...Critique Lehman Strauss the author of the article, Why God Became Man, taught Old Testament history for eight years. From there he served as a Pastor of 2 different Baptist churches and then devoted himself full time to a Bible conference and evangelistic ministry. Writing his 19th book, he passed away in 1997. This article provides a very in depth look at why God became man. It is informative, full of knowledge and wisdom. It lays out the incarnation and the virgin birth in detail that helps people understand the difference but also the way it links together why Christ came and lived as man and what He did while He was here. He came to reveal God to man, man to himself, He came to redeem man, He came to restrain satan, He came to rescue the whole creation, to restore Israel, and He came to reign. He did much more than just save mankind and give us a bridge to God. The strength in this article is all the scripture used to connect one event to another and how it explains in detail from the Old Testament to the New Testament the role Christ would fill coming to the earth and taking on human form. The scripture used in the article encompasses both Old and New Testament and it is given with great explanation and detail so it is easy to understand and follow. Strauss lays out a very informative article that pulls you in and makes you thirst for more knowledge. For the Christian this article helps to articulate what is probably common knowledge but adds to what is the common...
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...Journal Review: Why God Became Man Kenneth Paul Watson II Liberty University THEO 313-D03 July 20, 2015 Critique Upon reading Why God Became Man, the author’s purpose becomes clear: to help the reader understand the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His purpose for doing so. The article goes into great detail in defining incarnation, how Jesus, from eternity, took human form, and His multi-fold purpose for becoming man. Strauss takes an orderly and focused approach to the article guiding the reader so that they understand the basis for incarnation and why Jesus became God-man. While lengthy, the article has logical structure and each point felt concise. The author demonstrated thorough knowledge of the Bible and of the person of Christ as he quoted multiple verses from both the Old Testament and New Testament to validate his claims. There were few assumptions as each argument became validated by scripture. Strauss failed to reference opposing viewpoints and arguments directly, but in a few instances generalized a couple of viewpoints that Christians have of the incarnation. For instance, when discussing the “steps in Christ’s exaltation,” instead of generalizing, Strauss should have provided direct opposing sources to help in strengthening the point. In reading the article the general purpose felt more to teach and explain incarnation as opposed to the defense of the concept, which may explain the lack of opposing viewpoints. Strauss used strong, precise, and...
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...will be gone and everything we have built will be worthless? I would like to argue that it is not necessarily the end that matters the most but the journey. Dying in the end should not mean that we have to live our lives miserably. I believe that death and factitious freedom are deeply intertwined with the thesis question "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" In this paper, we carefully examine not just the father-son relationship between Jesus and God but Jesus as both God-Man through the hypostatic union (As given in the thesis question) , its relationship to people and the very purpose of His and generally an individual's death vis-a-vis human freedom. It is very difficult to try to elaborate this issue that has been going on for years without being theological. There is a gap between theology and philosophy in such a way that theology's main ingredients are faith and belief and philosophy is sheer rationality. Theology becomes rational only if the people have faith or belief in God. Philosophy challenges people through the premises grounded on reason and reality that usually come in conflict with those who believe in God. There is no concrete way to prove if God is real or not, but religion is that powerful that even if there is uncertainty people even die for devotion. This is one...
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...“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in his shall not perish but have ever lasting life.” We see the humanity of Jesus so perfectly in this scripture. Jesus was given to the world to live a sinless, perfect life so that the world would see in flesh the Devine Authority of God. In Elwells article of Christology he points out that the virgin birth and resurrection are obvious signs of his humanity because just as humans, he was born and he died. There are many verses that explain the deity of God but the most basic and important in my opinion is Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The question of God’s deity rests in the very first verse of the Bible. He created the world for us to be sinless and blameless and we messed it up. So He gave us His only son to die on the cross for OUR sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven. We are so undeserving of his love and forgiveness but He gives it to us anyway. In the scenario above a man claims “Jesus was a man and as such could not also be God.” However, 1 Corinthians 3:23 simply states, “and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” First off, I would like to say that God is the almighty, powerful, sovereign, Eternal Father. He can be both God and Man because he is all-powerful. The Hypostatic Union explains the union of the divine nature and the human nature in the incarnation of the Son of God so that Jesus is truly God and truly Man. ...
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...Journal Critique – “Why God Became Man” The journal article “Why God Became Man”, provides an in-depth analysis on the incarnate birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus, born of the Father and of the Virgin Birth, Jesus truly was God. In Jesus Christ was the nature of God and because of the Virgin Birth, He truly was of God. God is the one unquestionable Deity, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. For those unaware of God, His love and his selfless act of sending His Son to save us, the article contained seven clear distinct truisms about Jesus. The facts brought forth about Jesus: God brought himself to our lowly level through Jesus Christ, born as a servant, made in the likeness of man, he faced the sins of the world as do we, He portrayed the true example of being humble, He remained obedient to God, and he willingly died for us. Jesus was born into a simple human existence, though He remained God incarnate. Strauss brought to light in the article that we, as humans, regardless of our belief in God cannot truly comprehend the love and sacrifice God brought in the giving of Jesus Christ. Only God can understand the love felt for us in the sending of Jesus Christ. Jesus brought us salvation and redemption. Jesus came to reveal himself to us and to rescue all of humankind. We are also equally unable to understand the perfection of God, as found in the Deity. Throughout the article, Strauss used Scripture to back up and illustrate every point made. Strauss...
