...Inheriting a Tradition: “Following in the Footsteps of Christ” in the Spirit of the Early Anabaptists For Arnold Snyder MTS 626A By Mary Lou Klassen 12 December, 2005 Inheriting a Tradition: “Following in the Footsteps of Christ”[1] in the Spirit of the Early Anabaptists. Introduction Walter Klaassen in a recent article posed the following question of Mennonites, “Should we call ourselves Anabaptist?”[2] That question has been an underlying current as we have explored the sea of early Anabaptist Spirituality in our course. Klaassen answers the question in the negative. His concern is to point out that the early Anabaptists “stood consciously against and challenged virtually everything their Christian culture took for granted.”[3] Yet, they were intent on reforming that culture, not separating from it. Besides lamenting that Mennonites have compromised with the current culture, he feels that our sectarian tendency is also misrepresenting the tradition. I am not as much interested in his emphasis on Christian unity as I am in the points he raises to develop his negative answer. His main point is that the early Anabaptists took a counter-cultural stance. He outlines that this position showed itself in four respects: a) A “[rejection of] all religious coercion” and a refusal that governments should have any role within the church”[4]; b) A “[rejection of] the emerging capitalist economic system … because...
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...Most of us were raised going to church, taught that following the way of God was the right way and sinning was a problem. I am a Catholic/Christian and for me it is hard to follow in the footsteps of my Savior. There is so much temptation in this life how can one not be swayed away from what is right. I attend and live at Grand Canyon, and as a part of trying to build a community and lifestyle we have designated people to help portray that better lifestyle but even they are corrupt. Such examples would be life leaders on campus (Mini Bible study leaders), RA’s (Selected few who are in charge of halls and making sure nothing is wrong and if assistance is needed you call an RA), and of course the Worship bands, prayer groups, etc. Each person goes through an interview process and within the interview process a question is asked. It stated: “How is your relationship with the Lord? Please give a paragraph description on how your relationship with Christ began, is growing and how you are showing his love to others?” Well wrote a testimony for this question and explained how my relationship with the Lord began, and etc. It was decent along with the other 300 people who were interviewed and hired for whatever position they applied for. Point being we have all failed at following in the footsteps of the Lord. I play the guitar for the chapel band, one of the worship teams and you think to yourself how someone can mess that up right. Well it is easy, for both the bands it was easy...
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...realities of sin as well as the grace afforded to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul’s letter addresses a question that has been on the hearts of almost everyone at some point in time, why do people suffer? His words reflect the benefit of having a relationship with Jesus the Christ when living under the curse of sin from a fallen humanity. “Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope (Romans 5:3-4).” In the natural world we face the realities of sin on a daily basis and the consequences of that sin, whether it is our own sin or the sin of another. Paul reinforces the fact it only took one sin or trespass to condemn all of mankind. However, to the glory of God, it only took one act of righteousness through Christ Jesus to bring life to all men (5:18). Because God knew that man would need a litmus test or a guide to measure right from wrong, He gave us the Law. Our natural tendencies consist of obeying the flesh and our sinful desires, but the grace of God is sufficient to cover all of our sin. We can’t escape the fact that death on this earth is certain, apart from the catching away of the saints at the sounding of the trumpet call. This natural death, due to the fall of mankind, is a reality we must all face. Paul encourages the Romans with the fact that our death is not the end, but when all who “were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we...
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...religion. Jesus and Mohammad are known as figures in the Christianity and Muslim religion. The actions and teachings of these two men have been a part of the lives people for over a thousand years. These religions are still practiced today, although these two men, who are very different from each other, have influenced the world of religions. Jesus only lived his into his early thirties but within that short life he left a trail of history. He was born in Bethlehem, which is located in Israel. He was born to the Virgin Mary as an immaculate conception, with Joseph being his earthly father. As a baby he lived in Egypt, and in later years he lived in Nazareth, Israel, thus became known as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus followed the footsteps of his father Joseph by becoming a carpenter. Jesus started teaching, and as Jesus taught he attracted followers well into the thousands. Jesus was Jewish, and taught people to love one another and worshiped God the father. Jesus claimed to be the son of God, and this was considered to be blasphemous by others. During his life and teachings he performed many miracles to prove to his prophets and followers that he was indeed the son of God. Jesus healed...
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...time in Virginia and his father better known as “light-horse Harry” served as Virginia's governor. Continuing in his father's footsteps Lee joined the military graduating in 1829 at the rank of second in his class. After graduation Lee became appointed second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers taking his first assignment in Cockspur Island, Georgia. Over the next twenty three years Lee would serve in Virginia, Georgia, Texas, New York, and Mexico. In the spring of 1830 Lee began courting his future wife Mary Curtis who...
