sanctification

Sanctification or in its verb form, sanctify, literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose," that is, "to make holy or sacred" (from the Latin verb sanctificare, which in turn derives from sanctus, "holy" and facere, "to make"). The Greek word is agiasmos (Greek: άγιασμος), meaning "consecration, holiness, or sanctification." It comes from the root agios (άγιος), which means "holy devoted to the gods." Sanctification then, refers to the state or process of being set apart or made holy. What is often missed, or overlooked, is the relational aspect that is associated with the word sanctification.

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." [see Isaiah 61:1,2]

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
(Luke 4:14-21]

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timeline of Christianity

The purpose of this chronology is to give a detailed account of Christianity from the beginning of the current era to the present. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates.

For "Old Testament" chronology, see History of ancient Israel.

Era of Jesus

The year one is the first year in the Christian calendar (there is no year zero), which is the calendar presently used (in unison with the Gregorian calendar) almost everywhere in the world, because of the current dominance of the Western world. Traditionally, this was held to be the year Jesus was born, however most modern scholars argue for an earlier date and later dates, the most agreed upon being between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C.

• 6 Herod Archelaus deposed by Augustus Caesar; Samaria, Judea and Idumea annexed as Iudaea Province under direct Roman administration, capital at Caesarea, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius became Legate (Governor) of Syria, conducted Census of Quirinius, opposed by Zealots (JA18, Luke 2:1-3, Acts 5:37)



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Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a movement that emerged in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. The main front of the reformation was started by Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. The reformation ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, the Reformed churches, and Anabaptists, a radical branch whose name means "those who baptize again".

It also led to the Counter-Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church, which theological draft and background were drawn up with the Council of Trent (1548–1563), when Rome struck back against the fundamental ideas defended by the Reformers, like Luther. The rift between Catholics and Protestants would lead to the break up of large European empires into the modern nation-state system.

Unrest in the Western Church and Empire culminating in the Avignon Papacy (1308–1378), and the papal schism (1378–1416), excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the monastic system. A new nationalism also challenged the relatively internationalist medieval world.

One of the most disruptive and radical of the new perspectives came first from John Wycliffe at Oxford University, then from John Huss at the University of Prague. The Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance (1414–1418). The conclave condemned Jan Hus, who was executed (he had come under a promise of safe-conduct) and posthumously burned Wycliffe as a heretic.

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Christian worldview

Christian worldview refers to a collection of distinctively Christian philosophical and religious beliefs. The term is typically used in one of three ways:

1. A set of worldviews voiced by those identifying themselves as Christian;


2. Common elements of worldviews predominant among those identifying themselves as Christian;
3. The concept of a single "Christian worldview" on a range of issues.

There are some rather startling statistics, based upon the following definition of "worldview," including a firm belief in six specific religious views.

1. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life;

2. God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today;

3. salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned;

4. Satan is real;

5. a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with otherpeople; and

6. the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

Based upon the above definition, Barna and other polling organizations have observered a decline in Christian beliefs. A recent study indicates that only 4% of American adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision-making -- while at the same time "spirituality" has been on the rise.

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Christian music

Christian Music Chronology
Early Biblical references
Early Church history
Chant
The Renaissance Period
The Baroque Era
The Classical Era
The Romantic Era
The Modern/20th Century Era
Hymns
Contemporary Christian Music
Contemporary Christian Music Genres
Contemporary Christian Bands
Resource List

The Christian church creates Christian music or adapts existing music for Christian use. Contemporary Christian music explores Christian themes, but not always in the confines of the church. Music makes up a large part of Christian worship and includes the singing of hymns, vocalized psalms, vocal and instrumental versions of spiritual songs for the purpose of uplifting and praising God. Musical instruments often accompany singing in the service, either through live performance or the use of soundtracks. Some churches employ only a cappella music to worship God. On other occasions instrumental music only expresses praise toward God. Churches today use these methods of musical expression in many different combinations to offer their praise to God.

Being Jewish, Jesus and his disciples would most likely have sung the psalms from memory.

