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Paganism followed The major Religions!
This chapter talks about the historical background the Old Testament. It also talks about other books that was not included in the Old Testament such as Maccabees, The Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, and etc. The Roman Catholics accept it the books as part of the Old Testament canon. Today the Roman Catholic still accept these books as a part of the Bible. These books are called the Apocrypha. Today the Protestant do not use the Apocrypha. First and second Maccabees from the Apocrypha are considered to be historical narrative books.
Next in this chapter it would talk about the time between the old and New Testament, Alexander the great and the Hellenistic Alexander, and etc. During this time it was called the silent years because there was no prophecy from God. Also during the silent years many things has happened. During this period there were many wars with Persians, Greeks, and the Romans. During this time Aramaic was established at the main language for business and international relations through many parts of the Persian Empire including Israel (pg. 11). What’s interesting in this chapter is that it talks about when Alexander the great was 13 years old he was in power and control many territories through war. The subject is quite interesting because of his age he was considered the greatest military ruler ever. According to Jesus and the Gospels Hellenization spread and the result of imperialism. Hellenistic ideals was a pagan idea such as how they dress, athletic competition in Greek gymnasium, nudity, sports, and worship and sacrifice neglected. These pagan ideals also brought in eaten nonkosher foods, influencing the and pressuring Jews to break their way of life to adapt to Hellenistic ways of life. The Greek language was used for business, commerce, and relations with the military and politicians. Everyone who had to communicate with the Greek soldiers and merchants had to know a little bit of Greek.
In chapter 1 there were other things that was mentioned such as the Egyptian rule under Ptolemies which was a time of peace and freedom for the Jews also scientific investigations, Syrian rule under the Seleucids, Maccabean Revolt, and the Roman period. In the next chapter it will mentioned a little bit more about the era of the Romans and mythology.
Hellenistic religion became more of a problem. New cults rose from it. According to the book Jesus and the Gospels it says “People were uprooted from their traditional homes and lands and encountered conflicting truth claims as they resettled. Mixture and combinations of beliefs and behaviors created a pluralism often intolerant only of a narrow, exclusive religion such as Judaism or Christianity. (pg.29)” Mythology was on a rise and this chapter mentions a little bit about certain gods and goddesses.
Some of the names (but not all) that was mentioned in this book were Zeus, Hera, Apollo, and Hermes. Today, many movies were created to tell a story about these gods and goddesses. Even people in this century love mythology a pagan belief. Temples where created to worship these gods and goddesses around the fourth and fifth centuries. The Roman world was losing appeal to these pagan gods and goddesses. During this time Augustus decided to create temples for these pagan gods. This political movement wanted to control the population by using mythology.
Chapter 2 discusses philosophies and philosophers such as Socrates and Plato. Plato and Socrates had many followers. Different philosophers appeared. Many people decided to pursue what they believe as being truth. Mysterious religions formed during the Hellenistic period. These mysterious religions made promises that were not true. Blood rituals were performed. Human sacrifices was a part of some cults. Promises of eternal life was said to gullible people. These mysterious religions had many types of people including rich, powerful, and even the poor people who would join these cults. According to the reading, people were treated as “equal” by night or during their time of worship.
Chapter 3 highlights some background and history about those times. It talks about the geography, population, transportation/communication, municipal facilities, and etc. This chapter gives use details on how they lived during the early centuries. This chapter helps us to understand what the people of those centuries had to go through. Population was important if the cities were going to flourish. Of course tax was included if they were going to stay in that city. This chapter points out the heat index, temperature, and the estimate size of the cities.
People of the early centuries did have recreational things and places which comes by surprise. When people of this century discover that people in the past had places such as hot tubes, libraries, and community recreational centers this can be shocking. Yes, they did have sports arenas, but who could imagine that they would have hot tubes. We would think that it would be cold baths and showers. This chapter talks about the types of clothing that they wear. The clothing or the different types of clothing was worn according to the seasons. When it was warm or hot, they worn thin clothing and when it was cold they would wear thick clothing and they would keep warm.
This chapter goes on about the different social class, family, kinds of work, culture and value, and more. This chapter is dedicated or written to tell modern day people about the life of the people during the early centuries. This chapter is very important to study if we are going to know about the life style of or ancient ancestors. They lived in harsh times but they made the best of what they have and life off what they could get.
