There are hundreds upon thousands of ancient text that have been discovered, read, and debated among scholars and people of interest. Out of all these ancient texts, the Bible is considered the greatest collection of ancient writings that have truly influenced the world for generations. The Christian Bible consist of 66 or more books that are divided into two sections, the Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament consist of books that were written before the time of Jesus Christ. The New Testament consist of books written during and after the time of Jesus Christ. When it comes to the Bible, Christians often have their own views and interpretations on the Bible such as Christians debating about whether there is predestination, …show more content…
I gained knowledge about each of the New Testament books both individually as well as different views and interpretations for each of the books. One of the most impacting insights that I learned during the course was the different views on when the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke were written. There are multiple theories on how and when the first three gospels were written, according to Gundry this is called the synoptic problem (Gundry, 2012). The synoptic problem contains six different views with some of these views being the oral tradition hypothesis, the Griesbach hypothesis, and the Mark-Mathew hypothesis (Gundry, 2012). My view on the Bible was impacted when I read about the synoptic problem because it gave me insight and knowlege that the first three Gospel might have had a more complex origin than when I first thought. Before reading about the synoptic problem in chapter five of Gundry, I believed in the oral tradition hypothesis like many Christians do, but now I believe in either the Griesbach hypothesis or the Mark-Mathew hypothesis because both of these theories seem to be more convincing to me than the oral tradition hypothesis after reading chapter five of Gundry. Another impacting insight I learned in this course was learning about the Apostle Paul and his letters. When I was reading chapter twelve of Gundry, I was surprised to …show more content…
The course itself mostly refined my views on the Bible, but there were some minor changes as well. After taking this course, I still believe that Jesus Christ is both God and man as well as the Bible being the inspired word of God. The course itself only brought more support to both of these views that I believed in at week one. I would say that my views on the Bible were refined in the sense that my views on the Bible have more depth to them now than my views previously had during the first week of the course. Many of the views that I previously had that could be classified as traditional Church views were changed slightly, such as now, I believe that the first three Gospels were written according to either the Griesbach hypothesis or the Mark-Mathew hypothesis because of the similarities the first three Gospels have with each other. My acquired learning of the New Testament has impacted my life because I now understand that there is more complexity to the Bible then I previously believed and that there isn’t always a simple answer to everything when it comes to the Bible. The course has really made it more clearly to me that the most important thing to do as a Christian is to have faith and trust in God in that he knows what he’s doing and to not worry about the little
I believe the most important concept that I gained from reading the book was to remain faithful, in good times and in bad. Walking blindly can be very terrifying, but God always has a plan for each and every one of us. At times, the plan remains unseen, and that should not deter or slow me on the path that my heart is yearning
The Christian Scriptures is the entire Christian Bible. It is composed of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is composed of several books all containing stories about Jesus, and the Christian Testament (New Testament) which contains the stories of Jesus and the earliest Christian Communities. Although these stories cannot confidently prove to us that they are true there are several distinct similarities, which are contained in nearly all of the books. These similarities are so frequent that their constant occurrence seems more than coincidence. Although these similarities occur often in the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, there are four short books included in the Christian Testament, which we must rely on to understand Jesus’ ministry and life.
The Bible is our textbook life, and it also places a high value on doctrine. God wants us to know important things, and gave us the bible to help, and guide us. Unfortunately, many Christians know very little about the Bible and its Christian doctrine. We believers put our interest in other things, and know a lot about things that do not matter. In Romans 6: 1 introduces us to the major doctrines of the Christian faith.
The Old Testament and the Bible itself has been studied extensively for centuries. Archeologists and Scholars have labored and pondered over texts trying to decipher its clues. It does not matter how many times the Old Testament has been studied there will always be something new to learn about it or the history surrounding it. In the book Reading the Old Testament: an Introduction, the author Lawrence Boadt presents us with a few different authors of the Old Testament that used different names for God and had a unique insight into the texts. These four sources are titled P for priests, E for Elohim, J for Jehovah, and Y for Yahweh (95). These four unique sources help us realize that there is more than one author of the Pentateuch. These authors took the text and adapted for their culture. This independent source is used by scholars to help gain insight into what was behind the texts of the bible so we are not left with an incomplete picture of what went into the creation of the bible. Julius Wellhausen used these four sources to publish a book to able us to better understand the sources and to give it credibility with the Protestant scholars at the time (Boadt 94). These sources that is independent of the bible as in the DVD Who Wrote the Bible? and the Nova website aide in shedding light on the history that surrounded the writers who wrote the text and what inspired them to write it in the first place. The DVD shows the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls and the extensive history of the texts and all its sources in an effort to try to find exactly who wrote the bible (Who Wrote). These scrolls have aided scholars immensely by giving us some of the oldest known manuscripts of the bible in the world today. It shows that the bible w...
