...Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels Chapter 1: What are the Gospels? | Four Gospels, One Jesus | What are the four Gospels? | * Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each paint a unique portrait of Jesus Christ | | * The Gospels exhibit both unity and diversity, bearing witness to the same Jesus | | (unity) but viewing them from unique perspectives (diversity) | What are the four unique portraits | * Matthew presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Old | each Gospel paints of Jesus Christ? | Testament hopes | | * Mark portrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God, who offers himself as a | | sacrifice for sins | | * Luke portrays Jesus as the Savior for all people, who brings salvation to all | | nations and people groups | | * John portrays Jesus as the eternal son of God, the self-revelation of God the | | Father | | * Christology refers to Jesus’ person and work | What is the difference between the | * Mark is more dramatic, it is a powerful and vivid story; Matthew is the most | four Gospels? | structured of the Gospels; Luke is the most thematic, like God’s love for the lost, | | the role of the Spirit, and Jerusalem’s role in God’s plan resurfacing repeatedly; | | John is the most theological of the four, with more explicit statements | | concerning Jesus’ identity and purpose. | What are synoptic Gospels? | * Synoptic Gospels (from the Greek word synopsis...
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...The first three (3) books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are commonly called the Synoptic Gospels. They have gained this title because they are very similar to each other yet commonly different from John's Gospel. In fact, their similarities and relation to each other have created one of the most debated subjects in the realm of New Testament Studies. This area of scholarship has adopted the name The Synoptic Problem. Determining the dependence or interdependence of each Gospel then attempts to conclude, which Gospel was written first, and subsequently, which Gospel then used the other as a primary source, and if not what source was then used to compile the gospel in question. “Mark's Gospel is the shortest of the three, yet large portions of it are also found in Matthew and Luke. Additionally, Matthew and Luke share a significant amount of verses (more than 200) that are not found in Mark. The similarities include subject matter, exact wording, and even order of events. When material is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, it is referred to as triple tradition. The material that is only found in Matthew and Luke is called double tradition, or Q. Also, the material that distinctively belongs to Matthew is called the M tradition, while that which belongs to Luke is called the L tradition” (The) The content of M suggests that the community for which this gospel was written, as stricter than the others in its attitude to keeping the Jewish law, holding that they must...
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...A Critical Review of Hoynes, Christine E. “The sound of Silence: Interpreting Mark 16:1-8” through the Centuries. Interpretation 65, no. 1(January 2011): 18-29. Introduction The ending of Jesus’s story in the Gospels is well-known. However, what we know as the ending of Mark’s Gospel was added after the original had written. As a matter of fact, Mark put such an abrupt ending for some reason. This absence has led to diverse interpretations and understandings, not only among theologians but also among artists through the history. Christine Hoyneys in her article The sound of Silence: Interpreting Mark shows the various interpretations on women’s silence in a wider context. Summary To begin with the author indicates the discrepancies and...
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...of the Evidence for Jesus A Critical Book Review Lee Strobel, New York Times bestselling author of twenty books, including four which received ECPA awards, is an atheist turned Christian after a two year investigation of Jesus. He became a Christian in 1981. Strobel worked at the Chicago Tribune for 14 years as an award winning legal editor. He has a Bachelor of Journalism which he received in 1974 from the University of Missouri. He also earned a Master of Studies in Law Degree in 1979 from Yale. Washington Post has referred to him as the evangelical communities most popular apologists. The Case for Christ captures your attention and holds it from page one. It has a very interesting and easy writing style in which Strobel writes in first person. He uses his investigative reporter background to shape the way this book is set up. He proves that Jesus really is the son of God, using a sequence of interviews with 13 well respected Evangelical apologists. The book begins by Strobel using five lines of evidence: eyewitness, documentary, corroborating, scientific and rebuttal. Craig Bloomberg, PhD; whose doctorate is in New Testament, is the first to be interviewed. Bloomberg alleges that Papias and Irenaeus confirmed that the four gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John making them eyewitness testimony. He goes on to dismiss the Gospel Q hypothesis saying it is “nothing more than a hypothesis.” (p. 26) He explains that Q was a collection of sayings or teachings...
