mark's gospel presents an audience-specific version of evil, where lack of devout, blind, and holy initial faith in the Christ, witnessed by the Zealots choice of Barabbas over Jesus, was symbolic for the evil of the anti-Christ. (Mark 13:1-2) Lacking in support for the Christ, the people of Jerusalem represented a secular evil to Mark.
Paul struggles with the same empirically Christian evil symbolized by those standing against Christ, but expands it to those…

Homeric Epics and Mark
Dennis McDonald's The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (2000) is a book that was always guaranteed to upset orthodox Christian theologians and biblical literalists and fundamentalists everywhere, since its main thesis held that the author of the first gospel used the Iliad and the Odyssey as literary models. He compares Mark to the apocryphal Acts of Andrew, a Gnostic book, and describes it as a "hypotext" that "relies somehow on a written antecedent" (McDonald, p. 2). Specifically, Mark used Books 22 and 24 of the Iliad as models for the death and burial of Jesus, in which Achilles brutally kills Hector and then releases the body to his father, King Priam of Troy. Hector's soul went to Hades and never returned, but of course Jesus was resurrected on the third day, even if his rather dim disciples in Mark failed to recognize him initially.…

Jesus was aware that he was a subversive power. Matthew does omit the part about Jesus needing to go into hiding. This suggests that the author had less of a need to emphasize the theme of persecution than Mark did. Mark makes sure this story is told from the perspective of the oppressed.
Matthew also recounts the tale of Jesus forgiving the paralyzed man, calling into question his divine authority. As with the story of the leper, Mark's version is far more dramatic than is Matthew's. In Mark's version, the aides had to cut a hole in the ceiling to deliver the man upon a stretcher. Matthew simply says that some men brought over a paralyzed man on a mat. Similarly, Matthew only has the crowd yelling once and not over and over, "This fellow is blaspheming!" (Matthew 9:3). It is almost as if the author expects that the audience…

Commentaries, exegeses, and correspondences provide pastors with tremendous help in crafting relevant, meaningful, and evidence-based sermons. In fact, texts like those of Boring (2006), Collins (2007), Donahue & Harrington (2002) and Moloney (2002) can be considered indispensable. Commentaries like these round out a discussion of each gospel, and each passage within scripture. Moreover, reading and re-reading commentaries helps to eliminate bias and promote an open-minded and lively discussion about the contextual variables and inherent meanings in the gospels. When encountering a critical passage like Mark 13:33-37, it may be tempting to take the text at face value and ascribe personal meaning to it. As valuable as personal meaning and literalism can be, commentaries provide rich and thoughtful analysis related to special events like the First Sunday of Advent. Each of these commentaries provides historical context for the Gospel of Mark. Moreover, some of the writers like Boring (2006) place the…

As with the Gospel of Mark’s theme of impending darkness and suffering, what is the Good News? Is there a message of joy here? How do you talk to your parishioners about embracing the cross, even as we approach life with joy and hope?
Darkness and suffering are recurrent themes throughout the Bible. God’s love is offered as a resolution to the suffering endemic to human existence. The Gospel of Mark’s unique apocalyptic vision simultaneously presents the Good News to teach the truth about Jesus as the Son of Man. Depending on how the text is read and interpreted, there is certainly a message of joy embedded within the Gospel of Mark. I would therefore communicate the key themes related to the Son of Man, the identity of Jesus, and the means to salvation while disseminating the Good News to parishioners.

The beauty of the Gospel lies in its fantastic…

Jesus warns not just Peter but all of "them" about not boasting about the messiah in Mark, Matthew, and Luke too. Jesus's warning comes immediately after the miraculous healing of the blind man (Mark 8:30; Matthew 16:20; Luke 9:21). Interestingly, the Gospel of Matthew is more emphatic about Peter's future role as the "rock" of the Church of Christ: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven," (Matthew 16:18-19). In the Gospel of Matthew, the author is ultimately concerned with the establishment of a new and formal covenant with God. The seeds of Christianity have been planted in the soil…

Marks Gospel
Mark's Gospel

The Gospel of Mark is one of the most important Gospels in the New Testament. It is considered so important because it provides a canonical account of the life of Jesus, and narrates the Ministry of Jesus from his baptism from John the Baptist all the way to the death and resurrection. (Bright, 2006) The gospel focuses on the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem. It deals mainly with the attempts of Jesus to perform miracles while maintaining a sense of secrecy about his own divinity, and after he predicts the events that are about to unfold, his disciples misunderstand the immanency of Jesus' demise.

