Throughout the Bible God reveals himself and his will for people from the very beginning. At the creation of the world God made everything to benefit the people that he would place on the earth and he made humans in order to fellowship with him and bring him joy and satisfaction with his creation. The mistake of Adam and Eve when they sinned ate of the fruit God banned them from the garden and forced them to have to work the land and face disease and death, but never did he forsake mankind. His chosen people, the Jews were constantly deviating from his will, and at some points offended Him immensely by requesting a king rather than a judge so they could be like the other nations. Some kings were good and others were evil which caused israel to fall to their enemies at times, but God always delivered them from captivity. When Jesus came to earth the invitation to the Kingdom of God was extended to all people. There were many Jews that did not believe, but the ones that were converted formed the new church along with the Gentiles that became Christians as well. God was seen in a new way through Jesus since anyone was able to get into heaven as long as they trusted Jesus. The laws of the Torah were altered by Jesus, and there was no longer the need for animal sacrifice since Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice taking all the sins of the world upon himself. When God gave his son so that all people might be saved he demonstrated his love for us.
Blog #9
The martyr Polycarp proves to be the perfect example of how Jesus would want all of his followers to be. He was graceful, selfless, and joyful to suffer for the Lord he so diligently served. There were several parallels between the story of his martyrdom and the death of Jesus. Polycarp was being pursued by the police who sought to turn him over the the multitudes that wanted him dead for no reason other than his faith and service of God and devotion to Jesus Christ so he first went to a farm outside the city. Just as Judas was part of Christ’s inner circle, but still betrayed him, a member of Polycarp’s own household, a servant boy, betrayed him, although it was caused by torture rather than self-seeking motives.(Paragraph 6). In the same way that Jesus spent the last hours leading up to his arrest, Polycarp immersed himself in prayer in order to find consolation in the Lord and give him praise.(Paragraph 5). Even when faced with his actual arrest he did not resist or try to run, but rather chose to go peacefully just as Jesus did when they found him in the garden.(Paragraph 7). He was not crucified like Christ, but was instead sentenced to be burned alive. This did not work as the fire instead surrounded him without burning his skin at all. When it was seen that he would not burn a soldier was ordered to stab him in the side with a dagger just as Jesus was pierced.(Paragraph 16). The most encouraging element of the story was how even when faced with imminent death, and the horrific method that would be used Polycarp was not filled with fear, but instead displayed joy that he was able to die in the Lord’s service, and be entering the kingdom of heaven.
Blog #8
The Book of John differs from the other three accounts in that there is nothing said about people coming to John the Baptist to be told what to do to be saved by God and baptized with water. Instead in John he is only approached by Pharisees who question exactly who John is and what authority he has to be preaching the word of God. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke John is approached by crowds wanting to be baptized so that they may be saved from the fires of Hell. In the book of Luke John gives specific instructions on what they must do to be saved to those that inquire. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke it is clearly stated that John baptized Jesus with water before his identity was revealed. Immediately following the baptism the Holy Spirit came down from heaven and rested on Jesus and the voice of God came down and stated His pleasure with his son. The Gospel of John does not tell when exactly the spirit descended onto Jesus and when the voice came or even if John baptized him. It just gives a quote from John to the Pharisees where he states that he saw the spirit come upon Jesus.
Blog #7
These several different accounts of Saul’s transformation from a persecutor to a promoter of Jesus are generally the same with only small deviations from one another, but some of the differences are somewhat large details that one would think wouldn’t get be confused in the retelling. In the Acts 9 and 22 accounts it is said that Saul saw the light of God and fell to the ground while the men traveling with him stood there. The discrepency arrises when in the Acts 9 version it says that the men with Saul heard the noise, but didn’t see anything occur, while in Saul’s personal account in Acts 22 he states that the men with him saw the light, but simply couldn’t understand the words of the Lord being spoken to him. He makes no comment on the matter in the Acts 26 version, but it would be interesting to find out what the men actually experienced during that event. There is another difference between the Acts 22 and 26 accounts regarding what the Lord said to Saul even though they are both directly what Saul stated. In the first he says that Jesus orders him to go to Damascus to meet Ananias, and there he will be given further instructions as to what he must do. The second account states that Saul was told directly by Jesus that his purpose was to be a witness attesting that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Most likely the last account was to stress that Saul was commissioned directly by Jesus to relate the good news to the Gentiles.
Blog #6
When God first created human kind we were made perfect with no concept of death looming over us and eventually dictating our end. Once deceived by the serpent sin entered the world, and we became susceptible to corruption. No longer were humans blameless, there were now consequences for wrong-doing, and the entrance of death as a normal part of every persons life. When God incarnated he came for one purpose; to shift our focus from limited life back to eternal life with God, but this time it would be spent in heaven rather than on earth. Had that initial sin not been committed there would have been no reason for Jesus to come to the earth to save us. We now needed a greater power to step in to bring us back into God’s grace since “…once transgression had begun men came under the power of the corruption proper to their nature and were bereft of the grace which belonged to them as creatures in the Image of God.” (Athanasius, 7). It was in our nature to turn towards corruption so once sin had been introduced it never would have left. We were subjected to the power of death without God’s intervention in the form of Jesus Christ. Without the initial sin death would never have come into the world, and we therefore would not have had needed salvation from it, but God gave us a way out.
