...In 2 Corinthians the church Paul had founded contradicts his authority and teachings. After he composed 1 Corinthians, several tensions arose that jeopardized his relationship with the church. In the last several chapters of the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul writes a passionate defensive letter to his audience to prove his apostolic authority (Harris, 2014). In chapters 10-13, Paul uses rhetoric devices to topple his opponents’ assertions of superiority. Unfortunately, scholars do not know the exact identity of Paul’s opponents. However, Paul assumes they were Jewish Christians who proclaimed another God and spirit different from his teachings (Harris, 2014). In opposition, Paul’s critics questioned his credentials as a Christian leader because...
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...in Paul’s letter to Philemon. The whole anatomy of Paul’s letters was special because they all had structure. Paul has several sections in his letters: salutation, thanksgiving, the body, the closing, and the conclusion. The salutation was the most stable elements during the ancient period. The form is rather precise unlike today were we use the sender and recipient, as well as a greeting in the letter. I saw how Paul molds us in his letter to Philemon. During the time of this letter, Paul was in prison, he was addressing the master of Onesimus, which was a runaway slave who has sought refuge with Paul. Meanwhile, Onesimus was converted this set the stage for this letter. In this letter, Paul reminded Philemon that his apostolic mission gave him a prior claim on Onesimus. Paul treated Onesimus as if he was his own brother. Earlier during the beginning of the salutation, Paul identifies himself as a “prisoner for Christ Jesus.” Thus, this condition keys around Paul’s plea for leniency to Onesimus surfaces in the beginning of the letter. In Romans, we see how Paul’s original version of the conservative letter opening. His writings were to the church, one that he never been to before nor had he constructed. He was very eager to establish the “orthodoxy” of his gospel and the legitimacy of his claim to be an apostle. The salutation Paul used for the Roman’s was different than the normal pattern because Paul was trying to prove himself to the Roman church. However, Paul’s salutation...
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...baptism. My claim is that Paul misrepresented Paul's teachings on the family's effect upon the holiness of the child." You'll find the "claim" in chapters 1-14 of Turabian's Manual, which is something that our rubric doesn't bring up, but I think it's a good technique. I notice that you have Greek written in Times New Roman font. I have seen other students do this. I have never been able to figure out how this is done. I notice that when I try to add a letter than it comes out in Latin script. These are quotations that you've pasted. This is amazing. I don't know how they do this! Let me know if you can help me! The only defect in this paper that I want to point out is that much of your paper is not really about Augustine's teaching on infant baptism. All subsequent developments of his teachings really have nothing to do with what happened in Augustine's head. Let's take Pannenberg as an example. He may have followers up there in Lutheran country where you minister. His ideas are influenced by Augustine, but Augustine was not a Lutheran. Some seem to think he was a Lutheran or a Calvinist, but they deceive themselves. You must, of course, take Paul into account because Augustine worked with Paul's writings. Paul was a source that Augustine used—or better, abused or misused, as you and argue. Students find it impossible to focus on one historical person, such as Augustine, without bringing in later persons who claim Augustinian authority. So I'd like for you to think about this as...
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...understanding that 1 Cor. 14:34-35 is an interpolation. Based on this affirmation, chapter one investigates both the meaning of vv. 34-35 within the context of Paul’s first extant letter to the Corinthians, and the original message of chapter fourteen without vv. 34-35. Chapter one also offers the most compelling reasons why a scribe would choose chapter fourteen as the place to insert an interpolation against women’s speech in the church. Finally, I examine the parallels between 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:9-15. Chapter two summarizes the argument that 1 Cor. 14:34-35 is an interpolation. In this chapter, first I investigate the issue of interpolation in ancient literature. Then, I present the arguments based on internal evidences that are both for and against the interpolation of 1 Cor. 14:34-35. Next, I provide a section on external evidences supporting a case of interpolation of vv. 34-35. In this final section we will investigate scribal awareness of multiple readings in Codex Vaticanus, Fuldensis and Ms. 88, which can be observed in some sigla left by the copyists of these texts. Chapter three examines the identity of the author(s) and the date of composition for both the interpolation in Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles. Chapter three provides a survey on the role of women in the churches under Paul’s personal supervision. It also examines the ancient view of the role of women in the Greco-Roman society and how it impacted the deutero-Pauline understanding...
