Old Testament Essays (Examples)

Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project:

I Samuel

The book of 1 Samuel is largely considered as one of the historical books and Deutronomistic writings that attempt to display the history of Israelites as well as showing how the Laws of God were explained to the Israelites under the guidance of the prophets. It also highlights the life of Israelites in Canaan as they transitioned from the leadership of the judges to being ruled by Kings, indeed, it was Samuel who acted as the last Judge and it was him who anointed the first two Kings of Israel; Saul and David. A significant part of the book is also dedicated to the life of Samuel and Saul. Though the author(s) of this book is largely anonymous, some of the chapters therein are attributed to Samuel, Nathan and Gad (). The authorship of the book took place over a span of 100…

References

A&E Television Networks, (2017). Ancient Egypt. Retrieved January 20, 2017 from  http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt 

Bible Places, (2017). Ephesus. Retrieved January 20, 2017 from  http://www.bibleplaces.com/ephesus/ 

Insight for Living Ministries, (2017). Romans. Retrieved January 20, 2017 from  https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/romans 

Wellman J., (2016). Apostle Peter Biography: Timeline, Life, and Death. Retrieved January 20, 2017 from  http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/apostle-peter-biography-timeline-life-and-death/

For Santiago, there is nothing that gives him more pleasure than baseball so he uses it to preserve himself and give him the strength he needs to survive one more day. He is not thinking about pleasing Christ when he refuses to resort to despair but his goal is a more earthly one. He wants to be able to make DiMaggio, his baseball hero, proud. Santiago is an ordinary fisherman and for him, a dream of DiMaggio is far more accessible than pleasing Christ. He just wants to be "worthy of the great DiMaggio, who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel" (68)

Similar in order to survive, Santiago keeps thinking about baseball. For example when the fish finally surfaces, it conjures up images of baseball in his mind as he muses: "his sword was as long as a baseball bat" (62)…

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The OM Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner's, 1995.

Killinger, John. Hemingway and the Dead Gods: A Study in Existentialism. Lexington: U. Of Kentucky P, 1960.

Kuhn, Christoph. "Hemingway and Nietzsche." Nietzsche in American Literature and Thought. Ed. Manfred Putz. Columbia: Camden House, 1995. 223-238.

Petite, Joseph. "Hemingway and Existential Education." Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 12 (1991) 152-164.

This covenant pre-dates the covenant that God will eventually make with Abraham and his children, and suggests a mutual obligation that now exists between God and humanity that did not exist before -- thus Noah's covenant with God will 'echo' with other Biblical narratives of later date, much as the stress upon the disobedience of humankind in the Flood epic recalls the disobedience of humanity in the Garden of Eden. At the end of the narrative, God says that he will never destroy humanity again, despite its inherent tendency to act in a wicked fashion.

In both Genesis 6 and Genesis 7, the repetitive language used to describe the animals under Noah's care -- their duality, the fact that some creep and some fly -- underlines man's mastery of the natural world. Humanity may be commanded by God and must submit, but it is humanity that saves the rest of…

Fortunately for me, these things do not occur regularly enough for me to consider them a habit.

A do, however, habitually pray when I am confronted with difficulties in my life. These prayers differ from the ones for trivial problems like the ones listed above; those prayers are more recriminations about my own bad-behavior. The prayers when I face real difficulties in my life are real prayers. I do have a deep and abiding faith in God, and I believe that He desires to help people with their problems. When confronted with something that I cannot resolve on my own, such as a family member's illness, I call upon Him for assistance. I also have enough faith to believe that God does answer prayers, even if those answers are not always favorable. I do not believe that God is like a friend to whom I should stop speaking, when He…

The fact that God seems to be taken surprise by human action, and the fact that the Lord can also change his mind in the last verse of the passage, Exodus 32: 14, suggests free will exists, or the ability of humanity to change the world through prayer, and the idea that not all of the future is already decided -- the 'maybe' exists in the form of humanity's to show free will to obey or disobey, and to beg for forgiveness.