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...Biblical World View Essay Introduction In the following essay on Biblical World View of, Business Administration, with the foundational Christian belief that man was created in the image of God. There will be two examples in this essay that will explain this view. In the first example, I will be going over leadership and how important it is as a Christian to remember your foundational belief that we are created in the image of God. The second example, I will be discussing the importance of honesty for Christians, since we are created in the image of God. “Immediately following each day of creation God saw that it was good, but after the creation of man, God saw that it was very good”. (Online excerpt, Original Creation of man in the image of god, 2013)Being created in the image of God does not just refer to physical appearance; it also refers to the total essence of God. Example 1 In this example, I will be going over leadership and the Christian foundation that we were created in the image of God. From the very beginning of our creation as humans, we were give leadership over all his creation. With leadership, in any aspect, you will possess tremendous responsibility, and power over others, and their lives. King David stated in Psalm 139 “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-How well we know it.” (Etzel and Gutierrez, Praxis Beyond Theory, 2012, p 61) AS Christians, one knows, without a doubt, that...
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...ASSIGNMENT ONE, FRANCISCAN SOURCES CFS, DECEMBER 2010 Answer to question one: Hagiography is from two Greek words Hagios which means holy or saint and graphy which means writing. Therefore, the word Hagiography means the writing on holy people. In catholic tradition, it is the writing of a saint's live, a study of a saint life. It does not necessarily attempt to give full details, historical account of the life of an individual saint. Rather, it is written so that their life can be an inspiration to people. It is written so that their life can have a salvific effect on people. It is also written so that people can also reflect on the outcome of their life, helps strengthen people's faith. Finally, Hagiography helps us to see the saints as a mirror for us to imitate. Legend is from the Latin word legenda which means something to be read about the life a saint. The Catholic church sees that this person has done something worth worthy therefore it has to be written for everybody because the life of the person worth to imitate. It is written down so that those who have not heard about the person's life can know something about him/her too. So that everyone will see them as a mirror to imitate, role model and as a inspirator. It is written also in order to be read during the feast day or name day of the saint. These are read during holy hour, at meal time The purpose of reading the life of a saint is for edification. Testament is something someone writes as a wish to follow...
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...the Qur’an regarding Jesus pbuh include stories such as Mary conceiving him whilst still a virgin, the details of his birth, and his talking to the people whilst still in his cradle. Also mentioned is the revelation of the Gospel (Injil) onto the prophet Jesus pbuh, his ascending and his second coming before the Day of Judgment. The many amazing facts and miracles referring to the prophet Jesus throughout the Qur’an reflect that he is clearly a significant figure in the Qur’an and in Islam. The birth of Jesus pbuh was a miraculous event as described in the holy Qur’an. Jesus’ mother Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel who gave her good news of a son: 'O Mary, God gives you glad tidings of a son through a word from HIM; his name will be Christ Jesus, son of Mary, honored in this world and in the Hereafter, and of those nearest to God (Quran 3:45). Mary was shocked by this news, as she was still a virgin. She asked the angel how she could have a child when no man had ever touched her. The angel replied: So your Lord says, ‘It is easy for me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to men and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter (already) decided (Quran 19:16-21). The Qur’an states the virgin birth of Jesus pbuh several times. The Quran says that the pain of childbirth overcame Mary. During this pain, God provided her with a stream of water under her feet to drink. A voice came from beneath her and Mary was told to shake the trunk of the palm tree so that dates would fall down and...
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...Saint Ambrose of Milan Introduction “Sanctity is development of initial grace which God gives in the first place; it is a process.” The saints are our examples in living our Christian faith into our lives. They lived their lives in conformity with the will of God. These people are also like us who endure the difficulties and challenges of becoming a true authentic disciple of Jesus Christ. “Saints are not born; they’re made from a lifetime of processing in the Spirit.” All of us can become saints they are just ordinary people like us but their faith makes them extraordinary and by practicing and living the teachings of God in their day to day lives. The saints are our models of holiness and virtues into our lives as a pilgrim in this world. They inspire us and we also asked their intercessions in order to strengthen our faith and love to God. In order to follow Christ let us imitate the virtues that we can get from the life stories of the saints who are the living witness of God’s goodness and love. In this paper, I chose St. Ambrose as the subject of this research. Because when I read his short life story in the book entitled My first Book of Saints by Son of Immaculate Heart of Mary. I was fascinated on his life story on how he lives and serve his life as the Bishop of Milan. St. Ambrose was largely responsible for the rise of Christianity in the West, and he was very courageous and untiring defender of the independence of the Church from the state. Through this...
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...Parables in Society What is a parable? A parable is a short story or a brief tale that is told to illustrate a religious, moral, or philosophical idea. About one third of Jesus Christ’s recorded teachings are in the form of parables. Jesus frequently used parables as a means of illustrating profound, divine truths. Stories such as these are easily remembered, the characters are bold, and the symbolism is rich in meaning. Parables were a common form of teaching in Judaism. Before a certain point in His ministry, Jesus had employed many graphic analogies using common things that would be familiar to everyone (salt, bread, sheep, etc.) and their meaning was fairly clear in the context of His teaching. Jesus told many parables during his ministry that really spoke to the people that he was ministering to and also gave them something to think about as well. I want to know something though; have you ever thought about the parables Jesus told and the fact that they could be true for us today in our society? Have you ever thought about how these parables can be examples of homelessness, inclusion, missionaries, and many other things in our society and how we can learn a lot from these parables? The parables that Jesus told were not just for those whom he personally taught. His parables are part of his gospel and are therefore for all peoples throughout all nations and throughout all time. When he said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15)...
