Katherine Biddle
English 110
David Satran
Final Report
5/17/2014
My Evolution Through the Bible
Prior to taking the time to learn about the origin of The Bible, and The Bible itself, I must admit that I was quite biased against it. Since taking the time to learn about The Bible, it provides to me guidance, valuable lessons, and a divine explanation. Reflecting on what I learned from reading the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and the remaining gospels, I now find myself to be enlightened and educated, holding the many works and terms in The Bible with value and meaning.
In order to express what I have learned from these works it is critical that I reflect on what I believed prior to this course. I believed that God was a controlling tyrant; one that held ultimate power over humans, yet also gave power when he thought deserved. Why did he get to chose? This thought process arose from jealousy. Why Him? Why should one being be worshiped and prayed to as the "almighty?" Never having cracked the cover of The Bible myself is what contributed to my lack of enlightenment. I also believed The B...
Metanarrative Essay The Biblical metanarrative can be explained by a Christian as the true and triumphant story from the beginning in Genesis until the future is prophesied in Revelation. Others who may not be a Christian do not understand the true power and love God has over us and for us and may just simply see it as a story or a rule book that they don’t want to follow. They see the Bible and all the things and plans God has for us and our lives and just think they don’t want any part of it and instead they live in sin. It is important that these people not only learn the true story but understand it as well.
“Instead of stubbornly attempting to use surrealism for purposes of subversion, it is necessary to try to make of surrealism something as solid, complete and classic as the works of museums.”-Salvador Dali. Museums have served as cultural center, where people of all walks come and learn the magnificent artifacts that helped shaped the world we live in today. These Museums safeguard these precious items while making it accessible for the public to reconnect with one’s history. With this the museum fulfills two of its purposes; preserve the artifacts, and make it available for all to enjoy learning the fragments of the past that contributed in making of the world today. Recently, my I had the opportunity to visit the Dunham Bible Museum, in Houston, Texas. Though small in size, this particular Museum offers us the sight of the lineage of Bibles that has been passed down and made through time in many different forms and literature, and the methods of how such great books were copied and printed. Not to forget the underlying history of many great men and women who contributed their lives in the creation of such historic pieces. Some examples of the artifacts that can be found in this museum are:-The Gutenberg’s printing press, Gutenberg Bible, Algonquin Bible, Esther Manuscript, and the Luther’s German Bible.
People hold many differing opinions about Genesis 1-3. Some people believe that God didn't want Adam and Eve to have the knowledge of good and evil because it would make them as gods. The purpose of this essay is to show that Adam and Eve caused the downfall of mankind.
Human identity can be summed up by looking at it from two perspectives. Who we are in our natural state and who we are in Christ. Mankind in his natural state is driven by his sin nature. Romans 1-8 perfectly lays out who and what we are in our natural state. It also lays out who and what we are in Christ. “For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” (Romans 3:9 NIV) In Romans 1:29-31, Paul gives a long list of wicked behaviors that are still prevalent in today’s society, which lets me know that we, in our natural state, are the same as we always have been. There are no exceptions to the rule, besides that of Christ. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (3:23) Paul emphasizes in Romans 1-3 how people have tried to free themselves from their sin nature by depending on the Law to no avail. The Law could not bring about justification (Acts 13:39), produce righteousness (Galatians 2:21), produce life (Galatians 3:21), bring about perfection (Hebrews 7:19) or free the conscience from a knowledge of sin (Hebrews 10:1-4). (Johnson, 1896) The fact is that God’s standards are perfect and we alone can never live up to them by any religious act or moral behavior. The good news is that God knew all of this. He knew that by our strength alone, we could not overcome our own sin nature. He sent us a perfect sacrifice to permanently fulfill the Law. That sacrifice was his only Son, Jesus Christ. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25) Through faith in Jesus Christ, the grace of God has been given to us. Now, rather than being bound we are made free. Instead of unrighteousness abounding in ou...
To begin, before a person can debate the validity of anything, they must first understand the topic they are debating. So is the case here. A person must first understand the Bible and its origins before they can try and prove or disprove it. The Bible itself is composed of 66 books divided int...