Mark's Gospel does not discuss Jesus' birth or his life before his baptism. It simply refers to Jesus as the man from Galilee. The baptism of Jesus is portrayed as an interesting affair where Jesus' position had not…

In fact looking further the contrast between the two on the expression of the connection between Jesus and his mother is quite different as in Mark an interchange is spoken by Jesus through the following passage, where in a sense her forsakes her and his family.
Mark 3: 31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

3: 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

3: 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

3: 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

3: 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

This message is entirely missing from Luke.…

Areas to Compare
The Gospel of Mark

Mark 1:16-20, the Calling

Why should we focus on the First Disciples' Calling? This calling was the first of Jesus' ministry to the public. The act of Jesus was a distinction in Jewish society. According to Jewish tradition it was not a norm for Jewish teachers to go to the field and recruit disciples. It is the disciples that sought teachers. Jesus is particular in calling out his first disciples, i.e. Peter, Andrew, John and James. According to Mark, the initiative for recruiting and training to become a disciple always comes from Christ.[footnoteRef:1] [1: J. Donahue, The Theology and Setting of Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark. (Milwaukee, WI:Marquette University Pres, 1983), 15.]

Jesus did not call these disciples to repent. He only asked them to follow him. He transformed the lives of fishermen by asking them to pursue new lines of activities…

Whether Biblical literalism is valid seems unanswerable, however, from this type of historical analysis, which a literalist would reject. A person who sees the Gospels solely as documents of faith, written by Jesus' actual disciples at relatively the same time period despite their different perspectives, versions of events, and literary motifs, would naturally try to reconcile the two different versions of Jesus of Matthew and Mark and suggest that they made up the 'same' person of the same whole. One Jesus demands care on the part of His followers, the other demands trust, but both are important values for a Christian. A literalist would be reading for spiritual sustenance, a Biblical historian would be reading to try to get a sense of how the teacher Jesus was viewed and constructed by later authors -- perhaps Mark wrote in a time of need, while Matthew was trying to preach about the…

Matthew and Mark
The synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Mark differ significantly in their perception of Jesus, but share great similarities in the way in which they state salvation should be sought. ithin Matthew, Jesus is described as Godlike, but within Mark Jesus is seen as a special man, but not as a God. Mark and Matthew are similar in their perception of the attainment of salvation. Matthew describes salvation through repenting, keeping the commandments and giving to the poor and needy, while Mark also describes the attainment of salvation through keeping the commandments and good works. Together, the similarities and differences that exist within these closely related texts serve to highlight the challenges of the interpretation of the Bible.

Matthew describes Jesus as Godlike. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is not shown as fallible or limited in power or authority, as he is in Mark. Further, Matthew's Gospel…

This is evidenced in the first chapter's list of Jesus' linage, recalling similar lists in the Old Testament, tracing the line of Israel. Second is the nativity gospel, or story of the hero's extraordinary origins, along the lines of Moses' story of persecution and salvation from death as a baby from Genesis. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a dogmatic illustration of the role of Jesus as teacher to his followers. Jesus also teaches his disciples and others through parables, through miracles, and by quoting and interpreting scripture in a prophetic style. The final genre of the Gospel of Matthew is that of the Passion story, the narrative present in all of the gospels, of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere of the Gospel of Matthew is of a world of great hypocrisy. There is a tension between the exterior world and the interior world. Jesus teaches his followers…

Rst: New Testament
the passion in synoptic gospels vs john'S GOSPEL

The Synoptic Gospels, which are the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, are called "Synoptic" because their patterns and stories show similar themes as well as differences. Placing them side by side, which has been done many times, can give a quick "historical" synopsis of Jesus' life. hile the Synoptic Gospels use many of the same patterns and stories, each author stresses his own themes, particularly in describing Jesus' Passion: his suffering and death. Mark emphasizes Jesus' suffering. Matthew focuses on Jesus' kingship and the jealous plotting against him. Luke stresses Jesus' innocence and its recognition by several of Jesus' key oppressors. The Synoptic Gospels use common historical patterns and stories to convey their messages.

In contrast to the Synoptic Gospels, John's Gospel is less historical and more poetically, theologically developed. John's Gospel does not use the same patterns…

Mark
The Book of Mark

According to Burton Mack's analysis of the synoptic gospels, A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins, the Gospel of Mark was likely written in 70 CE in Syria. The Gospel of Mark tells the story of a Jesus who is not born in an overly divine fashion in the sense that it contains no story of Mary's impregnation by the Holy Spirit nor Jesus persecution by Herod. Nor does it contain an extensive Judaic linage of the figure of Jesus, or extensive sermons, like the book of Mark. Instead, it begins with Jesus' baptism as a teacher by the hands of John the Baptist.