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...BOOK CRITIQUE: WHY FOUR GOSPELS? Tiago Souza NBST 515 September 24, 2013 INTRODUCTION This work will analyze the book “Why Four Gospels” by David Alan Black. The main objective will be compare the Fourfold-Gospel Hypothesis opposed to the Markan Priority. In order to do that, this work will first analyze the historical background and reality context of the composition of each gospel. The author David Black has published over 100 scholarly articles and book reviews in such journals as Novum Testamentum, New Testament Studies, Bible Translator, Journal of Biblical Literature, and many others. He also serves as Professor of New Testament and Greek and the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair in New Testament Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. SUMMARY The book starts by bringing up a description of the development of the gospels, and a not very known basic historical fact is that the Gospels were written through a not so brief period of time. The “Gospel according to Mathew” was published in 42 AD, and there was a 20-25 years gap between its publication and the publication of “Luke’s Gospel” and “The gospel according to Mark”. And than, another huge gap between the publication of those and finally “The Gospel of John” being published in 96 AD, so there was a 54 years interval between the publication of the 4 Gospels, and that fact shows that sometimes God likes to act in a way that takes time, seems unusual to human eyes, but in...
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...inform the clergymen of the reality of the situation where he is and how waiting isn’t an option anymore. In the letter, King uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to accomplish the task of appealing to the readers from a logical standpoint. King first establishes his credibility to answer the clergymen by naming his personal title and comparing himself to such a higher historical authority as the apostle Paul. King uses repetition of his personal experiences in Birmingham to describe the situation from an emotional standpoint. By stating his credibility and giving his personal experiences, King gives the readers no choice but to listen to what his reasoning is behind his actions taken in Birmingham. He does so by describing how he has dealt with the situation in Birmingham appropriately using the four basic steps of any nonviolent campaign, and defining what those are. By coordinating the rhetorical strategies of quoting authorities, personal experience, and the use of definition, Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes the task of informing his “fellow clergymen” of the situation in Birmingham, how he has dealt with it appropriately using the four basic steps of any nonviolent campaign and why his reasoning behind taking action is justified. After opening up the letter addressing the...
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...Rosemarie Stanislaus Term Paper August 1, 2014 The Quest for the Historical Jesus INTRODUCTION Over the centuries scholars from around the world have written a lot about religion, its meaning, relevance and contribution to humanity. There have been many speculations upon the nature and historical background of Jesus Christ. Many scholars have tried to dig into the few clues as to His identity and come up with a human side to which we can all relate. The study of Christianity and how it relates to Jesus Christ is very important to the whole world. Concerning the issue of Christianity, for example, the majority of people are taught in most schools and churches that Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure and that the only controversy regarding him is that some people accept him as the Son of God and the Messiah, while others do not. While the historicity of Jesus is the most debated subject in the field of religion today, the most enduring and profound controversy in this subject is whether or not Jesus Christ really existed. This paper will discuss who Jesus is, the controversy and biblical sources based on the views of scholars surrounding the historicity of Jesus. Finally, this paper will give Biblical evidence that Jesus existed. WHO IS JESUS? It is generally accepted that Jesus was truly a man who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Almost every religion teaches that Jesus was a prophet, excellent teacher or a Godly man. The...
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...involved in interpreting a passage from the New Testament? The process of reading a passage is more than just simply opening the Bible, this is history this is our guide for life. It helps us to live our lives in the way God would want us too. I believe the knowledge of the historical and cultural background of the Greco Roman world influenced the interpretation of the New Testament because of the history context, the way they lived and the heinous and pleasant things they did I think all things in that frame played a part in the interpretation of the New Testament. I believe a measure of trust faith and belief is involved when interpreting a passage. Week Two The four Gospels give us four unique portraits of Jesus. Does this diverse witness to Jesus enrich our understanding of Jesus or do the four Gospels cause confusion? What aspect of Jesus’ life has been your biggest surprise in your readings in this course? In a way it does cause confusion but with them telling everything that happened back then it guides you to better understand everything that took place. Fir me the biggest surprise is still when they crucify him even though I know it happened it bring tears to my eyes every time of how they scourged and mocked him and then places the crown of thorns on his head. I would say another one being the temptations that was experienced in the wilderness....