In Numbers 14:11-23, God again seems taken by surprised by the sins of His children, in this case Moses' sister Miriam and his brother Aaron, who criticize Moses for marrying a Cu*****e woman. God punishes Miriam with leprosy, and Moses and Aaron beg God to heal their sister. God bargains with the men, refusing to heal her outright, but agrees to heal her after seven days, showing the…

Sledge was instructed during basic training that if fighting "Japs," he should "kick him [a Japanese soldier] in the balls before he kicks you in yours," and was counseled that knives were especially effective fighting the Japanese because of their underhanded tactics. (18) The Japanese enemies were seen as less ethical and more desperate combatants than the Germans, because of their kamikaze warplane tactics. The idea of the Germans as more compassionate adversaries seems ironic in light of the revelations of the Nazi death camps in the aftermath of V-E day, but Sledge's account shows how, at the time, racial views of 'the enemy' permeated even the American side. The eyewitness depiction of this attitude also shows why Japanese-American's patriotism was called into question by the American government over the course of the war, unlike German-American's patriotism.

Sledge's book even contains photographs of dead Japanese soldiers, lying on the fields…

Works Cited

Sledge, E.B. With the Old Breed. New York: Oxford, 1990.

Gospel: Gospel is a message that has contents on Jesus, God, salvation, the Kingdom of God, and everything that is done to reach out this message to the believers. Gospel is also one of the books in the New Testament talking about the life, death, resurrection, and the works of Jesus Christ.

• Original sin: Original sin refers to the tendency and deprivation to the evil that is seen as innate in all humankind and it is passed from Adam to all human beings, resulting from the sin engaged by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sin is naturally adapted to every born human being, born of Adam being the initial sinner.

• Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism is a 20th-century religious movement emphasizing on a strict belief in the literal understanding and interpretation of the religious texts.

• Heresy: Heresy is a theory that is developed to be at…

The moment when the line first cut into his hands in similar to the one when Christ's hands were nailed to the cross. Most readers are likely to make a connection between the two images at this point as the stigmata is an element which is present in both Santiago and in Christ.

Hemingway himself wants readers to be certain that the injured hand is an essential factor working as support to the comparison made between Christ and Santiago. The "Ay" exclamation also reinforces this belief. "There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood" (Hemingway, 1984, p. 82). Both the sufferings experienced by Christ and by Santiago have been made so that life will go on in peace.

Santiago stands as a living martyr (if such a…

Works cited:

1. Clark Pratt, John "My Pilgrimage: Fishing for Religion with Hemingway," The Hemingway Review 21.1 (2001).

2. Hemingway, Ernest. (1984). The old man and the sea. Barron's Educational Series.

3. Dunlavy Valenti, Patricia ed., Understanding the Old Man and the Sea: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002).

John Clark Pratt, "My Pilgrimage: Fishing for Religion with Hemingway," The Hemingway Review 21.1 (2001).

Testaments to Truth

Roman Catholicism and Mormonism Compared

There are many varieties of Christianity, some of them very old, and some of them of quite recent origin. The Roman Catholic Church boasts an uninterrupted existence of two thousand years. Its hierarchy, and its beliefs, have adapted to changed conditions. Yet truth is not so easily discovered. Rome may have purified her Church during the Counter Reformation, but not all were satisfied. The Protestant Churches of estern Europe spawned an even greater number of sects in the New orld. Some of these creeds held beliefs similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church, while others developed in remarkably different ways. In mid-Nineteenth Century New York, Joseph Smith was privileged to receive an entirely new Revelation. This Book of Mormon was at odds with the teachings of virtually all other Christian denominations. The followers of this brand new Church of Jesus Christ…

Works Cited

Barlow, Philip L. Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-Day Saints in American Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Coates, James. In Mormon Circles: Gentiles, Jack Mormons, and Latter-Day Saints. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1991.

Guelzo, Allen C. For the Union of Evangelical Christendom: The Irony of the Reformed Episcopalians. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.

Posner, Richard A. Sex and Reason. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.

Vera rittain

The advent of the First World War brought with it the stark reality of the 'progress' which modern man had made. Mankind found out that despite the eloquence of the enlightenment, and the wonderful advancements made in medicine, education, literature, and the arts that man could still take up arms against his brother, and fight hand to hand if necessary in order to gain a foot of ground, or in retaliation for yesterday's loss of a comrade. The First World War plunged the entire western world into a deep pit, governed by the engines of war, empowered by the newly mechanized assembly line manufacturing of the industrial revolution. Fro all his advancement, and enlightenment, mankind was still closely related to the Romans who burned and conquered peopled under their iron fist, and the Huns where known to destroy everything in their path. Civilized, and enlightened, we still were…

