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The Historical Jesus
The Historical Jesus
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Recommended: The Historical Jesus
Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate was a very insightful book that kept me engaged and interested as I learned about the world that Jesus lived in. I read 100% of the book and was very effected through reading it. One of the greatest ways this book effected me was opening my eyes to the reality of the world that the gospels talk about. This book helped to bring the story of Jesus into more of a reality instead of just a Bible story. This book taught me both of the world of the old testament and brought to light new things about Jesus and His crucifixion. First, I learned how adamant the Jews were about their faith and keeping their laws. Before reading this book, I did not understand the seriousness that the Jews put in their faith. One
I always focused on Jesus’ role in His death, but when I read about Pontius Pilate’s reaction it brought a whole new view of Jesus’ death and resurrection to me. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and the book states on page 244 that “Pilate’s conscious would not allow him to condemn an innocent man.” This reaffirms Jesus’s holiness to me. This man was a Roman who was used to not caring about Jews and being the dominant race willing to kill people off, but Pilate knew He should not kill Jesus. Pilate saw the love in Jesus’ eyes and recognized the authority in Jesus. I always knew that Jesus died for us and also those who killed him, but reading this book made this fact so much more real. On page 254, a Centurion asks Pilate, “whom did we crucify,” it was so obvious that something powerful had taken place that evening, even a Roman soldier recognized it. Knowing this, I realized that Jesus did not just dye for us in the future, but even for Pilate and those crucifying Him. He really cared and was witnessing even in his death. Pilates wife and good friend Cornelius became followers of this man he crucified. Reading about Romans who converted shows how real the resurrection really was because they were so anti-monotheism, but they saw the truth and followed it. Many times I view the death of Christ as just a story, but no, reading this book really helped it to become a real event in History. Christ’s death effected every one even the Romans involved in His death. Overall, I think that this book opened my eyes to many different areas surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I learned about the way of life of the Jews and was able to understand better why the Jews did what they did. Seeing this story from the view of the Romans was very eye opening for
The book has a lot of details that give the reader a lot more knowledge than expected and also make it easier for the reader to understand what is being explained. For example, on the beginning of the book it is shown the description of the Anabaptist founder. On chapter twelve, the accent is how Zwingli was a huge early influence. His influence divided many of them included Zwingli. Because the author was very meticulous, on chapters 2 and 3 he makes the difference between the Anabaptist and all the reforms. Chapters 8 to 11 are focused on the doctrine of Anabaptist and why they were considered heretics. The stand for their belief was very strong because their belief was opposed to the conviction that the other groups had about Solo Scriptura, infant baptism and justification by faith. One of the things that give this book the credibility is the fact that the author takes precaution to list all the sources that prove the point he wants to argue. By doing that, he also shows that the information that has been given from the book was not only what his belief was but what a group
What I liked most about it was reading from two different perspectives and how those different perspectives met through the book.
One of the first things said about Pilate after she is born is a comment by the midwife, who said on the topic of her name “Christ-killing Pilate. You can’t get much worse than that for a name.”(19). The association of Pilate Dead with Pontius
I always looked at death as such a sad thing that is eventually going to occur to everyone. However, after reading this book, it made me realize death can actually be a beautiful thing. Death allows a person to go to a next life, one where they will be loved and others will be there for them. It was interesting to be able to read about stories that these hospice care workers witnessed themselves. I have experienced a few deaths within my life and I never coped with them very well. After reading this book, I honestly believe I will be able to look at the positive side of death and be able to deal with my emotions better. I can also help others surrounding me deal with a death that they are experiencing. This book was filled with information that I loved learning. For example, I never knew that a dying person can choose a time to die. The thought of this never occurred to me before. I always thought that when it was someone’s time to go, they had no choice. But, a dying person can “put off” passing on until they see a certain person or event that has great significance in their life. Nevertheless, there are still people who will wait to die until they’re all alone in the room. This book makes you think of real life situations and think what you would do in them. Taken as a whole, it was a very in depth book that changes the way you would naturally perceive
To me, the challenging part of the book was reading a book on a topic that I do not know much about. I am starting to become familiar with the legal system, however I am nowhere near that of a lawyer. This is why I stumbled at times on some of the legal lingo that the book contained. In addition to that, I did find myself with a better understanding of our legal system. I felt like I was along for the ride on the whole legal process. Also, I would like to note that I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter on the autopsy because I thought it was very interesting how they performed those procedures in that time period. I loved the detail that the author went into when describing how it all took place.
...er reading the book it made me more conferrable with this side of Jesus. I loved the character of Andreas and I seek to become more and more like that Galilean from Nazareth that he was searching for Jesus. I loved his passion and constant anxiety to need to learn more about Jesus that something I aspire to have.
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.
