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The role of the Holy Spirit in spiritual formation
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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. He interprets that there is not only a connection between heaven and earth but a connection between future and present as well. This is a complex topic, but I think it is best understood in the context of the holy spirit. He describes Christian life as a “spirit-led pathway” in which we attempt to do the right things to earn Gods approval (Wright, 222). Christian life is concerned about the present, the holy spirit, and the acts that we perform during our lifetime. In connection to the gospel of Luke, the story that really made me wonder about the presence of the Holy Spirit was overall the becoming of Jesus Christ but specifically the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Here, infant Jesus was brought into the temple and on that exact day, the Holy …show more content…
When reading the many stories of the becoming of Jesus in Luke I begin to ask myself what if these events didn’t happen? Simeon was one of the very first common people that were filled with faith of the coming of Christ. He proclaimed it for everyone to hear and to me it was the official start of the Christian faith. He believed before anyone else did and the Holy Spirit was very much so present in this event. I agree with NT Wright, Christian faith is a spirit-led pathway and I think this story is a perfect example of how it became so wildly
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
As ancient Rome began to fall, Christianity began rising. Around 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born, later to be known as the Messiah or Son of God. When people of the Roman era began to hear of such a powerful being, they began to convert to Christianity. Why did Christianity take hold on the ancient world; Christianity took hold on the ancient world because it offered immortality, equality, and it was spread like wildfire.
Plantinga’s (2002) book Engaging God’s World consists of five parts: “Longing and Hope,” “Creation,” “The Fall,” “Redemption,” and “Vocation in the Kingdom of God.” Throughout the work, Plantinga references public speakers and activists, lyricists, philosophers, saints, and authors to help his audience connect to his perspective.
DS9010 Research Methods and Design Aung, James Hatun Summary (Yaghjian, Chapter 1) January 24, 2013 Lucretia B. Yaghjian’s book, “Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers” consists of three parts. The first part contains four chapters, the second part has two chapters and the third part has four chapters.
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity written by Philip Jenkins looks over religion as a whole in the future. Philip Jenkins was a Distinguished Professor of History in 1973 and was the Co-Director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion, he has studied the Bible and the Quran. The main religion being Christianity, as it flows South to other countries such as Central America and southern Asia and Africa. Jenkins also covers “The Rise of Christianity” where he predicts that it will increase in the coming years. The world would be moving from secularism to non-secular as the Northern states and countries are urbanized. The Southern countries are not urbanized, they believe in the practice of spirituality. In the Next Christendom, Jenkins also predicted that there will be a big population growth in the next coming years as Christianity spreads. Christianity as a whole can be adapted to many different cultures, as it is not as strict as many other religions such as Muslims. In other religions you would have to be
The foundation of a Christian worldview is the belief in a personal God, creator and ruler of the universe. The Christian worldview views the world through God’s word, providing the framework for humanity to live by giving meaning and purpose to life. It defines who Jesus is, human nature, and how salvation is achieved. In essence it is the basis of which Christians behave, interact, interpret life and comprehend reality. A Christian worldview imparts confidence, answers to life’s problems, and hope for the future. In this paper I will discuss the essentials of a Christian worldview and an analysis of the influences, benefits, and difficulties sustaining the Christian faith.
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.
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
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
There are several aspects to consider when exploring the Christian worldview. There are many facets or denominations and they each have their own distinct beliefs and practices, but they all share the same fundamental beliefs. In this Paper we will explore the character of God, His creation, humanity and its nature, Jesus’ significance to the world, and the restoration of humanity, as well as my beliefs and the way that I interact with Christianity and my personal worldview.
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...
“First, there is the call to be a Christian. Second, for each individual there is a specific call—a defining purpose or mission, a reason for being. Every individual is called of God to respond through service in the world. Third, there is the call that we face each day in response to the multiple demands on our lives—our immediate duties and responsibilities” (Smith, ...
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.
W. Andrew Hoffecker. Building a Christian World View, vol. 1: God, man, and Knowledge. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey : 1986.
At the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. St. John Paul the Great (then Karol Wojtyla), entreated all women to “Reconcile people with life.” (Closing Remarks to Women). Later on during his pontificate, his encyclical “The Gospel of Life” further explored the need to establish a “culture of life” in response to the modern “culture of death.” It is not enough to simply be against death as manifested through contraception, abortion and euthanasia, but Christians must actively work for life, bringing renewal to society.