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...of Paul’s body of Christ motif in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, proposing at least one implication for the church today. Word Count: 1500 Contents Introduction 3 Historical context of Paul’s writings 3 Why Paul wrote his letter to the Church of Corinth 4 Body metaphor in the Ancient World 5 Interpretation, application and implication of 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 6 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 8 Introduction “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor 12:12). This essay will explain how Paul’s body of Christ motif was informed by the body metaphor in the ancient world. It will also explore how it was applied to the church of Corinth and understood by them in their contemporary cultural setting. Furthermore, it will examine the reason for Paul writing this epistle at the time, focusing on his desire to cultivate a more Christocentric community in Corinth. Lastly it will draw on the ancient texts that influenced Paul’s writing on the body of Christ and look at the implications of this for the Church today. Historical context of Paul’s writings Paul was an outstanding leader of the early Church and a person of many gifts. He was the leading missionary and theological teacher of his time and through his letters was the most prolific contributor to the writings in the New Testament. He exercised apostolic authority throughout churches of the Roman Empire and because of this his authority was...
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..."canon" is a loan-word from the Latin canon, which in turn was derived from the Greek kanon. For our purposes it is important to trace the linguistic development of the term. While the Greek word kanon does occur in the New Testament it cannot be translated by "canon" in English. In each case it is more suitably translated "rule" or "standard" (2 Cor.10:13,15,16; Gal.6:16; Phil.3:16). It will be noted that all the occurrences of the word are in Paul's writings, and in none of these instances is he referring to the canon of Scripture. That was to be a much later development. Movement in this direction occurred when "in the second century in the Christian church kanon came to stand for revealed truth, rule of faith." 1 Here we are distinguishing the redemptive-historical idea of the Canon, in which we may take note of three main elements: 1. That of exclusive authority, according to the authorization of the apostles by Christ himself; 2. That of a qualitatively closed unity, according to the unrepeatable and unique character of the apostolic witness; 3. That of fixation and stabilization, according to its destination as foundation and depositum custodi of the Church. At the same time, it should be stated that this concept of the Canon cannot be harmonized with the idea that the Canon of the Church can be subjected to the so-called “spiritual criticism” of the Church. It must be emphasized that the Church does not control the Canon, but the Canon controls the Church...
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...The Epistle to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament of the Bible. The book of Galatians is Paul the Apostle’s letter to several Early Christian communities in Galatia. The churches of Galatia were comprised of both Jewish and Gentile converts, and Paul’s purpose for writing to them was to confirm them in the faith. The truth of justification by faith, and not those of human works alone, was being denied by Jewish missionaries trying to de-authenticate Paul’s teachings. Paul learned of this, and wrote his defense of the apostolic authority and of the correct understanding of the faith. Galatians 2 and 3 are a portion of Paul’s epistles to the churches of Galatia. Chapter 2 begins by acknowledging the people’s perseverance, but remarks on how far they have fallen. Chapter 3 focuses on the application of their faith. This book also encourages the Galatians to have faith in God, no matter the circumstances, and to always show their love for Him through their actions. As...