According to Mack, the Jesus of Mark's envisioning is an angry, rather terse parable-teller and speaker of wisdom literature, designed to be obscure in meaning than easily understood. He is a man whom stands outside of conventional, Judaic society and…

Jesus
The four gospel books in the New Testament are the principal foundation of the information regarding the life of Jesus. These books include Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four books tell the story of the life of Jesus, but from different perspectives. Christian faith depends on the four gospel books that narrate the historical life of Jesus. As a result, if the provisions in these four books are a correct historical account of Jesus, then the faith of Christians is practical. Moreover, if indeed Jesus rose on the third day from the departed, the claim that Jesus is the Son of God is rational. If the claim that Jesus taught the people many things highlighted in the four gospel books, then believing in Him is the only means through which Christians can have everlasting life. Although the gospel books particularly Matthew, Mark and Luke demonstrate the synoptic problem,…

Gospel of Mark 1:29-39
The first chapter of Mark's Gospel places Christ in the city of Galilee, where he visits a synagogue and heals a man with an unclean spirit by casting the demons out of him with the power of his speech. Mark proceeds to narrate of Christ's healing of a sick woman, followed by the healing of many citizens of Galilee in 1:29-39. The message that this passage of Mark's Gospel conveys is that of Christ's power and willingness to heal, the universality of his love and generosity towards humankind.

The passage begins by describing the condition of Simon's mother-in-law. Her extreme illness is clearly documented within the passage as she is dependent upon her daughter's family to be cared for. Marie Sabin performs a curious analysis of the passage and notes the significance of the healings that Jesus performs in Mark,

It cannot be fortuitous that Mark,…

Pericopes From Mark and Matthew on Divorce
A pericope, hermeneutically speaking is defined as a selection or extract from a biblical book such as one of the gospels. It is especially used to reference a selection from the Bible, appointed to be read in the churches or used as a text for a sermon used to teach or instruct upon a specific rather than a general matter of Church doctrine and comes from the Greek meaning a "cutting" or a textual extract. ("Pericope," The American Heritage Dictionary, 2004) The synoptic Gospels of Mark and Matthew show many parallels in their relating of the events of Jesus' life in their selection of such textual extracts. However the order of these two gospels is slightly different in terms of the way they set and vary the different blocks of Jesus' teachings. ("Introduction to the New Testament," p. iii)

The overall chronology of…

Matthew 9:1-8 Exegetical
The Gospel of Matthew is often called the most 'Jewish' of the Gospels, because it begins with noting Jesus' connection to the Davidic line of kings. This connection is used as a testimony to Jesus' spiritual authority and leadership. The Gospel presents Jesus as a fulfillment of Davidic prophesy. While all of the Gospels contain this theme to some degree, in Matthew it is particularly manifest. As exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most notable features of the Gospel, Matthew is a document that often features Jesus as a preacher and a teacher, or a 'rabbi,' above all else. "We also assume that the evangelist [Matthew] is a Jewish-Christian. And his community, while certainly including a Gentile presence and engaging in a Gentile mission, is predominantly Jewish-Christian. That community seems to stand within the broader Jewish community despite a bitter polemic with the…

Synoptic Problem:
The Gospel mainly consists of the first four New Testament books in the bible but it's only the first three that are considered to have synoptic problem i.e. Matthew, Mark and Luke. These books literally relate the story of Jesus in similar ways including the order of material, the stories told, sayings of Jesus, and using the same words in similar accounts resulting in the fact that they are referred to as the Synoptic Gospel. The difference now comes in the Gospel of John where the story of Jesus is shown in different format; events are viewed differently and with its own unique language and approach. Due to the different view and description of events, the book of John is not included in the Synoptic problem. Generally, a principle of only scripture had to be practiced as the cornerstone of reformation and practice of church and it should…

This is not necessarily a bad thing, as this might mean that these individuals acknowledge the fact that Christian messages are powerful and refrain from falling victim to prejudice when it comes to being a believer. Acting without considering matters at first can have a damaging effect on individuals because they might fall victim to producing incorrect interpretations of the gospel.
4. People who use intellectual principles in rejecting Christianity are motivated by ration and by their unwillingness to accept unfounded matters. It seems irrational for an intellectual individual to accept the concept of a person dying and coming back to life. Non-religious people who are guided by intellectual principles support science and feel that it directly contradicts religion. They tend to interpret the gospel literally and thus feel that it is similar to a work of fiction. Seeing the overall history of Christianity and the way that many individuals…

Another drawback of the book is that it didn't have much perspective of what it has meant to be pluralistic or worldly in the context of the rest of the world. During the American Revolution, a country with no official religion was an odd idea. It was a general concept that the world had always been governed by a King by Grace of God, and in return protected God's true religion from heretics and blasphemers (esterlund, 2006).

In addition, the author did not discuss the major difference between the "divisive arguments about God and politics" in the late eighteenth century and today. Thus, without state support, religion flourished in the United States, and now as today is the most religious nation in the estern world. The strength of Americans' religious faith enlightens the determination of a "public religion" that even now continue to worry unbelievers and secular thinkers (esterlund, 2006).…

Unpublished Works of Mark Twain: A iographical
Historical, New Historical Criticism and Account

On the night Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born - the 30th of November 1835 - Halley's comet was blazing spectacularly across the autumn sky. And although he was born two months prematurely, a frail little runt, and his mother said, "I could see no promise in him," she nonetheless expressed a hope that Halley's comet was a "bright omen" for her baby boy. Her wish came true in a sensational way. Little could Jane Lampton Clemens have known that her sickly newborn would become a blazing superstar sensation in his own right, a literary luminary and the unchallenged supernova of American society, the likes of which had never been seen - and may never be witnessed on this planet again.

