Paul’s letter to the Romans is of his greatest theological works, passed down for thousands of years and still as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes statements such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18), one may say that current times have changed. Some may say that the issues Paul addresses are acceptable in today’s society. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.
David Noebel in his book Understanding the Times defines worldview as,
1) Any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world, and man’s relation to God and the world; see metanarrative; 2) a comprehensive system for recognizing the inter-relationship between theology, philosophy, ethics, biology (origins), psychology, sociology, politics, law, economics and history; 3) a framework for answering life’s major questions – who is God, how did I get here, why am I here, how do I know, how should I behave, how should I treat others, where am I going; 4) a set of ideas, beliefs, convictions, values, and virtues for guiding one’s life.
Using Noebel’s third and fourth definition of worldview, the following topics are discussed in regards to Romans; creation, sin, salvation, eschatology, ethics and theology. Understanding these topics and how they fit into the Christian’s life will enable the reader to understand how the Book of Romans contributes to one’s worldview.
“For the creation waits with eag...
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... Him and to throw themselves down in mercy upon His throne of grace. He is the God of hope and the God of love and the God of righteousness and the God of justice! He is “Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9) the God who saves!
Works Cited
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Dunn, James D.G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.
Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000.
Noebel, David A. Understanding the Times. 2nd abridged and rev. ed. Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Press, 2006.
Smith, James. Handfuls On Purpose. Vol. 9. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1947.
“Worldometers: Real Time World Statistics.” Worldometers. http://www.worldometers.info/(accessed April 3, 2012).
Ruden, Sarah. Paul among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time. New York: Pantheon, 2010. Print.
...nd analyzing the writing of Pope Francis it allowed me to further my understanding of not only his particular style of teaching, but also of the various issues surrounding Christian ethics. Reading his book, changed my perspective on a few issues and had an impact on me in regards to my life as a Christian. By writing this paper, I was able to identify the main focuses of Christianity in order to become more effect, relevant, and credible. In addition, I was able to further my understanding of the issues surrounding Christian ethics, which will allow me to help others more effectively by following in Jesus’s footsteps. Overall, I enjoyed the assignment and it opened up my eyes to the different issues surrounding the four areas of concern mentioned in The Joy of the Gospel, which are the new idolatry of money, option for the poor, inequality, and common good/peace.
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.
A culture’s view of depression differs from one another. For example, cross-cultural psychiatrists have found that depression can be expressed in somatic and emotional terms, ‘“In “somaticizing cultures, “depressive experiences may be expressed as complaints of weakness, tiredness, ‘imbalance’ (Chinese and Asian cultures), ‘nerves’ and headaches (in Latino and Mediterranean cultures)…”’ Due to the diversity of experiences within the different cultures, there is no universal entity incorporating all views of culture in defining depression. The views of a culture toward mental disorders have a great impact on the prevalence of certain individuals within a culture compared to another culture. For example, Japan has a significantly lower prevalence depression rate compared to the United States, “the World Health Survey Initiative estimated a twelve-month prevalence of mood disorders to be around 3.1% in Japan compared with 9.6% in the United States.” The concept of “depression” is the factor to account for in this difference of vulnerability.
The basic structure of Romans is fairly simple. It is called letter-essay style by some, though there is no proof that it was read to any group of people. It is the gospel of God’s righteousness. Sections of Romans are even dedicated to showing the basiscs of christianity like the “Romans road”. This basic knowledge allows ... ...
The Roman Empire is credited with many things due partially to their ability to share, spread, and adapt culture. Rome was successful because it both conquered and shared the fruits of conquest with the conquered. Religion was one part of the culture that demonstrated the tolerance of Romans. For example, at the time of Jesus’ birth, paganism could be divided into three spheres: the official state religion, the traditional cults of the hearth and countryside, and the new mystery religions from the East. Even though the official religion in the Roman Empire began as Pagan, it ended as Christianity when Emperor Theodosius declared it as the official religion in A.D. 380. The following examines two works of fiction that deal with religion during the Roman Empire.
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Koenig states that the impact religions have on mental pathologies such as depression and anxiety are making the person more suppress, moderate, deter and prevent the effects from stress which leads to depression (Koenig, 1998). Mormons may get caught up in practicing what they think is right about God and will step away from all other options. However, Koenig states that Mormons are wealthy and would sometimes rather counselors over their own religion. There is a lot of controversies over whether or not Mormons seek help in God or in other ways such as counseling or health professionals. The Mormons that do want professional help also are sometimes discouraged from fellow neighbors because of the inability past social workers had in knowing different cultures and religions beliefs, morals, and behaviors. The author also mentions that Mormons are built upon truth and when a mental or emotional illness occurs it is sometimes known as a manifestation of sin. Mormons who are diagnosed with a mental illness usually have had a difficult time self-reflecting until they are brought upon an illness that stops them living the way they used
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
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Bryan Byerly Mrs. Wagner Western World 10 Seminar- 4 4 December, 2013 Christianity in Rome Essay Christianity became more prevalent in Roman society as time went on because it appealed to Rome and what Roman ideals were. In the beginning Romans were skeptical of changing religion, but as the years went by, the Romans adopted and changed. Christianity appealed to the Roman ideals, as it gave certain perks that their current polytheistic religion did not offer to them. The emperors of Rome had many different views on Christianity; some emperors encouraged change, and others were more traditional and wanted to stick to their current, polytheistic religion. Roman views on Christianity have changed drastically from the early years of the Roman
Murray, John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Epistle to the Romans. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1968)
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