Blog #5
John, more than any of the other gospels, focuses on the divinity of Jesus Christ. By starting off the book with equating Jesus to God John differs from all the other gospels. None of the others place Jesus and God on the same level and Mark even takes specific measures to say that they were in fact not the same. The stories of Jesus in John focus mainly on the miracles he performs and how they relate to his specific nature. There are even some miracles recorded only in John that seem to be major things that the other gospels simply did not include. At a wedding in Cana when the hosts run out of wine Jesus takes water to make more. This, in a way, shows Jesus’ divinity in the sense that this miracle was not necessarily done to benefit anyone in physical or spiritual turmoil, but rather was done to keep the guests happy. There is also the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead that was recorded only in John. God is the giver of life so when Jesus was able to give life to Lazarus it demonstrated how he was equal to God. John includes many of Jesus statements when he says to lay down everything in order to follow him. If we are to be willing to do anything for God, and Jesus is equal to God, then we must also be willing to do anything for Jesus.
Blog #4
Throughout the gospel of Mark it seems as though Jesus is attempting to keep his identity secret, or at least from spreading too quickly. His reasoning for this may have been that he wanted each person to decide for his/her self who exactly this miracle worker with divine teachings was, or it could have been so he would be able to spread his teachings to all people without the constant interruption of people asking to be healed. The first instance of him shielding his identity can be found in Chapter One verse forty-four when he asks the man he had just cured of leprosy to “tell no one anything, but to go show [him]self to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed.” After restoring a man’s hand on the Sabbath the Pharisees had become angry with him and sought to put him to death in Chapter three. Jesus withdrew towards the sea, but was worried that the crowd that followed would be too large so he called his disciples to have a boat ready for him so he could escape. In Chapter ten Jesus tells his disciples that he will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes and they will mock him and put him to death. If everyone knew Jesus true identity the prophesy of him dying for our sins never would have occurred because no one would want to knowingly put the Son of God to death. He kept his identity a secret so he could fulfill his purpose of the earth.
Blog #3
The overall tone of the book of Amos is quite depressing and frightening. There is no mercy in the actions God warns Israel he will commit if they drift so far that they no longer seek Him or His word. It seems as if there is some of what God had warned his people of that has taken place and can be seen even in recent history. The obvious scattering of the Jewish community has made it difficult for Israel to maintain its identity as God’s nation when there are so few Jews that continue to practice what the Lord had commanded. There is a passage in Amos where God says the people will experience a type of famine. The famine will not entail hunger or thirst for the physical nutrients, but rather for the hearing of the word of the Lord. It seems as though we have been experiencing this type of spiritual drought for some time now as there have been no words from the Lord. Of course, there is the argument that we have the Bible and which reveals to us all God’s teachings, but there is a major difference between a written account from hundreds of years ago, and a continuing divine inspiration through communication with the Lord through his Spirit. Israel, along with the rest of the world, has lost sight of God and are therefore now experiencing the spiritual famine he warned the Israelites about through Amos.
Blog #2
Raised as an Egyptian Moses would have identified himself more with the Egyptian people even if he knew that he was, in fact, Hebrew. There should be some physical distinctions between the two races, but in that time there would also have been a significant difference in garb as well as body adornment such as different types of jewelry. Moses must have aligned himself with the Hebrew people in some aspects since he was enraged enough at the sight of an Egyptian beating a Hebrew to kill the Egyptian. However, by others he was identified as an Egyptian. When the women from the well in Midian return to tell of Moses’ kind deed they say, “An Egyptian saved us from the interference of the shepherds,” which clearly demonstrates that Moses was perceived as an Egyptian man. Even as God calls to him from the burning bush Moses is skeptical, worrying that the Israelites will not listen to him because he is not one of them. He inquires what to say when he tells the Israelites that the “God of your fathers has sent me” clearly not identifying himself with the lineage of the Hebrew forefathers. Obviously as he is leading the Israelites out of the land of Egypt he considers himself one of them, but he was hesitant to accept a leadership role at the head of a people of whom he was not entirely sure he was even a definite part.
Blog #1
Though vastly different in content there are several shared concepts between the Enuma Elish Stories and the creation story in Genesis. A certain order is used in both stories beginning with an established heavens separated from the water. Following is a consolidation of the water to one location so that dry land may appear. Both stories then introduce the creation of the sun and moon, one brighter than the other to separate day from night. Enuma Elish skips the mention of creating plants and animals to inhabit the earth that had just been created. There was then the making of humans which is when the story begins to differ greatly. God creates humans in order to associate with, and to enjoy their company. He gives them the earth and grants them the privilege of watching over the animals and taking care of all that had just been made. When Marduk creates humans he does so in order to simply carry out the work of the divine assembly. He separates himself from them and does not have the intent to bring himself joy through their company, but rather basks in the glory of his accomplishments. Even the way they are created brings a different perspective about the creators. Marduk used violence and blood whereas God created man from the dust of the earth.
kailwalker 