Samuel Clemens fashioned his own creative - and often chaotic - cosmos wherever he went, and he…

Matthew's Gospel
Most scholars agree that Mark's Gospel was written between 60 and 75 AD and that Mark's account served as a source for Matthew's Gospel, which was written at around the same period. However, while Mark wrote his Gospel for the Gentiles, Matthew wrote to the Hebrews in and around Palestine. Thus, their audiences were completely different with very different needs. For the Hebrews, it was important to understand how Jesus was God -- and that is the overall point of Matthew's Gospel: to show that "God is present in Jesus."[footnoteRef:1] [1: Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament (MI: aker Academic, 2013), 58.]

The Gospel of Matthew gives an account of the history of Jesus Christ and is composed for the benefit of the inhabitants of Palestine in the time-period shortly after Our Lord's death. As one of the Apostles, Matthew had an intimate knowledge of Jesus. In…

Even though Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:36-41 describe the same event in the life of Christ, each does so in a slightly different manner from the other. The two writers place emphasis on specific words or ideas, which is unique to their own writing and does not reflect on the other. Yet, the two go together and show a dependency of thought that supports the notion that the two were not conceived independently of one another. The reasons that the texts appear similar and yet dissimilar at the same time are that 1) the audience of the two gospels were different; 2) the writing styles of the two differed; and 3) the context of the two gives each its own special significance that makes it unique. This paper will argue for dependence of one upon the other with respect to the gospels of Matthew and Mark and explain why they…

The Gospel of Luke, as has been mentioned here, is very similar to that of Mark in its narrative and in describing Jesus, the man. This is an element of the Gospels about which authors Nickle and Brown agree. There is, too, a strong belief that the Gospel of Luke was written by a "missionary colleague of the Apostle Paul (Nickle, 1980, p. 125)." The Book of Luke is the most extensive and detailed account of the life of the historical Jesus of any other book in the Bible. "hen this Gospel is joined by its companion volume, Acts and Apostles, they together make up about twenty-seven percent of the New Testament (Nickle, 1980, p. 125)." The most distinctive characteristic of the Book of Luke, is that it is sequenced with Acts and Apostles (Nickle, 1980). Luke is unique in that his book goes beyond the life of Jesus, into…

Second, he must attempt to present good doctrine. Contrary to what some may suggest, these first two goals are not identical -- merely by translating from the page to the screen what the gospels describe happening would not explain the theological significance of the events, as Jesus is rather too busy being executed to have much time to explain his purpose of salvation in those chapters -- this purpose is clarified at other points before and after his death, and must somehow be worked into this narrative without making it overly ahistorical. Finally, in order to function as a film, the film must function on an artistic level and be coherent both to the viewer and within the tradition of Christological art. It would not reflect well on Christ to be presented within the context of a shoddily film -- many people would refrain from belief for no other reason…

In conclusion, the "miracle" associated with the raising of Lazarus from the dead as described in the Gospel of John holds some very key elements for the true Christian. First, it confirms that Jesus Christ was indeed capable of performing "miracles" that not only helped his fellow people but also supported his divine nature as the one and only "Son of God." ut most importantly, the resurrection of Lazarus and the eventual raising of Jesus Christ from the dead and his ascent into heaven reinforces the faith of all believers that someday they too will follow in His footsteps to become one with God and thus conquer death to live eternally as Jesus himself had promised in the Gospels of the New Testament.

ibliography

Fuller, Robert H. Interpreting Miracles: A Commentary. London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1976.

Keller, Ernst. Miracles in Dispute: A Continuing Debate. London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1969.

Lightfoot,…

Newton did believe in God, a divine being, whom he cited as the keeper of balance in the universe. In his Principia, he states that "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being…This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is won't to be called "Lord God" (Newton 42). He continues with a listing of the characteristics of this God: "The Supreme God is a Being eternal, infinite, absolutely perfect" (Newton 42). Newton had, in fact, been born into an Anglican family -- but he had also come to maturity during the Age of Enlightenment, which was primarily naturalistic in its worldview. Newton's beliefs in God were similar to those of the Deists. They did not make Newton a Christian…

" And what was the end goal of his service to man? To die on the cross and release all from their many sins and grant forgiveness to them through His own death. To believe that -- that Christ died on the cross for us and arose again to sit on his throne -- is to be His disciple. And that was the service that Christ performed. And that leads us directly to Verse 10:45 as the core of this Gospel. With Mark's purpose in mind, as we have discussed, there could be no more key verse in his writings than this one.
It is fascinating that Mark chose to conclude his Gospel with the story of artimaeus, the blind man, who cries out to Jesus: "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"(v.47). The title he gives to Jesus, "Son of David" immediately proclaims Jesus as who he really…