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...the bible, incarnation and atonement became satisfaction and a sacrifice to God or a way in with him. Jesus, who is the son of God born of the Virgin Mary, came to earth with a purpose. His purpose was to protect mankind from themselves and restore the world to a loving and compassionate place, like that of which God had for humanity despite the corruptness of the world. Jesus was initially a man brought here by his father so that the inhabitants of the world could see the wonder of God through the eyes of Christ. From him healing the cripple to making the blind see, Jesus became God walking on earth to make the people believe again, not only in him but in the love for themselves and his love for us. The Son of man took on the sins of all of Gods people and, by doing so, he paid a big price for it. The cross that he carried, became nailed to, beaten and died on was for the worldly sins of humanity so that we may live again and have a chance at a...
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...being like man. I would personally define it as making something humanlike; with emphasis on the word something. Anthropomorphism applies in scenarios that range from a talking yellow sponge working as a fry cook to Greek gods and goddess being portrayed as having humanlike appearances and emotions. Anthropomorphism has always been applicable when studying theology. To simply put it, it is like viewing God as human in order to learn about Him and understand Him which is perfectly fine for some. However; there is a big debate that since God is a transcendent being, it would be misleading to describe Him like a human. So which side do I take? Quite frankly, I will say that I accept the notion that man can speak of God as if God is like man. With that, I have one reason and one reason only of thinking this way which is . . . Jesus, the son of God, became human. Having a Catholic background and coming from a Catholic school, my faith leads me to believe that Jesus is fully divine and fully human at the same time. In my opinion, Jesus becoming human is God’s way of saying that He wants us to understand Him more. To be fair, others might argue that Jesus is not God but the Son of God; but I respond with my faith that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is the Holy Trinity. I remember two things that priests in my high school would always say: “God loves you” and “God is perfect”. “God loves you” talks about God having human emotions and “God is perfect”...
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...over it and was drawn to one sentence: “Jesus was a man and as such could not also be God.” Seeing the puzzled look on my face, one of the men asked me what I thought about the claim. The Biblical basis for Jesus humanity can be illustrated in scripture. John 1:14 states: “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory of the only Son of the Father.” When Jesus was born, God became a man. He was not part man and part God, he was completely human and completely divine. Jesus Christ is the perfect expression of God in human form. Another important doctrine of Christianity is that of Jesus deity. In John 10:30 it reads: “The Father and I are one.” This is the clearest statement of Jesus divinity he ever made. Jesus and his father is not the same person but are triune in the nature of the Godhead. On page 158, Towns explains that, “The Biblical basis for Jesus deity is His pre-existence and eternity. Jesus has always existed as stated, John 8:58: “Jesus answered, “The truth is, I existed before Abraham was even born!” This is one of the most powerful statements uttered by Jesus. When he said that he existed before Abraham was born he undeniably proclaimed his divinity. In addition, the Bible teaches that Jesus is both God and man at the same time, (Hypostatic Union). The Bible supports that Jesus is God by showing all the attributes of God. Matthew 18:20 reveals Jesus is everywhere. “For where...
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...which was built on the premise of an Almighty God. Prior to the Enlightenment, the answer to countless questions was only known to God and God alone; however, with the deterioration of this presumption, man was left to discover everything he once believed to be incomprehensible. These noble men questioned religion, science, mathematics and eventually came to question how men should be governed, how money and economics should function and how the human race should operate. The examination of mankind led to many varying philosophies that depicted men as wild, blood-thirsty beasts of passion or sensible, upright creatures, creating juxtaposition. Many forms of writing were directly influenced by the social and philosophical measures this time period contained. Articulated in the literature was man’s questioning of every idea that was once certain, promoting the desire to examine human nature. The influx of knowledge and reason combine with the rebuttal against the idea of an omniscient deity heavily influenced Enlightenment literature. With the invention of the printing press in 1440, the role of the monks in filtering and then copying by hand the literature was greatly diminished which enabled the literature to slowly move away from the influence of religion. In A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume essentially disregards the influence of God and religion upon man in his writing. In the entire work of hundreds of pages, he mentions God only four times, three of...
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...article “Why God Became Man” details several arguments as to why the incarnation of Jesus Christ happened in the manner in which it did. The author states several truths that were affirmed by early Church doctrine at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. The Council of Chalcedon stated that Christ was both truly man and truly God. The author based on the topic selected and the use of biblical references has an evangelical Christian worldview and adheres to the understanding that the Bible is infallible and inspired, which he displays in this article. Furthermore, the author clearly displays dispensationalist views within his article by noting at the end, the time in which Christ will be seated on David’s throne and that Israel was not forgotten by the incarnation of the Son. A dispensationalist view is a belief there are two distinct peoples of God, which are the Church and Israel, which the Church did not replace. Strauss constructs his arguments by using the Bible to support whether or not something is God’s truth for if God reveals something in His own word then it must be true, because God does not lie or deceive, Numbers 23:19. Strauss uses seven points to establish a support for the incarnation of Christ, which are, He came to reveal God to man; He came to redeem man; He came to rescue the whole creation; He came to restore Israel and He came to reign. These seven points are used to reveal why and what Christ accomplished when he was manifest as a man on this...