Some Different Worldviews
| Read Romans 1:20-22 and John 1:1-5 as an introduction to Pantheism-“all is God.” This false idea says that God is not separate from nature but that nature is Cod. How is this view reflected in the literature? |
When reading Romans 1:20-22 at first, it would seem like God is apart nature and human.” For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20, NLT). In this verse many people would interpret this as a pantheistic type of belief. Paul did not mean for this verse to be pantheistic or seem pantheistic. Paul was describing God as a being that we can’t see, but we know that he is real. God’s attribute is holy and perfect that he is not sinful. God has revealed himself that “we can’t say that he is not real. I believe that Paul did not have that idea that God is in everything and is everything that was created. Although paganism existed, pantheism was not heard of until the romanticism era.
Many people may have had pantheistic views, but these views was not fully developed. Pantheists strongly believed that we all are a part of God including nature. To pantheists there were no such thing as God being a separate being that was invisible. The beauty of nature was enough for pantheists. When reading John 1 and also in Genesis 1 for the first time, it would seem like God was some type of matter in space and time that evolved from a single molecule or matter that evolved over time. No human can explain where God comes from. All we know is that God is the creator of everything. There are some religions that holds a pantheistic type belief such as Native American Indians, Hindus, and Taoism.
| Explain the difference between “innocence” and “experience” for William Blake. How does his emphasis upon the inherent goodness of man and the corrupting effects of society fit in with Romanticism? |
Innocence: The Lamb
William Blake had an examples of innocence. For example, let’s choose “The Lamb”. This poem express and teaches us about innocence. The lamb is clearly describing Jesus Christ. This poem does use symbolism to refer to how Christians describe Jesus. When the poem mentions “Little Lamb”, this refers to Jesus Christ. For he calls himself a Lamb. God came into human form to experience life on earth and to die for our sins. Blake describes the lamb as meek and mild. This also pertains to Jesus Christ as well. Blake chose the correct man (Jesus) as an example of innocence.
Experience: The Chimney Sweeper
The Chimney Sweeper had two sides of the boy: innocence and experience. In this paragraph, I will be talking about the experience portion. As we can see the boy has a rough life experience. These experience consist of being a lonely child, living with abusive parents, and hard labor. This boy was miserable because of his life experiences. No child should go through these tough times. Blake would agree that this child was going through a rough childhood.
Inherent goodness of man and the corrupting effects of society fit in with Romanticism just as a size 9 shoe fits on a 9 inch foot. The reason I used this analogy is because in Romanticism, people only believe in what they see, taste, touch, feel, emotions, nature, and etc. I believe that it’s the same as being an atheist. People don’t say, “I am a romanticist” but more of “I am an atheist”.
Saul and David: Comparing the two!
Israel’s first two kings were Saul and David. These two had many things in common, however, these two were different kings who did not like each other in the end. During the life and reign of Saul and David, this past week’s study shows us the contrast and comparison that the two kings had. One good that people can compare with David and Saul is that they were anointed by Samuel a prophet of God.
Saul and David were kings who found favor in the eyes of the Jewish people in many ways. Saul was the first king of Israel and David was the next king. Saul was chosen by the people because the Israelites wanted and king. David became the next king because Saul committed suicide and David was anointed as the next king of Israel. David and Saul were from a small town and was anointed by the prophet Samuel. The two were admired by the people because of the military backgrounds that the two had. David and Saul were war heroes. The Israelites respected and loved the two kings because of their strong allegiance to God. In the early stage of David and Saul’s reign as kings both of them obeyed and carried out God’s plans form the Israelites. The two kings did sin with the exception that Saul sinned openly and David sinned in private.
Saul’s sins was too obvious. During King Saul’s reign, Saul’s heart started to change for the worst. Saul started to become hardened and Saul became stress out. Saul misused the power that God had given him. Saul disobeyed God and caused problems for the Israelites. For example, when God ordered Saul to make sure he destroyed everything including the Amalekites, Saul did the opposite of what God wanted him to do ( 1 Samuel 15, NIV). King Saul needed the sounds of the young David’s oud/harp. David played music for Saul many times especially after war. Later during Saul’s reign, turned into a mad man, and after David has defeated the Philistine champion Goliath, Saul tried to have David killed. Saul was so obsessed in trying to kill David. David did not want to kill God’s anointed, however Saul wanted to kill one of God’s anointed and that is David. Saul decided to seek a medium or psychic for help later while being the King. Later on Saul and his sons died in battle. Saul did not want to show mercy towards David, but David shows mercy to Saul.
David was willing to forgive Saul for trying to kill him. David was persecuted by Saul during King Saul’s reign. David did not want to murder Saul. David could have killed Saul, but David decided to show mercy on Saul even though Saul did not deserve it after too many attempts to kill David. Another difference between David and Saul is that Saul did not have women related issues that David had. David sent a friend off to battle to the front lines just so that David could have his wife. David did not go insane just as Saul did. David did not have a harden heart. A sinful heart, but a harden heart. It seems as David became one of God’s favorites and made a covenant with David.