Search of Jesus of Nazareth
The Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are four of the most controversial books in what makes up what we know as the modern Bible. They are the first four books of the New Testament and depending upon the view of the interpreter, form the basis of the modern Christian religion itself. There are two conflicting views of the four Gospels. The first is the fundamentalist view, which takes the incredible happenings contained in these books on faith. They contend that the miracles performed are indeed factual and literal accounts of the events that transpired. The other view is the historical-critical view of the four Gospels. This view presents the happenings in the four Gospels as a type of myth. It takes the viewpoint that the happenings are allegorical, or political satire, as opposed to being factual accounts of the events and that Jesus…

The tempting figure of Satan serves as a much more prominent actor in the film's plot, not simply causing Jesus to suffer for forty days and forty nights in the desert, nor show Jesus all he will have if he abandons his father, but has an abiding visual presence, offering Jesus a view of paradise that is something to be created upon earth, with human physical desires and a human, physical body that Jesus must ultimately give up to fulfill his destiny. This Satan does not tempt Jesus with visions of power, or another dark kingdom as he does in the gospels, but with the tempting nature of human life on earth as good in and of itself -- a theme that is not present in any of the gospels, perhaps because Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John took a less salutary view of earthly life, given the circumstances the Gospel…

The Japanese myth partly resembles that of Adam and Eve present in the Bible and in the Quran. However, the first beings in Japan are considered to hold much more power than their equivalents in the west. Another resemblance between the Japanese legends and those in the west is the fact that the kami are considered to live in the high planes of Takamagahara, somewhat resembling mount Olympus, from Greek mythology. Japanese mythology is different from other mythologies through the fact that all of the deities involved in it are good in their character.

In the sixteenth century, when Buddhism entered Japan, the locals had a hard time keeping Shinto as their main religion, since it had not been an organized religion. Even with the fact that Buddhism had been spreading quickly around the country, the presence of Shinto could be felt everywhere, in people's lifestyles and in their culture.…

Paul, which were written by a converted Sadducee who preached that gentiles did not need to follow Mosaic Law and convert to Judaism to follow Jesus. Although all of these gospels, epistles, and works such as the Book of Revelation were canonized because of their perceived accuracy and continuity, their different authors, historical contexts, and influences also have conspired to create a Christian Bible that is open to many alternative interpretations, and has spawned many different sects that define Christianity differently.
Defining Christianity remains difficult -- does it mean following Jesus, following the teachings of a particular book, or a particular church? Is following Jesus enough, or must a Christian believe Jesus died for the sins of all of humanity? Must a Christian believe that Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and is the holy, anointed one, the Messiah prophesized about in the Old Testament, or can a…

M. Louise Cornell is professor of education at Providence College in Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada. She believes the real influence of the Bible grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century. The Bible at that time, according to Cornell, was "wrested" from the hands of the priests and placed in the outstretched arms of lay people during the Reformation, as the Christian mission was becoming a powerful movement (Thiessen, 1998). During the Reformation scholars and Christian activists emphasized that "each person, filled with the Holy Spirit, could interpret the Bible without help," Cornell explains.

But in order to understand the Bible, there was a critical need for literacy. And so many schools were established, Cornell continues in the publication Faith Today, and throughout the Reformation the Bible played a significant role. "By the time of the second generation of Christians," Cornell goes on, "the developing Christian community needed to…

Jesus
The central figure in the New Testament of Christianity is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus in many ways has both historical and spiritual natures, due to his being born to a typical Jewish family (father Joseph and mother Mary) in Galilee but also being recognized by his disciples as the Son of God who was divinely conceived. Jesus was called Christ, a term derived from the Greek term for "anointed one," and his followers in his lifetime and thereafter believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. As a religious figure in his lifetime and due largely to his radical religious and political beliefs, Jesus upset the social and political order in the oman-controlled Levant. The teachings of Christ included a tremendous upheaval of traditional Jewish custom, laws, and ritual codes of conduct ranging from the abolition of circumcision to the doing away…

The orthodox idea that Christ's sacrifice is both an acceptance of the goodness of the world and a rejection of the world was not always present within all of Christianity's branches, as is evident in the Gnostic gospels. However, simply because the debate about canonization and how to interpret Christ's sacrifice and the creation of the world was more pluralistic than debates between Christians does not mean that there is or was a gigantic 'cover up.' The diversity among Christianity pre-canonization makes the divisions between Christians pale in comparison to our own era, and that is what is truly surprising to modern eyes, according to brown.
Brown's work also lacks a true historical foundation in the cultural and political situation of ancient Israel. The Dead Sea Scrolls were not Christian documents, contrary to Brown's version of events. Rather they were produced by a radical sect of world-denying Jews who were…

Jesus and the Sons of Zebedee
What differences did you notice in the changes in text by Matthew and Luke? Do the changes tell us anything about the particular Gospel's receiving community? Do they tell us anything about the message of the evangelist to that community? What did you learn from comparing the three passages? Apart from the redactional changes was there a foundational common theology in the message of the three passages?

