One of the most despised and forgotten commandments of God is that of Biblical modesty. Modest apparel in churches of today is very rare. So rare in fact that the very mention of the term “modesty” will have preachers of the gospel bowing their heads in submission, and men and woman proclaiming to be Christians stomping out the door of the church house. However, this is still a commandment from God’s holy word and God calls us to abide by it. In this paper for a few moments I would like to discuss three simple reasons why Christians are called to “Come out from among them and be ye separate...”.
The first and foremost reason would be to bring glory to God through our bodies. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?” We are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and just like in the Old Testament when God gave Moses specific ways each and every little detail of the tabernacle was to be put in place, God has given us a specific standard of dress to go by. God is a God of order and likes things to be done correctly. When we are saved, Jesus comes and lives inside of us. He cleans us from the inside out. We should show this with the way we dress. It says in Romans 12:1 to present your bodies a living sacrifice that is holy,
…show more content…
I have heard it said many times that we may be the only Jesus some people see. It says in 1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that should show forth the praises of him...” We are called to be different. A Christian should be easily distinguishable. A Christian in a modest dress or a plain suit and tie speaks legions to a world on its way to hell. At a single glance a person should be able to distinguish you from a lost person. This oftentimes gives us an opportunity
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.
“I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 seems sexist and devaluing to the female gender at first because Paul emphasizes that man is the head of woman just as Christ is the head of man. By studying Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, we find that this emphasis explains why the feminist liberation happening in the Corinthian church at that time found to be a problem. The direct issue came to the disobedience of the women of the church neglecting to cover their heads while praying and prophesying. The underlying concern was why they continued to do so and the drastic changes it was causing the gender roles of the church. Through experience and contact with different customs and through the inspiration for liberation, Paul felt the need to approach the Corinthian church about his distress with the women. From the Old Testament to the New Testament to today, customs and traditions have changed and developed. Today, we cannot read this passage and understand Paul’s point without theological interpretation. The issue is not whether man is superior to woman or vice versa. The problem lies with how women disobeyed and ultimately violated their role as a woman. This paper will conclude that through the analysis of customs in Paul’s day, we see that he was not being sexist, but emphasizing the need for men and women to perform their given roles in Christ.
When the church and its ministries are disconnected from God’s narrative, they become subject to the whims of culture. Similarly, if Christians are to recover the Christian narrative, they must first disabuse themselves of civil religion. Christians shall not accommodate God’s narrative to privatism and consumerism. To conclude, God’s narrative must not be blithely recited as a litany of words. Instead, Christians must recover the profound original interpretation of God’s narrative. If this ancient narrative is recovered, Christians will once again be able to speak to the world about its own history and tell the truth about the triune God. Finally, Christians must unlearn and unravel the cultural accommodations embraced by the church in order to release the full power and impact on God’s
Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace, for this too is the lot of man." Notice how similar this is to Eccl. 9:7-9. The narrator of the book, the Preacher, advises, "Go eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white; let not oil be lacking on your head.
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
"Suddenly Jesus met them and said, `Greetings!' And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him." (Matthew 28:9)# Near the end of each of the four Christian gospels, it is women who first discovered that the body of Jesus was missing and who were the first to report seeing him after his death. Certainly then, this is a major indication of the high involvement of women in early Christianity. With such high status undoubtedly must have come power, influence, and important positions in the early Church. But by approximately 750 C.E women had lost these major roles in the Church, and the power and influence they once had. This essay will examine the decline of women's roles in early Christianity, and argue that this loss of power was a direct result of the canons of early Eastern and Western Church councils, which were founded on patriarchal notions.
Instead of adopting the ways of popular culture, the Church should show the world a more excellent way. Instead of retooling Sunday to render it in synch with Monday through Saturday, the Church, in its proclamation and in its making of disciples, should offer a counter-cultural model of living obedience, seeking to transform what believers and unbelievers experience during the week by what happens to them and around them on Sunday.
we are all one person in Christ and God sees us all the same. There is
Today, Christianity faces a wide range of obstacles, from differing forms of worship, to radical shifts in theological understanding. In this confusion, contemporary followers of Christ might find themselves confused as to how they should live out their faith. Questions regarding the authority of the Bible, or how a person can have a relationship with God, can cause believers to question many of the truths they have been taught throughout their lives. This confusion gives rise to a fresh look at biblical exegesis and its relationship to orthodoxy, and orthopraxy. With the rise of contemporary thinking within the church, researchers can look at this dynamic, with the hopes of producing useful results to answer these questions. In order for researchers to assure accuracy in interpreting their results, they must consider the relationship of orthodoxy and orthopraxy with biblical exegesis, contemplate diminishing their personal biases concerning orthodoxy and orthopraxy when presenting their data, and determine how
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
A topic long debated within the contexts of the Catholic Church and even outside the Catholic Church is the policy of an all male priesthood. There are many other churches within the Christian faith that have women clergy, and so the debate as to whether or not the Catholics should include the opposite sex in the clergy is a very hot topic. One person that has a fascinating view of the topic is a man by the name, Paul E. Dinter, the author of the article, “Christ’s Body as Male and Female.” In this article Dinter, a former man of the cloth, presents his take on the issue attempting to show his audience that the policy of the Church in indeed flawed. However before any member of Dinters audience can formulate an educated opinion on the topic three aspects of the article must be questioned: credibility, logic and reason, and how the article appeals to emotion.
Abortion is a major issue that affects individual lives daily. It has become a debatable factor in determining the solution in having the free choice for a woman to abort their unborn baby. Even though it was not fully recognized in the presidential election, there was discussion as to whether or not it is morally right to perform this practice. President Bush believes that aborting an unborn baby is morally wrong because he believes in protecting the rights of the unborn and believes that partial birth abortion is a vicious act that discriminates against children who are inches away from life. On the opposing side is Senator Kerry, who believes that aborting an unborn child should be permitted because he believes in protecting women’s choices and enforcing women’s privacy rights.
...rty clothes. Everyone who attends church is primarily there for the same reason and it shouldn’t matter on the way one looks. My analysis has confirmed that I am a sole believer of being non-conformed.
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
“Today I appeal to the whole Church community to be willing to foster feminine participation in every way in its internal life. This is certainly not a new commitment, since it is inspired by the example of Christ himself….nevertheless, he also involved women in the cause of his kingdom; indeed he wanted them to be the first witnesses and heralds of his resurrection. In fact, there are many women who have distinguished themselves in the Church’s history by their holiness and hardworking ingenuity.”