Bibliography

DAYS LIKE THESE 19 MAY 1941. The Independent London, England. 5/19/2003

Brittain, Vera. Testament of Youth. New York: Penguin Books. 1994

E.B Sledge starts with his marine training in company K. in the 3D battalion in the 5th regiment of the 1st Marine Division. The memoir is based on two horrific battles which ultimately destroyed the Division. The initial one of these battles was fought at Peleliu. There were over 8769 Americans killed, wounded or missing in action in 10 weeks of battle. Almost the whole enemy garrison on the island was cleared. About 11,000 Japanese perished in the battle. The main concern that Sledge has is to do with his 235 colleagues who survived in company K. His company lost 150 people declared dead, missing or wounded. There is no ill feeling about the mistake that was made to take on Peleliu. The next operation dubbed operation Iceberg that was conducted the following year and meant to capture Okinawa came with worse outcomes. This particular mission was the most disastrous…

Works Cited

Hanson, Victor. Introduction to E.B. Sledge's "with the old breed." 25 July 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2016

Hiatt, Bryan. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. 2005. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Sledge, Eugene Bondurant. With the old breed, at Peleliu and Okinawa. Oxford University Press, USA, 1981.

Quijote

Cervantes' Don Quijote is, above all, the story of a reader. The real question of the novel perhaps is why more readers do not behave like Quijote himself, and attempt to act out the things that they find so engaging in print. I would like to explore the way in which the main character's status as a reader in Cervantes' novel gives some clue to us as readers as to how we ought to behave. It seems evident that Cervantes' strategy in the novel is largely rhetorical and ironic: he uses the language of the books Quijote reads, while imparting an ironic distance to how this language fits into the actual world where Quijote finds himself. But the ultimate result for Cervantes' reader is to get a deeper form of literary enjoyment than Quijote is capable of: we are inside and outside the satisfactions of the storytelling at the…

Works Cited

Auerbach, Erich. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013. Print.

Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York: Harper Collins, 2003. Print.

According to Hebraic tradition, the chronological period in the book consists of the second month of the second year (measured from Exodus) to the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year -- in all, roughly 39 years 9 months of wandering, with, of course, fewer in number at the end of the journey than at the beginning. Again, according to tradition, Moses was the author of all five books of the Torah, but stylistically, at least in both Hebrew and then Aramaic, the prose in Numbers is far dryer and more scholarly, leading most to believe that this particular section was derived from several priestly sources tentatively dated at 4th-6th century BC (Harris, 1985).

Since Numbers is divided into three parts, it is useful to provide an overview of the literative focus and consequences of each section:

Number's the eople of the Lord -- God ordered Moses to…

Preparations for crossing the River Jordan -- Moses disobeys God and is punished, as are the tribes for speaking against God and Moses, and a new census is taken to be used to organize the tribal units into their new home. The Israelites conquer the Midian population, and the land of the Jordan is divided among the tribes.

Numbers ends with a summary technique, common in ancient Middle Eastern writings, called a colophon. Their usage as both a literary and historical tool was not understood until recently, and their form is more of an oral legal tradition, designed to state the place and circumstance of each composition, thus also organizing the story for posterity (Friedman, 2005).

Part II -- Analysis of the text -- the story of Numbers is actually rather simplistic -- it is a recounting of transition, and, like Job, a psychological organization of the manner in which God, through Moses, tested the Israelites to see if they were worth of having their own land. There are repeated trials and tribulations suffered by the people if they either do not obey God or Moses, or simply move apart and try to accomplish their own sense of organizing the world (Spence and Excell, 2009).. The message is quite clear: "Obey God and you will be rewarded, it may take some time, but eventually it will happen. Doubt God, and you will be punished." Structurally, it is more chronological than thematic, symbols are used within the original language of place names, events, and even phrases "the land of milk and honey," likely meaning, for instance, fertile land that will support

The literal meaning of the word is the place for the dead. Literal meaning of both words is the grave. This can be confirmed with a comparison of the Old Testament and the New Testament (West 34). For instance, it has been mentioned in the Psalms 6.10;

"For You, will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." This verse has been referred in Acts 2.27 by the apostle Paul saying that the verse talks about Jesus Christ.

If the Old Testament is taken into account there are many who have highlighted that there is no mentioning of hell to the Israel by the God. There is no place in the Old Testament where God has said to the Israel that if they follow the teachings of the God, they will see and remain in heaven and if otherwise, they will seek…

Bibliography

Bunyan, John. Visions of Heaven and Hell. Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2007.