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...My Philosophy of Life 1 Final Paper: My Philosophy of Life Amber DeNooy Colorado Christian University HUM 425 Professor: David Mullaney June 7, 2003 My Philosophy of Life 2 Over the past 13 months that I have been attending CCU, I have learned a great deal about myself. This has been especially true during the past five weeks while in the Personal and Social Ethics course. Our philosophy of life greatly influences our ethical decision- making. This paper will discuss several areas related to my philosophy of life, including my character traits, worldview, theory of knowledge and truth, and principals and values that direct my life. Section 1: Character Traits Who am I? The complete answer to this question would be far too long to discuss in the context of this paper. Therefore, in this section, I will focus on one of my most defining characteristics and two other areas that define who I am. I consider being a Christian my most defining characteristic. My beliefs impact everything in my life. Because my beliefs impact my view on life, they will be discussed in greater detail in section two of this paper. Over the course of this Management of Human Resources (MHR) program, I have learned more about two other areas that define who I am. In one of the MHR courses, we took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (Myers & Briggs, 1993). The MBTI measures personality preferences in four different areas: extraversion (E) versus introversion (I), sensing (S) versus intuition (N)...
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...Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary The Origin of Anabaptists A Paper Submitted to Dr. Sutton In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course CHHI 665- B-05 By Andrew Tressler L21478349 February 2, 2014 Table of Contents Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 Anabaptist Beginnings--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 The Founders of the Anabaptist Movement----------------------------------------------------------10 Persecution of the Anabaptists--------------------------------------------------------------------------12 Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15 Bibliography------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16 Introduction At a surface level looking at Anabaptists one will see a radically reformed sect of Christianity. Digging deeper will bring to light many groups coming together under the belief that the state church was no longer leading and teaching biblical theology. There were groups that popped up all across Europe in the wake of reformation lead by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli. Even before the time of the Anabaptist movement there was a high level of persecution for those who stood against the state church and the pope. There was a difference between what the...
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...TOURISM MANAGEMENT Historical Tourism: A study in Malacca, Malaysia’s Historical City Due Date: 12/12/2011 Executive summary Historical tourism is an important component of the Malaysian economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. Few years ago, historical tourism does not seem like an important asset toward the development of tourism industry but yet, we cannot deny that historical tourism is a contributing part to the industry and also toward the economy now. Historical sites can be used to attract tourist and to increase number of visitors. It is a potential asset to improve Malaysia’s tourism development. Strategies that can be implemented by Tourism Promotion Division of Malacca for future such as increase historic preservation awareness towards some key persons and also citizens. They can help to maintain and expand the state-wide inventory of historic properties and develop improved access and comprehension of historic property’s inventory information and also to encourage respectful utilization of historic and cultural resources as a mean to achieve compatibility with sustainable tourism and economic revitalization. In addition, governments determine to promote cooperation and understanding between participants in the historic preservation review process. It gives a view of past activities that carry out by our ancestors. It connects us with the country. Historical places of a country represent a nation’s identity where it...
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...Genesis The basic genre of the book of Genesis is, for the most part, narrative. There are many key themes and events in Genesis, and quite a few of the most popular Bible stories come from this first book of the Old Testament: God’s creation of everything we have come to know as existence, sin (of Adam & Eve, Sodom & Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel, etc.), God’s promises (of love, acceptance, and forgiveness), Joseph’s coat of many colors, and plenty more. After God’s creation of existence, Adam and Eve were disobedient, and therefore were punished. Over time, the human race had become so sinful that God washed everyone except Noah and his family in a global flood Noah's descendant, Abraham, was chosen by God to create a chosen people. Abraham's twelve grandsons from Jacob (who was later renamed Israel) became the “founders” of the land of Israel's twelve tribes. One of Jacob/Israel's sons, Jacob, was sent to Egypt by his brothers (or so they thought- God had planned this for His own reasons, which were good). Joseph's father and family were saved by a newly powerful him. Exodus Exodus’ basic genre is a narrative as well. Key themes and events include: Oppression of the Jews from the Pharaoh, Moses' characterization as the Jews' rescuer, God's plagues sent upon the people, the first passover, Moses parting the red sea, and the fall of Egypt's army. After all of this, the Jews were searching in the wilderness for the promised land, and although God provided them...
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...French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Hindi, and many other languages. Supernatural: the Life of William Branham took me 17 years to complete. I was 34 when I started and 51 when I finished. To put that into perspective, my four children were in grade school when I began writing this biography. By the time I finished, three of my children were married and I had nine grandchildren. During the 17 years I worked on this project, my life had its ups and downs. I want to thank everyone who prayed for me during those 17 years. Finally I want to thank my four children—Benaiah, Betsy, Shiloh and Hannah—for their patience, their understanding, their encouragement, and their never-failing love. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. —II Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) 2 Introduction William Branham is not the first man in history to say that he talked with an angel; but...
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