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...men approached me, handing me some literature on why Jesus was a man and not also God. The gentlemen asked me, what do you think of our claim? I responded, If Jesus is just a man, were all doomed, because his humanity and deity are inseparable”. I explained to them, that the biblical basis for Jesus humanity was that he came as sacrifice for our sins and to identify with his creation. I told them,” it’s important to remember that his humanity is different from ours”. Jesus had no sin that permeates the rest of us. Jesus is what God intended for us to be. It’s through Jesus that our humanity can be purely and truly expressed. He always did the right thing and never sinned. None of us can say the same thing (Romans 5:12-19). The Biblical basis for Jesus humanity is just as important as his biblical basis for his deity. In 1Corithians15:3-8 Jesus deity is stated. That, for what I received I passed on to you as of first importance. That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to scripture, and he appeared to Peter, than to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same place, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, than to all apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For Jesus to die on the cross for sins of man, profess to be God, and to take opposition throughout his entire...
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...Testament and the second portion is called the New Testament. THESE MAIN QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED IN GENESIS 1- Why do we live? 2- Why do we die? 3- Why does the evil exist? CREATION IN 1ST VERSION - God created man in his own image. - God created the man and female at the same time - God created man after he ended all his work. - The first creation story says that grass and trees were created before the sun, moon and stars, whereas we know that stars were created first, then the earth and the moon. Only later was it possible for grass and trees to evolve. Finally, God created man in his own likeness- there is no suggestion of any evolution here. - God let man dominion over everything.(ıt shows the importance of man) - God said man “ be fruitful, be multiply and replenish the earth. CREATION IN 2ND VERSION - There was a garden in Eden and he put the man whom he had formed. - The was a tree of knowledge of good and evil ● So we understand that in 2nd Version, there is Good an Evil. - The second creation story says that a man was created first, before any other animal, whereas scientists tell us that many animals existed before humans, who are of relatively recent origin. This version also says that every plant of the field was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew, fort he Lord God had nat caused it to rain upon the earth. In other words, in this account, plants needed neither creation nor evolution...
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...February 22, 2015 Table of Contents Introduction 2 What Causes Humans to Suffer? 2 Pain is Inevitable 2 Humans Seek Personal Pleasure 3 Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen? 4 Free Will 4 God’s Authentic Love 5 The Purpose for Suffering 6 Draws Man to God 6 Repentance 7 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Pain and Suffering in the Christian Experience There are numerous schools of thought in regards to why humans suffer. Christians question why a loving God allows bad things happen to His people. They wonder how sufferings in the life of a Christian can possibly build faith. These ideas will be explored through the life and works of theologian and scholar, C. S. Lewis. Answers will be sought through the examination of Lewis’s personal experiences, his theological studies and his fictional writings. This paper will prove that human pain and suffering is essential in the Christian experience by examining the reasons human suffer, why God does not intervene to prevent suffering, and how pain and suffering might build faith and draw people closer to God. The reality that Christians, who devote their lives to God suffer, is a source of angst for many. As humans develop, they assimilate every experience and thought they have had into the way they view and interpret the world around them. Every person in this...
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...evidence that God can’t be in the presence of sin, now there’s physical evidence that God never left Jesus and was actually close by the whole time. Don said it’s possible that the human aspect of Jesus just felt distant from God and isolated. Is it possible that God didn’t change at all, but maybe the application of the world’s sin changed Jesus, or caused him to lose his ability to commune with God so it appeared to Jesus that God had turned away? I started to pray heavily to better understand what Jesus experienced when sin was placed on him. Was there something about his God-man nature that fundamentally changed? I developed a new hypothesis and potential closing: Jesus...
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...THE DECLINE OF EUROPEAN CHIRSTIANTY A Paper Presented to Professor Joshua Earls of Liberty University Lynchburg, VA In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for Christian Church History CHHI 302 By Tracy Barber November 8, 2012 INTRODUCTION In this paper I will focus on the reasons why European Christianity (both Protestant and Catholic) has declined. In order to do this we will study a couple of factors. First, the major factors that aided in shift of the decline. What effect did the “Thirty Year War’ have on the overall decline of European Christianity. What effect did “The Thirty Year War” have concerning religious commitment and civil and political concerning life? Then I will focus on other factors that brought Europeans Christianity to the point that it came to in the past, and look at other factors as well. Finally, I will paint a clear picture as to the effect of all the concerns that I have taken place (years of war), and look to see the positive and the negative effect all the different changes has brought. Wars of Religion These wars set the stage regarding the progress and the decline regarding Christianity, one would think that this form of action (War) would somehow aid in the advancement of Christianity (this not the case). Then religious values were regarded as of primary concern. The great thinkers on political and economic subjects usually based their ideas...
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