Catholics and Protestants differ in what they believe about the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe that the Eucharist is truly a sacrifice. When Catholics celebrate Mass, God makes Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross present to us once again, allowing us to participate in it and offer it up to him in union with Jesus. In contrast, Protestants believe that the bread and wine are just a memorial service whereby we remember Jesus’s sacrifice, but Catholics do not actually participate in it. To hel...
Theodicy has to do with the justification of God in the midst of human suffering. At the heart of theodicy is the problem of evil. It is a problem because of the issues that the prevalence of evil raises for anyone that wants to account for divine attributes of sovereignty, control, love and goodness of God. In Christian theological circles, as Louw (2000) puts it, “the problem is whether or not one can hold simultaneously that God is omnipotent, omni-benevolent and evil is real, without co...
One of the major sacraments of Christianity is baptism. The major controversies that revolve around this sacrament of baptism bother on who should be baptized? How should it be done? And what it means to be baptized? More generally the debate within the arena of baptism has to do with whether it is legitimate to baptize infants, and if so, what theological justification may be provided for the practice. This paper critically examines the various propositions for and against infant baptism and...
The Gospel according to Matthew is one of the Synoptic Gospels. It was written by Matthew who was believed to be an eyewitness of many of the events he recorded. He was a tax collector before he was called by Jesus and had scribal skills and knowledge of Judaism. He was a competent witness of what he has recorded. He emphasized Jesus’ Jewish heritage and demonstrated how Jesus fulfils the Old Testament prophecies (Kapolyo 1105). Matthew’s gospel is a teaching gospel containing five blocks...
Introduction In our world today, our differences are often used as a means to create distance between us, even among Christians in the Church. Christians’ lives would not just be interesting without variety to spice them up. Just as the body consists of various parts all working together to achieve different things, Christians are of various races, groupings and undertakings need to unite to achieve the tasks that God has set for them. God created all human as a diverse people and He wants ...
Introduction Today, there is a problem of morality. There are professing Christians that argue that the Bible permits committed, loving homosexual relationships. Some other Christians justify going to R-rated movies by saying, “I need to understand where our culture is at. Also, some argue that genuine Christians may fall into habitual immorality or greed and that the consequence is, they lose their rewards, not eternal life. And these spring up the question of ‘Where is the balance betwe...
The pentateuchal Priestly source comprises portions of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and a small portion of the end of Deuteronomy. The Priestly source seems also to continue beyond the Pentateuch, at least in Joshua. Within the Priestly source, two main strata can be identified: P, “Priestly”; and H, “Holiness.” P provides the narrative backbone of the source and includes within its narrative the revelation of laws in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. H includes small portions i...
Christian Ethics is ethics which considers the specific situation, gathers the facts and uses the principles (commands and doctrine) and values to be found in Christianity. In this way, morality is used to describe our principles or convictions about what is right and wrong and our ultimate values. As seen in it, moral philosophy tries to study those principles and values, analyzing them critically and working out how we make decisions. Christian ethics also follow what is called “Applied o...
Traditionally, the years following Jesus until the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles is called the Apostolic Age, after the missionary activities of the apostles. According to the Acts of the Apostles (the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed), the Jerusalem church began at Pentecost with some 120 believers,[86] in an "upper room," believed by some to be the Cenacle, where the apostles received the Holy Spirit and emerged from hiding following...
INTRODUCTION The Summa Theologiae is a vast and complex work that many take to be the most comprehensive account ever given of the Christian Faith. Aquinas was writing at a time when the works of Aristotle, which many Christians took to be antithetical to the Christian Faith, had recently been recovered. One of Aquinas’ tasks was to show how Aristotle could, on the contrary, be an aid for the presentation of the Christian Faith. Because of his extraordinary philosophical skills, Aquinas has...
Key Note: Luke’s concept of salvation “today” is not just application to the present—it is a rhetorical strategy, aimed at bearing witness to audiences of all times and places regarding the saving power of Jesus. By “today”, Luke’s … narratives certainly draw attention to the here and now of faithful living. For Luke, God’s reign has not just drawn near; it stands right before us “today” in Jesus’ ministry. Whatever Luke’s intentions with “today” language, it do...
The book of First Corinthians is the seventh book of the New Testament. The epistle to the First Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul at the close of his three years residence in Ephesus. There was an occasion of this Epistle of a letter of inquiry concerning such things as marriage and the use of foods offered to idols. Paul was also greatly troubled by reports from Corinth of deepening divisions, increasing contentions, and other problems, and by a case of incest that had not been ju...
The prophetic religion is concerned with the religion of Israel as it affects the activities of prophets in the land of Israel. Israel had a shift in religion at a time, and such was the period of the prophets speaking through God. This time has been interpreted to be theocratic in nature and redirecting in the actions of the people. It was when God's holy law for life had ceased to be an effective force for molding men and society that God raised up men to call the people back to Him and His...
The book of Galatians was written by Apostle Paul to the Galatian believers. It is a sturdy defence of the doctrine that “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Dunnett 55). The letter deals directly with the most basic theological question faced by the first Christian generation about how the gospel affects the Jewish-Gentile division (Silva 1206). Paul established churches in Galatia composed primarily of Gentiles who received the Gospel eagerl...
Abstract God desires to help his children at all times. In this, the believer has a responsibility in this plan and that is the prayer earnestly. This metaphorical use of ask, seek and knock is vital and that forms the basis of this exegetical paper.