Daley, J. Michael. Why Do Catholics...: Teens Respond to Questions about the Faith. Saint Mary's Press, 2007.

Gibbs, T. Franklin. The Shocking Truths About Heaven, Hell and Your Birthright Blessing, Volume 2. AuthorHouse, 2011.

Madrid, Patrick. Where is that in the Bible? Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2001.

Women in the Old Testament

The Bible never says that women are evil, sexually wanton or inferior to men; instead, it says a lot of good things regarding women. In the Old Testament / Hebrew Scriptures, most women are described as enterprising, resourceful, intelligent as well as, courageous. However, there are some many stories in the Old Testament that involve demeaning treatment of certain women. For instance, women were restricted to roles of no authority as well as, not allowed to testify in court. In summary, this paper will discuss on the depiction of Women in the Old Testament using two sources; Bible Harper Collins Study Bible and the Encountering Ancient Voices by Corrine Carvalho.

In Leviticus 12:1-5, a woman who gives birth to a boy is considered to be ritually unclean for 7 days. However, if the woman gives birth to a girl, the mother is unclean for 14…

References

Carvalho, C. (2006). Encountering Ancient Voices. A Guide to Reading the Old Testament Second Edition. Retrieved September 24, 2014, from  http://www.anselmacademic.org/Excerpts/EncounteringAncientVoicessampler.pdf 

Willis, M. (1995). The Role of Women As Revealed In the Old Testament. The Role of Women As Revealed In the Old Testament. Retrieved September 24, 2014, from  http://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume39/GOT039034.html

Jesus' Testimony to the Pharisees in John 8:58

The Gospel of John reveals a number of "I AM" assertions made by Jesus Christ. They are bold declarations through which Christ makes a powerful point, namely that he IS divine. However, the language that Jesus uses also conveys a message about the mystery of His Person. He uses words and formulas that are deeply meaningful for the Hebrews to whom He speaks. "I AM" after all is more than a mere subject followed by a predicate. It is the name of God as He called Himself when He spoke it to Moses in the Old Testament. Therefore when Jesus says to the Jews, "efore Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58), he is deliberately equating Himself with the God of the Old Testament by using the language of that God.

At its most basic level, Jesus' "I AM" assertion in John 8:58…

Bibliography

Brandt, Steve. "Before Abraham was, I am." Columbia University. Web. 20 Nov 2013.

Frey, Joseph B. The New Testament. Brooklyn: Confraternity of the Precious Blood,

1948.

Maas, Anthony. "Jehovah (Yahweh)," The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York:

Christian Church acknowledges its missionary function as truly the core of Christianity, the heart of the Church. Through Christ's teachings, mission is the foreground of His legacy to the Church, the instrument for redemption. The guiding principles at the basis of the Church's mission exist as transparently related by the ible which in itself transcends all worldly knowledge and phenomena. God, as the Holy Trinity, reveals Himself through the biblical record in order to communicate with man candidly and openly, sends His only son into the world in order to claim Him back to the offspring of wholeness, and puts forth a missionary pattern for His followers: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John 13:34, 15:17 King James ible) "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the…

Bibliography

Abraham, William, James. The Logic of Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989.

Blauw, Johannes. The Missionary Nature of the Church. New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill Company Inc., 1974.

Bosch, David, C. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. New York: Orbis Books, 1991.

Flett, John, G. The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth, and the Nature of Christian Community. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000.

David

Notable religious events and figures often serve as the inspiration and subject matter for great works of art across human history and across every culture. Events and notable figures from the Judeo-Christian Bible have inspired a great many of some of the most famous works of art in the Western world. Within the Bible, there are two primary sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

One of the many significant figures of the Old Testament is the man David, who was a simple boy who herded sheep, who ultimately led his people and others to triumph over a tyrant warrior, Goliath. David was a young man, armed with a slingshot and brought the vicious leader down. David was quite a popular figure artists depicted during the enaissance era in the arts, particularly in the area of sculpture. There are three most notable sculptures created in Florence during the…

References:

Boston College. "Renaissance Sculpture." 2012, Web, Available from:  http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/art/ren_italy/ren_sculpture01.html . 2012 September 24.

Essential Humanities. "Renaissance Sculpture." 2012, Web, Available from:  http://www.essential-humanities.net/western-art/western-sculpture/renaissance-sculpture/ . 2012 September 24.

