With a topic as broad and vast as the Christian life, it is certain that there are many different viewpoints and insights to consider. Whether it be about our understanding of God or how we view the life of Jesus, different philosophies and schools of thought offer us various answers that, although they may have some commonalities, are fundamentally very different. When exposed to the traditional views of Barron, the historically critical views of Borg, the contemplative ideology from Laird, and the postmodern philosophy of Caputo, one is forced to develop different perspectives and expressions of the Christian faith as a whole.
To begin with, these various works looked at the life of Jesus Christ in very different manners. Sure there is
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According to Borg, this was not the way of Jesus. Since he came from a low position in society as a carpenter, Jesus was not in a position to show mercy, but rather focused on being compassionate, that is, feeling with others, alongside them rather than above. This is a distinction that, although he may actually agree with, Barron fails to make.
Borg’s ideas do not stand alone however. John Caputo, for one, certainly shared Borg’s sentiment regarding Jesus’s place in society. In his work, What Would Jesus Deconstruct?, Caputo speaks about the process of deconstruction and reorientation. He deals with the transformation he feels Christians must make in order to rid themselves of their past misconceptions, and the reorientation they must seek, to find the real truth. Caputo emphasizes that Jesus’ nature would cause many modern day Christians “to cross to the other side of the street if they saw him approaching” (Caputo, 33). Caputo goes on to say that, “Jesus is most likely to be found in the worst slums, among the dispossessed people, on the most dangerous streets in a modern city” (Caputo, 28). These understandings of who Jesus was are an important aspect in what Caputo and Borg consider Jesus’ mission to be. Further separations between the traditionalist, Barron, and the historical critic, Borg, come in how they describe the impacts of Jesus’ actions, and the changes he was trying to bring about.
Christianity is a Theism worldview that focuses on the belief in one personal and relational God that created all that exists (Hiles, & Smith, 2015). God created man in his likeness to care for all that has been created, to know and worship God, and to love and obey God (Diffey, 2015). Man is to rule and have dominion over the earth, be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth (Genesis 1:28). Christians rely on the support of the Holy Bible to guide them in the word of God. The Bible consist of four basic acts, the Creation, the Fall of Humanity, Redemption, and Restoration (Diffey, 2015). Christians believe that God sent his only Son to die on the cross for their salvation. In this paper will be a focus on the Christian worldview discussing God, humanity, Jesus,
Christianity is one of the dominant religions on the planet, and Christian Theism has played a major role in shaping the development of Western culture. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Christian missionaries, Christian doctrine has even influenced the views of non-Christians. Nevertheless, the contemporary world is a pluralistic and diverse one, and postmodern perspectives have arisen to challenge the wide-ranging influence of Christian Theism. The purpose of this paper is to show how a belief in Christian Theism can help one understand the nature and meaning of life, and this paper will show evidence that this belief brings both uniformity and order to everything.
Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.
Christianity is a faith based religious tradition, of which the follower is considered to be a Christian adherent. Thus, being a living tradition, Christianity is continually subject to change in accordance to the needs of the adherent and reaffirming the Christian tradition within a contemporary context. The aspects, which attribute the present existence of Christianity and its dynamism therein, include sacred texts and writings, ritual and ceremonies, beliefs and believers, and ethics. Ultimately, the aforementioned characteristics strive to form and continually validate answers to the enduring questions of life through a process of change, which simultaneously highlights Christianity as a living tradition.
It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.
When you think “Christian Worldview,” what comes to mind? I know I automatically think; God, Jesus, Christians, and Prayer. As I have learned through my Christian Worldview class, I have learned that there is a lot more to it and this paper will provide you with what I have learned. Throughout this assignment, I will explain about God, Humanity, Jesus, restoration, my analysis of the Christian Faith, and my reflection.
Henry, M. (2003). I am the truth: toward a philosophy of Christianity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.
Marcus J. Borg is a Professor of Region and Culture at Oregon State University. Including Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, he has written the following books: The God We Never Knew, and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Borg has been studying and teaching for 35 years at various universities. His specialty is Jesus and the Gospels, but expresses an interest in the Hebrew Bible. Borg has taught both subjects, and much of his book comes from teaching undergraduates. He describes himself as a “nonliteralistic and nonexclusivistic” Christian who lives “within the Christian tradition”. Many of his ideas flow out of life experience. For example, when he was studying the prophet, Amos, in college, Borg says that
The purpose of this book is meant to create a foundation for Christian lifestyles. It addresses the origin of Christian values, and portrays the evolution of Christian worldviews throughout history. It briefly explains the biblical narrative and develops ideas in which Christians are able to live out their faith and deal with other worldviews existing in our world today.
Marcus Borg proposes a more relevant form of Christianity that he refers to as the “emerging paradigm,” which he then compares to “earlier paradigm” that is to be considered more “conservative-evangelical.” The emerging paradigm is outlined by the different ways to see the Bible through historical, metaphorical, and sacramental views. The earlier paradigm is characterized by seeing the Bible as a “divide product,” then goes on to explain why the Bible is a sacred scripture because it is the unique revelation of God created by traditional Christian language about the Bible and has a divine guarantee (7). This paradigm also includes “biblical literalism,” interpreting that everything in the Bible is considered to be factually true, such as Genesis creation. Another characterization is the “vision of Christian life” with three important features such as Faith being seen as believing, the afterlife being central, and there is a life of requirements and rewards. Lastly, the characterization of “modern product” and how this Western cultural history since the Enlightenment of the 17th century has affected Christianity. Borg then goes on to further discuss how these paradigms relate to the matter of faith; he refers to the four types of faith as Assensus, Fiducia, Fidelitas, and Visio.
Two thousand years ago, the birth of Jesus, arguably the most influential man the world has ever seen, altered history forever. Christians know him as the Messiah, the son of God who came to save all of mankind, and for others, he may just be a great teacher and person of history. It is the latter that Reza Aslan attempts to shed an unbiased light on by comparing the Jesus that modern Christians believe in to the Jesus that Aslan believes would have fit into first-century Palestine: a violet revolutionary, dedicated to the eradication of the Roman government in Israel and the deposition of the rich priestly class. Aslan paints a portrayal of Jesus using knowledge of the time period, Scripture that has been taken out of context and misinterpreted, and most of all, the author’s imagination and powerful rhetoric to cover up his faulty argumentation. In his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan recreates an interesting but purely speculative image of the historical Jesus through exploring the political and social history of first-century Palestine, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.
Despite many people’s beliefs, Jesus Christ was not a revolutionary. Scholars disagree on many factors of Jesus’ life but ultimately can choose whether he was a revolutionary or reformer. Jesus was a reformer because he adapted the Lord’s commands to his own beliefs without abolishing the Jewish law, kept the peace between his followers and the Jews, and abstained from political involvement.
This book was assigned as a requirement of my English Writing I class at Bryan College. This prompted me to believe that this book has been vetted by the university and is a credible source. This book is a collection of writings written with a Christian point of view, published by Baker Academic, a publisher who publishes primary and secondary textbook geared towards Christian learning. This essay is excerpted from Colson’s and Pearcy’s book How Now Shall We Live? published by Tyndale House Publishing, a publisher of all forms of Christian literature.
Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.
His gospel gives more depth to Christ’s work, and while writing, had enough material to use for his work to not be as similar as to those before him.