In the article “Applying Daniel’s Messages to the Church Today,” Sidney Greidanus discusses the reasons why churches do not usually preach out of the book of Daniel and how to overcome these challenges. Three reasons why Daniel is not often taught in church is because it is seen as the prediction to the end of the world, it is difficult to understand, and there is a lot of debate about who the author is and when it was written. Even if these reasons are worked through, the pastors still struggle with applying the narrative and apocalyptic genres in the book to people in today’s church. In order to teach out of the book of Daniel to a congregation, three main challenges must be overcome for both the narrative and apocalyptic chapters; avoiding …show more content…
Greidanus gives some good examples of commentators who moralized in Daniel chapter four. They wrote that the moral of the chapter was to be like Nebuchadnezzar and look to heaven instead of ourselves, individuals should share what they have learned from God, and human pride is sinful. Rather, Greidanus believes, “it was not likely that King Nebuchadnezzar would be an example and/or model for Israel in exile, Daniel is a more likely character for Israel’s identification” (260). The goal is to preach about the purpose, aim, and intention of the original author to the original audience, not make it subjective to fit into a moral that has been created out of the text. It is also important to remember this for the apocalyptic section of Daniel as well. In applying Daniel’s visions to people in the church, it is important to remember that, “the most difficult task is to understand correctly the different times and characters” (267). Preaching about the dreams that Daniel had are best after determining their theme, goal, and the need that is being addressed. If the people of the congregation are not told these things before the sermon is in full swing, they will most likely be confused and unable to understand the point that the pastor is trying to get …show more content…
It can be very frustrating when authors jump into different thoughts and information without having direction or flow to their papers. This frustration can come from the confusion that occurs while trying to follow the author’s thought and ending up confused because they are not able to do so. Unlike these other authors, Greidanus connects his thoughts and ideas in a way that is very reader friendly. He states the main idea for each paragraph in the first sentence and then goes more in depth as the paragraph progresses. Along with this, in almost every single one of his paragraphs, he uses sources to get his point across. This shows the reader that he has done research and found other authors who can either back him up on his thoughts, or prove to the reader why that author is incorrect. Following this, he concludes the paragraphs with a transition that kind of sums up what he was talking about, or with a transition to prepare the reader for another point or idea to come. This is especially helpful because it is easy to read and follow
Upon finishing NT Wright’s novel as well as finishing Theology 111, there are many connections to be made within the chapters we read and the excerpts of the bible we covered as a class. After reading the bible, I had many questions about how these topics relate to my life now and how to interpret what was written so long ago. NT Wright in Simply Christian discusses what it means to be Christian and simply walks us through it step-by-step explaining answers to questions that many of us, as Christians, wonder. In chapter 16 Wright discusses the connection between heaven and earth and the Christian take on what that entails.
Examining the paper highlighted many of the paper’s problems, such as the use of proper syntax and the use of a passive voice as opposed to an active voice. Although the sentences appear clear, as later stated (in the comments), further proofreading is needed in order to assure a cohesive
attempt to evoke an emotional response from the reader. He does make some good points
This gives the readers a clue that what is to happen in the upcoming text is a
The first theme that was shown in the book was honor. Honor was clearly demonstrated by Samson. Samson willingly gave his life for Daniel when he was in danger. From when Daniel and Samson first met Samson showed his affection for Daniel. He would sleep so close to Daniel that Daniel could hardly stretch out. Samson would follow Daniel around very closely. He would do Daniel’s chores for him when they were living up on the mountain. Samson would carry the heavy objects for Daniel like the barrels of water. When Daniel had left
Through his choice of style and structure, he is able to reflect the meaning of the short essay as a whole and get the point
to get his point across to the reader more easily than if he were to
references to support his claims. It is a very well configured piece, written in such a way
The Book of Daniel is the only full-blown apocalyptic book in the Protestant recognized version of the Canon. A literary device divides the book into two halves. Chapters 1-6 are a collection of stories that introduces the reader to Daniel and three other Israelites as unwilling guests of the Babylonia Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. The second half, Chapters 7-12 consists of apocalyptic imagery of deformed beasts and the heavenly court. The focus of this paper will be on chapter 7, which serves as a bridge of the two halves. Chapter 7 is the earliest of the visions as it identifies with the genre of 8-12 while through language and content it reverts to Daniel chapter 2. The linguistic break down is not as neat as the literary divide in that Dan. 2:4b-7:28 was written in Aramaic while other portions of the book is written in Hebrew.
The 2,300 day prophecy in Daniel 8:14 is one of the more difficult prophecies in Daniel to understand. It reads, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” (NKJV). From this verse many questions arise: When does this prophecy begin and end? What sanctuary is represented here? What is the significance of the cleansing of the sanctuary? The purpose of this paper is to present the most commonly held views of this prophecy and show the most favorable explanation.
The book of Daniel is written by the fearless prophet Daniel in about 530 BC in Cyrus’ ninth year. The genre of Daniel is Narrative History, Prophetic Oracles, and it also contains some Apocalyptic material. Some of the major themes and ideas in the book of Daniel are humility, our ability to resist, embracing work beyond our own power, following God, being prepared, and the importance of prayer. Humility is a very important key to a good, sturdy, and strong relationship with the God and the other people involved in our lives (Daniel 1:11-14; 2:27). The ability to resist presented in Daniel shows us that we need to resist conforming into culture because at times culture disrupts God’s designs for us as His children (Daniel 1:8). Embracing work beyond our own power and ability is what God initially calls us to do. He calls us to go outside our personal comfort zone and embrace the work He has placed in our lives and accomplish it to the best of our abilities (Daniel 2:24). Following God is a huge concept not only in Daniel, but everywhere. Daniel is a fearless that follows His one true God no matter what temptation or suffering he is faced with (Daniel 1:9; 2:48; 6:16). Being prepared is very important because we need to be ready to place our trust in God and stand up for what we believe in situations that will test our faith (Daniel 1:16-18; 4:27; 7:21). The importance of prayer should not be under estimated because prayer is an essential practice for working in God’s kingdom faithfully (Daniel 9:3-46:10).
Daniel was a man who had his priorities in order and his prayer life followed his theology. But what exactly was Daniel’s view of God and how did his prayers reflect that view – what was the theology of Daniel’s prayers? I believe the book of Daniel reveals seven main principles of theology concerning prayer in general. Beyond that, I believe Daniel’s prayer in chapter nine provides a model of intercessory prayer that we all can learn from. Despite the fact that Daniel does not reveal an abundance of information concerning himself or his past, one can glean a great deal concerning his character upon closer examination of the biblical text.
Daniel was a prophet and also the author of the Old Testament book of Daniel. The time period in which this book took place was between 560 to 530 B.C. (Smith). Daniel was a servant to King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel to only worship the god of Nebuchadnezzar’s choosing and that Daniel could only eat certain foods. Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to listen to the king. This choice resulted in all four of them being thrown into the burning flames of a furnace. They survived because of their faith in God and God saved them from death in the flames. Daniel also showed his faith in God when he faced the lions in the lion’s den. Daniel was told not to worship his God but he did anyways so he was thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel knew God was faithful and he had faith God would be there for him. Daniel also received visions from God about the coming Messiah and the end times. This is when Daniel’s prophecies began.
Christology: A Global Introduction Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen is associate professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and holds a teaching post at the University of Helsinki and Iso Kirja College in Finland. He is the author of Christology: A Global introduction, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical, and Global Perspectives (Back Cover). Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen presents the latest, comprehensive introduction to the various opinions about Christology from around the world.
such as He can care for the world. The second line of the creed “maker