The four Canonical gospels are all consistent in the fact that they mention Zebedee, who was the father of James and John who were among the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament. Zebedee was the husband of Salome, who was named in Mark and Matthew as being one of the women present at the crucifixion, and this family was likely to be of key importance to the early followers of Christ. oth James…

Jehovah Witness
An Overview of the Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs

Jehovah's Witnesses is a sect that originated from America. In the same way, Mormonism, Islam, and several other religious eliefs have America as their irth place also. This makes the nation unrivalled in the accommodation of multiple religious sects.

Though the Jehovah Witness claim to have een in existence for over 6,000 years, history has it that the sect came into existence in 1872, in Pittsurgh Pennsylvania. This religious mind set has its root in Adventism and the founder was Charles Taze Russell. Charles Taze Russell was a Congregationalist layman popularly known as Pastor Russell. He wrote Studies in the Scriptures, a series that contained the conclusions Russell propounded, and which came to form the asis of the Jehovah Witnesses doctrine. The Watchtower pulication which was also his rain-child came into pulication for the first time in 1879. And with this,…

Lament for a Son: Christian Grief
There are few human experiences as all-encompassing in their horror as the loss of a child. It feels unnatural for a child to die before a parent. The "natural" order of things is that the parents raise the children, se them on their way, and die, making way for the new generation to make its own mark on the world. When a child dies, especially at an age as young as 25, the entire world is ripped from the remaining parents, who must suddenly live not only with the greatest loss a person could experience, but also with the unexpected nature of that loss. This is the case with Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff, author of Lament for a Son, a book written in dedication to his son who died at the age of 25 after a mountain climbing accident. What makes Dr. Wolterstorff's book unusual…

e believe that the best care is the delivery of care that exceeds all expectation and that is encircled by compassion." (Baptist Healing Trust, 1)
In terms of besting these challenges, the healing hospital must work to protect the morale of its personnel against the pressures that are inherent with the occupation. This means ensuring that personnel are giving the proper opportunities to rest, that facilities are adequately staffed and that the necessary resources are availed so that personnel can perform to the fullest of their abilities. This denotes that the healing hospital's capacity to meet its ambitions will be highly contingent upon its dexterity at managing the needs of healthcare workers just as it will be contingent upon its management of the patient needs.

Scriptural Support:

The Gospels of Mark and Luke are particularly rich in allusion to the power which Jesus possessed to heal the sick. Here, the…

"You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." O. Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life. You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!." (lamentations 3: 57-59)
What hindrances of prayer do you have?

The hindrances to prayer that I experience are mainly due to a lack of faith at times. Like many people, I sometimes on occasion feel that I do not have sufficient faith and belief in the reality of prayer. However, prayer has proven to be a powerful force in my life and I feel that God responds to our prayer according to that way we act and adhere to His word and guidance.

4. Do you identify with any of these authors?

Yes, I identify with the general views expressed in Isaiah and in many of the other extracts. I believe that very…

Dead Sea Scrolls and the Identity of Jesus in the Isaiah Scrolls
The Dead Sea scrolls reference the ancient scrolls found in the Qumran caves by a shepherd named Mohammad adh-Dhib (Baigent 247). At the time of the discovery of the scrolls, and because of the way in which they had been handled after their discovery (for profit), there were many questions raised as to the authenticity, origin, and date of the scrolls (Shanks 9-10). The Isaiah scrolls were amongst those found in Cave 1, and the first scroll of the two Isaiah scrolls was in the best condition (Shanks 14). Because of its completeness, the first Isaiah is often referred to as "Isaiah A (Shanks 14)." Shanks says that the importance of the scrolls is not that they tell us something we didn't know, but they tell us much about what we did not know about the period during…

INTEVIEW WITH TEACHE & EPOT OF KNOWLEDGE GAINED
Interview Context

The interview in this study was conducted with Kari, raised by a single mother and the oldest of two children having a younger brother. Kari's parents were both supportive of her educational pursuits although her mother barely kept the household running on her meager salary and her father was married to his second wife and had three other children by the second marriage. Kari's mother has told her to apply to whatever college she most wanted to attend and assured her that the funds would be there for her to go to her college of choice. Kari's grandmother cautioned Kari's mother about building up Kari's hopes but Kari's mother knew that Kari's grandmother little understood that she was in a poverty income level that would result in Kari being the recipient of government grants and student loans ensuring she could…

Pneumatology -- Spiritual Gifts
hat are spiritual gifts, and what is their purpose?

