Introduction
Author
One of the greatest mysteries of the Bible is the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Biblical theologians have been baffled about sin in the world. One author, John Murray, the writer of Collected Writings of John Murray, Systematic Theology, volume 2, tackled this issue in his textbook. A former professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, he gives his detailed biblical exposition on the fall of man. Murray has also written Redemption Accomplished and Applied.
Title of book and section
Born in Sutherland County, Scotland, the Scottish-born Calvinistic theologian outlines the fall of man in his systematic theology book. Prior to dealing with the mysteries associated with the fall of man, he
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The New Testament reveals more information of the fall in terms of man’s redemptive history. In Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, he reveals the special relationship between God and his elect family. Moreover, Murray leaves out the fact that Jesus Christ created mankind with God the Father. Although the professor deals with the effects of the fall, this analysis’s paper will excluded this section of the analysis paper.
Two doctrines to understand the fall of man
God’s word gives Christians two Scriptural doctrines concerning the fall of man. First, Jesus Christ as part of the eternal godhead made the world. The evangelist John the apostle, said, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (Jn. 1:3 KJV). Moreover, the third person of the Trinity “also he made the worlds” with God the Father (Heb. 1:2 KJV). God had His elect family before the foundation of the worlds. The Bible teaches, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (Rom. 8:29 KJV). Paul the apostle to the gentiles also said that we were chosen us in (Jesus Christ) before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4 KJV).
The fact of the
MacArthur, John. The Battle for the Beginning: The Bible on Creation and the Fall of Adam.
Jesus Christ became human and walked with men and women. The Creator of heaven and earth became a creature and entered the creation that he made into existence. God made himself known so humanity could have the most basic understanding of who he was and Christ there would be no Christianity. Jesus taught mankind a high view of Scripture and inspired his followers and others to uphold it as God’s Word. (A Starting Point for Wisdom by Jason Hiles and Anna Faith
Christianity falls under the category of Theism, which is the belief in only one personal god. Christian worldview believes that God sent humanity His only son so that we can learn about God and how He wants us to act. Jesus is crucified later in His life on a cross, which relieved us from losing a relationship with God due to our sins. When analyzing the Christian worldview, we learn that God came to earth in human form as Jesus Christ to experience life with humanity and restore earth back to harmony. In this paper I will discuss God, Jesus, and humanity individually, how restoration will occur, and finally, analyze and reflect on the Christian worldview.
This paper is written to discuss the many different ideas that have been discussed over the first half of Theology 104. This class went over many topics which gave me a much better understanding of Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. I will be addressing two topics of which I feel are very important to Christianity. First, I will be focusing on the question did Jesus claim to be God? This is one of the biggest challenges of the Bibles that come up quite often. Secondly, I will focus on character development.
John Hus’s humble beginnings hardly reflect the impact that he would later have on modern day Christianity and the reformation process that would occur within the Church. Yet, his upbringing and early career are an essential part of his legacy, and provide indications of what was to come. John Hus was born in Bohemia, which is located in what is now the Czech Republic. His family was not wealthy but Hus was known for being virtuous, and having a strong set of morals instilled within him, so his decision to study Religion at the University of Prague did not come as a surprise. He received his ...
The four fundamental claims of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Human beings exist in a relation to a triune God, God’s presence in the world is mediated through nature and reality, faith and reason are compatible, the dignity of the human being is inviolable and therefore the commitment to justice for the common good is necessary. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition show that they represent these fundamental claims in a broad distinctive way. This essay will show that these readings better represent one of the fundamental claims, human beings exist in a relation with a triune God, from the view point of three great books from the bible, Genesis, Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew. The Bible clearly supports the
The teaching of the Bible should shape the church’s views on humanity. However, the teaching of the church should not be oblivious of the naturalist explanations of the important issues concerning Anthropology, because Christianity makes bold truth claims about the origin of humanity. It has to face the counter-claims with a fair consideration of their merits. For example the antiquity of humanity has been taken for granted for many years until only recently with the challenges coming from natural sciences. This forces Christians to re-evaluate their claims in order to reconcile what they have always believed with the new findings in science. In response, Christians have either rejected all anthropological data, or argued for the non-historical nature of the text of the Bible, or tried to reconcile biblical information with the scientific data.