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...7 December 2010 Mormonism: Cult or Religious Movement? Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. When it first was founded in 1830 there were only six members. A month later this number had grown to forty members. Currently there are estimated to be over 13,824,854 members in the entire world ("Newsroom "). After observing the belief systems of Mormonism one could argue that it contains more similarities to that of a cult compared to that of a new religious movement. Before comparing Mormonism to a cult, a definition must be laid down. A cult, according to Dr. Walter R. Martin as quoted in Edmond Gruss’s book entitled Cults and the Occult, is “the Adherence to major doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity, yet which claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith” (Gruss 3). Anthony Hoekema calls cults the “unpaid bills of the church” (Hoekema 1). Hoekema also goes on to say that cults sometimes arise because they believe “established churches have failed to emphasize certain important aspects of religious life, or have neglected certain techniques or values.” ( 1) Many times cults either contain all or some of the following ten characteristics. The first characteristic they usually contain is the importance...
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...treasures. Each church that had received one of his letters saved it, had it read during worship services, and exchanged copies of the letter with other congregations close by. Later the congregations tried to complete their collection. But this view does not match the uniformity of manuscript evidence. --David Trobisch 1 It is even more remarkable that attempts to reconstruct the supposed document 'Q' (the lost collection used by both Matthew and Luke postulated by those who argue that Matthew and Luke are independent) use text-critical terminology to describe their activities. However, since all they are doing is making selections from a twentieth-century printed text, which does not even presume to provide confidently the text of the four-Gospel collection, never mind that of the independent first-century texts, this use of language must be dismissed as illusory. --David Parker 2 Modern scholarship has produced detailed biographies of Paul, massive multi-volume inquiries into “the historical Jesus,” and mountains of exegetical literature that claims to extract the author’s meaning from each word of each New Testament book. Typically, this literature analyzes the scriptural texts with little reference to actual manuscripts. Exegetes and even historians typically allude to manuscripts only briefly when they encounter variant readings that they deem particularly significant, such as the longer endings of Mark, the story of the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11, or...
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...The Gospel According to Mark These events took place at La Colorada ranch, in the southern part of the township of Junin, during the last days of March 1928. The protagonist was a medical student named Baltasar Espinosa. We may describe him, for now, as one of the common run of young men from Buenos Aires, with nothing more noteworthy about him than an almost unlimited kindness and a capacity for public speaking that had earned him several prizes at the English school in Ramos Mejia. He did not like arguing, and preferred having his listener rather than himself in the right. Although he was fascinated by the probabilities of chance in any game he played, he was a bad player because it gave him no pleasure to win. His wide intelligence was undirected; at the age of thirty-three, he still had not qualified for graduation in the subject to which he was most drawn. His father, who was a freethinker (like all the gentlemen of his day), had introduced him to the lessons of Herbert Spencer, but his mother, before leaving on a trip for Montevideo, once asked him to say the Lord's Prayer and make the sign of the cross every night. Through the years, he had never gone back on that promise. Espinosa was not lacking in spirit; one day, with more indifference than anger, he had exchanged two or three punches with a group of fellow-students who were trying to force him to take part in a university demonstration. Owing to an acquiescent nature, he was full of opinions, or habits of mind...
