Thesis Statement
In this paper, I argue that the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew is intentionally an redacted text to encourages Christians to expect the Kingdom of God with eschatological hope as well as to bring forth the Kingdom of God in their here and now daily lives through the practice of Jesus’ radical forgiveness as the liturgical prayer of baptism in the ancient Christian church.
In order to prove the thesis of this paper, first, I will analyze the structure of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew. Second, I will explore how the Lord’s Prayer was used as the liturgical prayer in ancient Church, especially the relation with baptism. Third, I will study about the eschatological hope in the first three petitions for God as well as
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In order to do this, a church needs to educate candidates of baptism what Christianity is and how to live as a Christian. Luz mentions about this that the Lord’s Prayer was multifunctional text used in the ancient church as “the essence of the new truth in which they live, the prayer of the new covenant, and the catechetical synthesis of the liturgy.” In this view, the Lord’s Prayer can be a mighty educational tool to manifest and imprint the meaning of baptism through having liturgy and the catechism before and after baptism. Through this, the ancient Jewish church educated the candidates of baptism to change their worldview with eschatological hope as people who have a salvation through God’s forgiveness and their life to live as a citizen in the kingdom of …show more content…
Anton Vögtle, who is author of his article “The Lord’s Prayer: A Prayer for Jews and Christians?” in The Lord’s Prayer and Jewish Liturgy, insists that the sanctification of God’s name and the disclosure of his reign pronounce eschatological revelation of God in Jewish context. It is very clear in history that Jews had experienced the exile for a longtime without their nation, and ancient Christian communities had been persecuted for a longtime until Edict of Milan. For these reasons, most Christian churches focused on the hope coming from the Kingdom of God. In this context, Hagner argues that “the petition for God refers to God acting in fulfillment of the promises to Israel, and God’s name will only be properly honored when he brings his kingdom and accomplishes his will on earth” In this view, the petitions for God in the Lord’s Prayer not only endow Christians the hope of their future but also imply the exhortation to live as the citizen of the Kingdom of God even though their reality was not seemed to have a hope for
“Recovering the Scandal of the Cross,” (Green, Baker) presents an alternative means of thinking for Christians theologically. The author’s task of interpreting culture and communicating within a culture is incredibly difficult. Much of the biblical teaching of God is rooted into communicating to a specific group of people and a certain culture. Yet God has chosen the Bible as the method of communicating himself to the world. Green and Baker begin to lay the groundwork of historical influence of atonement from Anselm and Irenaeus. They later introduce ideas from Charles Hodge and penal substitution. There are four major models of explanations of the atonement: Christus Victor, penal substitution, satisfaction and moral influence. Although others are mentioned in the book, this sets the stage of the historic dilemma from which they can view atonement in their discussion of tradition.
Here one can see the significance of baptism extending far beyond the momentary act that is the baptismal rite. Baptism is an act of birth; it gives an immediate and direct connection with Christ’s resurrection, and it lays the foundation for fellowship, which
Henri de Lubac was a Christian theologian who studied and discussed his concern with many aspects in the Christian theological context. He had focused on ideas such as the use of the terms ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’ within Christian theology. His research in this area had lead into de Lubac furthering his studies in the medieval exegesis; as well as, his study in ecclesiology. Some of de Lubac’s work and publishing’s had lead him in troubling situations, in particular his work on the idea of ‘supernatural’ and his publication ‘Surnaturel’. De Lubac’s study and writings of ecclesiology have influenced the Second Vatican Council, and his writings on medieval exegesis helped him regain his acceptance into Christian society. Henri de Lubac’s perspective and position on these topics will be discussed throughout this paper; as well as, the effect his studies had on theology and his theological career.