What is Christianity and why has it been able to develop into a continuously growing and evolving religion?
Every Christians today knows the story of Jesus birth. The story of how Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a censes declared by the Roman Empire. While not being able to find an inn to stay in and Mary getting ready to give birth, they stow away in the cave where the animals were kept. While there Mary gave birth to a son and called him Jesus. While Jesus was in a manger a heavenly host of angles came down and also Shepard’s from the field came and rejoiced the savior was born. This is where the typical nativity scene comes from. Unless you have a Doctorate and teach a History of the New testament class and go into fine detail about the story, then story this is what people hear. Well this is for History of the New Testament so the fine details are what we are looking for. Most people do not realize that the story they tell every Christmas is actually a combination of two stories. The birth story is told in the Gospels of Luke and the Gospels of Mathew but each tell a very different version of what actually happened and that is what leads to people questioning the accuracy of the bible today.
There are many Christians, whether you believe or not that question why they should read the Old Testament/Hebrew bible. They feel it is unnecessary because of todays’ times and how things have changed, so they think that the Bible is far behind in what is going on in today’s world. Nevertheless, the Bible is current and is never outdated; therefore, we should never assume, especially as Christians that there is nothing new we can learn from the Bible. Reasons why Christians should read the Old Testament is because we should know that the Bible is still relevant in today’s world, to know God and his nature which in turn can transform one’s life, and to get wisdom and understanding so that they can apply to their lives.
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
The biblical narrative is one that is still going on to this day. The biblical narrative tells the story of God and how he reveals himself to us. Rhodes points out that “God comes to each through a historical event or series of events” (2). It is in this way that God reveals himself to us and this maintains the relevance of the biblical narrative in our lives. God reveals himself through formative stories in the bible such as Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, The Flood, God’s Covenant with Noah, and the Tower of Babel. From the very beginning of the biblical narrative we see that God relates to us on a personal level. He created us, he formed us, he created the world in which we live, and he has been an active participant in the narrative since before it began.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three great religions of the world. They are all monotheistic religions, which mean the followers believe in one God. Each religion has a sacred book that contains God 's message for the world. These books are the Jewish Torah, the Christian Bible, and the Muslin Qur 'an (Religion Explained 16).
I began this course thinking my worldview was that of a Christian Theist, as I had come to discover, as the course progressed, my worldview was a mixed bag of beliefs outside the elementary belief of Christian Theism. I was not disheartened by this finding, but surprised. The realization then set in that I was uneducated or did not know God like I thought. In fact my beliefs appeared to be more influenced by society than the deity of God. Fortunately, this is a learning experience intended to bring me closer to the truths of Christianity and an understanding of the beliefs of others.
Jesus Christ was the light that came to earth to brighten the lives of the people. He taught phenomenal and meaningful lessons that changed many hearts and caused people to accept Jesus as their Lord. Jesus Christ is the life of Christianity; the Word of God in flesh. His life, his ministry, and his crucifixion where prophesied long before he was born and Christians believe that they were all fulfilled. He had so much love for human kind that he came to earth to die for the sins of the people, so that their souls would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Bible testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who taught memorable life lessons and performed astonishing miracles during his ministry.
The religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are alike in many ways but they also share many differences. Judaism and Christianity use the bible in their holy scriptures, while Islam does not. Jesus Christ is a part of all three religions as Christianity and Islam developed from Judaism. Many believe that the three religions worship, pray to, and focus on the same god. They believe this as many of the prophets are they share much in common as they share many beliefs. However, the followers of the three religions pray differently and in different places. the religions believe that their god created the world and everything in the world. The three Abrahamic religions have different histories, yet they share many similarities and difference.
Before beginning my first semester here at Vanguard I often found myself questioning why I believe what I believe. I had a hard time understanding the bible and an even harder time finding answers to my questions. It was difficult for me to find the courage to ask questions because I didn’t want to come off as someone who didn’t know everything about the bible. Once I started my freshman year I began understanding that I am not alone, every one has questions or things that they don’t quite understand. Encountering The New Testament broke down parts of the bible and made it much easier for me to understand.