History World. "History of Sculpture." 2012, Web, Available from:  http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=fch . 2012 September 24.

Italian Renaissance-Art.com. "The most famous statue in the world?" 2012, Web, Available from:  http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Michelangelo-David.html . 2012 September 23.

" (8.6-7)

Humanity, this suggests, cannot serve two masters -- God and a king, and humanity in the form of Israel chooses kingship. Thus, humanity is far more servile and weak and in need of divine guidance, than human beings who actively resist tyranny, in Herodotus, whether it be in their schema of governance of not. "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots." warns Samuel. (8.11) Unlike Herodotus, failures to come are moral, rather than active events in battle, and they are the failures of Israel, not of her opponents alone.

Thus, Herodotus' vantage as an outsider to Persian customs, and Samuel's view as an insider to the land of Israel affects their points-of-view as well. Both authors take…

Works Cited

Herodotus. Histories. Lewis Stiles, Translator. (14 October 2004) http://duke.usask.ca/~porterj/DeptTransls/Hdt.html#xerxes?

Samuel. King James Version. (14 October 2004)  http://www.bartleby.com/108/09/8.html

The Jews, of course, were as antagonistic to hearing Stephen preach the life of Christ as they were to Christ Himself -- ho is the way of salvation, and hom they have rejected. Stephen's speech is fiery and full of love and fury -- love for Christ, fury for the Jews who rejected Him: "You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised." (Here Stephen as much as says, "You are not real Jews. Real Jews would have recognized their Redeemer.) "You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" The reaction of the Jews is to stone Stephen to death. Stephen accepts his martyrdom and dies as Christ died, with a prayer for his persecutors -- and out of that prayer comes (through the mercy of God) the conversion of St. Paul.

In conclusion, "we may say that perseverance as a Christian is the only…

Works Cited

Fitzmyer, Joseph. The Gospel According to Luke (I-IX), vol. 28. Garden City, NY:

Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981. Print.

Hamm, Dennis. "Are the Gospel Passion Accounts Anti-Jewish?" Journal of Religion

and Film vol. 8, no. 1 (Feb, 2004). Print.

In Babel, Hassan, the former guide sells the rifle he received as a gift to his neighbor, a goat herder who needed it to protect his goats from the jackals. So far, the gun was not used to destroy human lives. It was used for hunting and it was further intended to be used against animals attacking a herd.

The Moroccan who bought it, Abdullah (what a symbolic name), father of two boys and a girl, goes carelessly about having a rifle around his children and even encourages them to use it to prove their hunting skills. He does not think about the major implications of a gun in the hands of two children left alone. He does not find necessary to explain the dangers of using such a powerful weapon when people are around and even the danger of hurting themselves with it. They will finally transform an innocent…

Works Cited

2004-2005 Essay Contest. Federal Reserve bank of Minneapolis. Glossary. Globalization.

Retrieved: Apr. 15, 2007.  http://minneapolisfed.org/econed/essay/topics/glossary05.cfm 

Babel 2006 Film. Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. Retreived: Apr. 15, 2007

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_ (2006_film

Old Testament books, Deuteronomy, Samuel and Kings, establishing a monarchy for Israel and Judah proved somewhat problematic. This was due both to the divinity of God and the inevitable humanity that would be part of a human king. Throughout the historical books of the Old Testament God repeatedly states that he is a jealous God, tolerating no others. Kingship then might be seen as an attempt to usurp the power of God, or indeed to detract from worshiping God as the nation's ultimate leader. Furthermore a monarchy is a pagan idea that has penetrated Israel from the foreign nations they have been in contact with through battle. This of course connects further negativity with the idea of a king for God's people. The demand of a king is thus in effect the rejection of God as ruler over Israel and Judah. An issue closely related to this is the problem…

Bibliography

Howard, D.M. Jr. 1998 "The Case for Kingship in Deuteronomy and the Former Prophets," Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 476-78.

Sumner, Darren. 1999. "The Bible Shelf."  http://www.thesumners.com/bible 

There are three discourses, stretching over Chapter 1:6-4:40, Chapters. 5-28, and Chapters 29-30). The concluding addendum comprises Chapters 31-34. This is the final words of Moses to his people before they enter Canaan. Traditionally the discourses are attributed to Moses, although some scholars believe that some portions of the book come from a later time.