However, without a centralised music industry, the repertoire of ordinary people was much greater than it is today, so they probably knew other songs too. Early Christians continued to sing the psalms much as they were sung in the synagogues in the first century.

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Temple Tax

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus paid the temple tax. In Jesus' day, the denarius was the form of money used to pay Caesar, but the temple tax was paid with the drachma. Luke 20 tells us that the teachers of the law and the chief priests sent spies to watch Jesus. They asked Him,

²² "Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" ²³ He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"

Jesus asked to see a denarius and whose portrait and inscription were on it knowing that Caesar's portrait and inscription were on it, and He taught that it was right to uphold our witness as citizens of the communities where God has placed us.

In the time of Jesus, adult Jewish males (twenty years old or more) were required to pay a two-drachma tax each year, based upon the Old Testament Atonement Offering of Exodus 30:11-16, which was to be paid in the form of a half shekel (a weight of twenty gerahs or approximately 1/5 once or 6 grams). In Matthew's day, after the temple was destroyed this tax remained, but the tax was to be paid to the Roman government.

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Huldrych Zwingli

Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus, a humanist scholar and theologian.

In 1519, Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmünster in Zürich where he began to preach ideas on reforming the church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted problems in the corruption of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images. In 1525, Zwingli introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the mass. Zwingli also clashed with the radical wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution.

The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwingli’s ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers. The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwingli’s ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers.

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Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon (33°24′N 35°51′E ; Hebrew: הר חרמון, Har Hermon; Arabic: جبل الشيخ‎, Jabal el-Shaiykh, Djabl a-Shekh, "mountain of the chief" and "snowy mountain") is a mountain in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its highest point is 2,814 m (9,230 feet) above sea level, and is on the border between Syria and Lebanon.

Though the summit remained under Syrian control, the southern and western slopes of Mount Hermon came under the control of Israel as part of the Golan Heights as a result of the Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, and were unilaterally annexed by Israel in 1980. the nation" in Israel because its altitude makes it Israel's primary strategic early warning system.

Biblical History

Mount Hermon was called Senir by the Amorites and Sirion by the Sidonians (Deuteronomy 3:9; Psalms 29:6; 1 Chronicles 5:23; Song of Solomon 4:8; Ezekiel 27:5). The mountain served as the northern boundary of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:8) and also was the northern limit of the Conquest (Joshua 11:17; 12:1; 13:5).

The high places of Mount Hermon were apparently used by the Canaanites in Canaanite mythological rituals. They referred to the mountain as Mount Ba'al-Hermon (Judges 3:3).

The Gospels tell of Jesus and his disciples journeying north from Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee to the city of Caesarea Philippi at the southern base of Mount Hermon (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27).

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Parable of the Mustard Seed

In Christianity, Parable of the Mustard Seed is a a short narrative that, according to the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 13:31-32), Mark (Mark 4:30-32), Luke (Luke 13:18-19), and the non-canonical Thomas (Thomas 20) was told by Jesus. Possible Hebrew Bible parallels are Daniel 4:10-12, Daniel 4:20-22 and Ezekiel 17:22-23, 31:1-9.

18Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches." – Luke 13:18–19

³⁰Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. ³²Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." –Mark 4:30–32

³¹He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. ³²Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." -Matthew 13:31–32

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like." He said to them, "It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky." – Thomas 20

The parable compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed, which the parable says is the least among seed, yet grows to become a huge mustard plant that provides shelter for many birds. Much like the English saying Many an oak from a tiny acorn grows, and like the butterfly effect, the parable is usually interpreted as meaning that great things start from just tiny seeds of information, or from tiny actions.

It might also be interpreted to foreshadow the kingdom of Heaven growing forth from the small actions of the historical Jesus in life.

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Thessalonica

Thessalonica or Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη), is Greece's second-largest city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia.