The reason for and definition of "spiritual gifts" is not always agreed upon among Christians and even among Christian theologians. At the very least spiritual gifts are a subject for deep discussion and debate. Christianity expert Mary Fairchild explains that in 1 Corinthians 12, the Bible says that spiritual gifts are given according to God's sovereign will. "There are certain kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them" (1 Corinthians 12:4); and 1 Corinthians goes on to explain that one spiritual gift is given for "the common good," another spiritual gift is for "wisdom"; another spiritual gift is for "knowledge"; another is for the "gift of healing"; and other spiritual gifts are for "miraculous powers… prophecy… speaking in tongues & #8230; and the "interpretation of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11).

Jesus had the power to cast…

Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper
Calais, France

Anno Domini 1544,

October the First

My dear Hugh,

It is with a heavy heart that I take up quill and inkpot to pen this sad missive, informing thee of the death of Miles thy brother during that recent battle between his majesty our most puissant sovereign King Henry the Eighth and his sworn enemy, that perifidious frog the Dauphin of France, which did of late take place in pitched battle at Boulogne-sur-Mer in the month of August, in the year of our lord 1544.

As doubtless thou hast heard at Hendon Hall, in the heat of summer His Majesty did command His Grace the Duke of Norfolk to raise the engines of siege so as to break the will of the French garrison in that wretched town, so close to the Channel which doth separate our blessed England from the…

Gnostics believed that they belonged to the "true church" of an elect few who were worthy; the orthodox Christians would not be saved because they were blind to the truth.
Part E -- Content - if we then combine the historical outline of the "reason" for John's writings with the overall message, we can conclude that there are at least five major paradigms present that are important in a contextual analysis of John.

John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This seems to point that John saw a clear difference between those who believed in Jesus as the Son of God, but were unsure about eternal life. However, if we look back at other parts of his Gospel, we do find repetition of this theme. In John 1:5-7,…

Salvation
The model that most appealed to me was the model of Jesus as Moral Example and Influence. This model shows how Jesus teaches us to love one another. It is similar to the first model in that Jesus is a teacher but instead of focusing on the wisdom of Our Lord's doctrine, this second model focuses on the greatness of love that Jesus has for us and that He inspires in us through His moral example and goodly influence. Jesus is the model of what it means to love. As Peters (2006) notes, "Jesus models for us the life of unselfish love. He models the life of self-sacrificial love or agape" (p. 226). This model gives us the blueprint for how to "copy Jesus" -- and while the teachings of Jesus can be enlightening and uplifting, it is really his example in action that seals the deal, so to…

" It caused missionaries to deal with peoples of other cultures and even Christian traditions -- including the Orthodox -- as inferior. God's mission was understood to have depended upon human efforts, and this is why we came to hold unrealistic universalistic assumptions. Christians became so optimistic that they believed to be able to correct all the ills of the world." (Vassiliadis, 2010)
Missiology has been undergoing changes in recent years and after much serious consideration Christians in the ecumenical era "are not only questioning all the above assumptions of the Enlightenment; they have also started developing a more profound theology of mission. One can count the following significant transitions:

(a) From the missio christianorum to the missio ecclesiae;

(b) the recognition later that subject of mission is not even the Church, either as an institution or through its members, but God, thus moving further from the missio ecclesiae to…

" When he rolls up the scroll and sits back down, everyone in the synagogue looks at him. He then says, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." This is when the people say, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
The rejection narrative of Luke 4:16-29 is very different than Matthew (and Mark's as well). The people begin by being amazed by the gracious words that Jesus is speaking because it seems that they are not used to this Jesus they knew as a carpenter being a teacher. However, the congregation turns very quickly on him and attempt to drive him out of town with the goal of hurling him down the edge of a cliff. This quick change of feeling in the congregation leads us once again to believe that the people could not stop thinking about Jesus as a carpenter. He was one of the Nazarene family…

Yet, before one can understand Johnson's call for a taking back of the feminine Christ, one must first understand how the feminine Christ was lost.
The starting point is with the ministries of Christ and to the point of his resurrection. This short period of time is the only time that Jesus himself was in charge of defining his philosophy, although even he recognized the fact that history would define him and not himself.

Jesus' ministry involved numerous acts of kindness, preaching and forgiveness. Many of these acts are seen as miracles, or "Signs" as the Gospel of John refers to them. These included exorcisms, walking on water, turning water into wine, and raising people from the dead. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus' ministry lasted for a period of three years. The major event of the ministry phase was the giving of the Sermon on the Mount, where…

Many of the writings cited were produced decades after Christ died, and not by men who knew him but by those reacting to the stories they heard. The gospels as well were accounts written by men who did not know Jesus directly, and the desire to promote a religious ideal and to help shape the emerging church makes some of these suspect. Many existing writings and stores were brought together in the form we know today long after Jesus died, as was true of many of the Jewish writings cited by Powell, from the Babylonian Talmud. Much of what is known of the historical Jesus derives from the Epistles in the New Testament, notably the letters written by Paul, who has much to say about the teachings of Jesus as known at that time. These accounts have great value because they were written so early, some two decades before the…