The first discourse: Deuteronomy 1:6-4:40

However, Pharaoh's heart was heartened and he refused. ecause of this, Aaron was instructed to lay down the rod in front of the Pharaoh and it became a snake. The pharaoh then ordered his sorcerers to throw down their rods and they also became snakes but Aarons snake ate the other snakes and the Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not release the children of Israel. Then the Lord turn to River into blood and there was no water for seven days.

Pharaoh's heart continued to be hardened and several other plagues followed. According to the Old Testament these plagues included frogs, flies, lice, the death of cattle, boils, hail, locust, the plague of darkness. Finally, the Lord killed the entire first born of Egypt. He instructed the people of Israel to cover their doors with the sacrificial blood of a lamb so that death would pass over them.…

Bibliography

Demille C. The Ten Commandments. (1956) Paramount Studios

Freedman, D.N. & Mcclymond, M.J. (Eds.) www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102109074"Ehrlich, C.S. (2001). Moses, Torah, and Judaism. In the Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders /, (pp. 11-null9). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o& ;d=5001865837

Fuchs, E. (1999, Winter). Moses / Jesus / Women: Does the New Testament Offer a Feminist Message. Cross Currents, 49, 463.

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…

She answered that no one had condemned her. Jesus then said to her, "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11).

Because the woman was not stoned in the end, many interpret it to mean that Jesus changed Mosaic law and then this argument is extended to capital punishment in general. However, Jesus still left the opportunity for her to be stoned. If one of the people in the crowd had been without sin, then the woman would have still been stoned. He did not tell them not to stone her, he only set a condition on who should cast the first stone. He said nothing about the second or third stone, only the first. Luckily, for the woman, there were no qualified takers who could cast the first stone. Therefore, Jesus did not abolish capital punishment in this passage.…

Works Cited

Anderson, Kerby. "Capital Punishment." Leadership U. 2010. Web, 5 May 2010.



Croucher, Rowling. et al. (2003). "Death Penalty in the Bible." John Mark Ministries. Web, 5

May 2010.

" Further, as previously stated, in the Jewish tradition, it is believed that the Messiah (whom Christians believe is Jesus), must be a descendent of David's line.

The New Testament in fact introduces Jesus as the son of David and of Abraham (Mt. 1:1). Further, in the Gospel of Luke, he describes how Mary, the mother of Jesus, was descended from King David through one of his sons, Nathan. This leads contemporary Christians to believe that Jesus is the prophesied messiah, as well as the rightful king of Israel.

It is interesting that Jesus, despite the fact of David's obviously sinful nature, follows him in matters of conduct. Indeed, the reader notes that Christ used the actions of the pre-descent David as justification for his own (Luke 6:1-5) concerning the eating of wheat from the fields on the Sabbath. (McCall, 1999). However, even more interesting than David's use as a…

Works Cited

Aish. Aish.com. Staff. "Jewish History." Web site. 1995. Retrieved on July 8, 2005  http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_19_-_King_Solomon.asp 

Alter, R. "The David Story." Chicago, Norton. 1999.

Bible History.com. Staff. "Biblical Archaeology: Tel Dan Stele." Web site. 2005. Retrieved on July 8, 2005  http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/israel/tel-dan-stele.html 

Biran, Aaron and Joseph Naveh, "An Aramaic Stele Fragment from Tel Dan," in Israel Exploration Journal 43 (1993), pg. 81-98

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,…

REFERENCES

Raymond Brown, "Does the New Testament Call Jesus God?" Theological Studies.26: 1,

545-73.

Clark, N. Interpreting the Resurrection. (London: SCM Press, 1967).

Hamilton, James. God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments.

recurring themes in literature is the exploration of the relationship between the human and the divine. Several different literary works have explored that relationship. Interestingly enough, many of those works are from antiquity, so their stories are considered fictional. Others of those texts refer to living religions, so people are less likely to consider the stories from the basis of fiction or allegory, and approach them as if they are non-fiction. As a result, it becomes far too simple for a modern Christian to embrace the relationship between the divine and humanity in the Old Testament without critically examining that how that work actually portrays the relationship. A critical analysis reveals a much more complex relationship than the message conveyed by modern Christians, and makes it easier to compare that Old Testament with the polytheistic mythology that forms the background of a work like Gilgamesh. A religiously-invested inspection can hamper…

Here we have an account of the definitive formation of the twelve-tribe league incorporating people who may well have had ancient ties with Israelite tribes but who only now pledge their undivided allegiance to the God of Israel."

