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Development of Christianity
Essay the rise of christianity
Development of Christianity
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The author of this book, Lee Strobel, struggled for almost two years, sometimes jumping from one issue or topic to another and then back again, investigating the facts of Jesus for himself. He traces his journey from skepticism to faith. This story stems from a conversation with his best friend, Ersin, who made an offhand remark about his internship with the Chicago Tribune being a blessing from God. This stunned him because he had no idea that his friend believed in God. Ersin was stunned to find out that he was indifferent to God. However, it was someone who he loved dearly that got him to thinking and soul searching and asking questions. But first, Lee admits that it was in high school when he was fourteen years old that he lost his faith in God. In his biology class, he was taught Darwin’s Theory of evolution. That theory made sense to him and gave him a reason to abandon his belief in Christianity. In junior high, his parents had took him to a Protestant Church. He pretended to learn because he knew the Pastor would help him our if he didn’t recite the verses right. He was working on being confirmed as a member of that church. He did become a member and that made his parents happy because they both were believers in God. It was in high school that he met the girl of his dreams. They dated through college, off They are Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, There were many witnesses in the New Testament and contained actual writings by several of the eyewitnesses themselves, These eyewitnesses lived in the same era as Jesus and were very accountable. When Lee started living and doing according to the Bible, he noticed that his life changed for the better, He was beginning to believe not because of the historical reliability but because he was beginning to personally experience the love and joy of faith in
In his conclusion, Chappell admits, “First approaching this story as an atheist, I was surprised and skeptical to hear so many of my subjects – whom I admired from afar – expressing what Bayard Rustin called “fundamentalist” views.” Chappell goes on to describe his reluctance to believe his subject’s testimony of “miracles” had it not been for their frequency and key to the beliefs of his subject’s choices. In a catch-22 situation, perhaps only an atheist could tell this story with an objective mind, but perhaps a religious mind could have given more clarity to certain aspects.
The article Reasonable Doubt by Alice Camille presents reasons for defending the actions of Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ, and relates the factors that not only made Thomas doubt his faith, but the testimonies of the resurrection witnessed by Thomas himself. The article also discusses evidence demanded by Thomas to prove that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Ever since its release and subsequent #1 status on the New York Times' bestseller list, Dan Brown's novel `The Da Vinci Code' has refocused the attentions of scholars and the ordinary man on the historical accuracy of the life of Jesus Christ. The crux of the debate relates to the closure of what are referred to as the Canonical Gospels, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Wright, N. T. Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters. New York: HarperOne, 2011. Print.
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.
...fighting his feelings about not seeing Jesus. He feels that he is lying to God and himself by getting up and being saved even though he cannot see Jesus. Even though the reader knows that he truly is being saved from sin. He is doing something good for himself. Therefore, we can see that he truly does not understand the meaning of God. He is a child on the verge of adulthood. He has every right to be confused and misinterpret religion because he is learning. Religion is metaphorical and imaginative; it is what you believe it to be.
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Being a Christian and a student of Communications, I felt compelled to reading The Case for Christ. I decided to use this book for this review especially due to the large amount of criticisms and backlash it had received. Lee Strobel is known for being a hard-nosed skeptical journalist and ex-investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He also described himself as a "former spiritual skeptic" before his personal mission for the proof of God. Skeptics around the world claim that Jesus either never said He was God or He never exemplified the activities and mindset of God. Either way they rather triumphantly proclaim that Jesus was just a man. Some will go so far as to suggest that He was a very moral and special man, but a man nonetheless. For Strobel, there was far too much evidence against the idea of God, let alone the possibility that God became a man. God was just mythology, superstition, or wishful thinking.
At school he met the love of his life Nancy Shotwell. Whenever he got to school early he would help girls bring their books to their lockers. The girls would think he would call him later but he never did, he just helped them for fun. But one day he helped the most “prettiest, feminine and nicest girl he’s ever seen”. However he never told her how much he loved her till homecoming, and asked her out. “At first a thought she might say no, but then she yelped yes”. It turns out that was the one he was going to marry. They got married December 27 1966 at only 20 years old.
The evangelists wrote their Gospels from the point-of-view of faith, to convince readers ‘to share their faith and serve the God of Jesus Christ”. They demand a response from their readers. This is why they chose to write their accounts in narrative form. Narratives encourage identification with their central character, involve their readers in a rich network of human experiences and draw audiences into their world. in order to understand these narratives and be transformed by them, the modern reader needs to read them as a Bios of Jesus, that draws deeply from the Jewish world and represents the thoughtful testimony of trustworthy eyewitnesses.
The life of Jesus is one that is often discussed and debated among scholars and authors since the time Jesus walked this earth. Gerd Theissen’ s work, Shadow of the Galilean, takes the unique perspective of a grain merchant who has been enlisted by Pilate to find out information on various religious sects and report back to him. After Andreas, the grain merchant’s, first report he is given the task of finding out more about this Jesus who is gaining quite a following. Pilate and the Romans want to know if he is a threat to them. This book follows Andreas as he goes on a journey to find out more about Jesus from various sources for his report to the Romans.
The presentation of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’ The Passion of the Christ, while certainly dramatized, largely stays faithful to the presentation of Jesus in the canonical Gospels. The majority of the differences between this film and the Gospels can be considered creative choices that do not substantially change the narrative, making this film by and large an accurate representation of the scenes in the Bible. However, its near-exclusive focus on Jesus’ trial and death omits much of the context and significance of this event in the life and teachings of Jesus and his greater mission of the salvation of humanity.
Thesis: the historical Jesus was a Galilean man who who lived during the first Century A.D. and gained fame through chicanery and tricks, which ensured him as the basis of modern day Christianity.
The internal evidence test proves whether or not what was recorded is credible and to what extent. Dr. Louis Gottschalk, former professor of history at the University of Chicago, states the ability of the writer to tell the truth is helpful in determining credibility. The "ability to tell the truth" is related in two ways. They are the witness's nearness chronologically and geographically (McDowell 51-52). The New Testament accounts were written by men who were eyewitnesses or related the story from eyewitness accounts.
No matter what religious beliefs or lack there of one holds, history is separated by the birth and events that surround one man; and that man is Jesus of Nazareth. If there is one controversial event that surrounds this historical figure, it is his resurrection that is argued the most. In most scholarly circles, it is accepted that Jesus of Nazareth was born around the first century, while living gathered a religious following, and was crucified by the Romans. It is his resurrection, though that separates secular and believing biblical experts. This paper will discuss the historical validity of the resurrection of Jesus by looking at biblical validity, the evidence surrounding the resurrection, and expert opinions from both sides as whether or not in today’s age it is reasonable to be believed in.