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I was struck by how critical this historical information was to the understanding of the actual church. One critical piece of information is the idea of Jesus as the head of the church, despite him not establishing Christianity as a separate religion. Another critical idea was that prophets could play a continuing role in Christianity, when my traditional understanding had suggested that after Jesus there would be no more Jewish prophets. I also found myself wondering about the very obvious and significant…

Death of Jesus - Use of Dramatic License by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Historically there has been a constant heated debate about the degree to which the environment, culture and propriety of the early Christian church may have had on scripture. For some that answer has of coarse been to say it is all a fable to sell books, and on the other end of the spectrum the answer is that each word regardless of the stylistic literary tools used to string it to another word the collective words of the bible are the literal words of God, period. Kenneth oodward contends that Father Raymond E. Brown in his book, The Death of the Messiah chastises modern believers and non-believers alike for either rejecting the Gospels out-of-hand because they are not a work of pure historical accounting or assuming that the Gospels received no influence from the environment in…

Salvation will come based on one's deeds rather than on his capacity to achieve a high spiritual level, as in the Hindu faith and others.
Christianity does not necessarily provide all the answers. Christian believers will still have doubts about their existence, about their role on Earth and about their lives, as well as about their capacity of attaining salvation. However, Christianity provides the means by which one can integrate successfully into his or her life, enjoy the life here, while committing to a life within the Church and doing the good deeds that can help an individual attain eternal salvation. The idea of salvation puts things into perspective, but with a direct impact on the present, because it is the acts of the individual here that will get the salvation or not.

Christianity can be considered, from all these perspectives, the most complete religion in existence and a way…

Bible
What does this small story tell us about Jesus? Try to discover the central message of this story, and then write it out. ead the stories before and after the text you chose, and write out their main messages.

In Mark 9:19-13, Jesus is being compared and contrasted with Elijah. Elijah is a harbinger of the messiah; not the messiah Himself. Thus, Elijah corresponds symbolically with John the Baptist. The story is one that establishes the true identity of Jesus Christ as Son of Man: a phrase that is used throughout the Bible. Here, the phrase clearly refers to Jesus during the transfiguration.

When the apostles ask, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus replies, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things…Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written…

This awakened them to bring sacrifices and offerings, as if they would bribe God to remove the punishment, and give them leave to go on in their sin. Many who will readily part with their sacrifices, will not be persuaded to part with their sins. They relied on the mere form as a service deserving a reward. The most costly devotions of wicked people, without thorough reformation of heart and life, cannot be acceptable to God."
15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. 16 " Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

Through Isaiah, God proceeds to…

Furthermore the rhetoric here is rich in symbolism. Dr. King draws parallels between the response of violence to his peaceful protests and other great personalities whose commitment to justice, truth, and love also had unintended and unfortunate consequences. Personalities like ocrates and Jesus, for example, could not be expected to deny their truth for fear of public reaction. Dr. King makes this argument even stronger by also drawing the parallel between himself and the completely innocent person, whose possession of money resulted in the evil of theft. By drawing these parallels, Dr. King points out that an argument regarding the actions of others cannot be used to condemn those who protest peacefully. Dr. King and his followers are innocent of the crime of violence. Dr. King's argument is therefore that they cannot be held accountable for the violence committed by others, who are neither followers of his, nor affiliated with…

Book Of Ruth and Marriage: An Analysis Into Religious and Secular Conventions of the Time
The Gospels of the Old Testament provide the structure of Judaism. Yet, they also provide an interesting examination into the anthropological activities of an ancient people. For example, in The Book of Ruth, there is significant content that helps describe the nature of marriage between both individuals and between God and his mortal followers. Along with exploring the ceremonial and religious ties to marriage, The Book of Ruth also helps define what an ideal archetype of a Jewish wife was during the ancient time period the gospel was written; she is an obedient servant who is seen almost like property of her husband.

The Book of Ruth is the gospel from the Old Testament, and thus has its roots in ancient Hebrew tradition. Yet, it is also included in the Christian version of the holy…

Bartoleme De Las Casas
An Analysis of the Activism of Bartoleme De Las Casas

Often characterized by modern historians as the "Defender and the apostle to the Indians," Bartolome de Las Casas is known for exposing and condemning as well as exaggerating and misrepresenting the violent practices of Spanish colonizers of the New orld against Native Americans. Marked by emotional polemic and often embellished statistics, Las Casas' voluminous works brought him both support and opposition in his own time. hile being harshly criticized as a threat to Spanish rule in America, De Las Casas was also continually financially supported by the Crown and offered high offices by the Church (Benzoni 48). Though more than four hundred years have passed since his death, the works of this controversial Dominican friar continue to elicit strong reactions from both detractors and defenders -- from both those who condemn him and those who praise…