Thessalonica had a Jewish colony, established during the first century, and was an early centre of Christianity. On his second missionary journey, Paul of Tarsus preached in the city's synagogue, the chief synagogue of the Jews in that part of Thessaloniki, and laid the foundations of a church. Opposition against him from the Jews drove him from the city, and he fled to Veroia. Paul wrote two of his epistles to the Christian community at Thessalonica, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians and the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.

Paul's teaching about the end of the world is expressed most clearly in his letters to the Christians at Thessalonica. Heavily persecuted, it appears that they had written asking him first about those who had died already, and, secondly, when they should expect the end. Paul regarded the age as passing and, in such difficult times, he therefore encouraged marriage as a means of happiness. He assures them that the dead will rise first and be followed by those left alive (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

This suggests an imminence of the end but he is unspecific about times and seasons, and encourages his hearers to expect a delay. The form of the end will be a battle between Jesus and the Man of Lawlessness (3ff) whose conclusion is the triumph of Christ.

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temple

The architectural structure in Jerusalem that was the focal point of worship and the national life of Israel form the 10th century B.C. when it was built by king Solomon, until it was destructed by Rome in A.D. 70. The temple was rebuilt two times and had three periods during which the temples of Solomon, Zurubabbel, and Herod were in existance.

A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A ‘’templum’’ constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word “ template,’’ a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Though a templum, technically speaking, is not a “house of the gods” but a diagram that for the Romans linked the geometries of heaven and earth, it was also indicative of a dwelling place of a god or gods. This tradition, of course, dates back to prehistoric times. For the ancient Egyptians, the word pr could refer not only to a house, but also to a sacred structure since it was believed that the gods resided in houses. The word ‘temple’ (which dates to about the 6th century BCE), despite the specific set of meanings associated with the religion of the ancient Rome, has now become quite widely used to describe a house of worship for any number of religions and is even used for time periods prior to the Romans. Stated differently, temple was once a species of sacred structures; today it is, in the English language, often used as a genus.

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biblical studies

Focused on the interpretation and exegesis of the bible.

Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible. Christianity traditionally includes the New Testament and Old Testament, sometimes called the "Scriptures."

Judaism includes only the Hebrew Bible (the first five books of which are called the Torah or Tanakh in Hebrew). Biblical studies is a branch of theology, but also draws on the disciplines of history, literary criticism, philology, and increasingly the social sciences. Practitioners of Biblical Studies do not necessarily have faith commitment to the texts they study.

In Judaism

Biblical studies among Jews in a secular academic setting is fairly new. Historically, and for those Jews maintaining Jewish traditions (particularly the Haredi Jews and Hasidic Jews), the term "Bible Study" is not used, rather the term of choice was, and remains, "Torah Study", which included the study of Torah, Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, or Jewish law, Midrashic commentators and rabbinic literature. Jews have traditionally done their religious studies at home with their parents, or institutionally in a local yeshiva (larger Talmudic school), beth midrash (a smaller school), a kollel (post-graduate school) and even in synagogue on a daily basis.

Modern academic-type institutions where Bible studies are conducted in non-traditional fashion, meaning in modern academic style, for Jewish students are the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), some classes at Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox) in the United States, and in Israel at all its major universities such as Hebrew University (secular), Tel Aviv University (secular) and some courses at Bar Ilan University (Religious Zionism).

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the gospels

Books in the new testament referred to as the Gospels:

Books in the new testament referred to as the Gospels:
In Christianity, a gospel (from Old English, "good news") is generally one of four canonical books of the New Testament that describe the miraculous birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. These books are the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, written between 65 and 100 AD.

Many modern scholars argue that the sequence in which the Gospel accounts have traditionally been printed in the Bible is not the order of their composition, and that the first canonical gospel to have been written is Mark (c 65-70), which in turn was used as a source for the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew and Luke may have also used the hypothetical Q Document. These first three gospels are called the synoptic gospels because they share a similar view. The last gospel, the gospel of John, presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry from the synoptics. The canonical gospels were originally written in Greek.

Bethlehem, the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Last Supper, resurrection accounts, and the Great Commission.