...ude the controversial issues about Jesus. Andreas seemed to have been on the border line with following Jesus and believing he was some guy that was telling lies around the cities. It’s not until Jesus is up for execution when he becomes a follower of Christ. Once Andreas returns, he learns that Barabbas and two zealots were arrested. Barabbas is Andreas’ friend, so he decides to propose ways of rebellion to the Romans. Pilate decides to have a meeting with Andreas about his proposal leads. Pilate manipulates Andreas’s proposal by giving the people of Jerusalem the decision which criminal to keep from execution: Barabbas or Jesus. In the end the people chose Barabbas which meant Jesus, including two other criminals, was sent to be crucified. The story concludes with Andreas recognizing Jesus’ power after so many of the people in his life have been changed by Jesus.
Poverty can be a choice or a last resort for many across the globe. The Glass Castle a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, portrays how her family rejected civilization and embraced poverty. I felt Rex Wall’s notion of “sink or swim” (Page 66) portrays the failure and success of having a family. The situation in the Wall’s hopes manifested itself as a Glass Castle, a mysterious glass house the family would hope to build and live in. In order for the family’s dream to succeed, they would have to face many demons on the way. Throughout the book, I protested against some of the choices that were made, but I soon came to an understanding that some people will not change the way they live. I kept on thinking there always a possibility that there is always a cure to a problem, but sometimes there is too little time or understanding on both sides. A common theme that kept on going
The close reading is from The Odyssey by Homer in book nine lines 1-33. In this paper, one could see Odysseus goes full circle of emotions throughout the lines. Before this book starts Odysseus was lead to the palace of Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians. Once he was there he plead for help from the Queen to get back to his land. The King thought Odysseus was a god but Odysseus put that to rest by saying he was a mortal. That evening, while the King and Queen were talking to Odysseus, the Queen noticed that he was wearing her daughter’s clothes. This lead to him being questioned by the Queen. At the end of the questioning the Queen was so impressed by him that the King offers Odysseus his daughter’s hand in marriage. The next morning, they
The book, Studies in Galatians, by Tom Wacaster was an excellent study and very well put together. I felt he did a great job gathering others together to elaborate on some of the main points from this book. From the beginning, the author let you know, in the introduction a specific direction he was aiming toward even though the introduction seem to be a bit long. However, after I looked at it upon completion of reading, I appreciated it more than when I read it the first time. When you take second look, it made me understand the reading better. Moreover, the flow of the book was well organized, with the outline of the whole book coming after the introduction, and the remainder of the book broken down verse-by-verse, which brings the attention of the reader in a simple format. I really like the fact that he shared the ideas of others and did not hesitate to provide adequate references letting the reader know the correct source.
The term Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a theological method used to study scripture. It was believed that theologian John Wesley studied scriptures in the Bible using three lenses, hence where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral gets its name. These three lenses are tradition, reason, and experience. While quad means four and tradition, reason, and experience are only three terms, they each communicate a way that scripture can be studied, therefore the term scripture completes the quadrilateral. It is important to study scripture using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral because Wesley was known as being a relevant theologian and his views on scripture have lasted over two centuries. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is still relevant today as it provides a method for discovering the things of God, ourselves, and lets us know who God really is. For the purposes of this reflection paper I would like to summarize the four components of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and then reflect personally upon each term as how it relates to the Christian theologian.
This week I toured and explored the famous Academia, home to Michelangelo Buonarroti’s many wonderful pieces including the statue of David. The David was carved by Michelangelo from 1501-1504. It was originally intended for one of the buttresses of the cathedral in Florence and was designed to be effective at a distance of forty feet. However, after it was finished, the Signoria placed it in front of the Palazzo della Signoria as a symbol of the Florentine Republic. The statue of David is incredible. It is a lot bigger than I expected and the detail of the man was impeccable. Michelangelo’s attention to fine detail, like the veins, fingernails, and outlines of the muscles, brought Michael to life. The stance of the statue was very realistic;
This book taught me a lot of a topic that I have found very interesting. It provided different points and view and multiple perspectives. This allowed be to grasp the knowledge with a better understanding.
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel was a fascinating and exciting narrative that described the journey of a young boys life starting with the formation of his beliefs moving all the way through an adventure that changed his life forever. I found it extremely engaging on both a philosophical level and a psychological level as I saw Pi, a young boy, curious about life, discover both religion and go through an extremely traumatic experience. I found Pi's devotion to God to be an uplifting example that many people throughout the world should see. Although I do believe that Pi was confused about how to best love God, I admire his efforts and believe that his dedication is sincere. I also found the psychological aspect of Pi to be almost as fascinating as religion. I could see from the beginning that Pi was quite thoughtful and always tried to think before he acted. However, what I found even more fascinating than his pre-planning cognitive abilities was how he thought when he was under great stress. Perhaps the best example of how he coped with stress was towards the end of the book when he tells what may be the true story, and we can see that he may have represented everyone as an animal in order to deal with the situation. This provides valuable insight into Pi's mind and opens a whole new area of possibilities when considering how Pi thinks. This ending leaves how Pi thinks open to interpreting which adds a intriguing aspect to the book. Beyond the religious and theoretical aspects of the book, the adventure seen kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Every time it seemed Pi was about to die or give up hope, an astounding miracle would suddenly save him. I found the effect of these suspenseful moments to cause me to want to...