Thus, Shechem is, according to Hillers, one of the most important place for the Covenant renewal, since it was the first that was witnessed by the united Israelite tribes.

John Van Seters, on the other hand, offers a different explanation for the origins of the text in Joshua 24. He concludes that the resemblances in form between the Covenant at Shechem and the Deuteronomy Covenant makes it plausible that the Joshua 24 has to be just an addition to the Deuteronomy work:

There is only one solution to this dilemma and that is that Joshua 24.1-27 was composed as an addition to the Dtr. work. It is post-Dtr. And was inserted before…

Works Cited

Boling, Robert G., and G. Ernest Wright. Joshua. AB 6. Garden City, New York.:Doubleday, 1982.

Harris, J. Gordon, Cheryl a. Brown and Michael S. Moore. Joshua, Judges, Ruth. NIBC. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2000.

Nelson, Richard J. Joshua: A Commentary.Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997.

Nicholson, Ernest God and His People: Covenant and Theology in the Old Testament. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1986.

Bible

To many people The Bible is the word of God and its status as the word of God means that it is infallible and its origins should not be questioned. However, such an approach to the Bible ignores facts that are known about its history and how it is written. A better, more informed approach examines the history of the Bible, when it was written, how it was written, the original books in the Bible, and how modern books have been selected or omitted. Furthermore, one also has to consider that there are actually multiple versions of the modern Bible, so that it is virtually impossible for any person to say what the contents of the Bible are. This fact should be enough to demonstrate the fact that the Bible is a living document, which has changed throughout time, and will continue to change as Christianity continues to develop…

Living in the palace as a prince was no doubt an indulgent experience, and likely contributed to the temper that Moses was so famous for. As an infant, he is the very image of innocence and hope, just like the baby Jesus. But as his life went on, his character became much more complex. The first story form the Old Testament that clearly illustrates Moses' inability to contain his temper comes in the second chapter of the book of Exodus: "He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" (Exodus 2:11-12). This episode is especially telling because it does not show simply a rash display of temper -- Moses takes the time to make sure no one will witness his actions before he kills the Egyptian. He is…

Chris's biblical statement "I am the light of the world." Specifically, it will describe the events that surround the "I am" statement, how the "I am" statement relates to the revelation of God in the Old Testament, and how the statement reveals the deity of Christ. The semantics of the Bible are awesome. Since it was written in ancient tongues, they can be translated in many ways, and so it is with this passage where John repeats Christ's words, "I am the light of the world." Light can mean many things to many people, but here, light really means love, and Christ is a reflection of God's love of all the people of Earth.

A am" also has many contextual meanings in the Bible, and together, these words affirm Christ as a deity and the Son of God. Thus, Christ not only affirms his own place and purpose on Earth,…

References

Borg, Marcus J., ed. Jesus at 2000. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997.

Knight, George A.F. "The Light of God in Action." The Christian Century 16 Dec. 1998: 1212.

Rollins, Wayne G. The Gospels: Portraits of Christ. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. New York: Books, Inc., Publishers.

In their devotion, the Israelites took on strict rules and regulations. For example, there are dietary traditions that stem back to following God's word. This covenant was solidified by the sign of the tablets which the Ten Commandments were written on. This then defined the nature of both Judaism and Christianity.

Finally, the covenant made with David established a physical resting spot for all people of the Jewish faith -- the Kingdom of Israel. As part of the covenant, there was a royal dynasty established through David's descendants (2 Samuel 7:11-16). The first Temple of Jerusalem as God's house, built by David's son as part of his promises in the covenant with God, (2 Samuel 7:4-7). For the devotion of both David and his descendents, "the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house," (2 Samuel 7:11). Thus, David united the Jewish people under one nation…

References

Barnavi, Eli. (2002). A historical Atlas of the Jewish People. New York: Schocken Books.

Felix Just, S.J. (2006). Major covenants between God and human beings in the Bible. Covenants, Pillars, and Theologies in Ancient Judaism. Retrieved 28 Nov 2009 from  http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Covenants.htm 

Laughlin, John C.H. (2006). Fifty Major Cities of the Bible. London: Routledge.

Smith, Ralph Allan. (2009). The Covenantal Structure of the Bible. Berith.org. Retrieved November 27, 2009 at  http://www.berith.org/pdf/The-Covenantal-Structure-of-the-Bible.pdf

The poems Catullus wrote to the woman Lesbia are among his best known. How would you characterize their affair?