God made a promise to David that his bloodline will produce a savior that could save every man and woman on earth. David lived a long life while Saul committed suicide. David still remained as a king who many people still respect to day. Jesus Christ is a part of the Davidic family lineage. God did not make a promise to Saul because Saul stopped listening to what God had to say. David turned and repented to God for the sins that was committed while he was
Israelites wanted a king instead of a prophet. The Israelites needed someone who can be seen by the human eye. God just gave the Israelites what was in the heart. Many problems came from this king. Saul went from serving God to being self-centered and it caused the Israelites to turn from God. It seemed like while Saul was a king people enjoyed having a human as a king and forgot about God and what God has done for them.
Our Hope in Christ
Introduction
Christ is our hope and we can inherit peace with God.
Today, when we turn on the television we see war. How many people think that the world is at peace? Well, there really is no peace. Many want war before peace can be establish because of what they believe. In today’s sermon I am going to talk about a peace that does not comes from man, but from God. The read will be coming from Romans 5:1-8.
Roman 5:1-8 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Main Points to consider
There are three points to consider in this reading. The first main point is it all begins with Jesus and his love. The second point is faith and grace. The third is development of character. In these points the bible speaks to us that while we were sinners, God loved us through Christ because of the sacrifice has made for us in order for us to have peace with God.
What the passage says
Paul of Tarsus, a devout follower of Jesus Christ wrote and presenting this letter to the church in Romans. Paul’s goal was to encourage the Roman church and to motivate them. Paul talks about the peace that we have through Jesus Christ. Because of the sinful nature that humans have, we cannot be at peace with God unless we turn to Christ, repent, ask for forgiveness, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. Without that we can never be at peace with God. Paul was telling us in the second verse in Romans 5 addresses the church little more about faith and how we fall under the grace of God through Christ. Next in Romans 5:3, Paul talks about how he feels when he goes through suffering and addresses that to the church in Romans. Paul knew that when he was in troubled times, he persevered regardless of the situation. So he was teaching the church to be strong and keep the faith because it will benefit them in the end.
Romans 5:4-5 is teaching the church about how certain actions such as perseverance can help Christians to develop a better Godly character and to teach us how God shared his love to us that purified us through his Holy Spirit. He wants us to be strong and keep our faith alive.
It begins with Jesus and his love
Reading about Jesus and his love and it says in versus 1, 6, and 8:
- Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
- You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Paul talks about the love of Christ our Lord and yet while we were sinners he loved us before we knew what God’s love is (vs 1). His love was so powerful that he was willing to die for our sins (vs 6 and 8). God demonstrated his love for us this way.
Faith and Grace
Verse two says “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2, NIV).” By faith we have gained peace with God and because of this saving faith we have grace under God. Grace is why we can stand before God without any guilt. Grace is bestowed to us through Jesus Christ (vs 1).
Development of Character
Last but not least development of a godly character can be developed perseverance and it could lead to hope (vs 4-3). Paul talks about perseverance can developing into hope. While in Haiti, as I decided to go on a mountain hike with others on the mission team. At first I thought it was easy and I had no problems in the beginning. As I was walking up the mountain it started to get harder and I was getting tired. By looking at the mountain you would think it would not be hard at all but it was getting hard. There was many times I wanted to give up but I did not. I knew that if I wanted to succeed, I must not give up even if my blood, sweat, and tears don’t mean nothing! Before I went to Haiti, I started to work out, eat right, exercise, and get on the treadmill machine with an incline of 9.5, but it was not as challenging as a mountain in Haiti. However in Haiti, I was determined to not to give up. I finally made it up to the top and the group that I went on the mountain with clapped for me, because I did not give up. After this experience, I now can get on a treadmill machine with and incline of 15.0 with no problems and I lost weight. All of this paid off for me. Now I am more physical fit before I went to Haiti! The more we keep a relationship with the Lord the more we can develop character and hope.
As I conclude, we must remember that while we were sinners Christ died for us in order to gain hope and peace with God. We must stick with the Word of God and the more we stick with his Word we can gain everlasting life. I can’t wait until the day I meet Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and question them about how their lives was while on earth. Especially to be beside out Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! After all of this Jesus will say to us “well done thy faithful servant!” Thanks and God bless you all!
