Key Note: Luke’s concept of salvation “today” is not just application to the present—it is a rhetorical strategy, aimed at bearing witness to audiences of all times and places regarding the saving power of Jesus. By “today”, Luke’s … narratives certainly draw attention to the here and now of faithful living. For Luke, God’s reign has not just drawn near; it stands right before us “today” in Jesus’ ministry. Whatever Luke’s intentions with “today” language, it do...
The book of First Corinthians is the seventh book of the New Testament. The epistle to the First Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul at the close of his three years residence in Ephesus. There was an occasion of this Epistle of a letter of inquiry concerning such things as marriage and the use of foods offered to idols. Paul was also greatly troubled by reports from Corinth of deepening divisions, increasing contentions, and other problems, and by a case of incest that had not been ju...
Liberal theology is rooted in modern, secular theories of knowledge and has moved towards participation in the work of the church as the priority for Christians at the expense of delineating theological belief, which has led to the abandonment of many orthodox beliefs in many mainline denominations.
The prophetic religion is concerned with the religion of Israel as it affects the activities of prophets in the land of Israel. Israel had a shift in religion at a time, and such was the period of the prophets speaking through God. This time has been interpreted to be theocratic in nature and redirecting in the actions of the people. It was when God's holy law for life had ceased to be an effective force for molding men and society that God raised up men to call the people back to Him and His...
The book of Galatians was written by Apostle Paul to the Galatian believers. It is a sturdy defence of the doctrine that “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Dunnett 55). The letter deals directly with the most basic theological question faced by the first Christian generation about how the gospel affects the Jewish-Gentile division (Silva 1206). Paul established churches in Galatia composed primarily of Gentiles who received the Gospel eagerl...
Abstract God desires to help his children at all times. In this, the believer has a responsibility in this plan and that is the prayer earnestly. This metaphorical use of ask, seek and knock is vital and that forms the basis of this exegetical paper.
Our text, Matthew 7:1-12 falls under the first block which is Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus was teaching his disciples on judging other persons, on persistent prayer and the Golden Rule. Jesus in this passage taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer; but our concentration this morning shall be on Jesus’ principle towards judgment of others and on his teaching which is regarded as the Golden Rule.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a systematic exposition of Calvinism, written from a Puritan viewpoint. It was originally drafted to reform the Church of England and to unify the various Christian sects in England at that time. The document addresses doctrines such as the Trinity, the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, sola scriptura, and sola fide. The full Westminster Confession of Faith can be found here.
This paper discusses the prophetic ministry and the order of training employed at the time of the Old Testament. Worthy of note is that, the name given to bands of prophets or “sons of prophets” living together for instruction and worship under Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha. Little is known about these schools, but they seem to have been important religious institutions in Israel and references to them are frequent. Not all the “sons of the prophets” claimed to have a supernatural gift;...
This paper discusses the prophetic ministry and the order of training employed at the time of the Old Testament. Worthy of note is that, the name given to bands of prophets or “sons of prophets”living together for instruction andbworship under Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha
How should Christians come to the end of life? What is the appropriate use of technology to prolong life?How can we assure that when our time to die comes we will do it in answer to the call of God rather than because all of the technology of modern medicine has been exhausted?These are difficult questions. We will not find easy answers. We must never trivialize them. Nevertheless, I believe that if we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures and truly begin to think biblically, we will emerge...
Death is not something that we enjoy talking about, at least not seriously (the jokes are innumerable), and funerals are even less popular as a topic of serious conversation. Joseph Bayly called death The Last Thing We Talk About. Yet such discussions ought not be left to the end, for if we have time to discuss it at the end (we often don’t since such appointments are rarely made in advance!), we are often in the least objective place to do so. Pain, grief, and sorrow typically color the ...
The first five books of the Bible (both Hebrew and Christian) are foundational to all of Scripture and rank as one of the most important portions of the Word of God (Wolf17). This is so because its theological and historical revelations are necessary for an understanding of the rest of the Old Testament and the New Testament as well.These five books contain, for example, God's revelation about the origin of the world with its emphasis on the creation of man made in the image of God, how si...
Abstract This dissertation is an exegetical reflection and application of Hebrews 1:1-4 from the Ewe Bible in the Ewe context using two main approaches, the Mother Tongue Criticism methodology of biblical studies and the Comparative Approach. Over the years, many African Christian scholars have painstakingly endeavoured to bring the traditional religions of non-Westerners such as in Africa and Asia from the margins to the centre of focus for Christian engagement. The idea is not revolutionary...
Abstract For obvious reasons, it is fair enough to stratify a movement like the Brotherhood of The Cross and Star as being outside Orthodox Christianity. All the major Christian doctrines are interpreted very loosely and in fact, there is a lot of inconsistency. There are also signs of much Islamic influence in the movement, although it is not an amalgamation of the two religions; indeed, it is distinct from both. However, there are number of interesting lessons ranging from the origin, belie...