Addressing the importance that each of these texts must have played for the often respective communities in which they were written for. Addressing the natures of the two text in agreements, and contradictions in teachings that would be interpreted by early Christians. The importance of text within the Christian tradition has been one of its most defining essences, that the books of the Bible are ones that stand as a basis of
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
The Old Testament is divided into six major sections. During each of these sections, elements of Old Testament history foreshadow various New Testament themes and events. Some of these various accounts recorded in the Old Testament are prophetical in nature and foretell specific details about various events that will be fulfilled in New Testament times. Each of the six major sections carries its own unique overarching theme that will in some way tie into New Testament history and theology. The six major sections of Old Testament are: creation (Genesis 1-11), covenant (Genesis 12-50), congr...
Some people think that Jesus is the fulfillment of gods will has reveled in the Old Testament, and he is the Lord of the church. As in people believe that Jesus was God's son and was sent down to Earth from heaven to save the people of this land. The sacred texts of Christianity are the Bible. As in the thick book that is 1,200 pages or so long is called the bible that most Christians read and talk about in church and they read it at their homes, before bed, or in their free time. Sometimes they read all those times.
The Old Testament is a collection of thirty-nine books. The Old Testament teaches stories of religious models and references, law, faith, praise, worship, and more. Multiple books in the O.T. include laws and songs of praise that Christians continue to implement in their lives today. The O.T. offers a starting point for Christians like myself in their faith. It is divided into four groups of books that teach and influence your life in different ways including: The Law, the Historical, the Poetical, and the Prophetical.
I began this course thinking my worldview was that of a Christian Theist, as I had come to discover, as the course progressed, my worldview was a mixed bag of beliefs outside the elementary belief of Christian Theism. I was not disheartened by this finding, but surprised. The realization then set in that I was uneducated or did not know God like I thought. In fact my beliefs appeared to be more influenced by society than the deity of God. Fortunately, this is a learning experience intended to bring me closer to the truths of Christianity and an understanding of the beliefs of others.
The Bible is a collection of sixty books that was written by diverse of authors, including the apostles and the disciple of Jesus. The Bible divided into two Testaments; the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament or the old contract is a collection of thirty-six books and the New Testament has twenty seven books. The New Testament is a contract between God and the humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Koran was written by Muhammad, a prophet of God. Muslims believed that he received a message from Angel Gabriel and wrote the Koran. However, Both the Bible and the Koran are the words of God. The Christians believe in the resurrection of Christ Jesus has the son of God while the Muslims do not believe Jesus Christ as the son of God.
Religion has been an area of doubt for me for many years. My faith in the Christian religion has wavered so much, yet there was so much I did not know. So I took a Bible and Literature class this semester. It was the best decision I could have ever made. I learned so much from studying the Bible as a piece of literature rather than a faith. It allowed me to question the teachings I learned as a young child, and I did not feel guilty for disagreeing with what I had learned. It has made me want to learn more and question more in order to experience the true passions behind religious faith.
Starting classes at Vanguard was a terrifying experience for me, I didn’t really know anyone and I had been homeschooled most of my life, as soon as I walked into New Testament Survey I felt at peace. If there was any class that I was going to really enjoy and take things from and apply them to my every day life I knew it would be this one. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the bible, and gaining more and more insight each time I went to class. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 4:30 I was excited to be going to class. Each week when I did the reading for the quizzes I learned more and more and each day I developed a stronger knowledge of why I believe exactly what I believe.
The bible is what helps keeps our faith alive as it contains a rich amount of history that tells us of God’s revelation and the ways how our faith works. Although the bible contains numerous works of different people, it is still a work of God that helps our faith remain constant and grow, as everything written was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In some way, I was able to understand the value also of the other books, as before I did not really take interest of the other books included bible, aside from the likes of the Gospels, Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs. Nevertheless, I realized that the books are all part of the bible as each has a purpose to serve and stands as a testament to the infidelity of humanity, and of God’s unfailing love for