Paul’s Unique Conversion and The Early Church
In this week’s reading, it talks about Saul a persecutor of the Christians. Saul’s (who name will change to Paul) main goal was to hunt, torcher, and persecute all Christians. Saul was trained in the law under Gamaliel. Saul knew a lot about the law and was well trained, but as a Pharisee, Saul’s duty and loyalty was with the others who was like him who studied the law. In the reading, it also tells how Saul was also committed to making Christians to commit blasphemy and renounce the name of Christ. Stephen the first Christian martyr was brought to trial and stoned for his faith in Jesus. Saul was one of the Pharisees that was present during Stephen’s trial and stoning. Saul was granted letters to Damascus synagogues to find and persecute Christians. To me, this sounds like if Saul was not granted any letters for his journey, he could not be able to hunt Christians in that particular town or city. Saul’s main goal was to find every Christian until the ends of the earth.
Another reason why Saul would want to enter Damascus because Saul believed that many Christians fled to this city. Little did Saul know, he was going to be a part of the people he hated and persecuted? In other words, he was going to be what he hunted so passionate. In the reading it mentions Damascus as one of the oldest continuing cities in the world. Also in the reading, it did not refer Christians as just Christians but Hellenist Christians.
Saul’s conversion was very unique. It consisted of Jesus Christ appearing to Saul in person. Jesus was not going to allow Saul persecute anymore Christians. In the reading it mentions during Saul’s journey to Damascus he saw a bright flash of light. This light appeared during the afternoon when the sun is at its brightest. The light was so bright it was even brighter than the sun. The bright flash of light from heaven caused Saul to fall from his horse. It also caused the others who was with him to fall. Saul noticed a voice that came for the light and asked him “why was he persecuting me”. In the reading it says that Saul addressed the voice as Lord. According to the book Paul and His Letters, it gave a statement saying something like when people during the time of Paul, they addressed spiritual beings as Lord. They would assume that they was addressing God when they encounter a spiritual being.
The nature of Paul (who was named Saul) conversion on the road of Damascus plays a very important part in Christianity’s history. Paul’s new life in Christ came with a price that he had to pay. However, he was willing to go through the extreme for the teachings of Jesus. Paul a former scholar and Pharisee who hunting Christians for a living is now rewriting history through his new found faith in Jesus Christ.
Another main point while reading the chapter is the journey for Paul and the other disciples to Antioch. Antioch is famous for the disciples first being called Christians. The book also covered how King Agrippa II called the disciples Christians and there was two other places in the Book of Acts about the word Christian. Another thing that stood out was Paul’s travels through many regions and cities such as Syria, Galatia, Antioch, and more. Chapter 5 has been more focused on the region that Paul, Barnabas, and the other disciples has traveled. The length of stay has been undetermined, however
Heroes in different ways!
A hero is someone or something that does an extra ordinary thing that he or she does not do in order to save a life, lives, or random act of kindness. A hero is determined by someone’s heart. For example, we see U.S. military veteran’s as heroes because of what they have done in the past or is doing right now to maintain peace and balance in the world. Not everyone is a hero or can be a hero. Most people don’t claim or consider themselves as heroes. Different cultures have or produce heroes in different ways. In the old testament when we look at the life of Joseph he was a hero to his family and people. He has brought prosperity and riches in his family by going through some harsh trials and tribulations. It was through Joseph’s suffering he was able to fulfill a prophecy that God revealed to him in his dream.
In the Bible, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, consulted God or seek God’s wisdom because God knew what was best for his people. Jehoshaphat was not the type of king that abused his power to gain popularity, fame, and power. Both Joseph and Jehoshaphat was God loving men who went to God first for advice, wisdom, and when trouble lied ahead of them.
When reading the Greek literature “The Rage of Achilles” in The Norton Anthology it seems that Achilles was a man with anger issues and did not care if killed a man with family. Achilles may have been a hero to his people, however Hector seems more of a hero to his family. Hector’s wife did not of him as becoming a hero, instead she was more worried about becoming a widow than hope for her husband’s return from battle.
Many people today are considered heroes. Besides using U.S. military veteran as an example that was mention in the first paragraph, singers, rappers, pro football players, and actors are looked at as heroes in today’s society. These people to me are not heroes, but entertainers. Many people put them on pedestals because of their talent which elevates the human entertainer. God loving people should correct others about heroism and how it could affect them. Christians should teach others about Jesus Christ and how Jesus is the real hero.
People admire different heroes for a reason. One reason why is that the same old person who is doing the saving gets boring. For example in the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), there is a pro wrestler by the name of John Cena. He is a 15 time WWE champion and after a while it gets boring seeing him win all the time. The WWE decides to let him lose so that different people can be champions and people can see different heroes emerge. The WWE is scripted pro wrestling events so there is no one who stay the champion for more than 2 years. These are the modern day heroes and
Seeker's Truth 