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...MARCIONISM AND ITS IMPACT By: Addison Termunde Theology 1001 Mr. Lashier 8 a.m. Addison Termunde Theology 1001 Lashier Term Paper 11/19/10 Marcionism and its Impact For every story told, multiple interpretations and perceptions are created. Anthology is defined as “a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, usually in the same literary form”(Dictionary.com). The bible is just this; for every collection of stories told, a collection of interpretations, whether they be right or wrong, are ought to form. Throughout the early centuries many altered interpretations, or heresies, regarding the bible formed. Although the heresy of Marcionism was outlandish and heavily disputed against, it actually aided in the emergence of the Catholic Church. According to John Knox, of the University of Chicago, “Among the creative personalities of early Christianity few are so interesting and important as Marcion, who was expelled from the Roman community… and whose activities gave rise to the most vigorous heretical movement within the ancient church”(p.1). According to the article, Marcion and Scripture: The Impact of a Second Century Heretic on the New Testament, Marcion’s early life was filled with disgrace. “At some point later, however, he was “excommunicated by his own father” for having seduced a consecrated virgin and “degraded both her and himself.” Most modern historians think that the story of Marcion's...
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...books? Throughout history Christian’s belief is that the Holy Spirit, who controlled the writing of the individual books, also controlled their selection and compilation, thus continuing to fulfill our Lord’s promise that He would guide his disciples into all reality. This however, is something that is to be discerned by spiritual insight, and not by historical research. The object is to find out what historical research reveals about the origin of the New Testament canon. We have people tell us that we receive the twenty seven books of the New Testament on the mandate of the Church; but even if we do, we have to look at how the Church came to recognize these twenty-seven books as worthy of being placed on a level of encouragement and authority with the Old Testament. It took over a century of the proliferation of numerous writings before anyone was even concerned. They started to pick and choose and it was largely a cumulative, individual and accidental event, guided by chance and prejudice more than objective and scholarly research, until priests and academics began declaring what was authoritative and holy, and even they were not unanimous. Churches had their own books, because there was no clearly defined orthodoxy until the 4th century, there were in fact many simultaneous literary traditions. The illusion that it was otherwise is created by the fact that the Church that had the upper hand simply preserved texts in its favor and destroyed or let fade away conflicting...
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...figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul used his status as both a Jew and aRoman citizen to advantage in his ministry to both Jewish and Roman audiences. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul, and approximately half of the Acts of the Apostlesdeals with Paul's life and works. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, with varying degrees of argument about the remainder. The Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries but almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries, is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive. Other scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, his epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Roman and Protestant traditions of the West, as well as the Orthodox traditions of the East. Among the many other apostles and missionaries involved in the spread of the Christian faith, his influence on Christian thought and practice has been characterized as being as "profound as it is pervasive". Augustine of Hippo developed Paul's idea that salvationis...
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...CHRISTIAN DRESS AND ADORNMENT Chapter 7 PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN DRESS Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University In every age men and women have bedecked and bejeweled their bodies. The desire to adorn the body with colorful cosmetics, costly jewelry, and eye-catching clothes has left few untouched. Thus, it is not surprising that our survey found, throughout Biblical and Christian history, frequent calls to dress modestly and decently, without glittering jewelry or luxurious clothes. Such a call is especially relevant today when modesty and decency are out, and nudity and sensuality are in. To bring into sharper focus the relevance of the Biblical teachings on dress and ornaments for our time, I shall endeavor to formulate seven basic statements of principle which summarize the highlights of this study. This brief review will help the reader to gain a better overview of the fundamental Biblical teachings on dress and adornment that have emerged in the course of our investigation. PRINCIPLE ONE: Dress and appearance are an important index of Christian character. Clothes and appearance are most powerful nonverbal communicators not only of our socioeconomic status, but also of our moral values. We are what we wear. This means that the outward appearance is an important index of Christian character. The Bible recognizes the importance of dress and ornaments as indicated by the numerous stories, allegories, and admonitions that we have found regarding appropriate...
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...Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code -Bible did not arrive from heaven: or not divinely inspired, God-breathed; product of man -Man created it as a historical record and has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definite version of the book -Jesus Christ was a historical figure of staggering influence -Over 80 gospels were considered for NT, but Constantine the Great chose the 4 of Matt, Mark, Luke, John -Was Constantine a Christian? Hardly – He was a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed, too weak to protest -In Constantine’s day, Rome’s official religion was sun worship – the cult of Sol Invictus, or Invincible Sun – and Constantine was its head priest -After crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Christ’s followers had multiplied exponentially and Constantine changed religion to Christianity because he was a good businessman, because he could see that Christianity was on the rise and he simply backed the winning one -Historians still marvel at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity -Fused pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into growing Christian tradition, he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties -transmogrification the vestiges of pagan religion into Christian symbology are undeniable -Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints; Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint...