This paper covers all the different viewpoints on the life of Jesus with thorough research exploring the Gospels. Moreover it gives us useful insights related to the preexistence, birth, childhood, miracles all the way up to the death and resurrection of Jesus and helped us to better understand how writings are manipulated in order to achieve its success which in this case are the gospels.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
In Christian communities, especially communities that practice adult baptism, the ritual is seen as more than just an act of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The specific actions associated with baptism have evolved to represent Jesus’ death (the liminal stage) and resurrection (the reaggregation stage). By manipulating the symbolic actions in the ritual “so as to bring them into parallel with the pre-established non-symbolic system,” we are better able to understand the symbolism of the three stages of this rite of
The New Testament is a collection of different spiritual literary works, which includes the Gospels, a history of early church, the epistles of Paul, other epistles and apocalypse. Without deeply thinking or researching of the chronological order of the Gospels, a reader should not have problem to observe that the Gospels begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and to notice that there are many common areas, including content and literary characteristics, among the first three Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
One of the more surprising features of the Christian faith is that it produced at its very beginning a substantial body of writings. That this should be the case is by no means a necessity: not all religious movements produce writings. Furthermore, that these writings should be collected into one book and thus become a sacred corpus, and that this sacred corpus should continue to influence the life of believers and to determine the content and the practices of the faith two thousand years later is also remarkable.
This paper will compare the concept of the Messiah within Judaism and the development of the messianic tradition within Christianity. Consideration will be given to Judaic thought on how this religion understands the concept of the Messiah. Defining how throughout history it shaped the foundation of this religion to distinguish its own individual identity. Analysis will focus on the abstraction of the Messiah and how Jewish believers interpret the coming of the Mashiach in connection with the prophecy of Isaiah. Discussing how eschatology is understood in this religion compared to Christianity, and how different Jewish groups define the Messiah prophecy from early history up until the modern day era. The paper will also discuss the development of the Messianic tradition within Christianity, focusing on the prophets, Jesus and how the messianic period is defined in Christian theology; in order to establish if the son of God has arrived in this world and fulfilled his promise through death and resurrection, or if the messiah and the messianic age is still yet to come as understood in Judaism.
One of the greatest debates that continues to rage on amongst theologians, as well as others, is in regards to the balance between the humanity and the divinity of the person of Jesus Christ (also known as Christology). This debate can be especially challenging in the Scripture passage of Matthew 26:36-46 where the reader finds Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Many of the ancient and medieval theologians worked to explain away apparent humanistic characteristics seen in this section of the text, while more modern theologians seem to be more open to embracing these characteristics. While the ancient and medieval theologians may not have embraced the humanity of Jesus, the translations and backgrounds of the words “cup”, “grieved”, and “agitated”, along with the translation of the passage itself, the humanity of Jesus is not only present in the passage but also a necessity to the salvation of humanity through the sacrifice of Jesus. Simply put, for the salvation through death to be relatable for humanity, Jesus had to also be, at least in part, fully human as well as being fully divine.
Hiestand, Gerald. "Not "Just Forgiven" : How Athanasius Overcomes The Under-Realised Eschatology Of Evangelicalism." Evangelical Quarterly Jan 2012 (2012): Christian Periodical Index. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Matthew directed this passage toward the Matthean reader for it supplies instruction and a sense of warning to those who wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. “Matthew uses tension and surprise, in both form and content, to address this situation, while affirming that Jesus Christ, “God is with us,” is the defining figure around which the community’s self-understanding, imagination, and social relations are to be formed” (Saunders 871). By presenting the text in the form of a parable, the message of God’s will is omitted in a historical and cultural context that enables society to comprehend the meaning behind the words chosen by Matthew.
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
Through the various calls for response made by the priests, “let us be attentive”, “let us pray to the Lord”, “peace be with you” and “servant of God” tradition is linguistically demonstrated. Each of these and other prayers was concluded with a response or “Amen” typically by the priest or the choir. Also, we saw reminders of God’s beauty in the images of those who loved and served the Lord throughout the ages as painting on the ceilings and walls.
It is followed by years of catechesis before being completed late by Confirmation and the Eucharist, the summit of Christian initiation. Baptism is the Church 's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God and the promise of salvation. 'Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised..." ' (Acts 2: 38-39) Baptism happens not only to the individual, but also the wider Church. At the time of Christ it signified that the person being baptised became a follower of Christ and acquired a relationship with him. '... I (Paul) also baptised the household of Stephanas... ' (1 Corinthians 1:16) The rite is celebrated with the community present and actively participating. It is the community, who will journey with them throughout their