As a philosopher, a writer, a speaker, and a teacher, Jesus Christ came to the earth with one major goal -- to provide a way for all mankind to return to him and Heavenly Father and have everlasting life. In The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey, A new side of Jesus is expressed, the human side of Jesus' life and actions. Yancey expresses his information well and allows me to form my own opinion based on my interpretation. Overall, I appreciated the books concepts and the new way of looking a Jesus Christ.
In the book, Yancey touches some on the childhood life of Jesus Christ. This is topic that little is known about other than what is found primarily in Matthew and John. Yancey rephrases this and adds small parts to what is already known by describing the Jewish lifestyle of the time. This helped me to better understand the way Jesus was raised and how he lived his mortal life.
Jesus' life in general was just like most "normal" Jews of the times. He was home schooled as a young boy, went to school when he got a little older, moved up to the temple, and finally learned the trade of his father, Joseph. This is the way that most Jewish boys would grow up. Jesus was, however, a special case. He listened intently to the priests and asked questions that most boys wouldn't even think of. It was during these younger years that Jesus became aware of his special relationship with his Heavenly Father.
Yancey spends a great deal of effort in trying to establish that he is not trying to force an opinion on anyone. He only would like to inform. The title can be used as a symbol for what the entire book is about. To me, its interpretation is that he, Yancey, is trying to re-introduce Jesus to the world, in an unbiased, unaltered history.
Through the little-known childhood, and the well-documented ministry, Yancey's book has changed my opinions forever.
Magical, poetic, and awe-aspiring. This is what mere words at its best can accomplish when trying to capture the essence of the painting, The Glory of the Light Within, by the renowned artist, Dale Terbush. This specific masterpiece is representative of Terbush’s art and reveals much about his outlook towards nature. Viewers are presented with a breathtaking scenery and a natural beauty depicted in all its glory in this panoramic view (the painting is 4x5 feet). Indeed, because the well-defined foreground, distinct middle ground, and dim background compose characteristics of a magical scenery, this vista is transformed into an ideal utopia.
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.
Jesus Christ became human and walked with men and women. The Creator of heaven and earth became a creature and entered the creation that he made into existence. God made himself known so humanity could have the most basic understanding of who he was and Christ there would be no Christianity. Jesus taught mankind a high view of Scripture and inspired his followers and others to uphold it as God’s Word. (A Starting Point for Wisdom by Jason Hiles and Anna Faith
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives and to understand the significance Rachel's life had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapter titled “Shul” and “School” next to each other with each giving a view of the problems they faced in school. Here both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassm...
“For The Bible Tells Me So” by Daniel Karslake is a documentary style film that focuses on issues about sexuality. The film focuses on the conflict between homosexuality and Christianity and the analysing of several Bible verses about homosexuality. The film attempts to alter the minds of homophobes by using facts, science and several interviews with Christians who also have gay children. The interviews are done with five American, very Christian families and “how they handle the realization of having a gay child” (Karslake, 2007.)
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the origin of nearly everything the Christian Church teaches about Jesus. The Gospels, in turn, serve as the scale or test of truth and authenticity of everything the church teaches about Jesus. It is said that the Gospels are the link between Jesus of Nazareth and the people of every age throughout history who have claimed to be his followers. Although the Gospels teach us about Jesus’ life they may not provide concrete evidence that what they speak of is true there are several other sources.
In their book Lead Like Jesus Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges encourage readers to ask themselves three key questions:
The first part of the book begins by Wright telling the readers a little about himself and his thoughts on how people, including the church, overlook Jesus and belittles his reign. Early on, Wright discusses that the purpose of the book is to retell Jesus’ message, but in a way that it filters out the worldly explanation we have come to know. In fact, if we are to know just who Jesus was, we need to know the culture, attitudes, and assumptions of the first century Palestine. It becomes apparent in this section of the book that Wright uses liberal and conservative approaches to define Christians in this modern day. Conservative Christians believe God intervenes, while liberal Christians believe that God allows innate human development. In this part of the book Wright discusses the ‘perfect storm’ – which is found out to be three-sided. A storm in the west is created by the growing power of the Roman Empire, who politically reigned over the people in the Israel. Another storm brewed in the east, says Wright, the Israelites who have been in search of the return of God to their people. Lastly, a hurricane approached as well, which will be discussed in the next chapter. Throughout the first part of the book, it seems, Wright establishes that God did set up his kingdom in Israel and the world throu...
Jesus’ life was ministry and death. Much of the early life of Jesus Christ is a mystery. The preponderance of information on or about his life is found in the four gospels of the New Testaments. Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary in the year “0” B.C. near the town of Bethlehem in a manger outside of an inn. This humble beginning was the foreshadowing of a life of humility and service. At the age of 12 Jesus was seen in the temple talking with, listening to and teaching many learned men. It was then that Jesus declared that he was the Son of God with a divine purpose here on earth. Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life as a simple carpenter. At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized and recognized by John the Baptist; it was now that he began his earthly ministry. The main points of Jesus’ teaching were that God loves you and is with you, to love one another, of the immense value of each person. The Good News: kingdom of God has come to earth. The reality of judgment to heaven or hell and that God forgives those who ask
According to the book of Matthew, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,” indicating he was born between 6 and 4 BCE (Matthew 2:1). The Bible refers to this as the virgin birth because Joseph and Mary never conceived him. He was a human being in which God took his form. Very little is known about his childhood and the Bible only reveals a picture of Jesus and his teachings when he was approximately 30 years of age. Whatever happened to Jesus during these years is a mystery to us all, but whatever happened transformed him into the divine being which he is today.
...actly how he viewed the church. He saw the church as a spiritually hindering institution that has misconstrued the true message of the gospels. The fertility of flowers had been replaced with graves, and the promise of new life found through the teachings of Jesus had been replaced by repressive Priests that patrolled the aisles in their black gowns.
I have always loved to read. While most children prefer watching television, I would rather read a book. About two years ago I read the book The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. After reading this book, I realized just how much Christ effects literature. I learned that we can see aspects of Christ in books written by secular authors. You can find Christian allegories that the author didn’t even realize they were writing.
The Story of Christianity is a book written by Justo Gonzalez; a native of Cuba. Gonzalez serves on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center which is located in Atlanta Georgia. He attended Yale University, where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in historical theology; in fact Dr. Gonzalez is the youngest person at Yale to be awarded a Ph.D. He is also one of the first generation Latino theologians and instead of growing up Catholic, comes from a protestant background. In addition to writing many other books, Gonzalez is also Cokesbury’s publishing chief narrator of the Christian Believer study video lessons course and the recipient of the Ecumenism Award from the Theological Consortium in Washington, which he received as a result of his ecumenical work of bringing together churches of different denominations
It is about a son who abandons his family to “squander his wealth in wild living” (New International Version, Luke.15.13). After losing all his wealth he recognizes the importance of family and returns home. His father lovingly welcomes him because he will always love his son, regardless of the incident. God loves all His children; even the ones that abandon Him. All He asks of us is to repent from our sins and seek Him with all our hearts. This parable motivates believers to always repent because God is the most merciful and forgiving. Besides teaching about the good news, Jesus also performed miracles that caused many people to believe in his
Jesus was raised in Nazareth in the home of Joseph, a carpenter, and his wife Mary. Jesus most likely went to school in a room attached to the synagogue. He