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...Jesus makes some important claims about Himself and some of the most important claims that Jesus made can be found in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is the only gospel that records the “I Am” statements of Jesus.[1] These are important statements by Jesus and provide some of the most significant insight into what Jesus’ ministry was all about and why He was sent here on earth. These statements gave special insight as to who Christ claimed to be.[2] These statements were of such importance and could be understood by the Jews that many times it led the Jewish leaders to be outraged and want to either arrest Him for blasphemy or even stone Him for blasphemy. These were significant statements in which Jesus is claiming Deity. However, there are seven “I Am” statements of Jesus that have a metaphor attached with it. Each metaphor once again gives insight to who Christ was claiming to be. Each of these statements were important for revealing Jesus and they are: I Am the bread of life (John 6:35), I Am the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), I Am the door (10:9), I Am the good shepherd (10:11), I Am the resurrection and the life (11:25). I Am the way, and the truth, and the life (14:6), and I Am the vine (15:5). Each of these statements can give believers assurance and hope in Jesus. These are truly amazing claims by Jesus which He fulfilled in every way. Before we can completely understand the importance of Jesus referring to Himself as “I Am,” we must first look at Exodus 3:14...
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...What is the most widespread method of Biblical interpretation used by scholars today?<!--[if !supportLists]--> a. Mystical b. Allegorical c. Historical critical d. Literal | | | | | Question 2: (1 Points) | What was the message of early Christianity?<!--[if !supportLists]--> a. Salvation comes through fast b. Salvation comes through circumcision c. Salvation is by faith d. Salvation is by self punishment | | | | | Question 3: (1 Points) | The New Testament consists of: <!--[if !supportLists]--> a. 4 Gospels, 21 letters, 1 Apocalypse b. 3 Gospels, 1 Acts, 22 Letters, 1 Apocalypse c. 4 Gospels, 1 Acts, 21 Letters, 1 Apocalypse d. 3 Gospels, 2 Acts, 21 Letters | | | | | Question 4: (1 Points) | Which one of these are seen in the Bible as signs of the presence of the Kingdom of God?<!--[if !supportLists]--> a. Gospels b. Parables c. Miracles d. Teachings | | | | | Question 5: (1 Points) | Matthew, Mark and Luke are based on what writing?<!--[if !supportLists]--> a. Pseudepigrapha b. Quelle c. Apocrypha d. John | | | | | | CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE LESSON 2 Question 1: (1 Points) | Christianity was born in what Empire?<!--[if !supportLists]--> a. Babylonian b. Assyrian c. Hellenistic d. Roman | | | | | Question 2: (1 Points) | Which of the following was opposed by the church?<!--[if !supportLists]-->...
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...APOLOGETICS APPLICATION PAPER Glenda Campbell APOL 500 July 4, 2014 Outline Introduction 1. Summary of the Islamic worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. Evaluating the Islamic Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Correcting the Islamic Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4. Defending the Christian Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Apologetics Application Paper Introduction According to Brown, people everywhere filter what they read and hear through the grid of their own worldview. We all see the world different and the assumptions and prejudices that have about the world have an effect on how we regard the world. The Christian worldview and the Islamic worldview are similar, but they are different in many ways. But, what is a worldview? The ways a person views and understands the world have an effect on everyone. Sire defines a worldview as "a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously)...
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...Critical Analysis Essay on Poetry ENGL 102: Composition and Literature Fall 2010 Nathan Johnson APA Format Abstract (Thesis Statement) Thesis: William Blake uses several literary devices in “The Lamb” to portray spiritual truths about Christianity. I. Introduction A. The Characteristics of Lambs 1. In Literature 2. In the Bible B. Blake’s use of the lamb 1. As a symbol in the Poem II. Body A. The use of symbolism as a literary device 1. The Lamb as a symbol for Christ 2. The Lamb as a symbol for Christians B. The use of imagery as a literary device 1. Mental images of lines 3-4 in the poem 2. Images of lines 15-16 III. Conclusion A. Restatement of thesis B. Closing remarks Lambs are considered to be innocent and gentle animals. They are gentle creatures that are submissive and yet daring. Words that are often associated with lambs tend to evoke a sense of calmness and peace. In literature lambs are usually used to symbolize gentleness, meekness and even innocence. Even in the Bible the lamb is used to symbolize ultimate goodness and purity. Countless times in the Bible the lamb is used as a reference for Jesus Christ, and His people. Often Jesus is referred as a shepherd tending and looking for His sheep. Christ is also called the Lamb of God. William Blake uses the poem “The Lamb” to bring up life’s ultimate questions through the voice of a child. Questions that have plagued man since...
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