Catallus describes a conflicted and stormy affair with the women of Lesbia. Sexual tension is evident in his poems, which have a strong erotic content. Therefore, his affairs were passionate and physical.

If the gender roles were reversed and the woman were the narrator, do you think this series of poems would read differently? Explain.

The poems would read differently not because their content would have changed but because they would subvert social norms. As a male, Catallus is allowed, almost expected to write such explicit details about his physical affairs including references to love and hatred. Females would have been more subtle because of the widespread social persecution they might suffer if they admitted to promiscuity or tumultuous romantic interludes especially with married people.

Catullus ends up calling his lady…

The messiah, or "anointed one" is referred to also in the book of Psalms: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows," (Psalm 45:6-7). These and many other Old Testament references illustrate the importance of the messiah for the Israelites, and the role that the messiah would play as a spiritual leader.

Because of the abundance of historical and prophetic material substantiating Christ, countless Christians have spread the word of the gospel around the world. From the personal testimony passed down for two thousand years, individuals like me have been able to develop our own relationship with Christ. We draw upon the wisdom of those who have gone before us, reading scripture and participating in the Christian community. It…

References

"Historical Jesus: A Recent Movement to Reinterpret the New Testament Record." All About Jesus. Retrieved May 11, 2010 from  http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/Historical-Jesus.htm 

"History of Jesus Christ." History World. Retrieved May 11, 2010 from  http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac34 

"Which Old Testament prophecies did Jesus fulfill?" Retrieved May 11, 2010 from  http://www.biblestudy.org/prophecy/old-testament-prophecies-jesus-fulfilled.html

This does not mean that the image is supreme, as is often counseled in an idol-worshipping and media obsessed climate, but rather that the human being him or herself is intrinsically good, because the human form and moral compass was created in line with a larger plan and a larger divine order -- like human history, like the organization of the books of the Pentateuch itself. The person does not need to worry about creating his or her image, or intrinsic goodness; rather it is already there, waiting to be found.

The goodness of humanity, as affirmed by the beginnings of humankind outlined in the Old Testament are some of this text's most powerful notions for creating a Biblical vision of counseling. Much of secular and sacred counseling involves creating a tale of one's origins. Often these tales of individual origins, in a troubled mind with a troubled past, may…

Personal Power

Though the figure and invocation of God is of course central to the power and purpose of Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations, and indeed in all of his prophecies as a whole, there is also necessarily a great deal of personal power in the voice and words of the prophet. Without this, his exhortations and condemnations would not be heard or heeded. This leads to a third possibility for the essential purpose of his prophecies against the foreign nations -- that of strengthening his position within the community of exiled Israelites.

Despite the commonality of oracles and prophecies condemning and predicting the downfall of foreign nations in the prophets of the Old Testament, it is highly unlikely that these words ever reached the leaders or the people of these foreign nations, or that the prophets or writers of these texts ever intended them to (Tuell 2009, pp.…

References

Block, D. (1997). The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24 (Volume 1): The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand rapids, MI: Wm. B. Edermans Publishing.

Block, D. (1998). The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48 (Volume 2): The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand rapids, MI: Wm. B. Edermans Publishing.

Malick, D. (2009). "An Argument of the Book of Ezekiel." Accessed 15 May 2010.  http://bible.org/article/argument-book-ezekiel 

Tuell, S. (2009). Ezekie:l New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

" (This statement appears to fly in the face of his detailed emphasis on trying to be terribly thorough at other times throughout the book; and his seeming editorial neurosis creates doubts in the minds of the reader as to precisely how consistent and valid his values are vis-a-vis what he believes to be true.)

Those biblical students probably read his book and had a sense that he was in a classroom, behind a podium, lecturing to them, when, on pages 18-20, he discusses pre-history (Stone Age) and Neolithic Jericho. His bias towards places and people who are in some way connected to Scripture comes across numerous times in obviously favored passages.

To wit: one can almost hear his voice as he describes the relative distance in time to make his point about the advent of the Israel we know today. "Difficult as it is for us to realize, it…

Works Cited

Bright, John. (1959). A History of Israel. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.

Noll, K.L. (1999). Looking on the Bright Side of Israel's History: Is There Pedagogical Value in Theological Presentation of History? Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary

Approaches, 7, 1-27.