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...The Biblical Canon: The Movement, Methodologies, and People Who Influenced It Thomas Gainey CHHI 301: History of the Christian Church I February 7, 2016 Introduction In Christianity one of the key factors of its faith is the belief that the Bible is inerrant. Many great Christian leaders have expressed the importance of the Bible. Norman Geisler once stated “The inerrancy of Scripture is the foundational doctrine in which all other doctrines rest, and the Psalmist rightly said, ‘If the foundation be destroyed, then what can the righteous do?’” In his statement he expresses the truth behind the fact that the Christian faith resides on the fact that the Bible is inerrant. Interesting enough the Bible of today with its 66 books, 39 Old Testament, and 27 New Testament are very similar to the bible of the early church. In the words of Herman Ridderbos, "the history of the Canon is the process of the growing consciousness of the Church concerning its ecumenical foundation.” People have often wonder why certain books made into the Bible, but others did not. In this paper will look how we got the Bible we have today and what movements, people, and doctrines effected. Old Testament Canon The Old Testament known to Christians in the Bible is what is known to Jews as the Tanakh. This is made of the writings of the Laws, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus Christ stated in Luke 24:44 “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and...
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...1. How were the churches in the Lycus Valley founded? (Polhill pp. 330-331) The churches appear to have been established by Paul’s coworker Epaphras, who was a native Colossian. Luke indicated that during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Paul followed his usual missionary strategy of establishing himself in a major city with his coworkers fanning out into the countryside to establish churches in the wider region. The Lycus Valley churches were a product of Paul’s Ephesian ministry. Epaphras served as Paul’s coworker, establishing the churches there. Paul did consider them his churches, as they were the product of his apostolic ministry. When difficulties arose in them, Epapharas turned to Paul for guidance and assistance. Colossians is the product of that relationship. 2. Describe each of the three cities in the Lycus Valley. (Pohill pp. 331-332) Laodicea was a new fairly city, having been founded by the Seleucid king Antiochus II in 250 B.C. and then under direct Roman rule in 133 B.C. when the last of the kings of Pergamum bequeathed his kingdom in Rom. In Paul’s day, Laodicea was the most prominent city of the Lycus Valley; it was the tax-gathering and judicial center for the whole administrative area, which consisted of twenty-seven towns, including Hierapolis and Colosse. It was prosperous, boasting a thriving industry in black woolen goods and a famous medical center...
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...Exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 Historical Context Situated near the site of Therma on the Thermaic Gulf, Thessalonica was located near the northermost reaches of the Aegean Sea. “The ancient city was founded in Macedonia (a region that encompassed roughly the northern half of the Greek peninsula) about 315 b.c. by Cassander, who named it after his wife, Thessalonica, the daughter of Philip II and sister of Alexander the Great.” (Martin, 1995, p.21) Enjoying the status of a ‘free’, self-governing city (although still under Roman control), Thessalonica was the most influential city in Macaedonia. The city functioned as a very important trade city, as it was located on the Via Egnatia trade route (the major east-west highway from Asia Minor to Rome). On hearing the gospel, many Thessalonians were persuaded and the church grew quickly under the supervision of Paul. Many amongst the Jewish community, however, were not persuaded and instigated a riot in the city, hoping to trap Paul and his companions (Acts 17:1-9). Due to this, Paul was forced to leave the city of Thessalonica earlier than expected. As a result, two important factors were at play: * There was dissent amongst some of the Thessalonian believers, who queried whether Paul may have been motivated by money or power (hence his defense of his ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2). * The Thessalonian believers still had many lingering questions about the faith, that Paul had been unable to answer during his brief...
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