The Bible is the holy, inspired, infallible Word of God. Within the Bible, there are different stories and principles that the Lord gave us through special revelation. In the New Testament there were Jewish or religious groups that began teaching unbiblical doctrines. Two of those sects were the Pharisees and the Essenes. The importance of learning about these groups is so that we can see how they were wrong and to make sure we don’t mirror their actions. In this paper I will be comparing the Pharisees’ views on God and Jesus with that of the Essenes’.
The first two parts of the book discuss the kind of theological-historical perspective and ecclesial situation that determines the form-content configuration of Revelation. The first section attempts to assess the theological commonality to and differences from Jewish apocalypticism. Fiorenza focuses of the problem that although Revelation claims to be a genuinely Christian book and has found its way into the Christian canon, it is often judged to be more Jewish than Christian and not to have achieved the “heights” of genuinely early Christian theology. In the second part of the book, Fiorenza seeks to assess whether and how much Revelation shares in the theological structure of the Fourth Gospel. Fiorenza proposes that a careful analysis of Revelation would suggest that Pauline, Johannine, and Christian apocalyptic-prophetic traditions and circles interacted with each other at the end of the first century C.E in Asia Minor. She charts in the book the structural-theological similarities and differences between the response of Paul and that of Revelation to the “realized eschatology”. She argues that the author of Revelation attempts to correct the “realized eschatology” implications of the early Christian tradition with an emphasis on a futuristic apocalyptic understanding of salvation. Fiorenza draws the conclusion that Revelation and its author belong neither to the Johannine nor to the Pauline school, but point to prophetic-apocalyptic traditions in Asia Minor.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem portraying John Milton’s theological standpoints. The theme is knowledge and the fall of man. Milton uses his poem to state some of his theological beliefs and his personal reflections. Milton wrote Paradise Lost in the 17th century but uses influence from classic poets. Milton’s epic is an extremely important piece of literature. The excerpt used in this commentary takes on the subjects of sin and the punishment with regards to the atonement from God’s point of view. Milton’s states many of his own theological opinions but wants the reader to know that God is justified in everything that he does, and also wants them to know that man has free will.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
In order for John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost to fulfill its promise to “justify the ways of God to man,” Milton must prove that man is responsible for his fall from Eden. Throughout the epic, God argues against his culpability in the fall of humanity and insists that Adam and Eve both possess absolute free will. Essentially, the evidence for this idea that his creations held free will concentrates on a connection between reason and the freedom to make informed, correct decisions. This Arminian notion that Man must be responsible for his decision to either accept or refuse to follow God’s instruction because Adam possesses reason and, by extension from this, free will, fails to recognize other factors at play which detract from his ability to exercise his supposedly free will. As an omnipotent being, God would be fully aware of the limitations, desires, and flaws of humanity. Therefore, God’s structuring his creations with potent failings such as
The story of the Fall of Man is known to many people not so much through the Bible as through John Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton's work presents a version that has become part of biblical custom, and to a certain degree aid in the understanding of the Creation and the Fall based on Milton's additions and explanations. The poem's monumental influence aside, Milton's unparalleled perspective has made Paradise Lost one of the most significant works that is relatable to his own era and the present. However, religion is not the only aspect that can be presented at a contemporary angle. By bringing in symbolic figures he invites allegorical interpretations that allow similarities to be made about community structure. Milton appeals to a modern audience by recognizing the structure of society throughout Paradise Lost. Today’s generation remains familiar with this societal component and its various interpretations.
The human race needed salvation because of one sin that affected the rest of humanity. God reached out through Jesus to guide us, “He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men” (Athanasius 2). It was through Jesus that salvation was brought to us because, “God has not only made them of nothing, but had also graciously bestowed on them His own life by the grace of the Word” (Athanasius 5). Another name for Jesus is the Word, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, The glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Schroeder 20). Through this we understand that the Word has been with God since the dawn of time and it was through Him in which creation came to be (Pohle February Seventh).
While Paul does not specifically address mankind’s origins, Romans alludes to the acceptance that God created the