Gospel has generally been used in three ways:

1. To denote the proclamation of God's saving activity in Jesus of Nazareth or to denote the message proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth. This is the original New Testament usage (for example Mark 1:14-15 or 1 Corinthians 15:1-9, see also Strong's G2098).

2. More popularly to refer to the four canonical Gospels, which are attributed to the Four Evangelists: (Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John); and sometimes other non-canonical works (eg. Gospel of Thomas), that offer a narrative of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

3. Some modern scholars have used the term to denote a hypothetical genre of Early Christian literature (cf. Peter Stuhlmacher, ed., Das Evangelium und die Evangelien, Tübingen 1983, also in English: The Gospel and the Gospels).

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Open-air preaching

Open-air preaching or "street preaching" is the act of publicly proclaiming a religious message to crowds of people in open places. It is an ancient method of communicating a religious or social message, and has been used by many cultures and religious traditions but today is usually associated with Christian fundamentalism or evangelicalism.

History of open-air preaching

George Whitefield's outdoor preaching made him a household name in England and the American Colonies.The famous early Methodist preachers John Wesley and George Whitefield preached in the open air, which allowed them to attract crowds larger than most buildings could accommodate.

Biblical examples also include that of the prophet Jonah, who reluctantly obeys the command of God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4 KJV) Others include the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and Paul's speech to the Athenians in Acts 17.

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Historicity of the Bible

Introduction

All historians of the ancient Near East are confronted with the question of the historicity (historical actuality) of the account of the Bible. The text provides a powerful and evocative account of two states, the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah, and their contact with a range of neighbouring peoples, from their formation to their disappearance, in the eighth and sixth centuries. It also presents a reconstruction of the earlier histories of the region, supposedly from the time of the Creation of the World, and a Universal deluge, down to the supposed creation of a unified state at the time of the monarchs, David and Solomon. There are thousands of works examining the historical nature or otherwise of this material, examining whether or not it is possible to depend upon this material for historical reconstructions of these areas in these periods, and to attempt to identify which passages of the Biblical account are most reliable.

These views range from those which adopt an almost complete paraphrase of the Biblical material, to those who advocate its almost complete rejection as having almost no historically useful information at all. Those involved in this analysis have often been engaged in bitter disputes, which cannot, by the nature of the Biblical record be resolved from within the Biblical tradition.

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Carolus Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné (help·info), (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy." He is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.

He was the most renowned botanist of his time, and also noted for his fine linguistic skills. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message: "Tell him I know no greater man on earth." ; the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." ; Swedish author August Strindberg wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist".

(see also: Founders of modern science)

Name

The name of this botanist comes in different variants: 'Carl Linnaeus', 'Carolus Linnaeus' and 'Carl von Linné', sometimes just 'Carl Linné'. There is often confusion about his real Swedish name, as opposed to the Latinized form 'Carolus Linnaeus' he used most when he published his scientific works in Latin.

In the preface to a late edition of his work entitled Systema Naturae: Creationis telluris est glaria Dei ex opere Naturae per Hormonem solem, Linnaeus stated, "The Earth's creation is the glory of God, as seen from the works of Nature by man alone. The study of nature would reveal the Devine Order of God's creation, and it was the naturalist's task to construct a 'Natural classification' that would reveal this Order in the universe."

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Wernher von Braun

Dr. Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. The German scientist, who led Germany's rocket development program (V-2) before and during World War II, entered the United States at the end of the war through the then-secret Operation Paperclip. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen and worked on the American ICBM program before joining NASA, where he served as director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that propelled the United States to the Moon. He is generally regarded as the father of the United States space program. Wernher von Braun received the National Medal of Science in 1975. He was tall, articulate and spoke English with a distinctive German accent.

(see also Founders of modern science

Opposition to one-sided teaching of evolution

Concerning the teaching of evolution in public schools, Wernher von Braun said:

“ To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance—would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye? Some say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer... They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But, must we really light a candle to see the sun? ”

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Transfiguration of Jesus

The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain ( Matthew 17:1-6, Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). The original Greek term in the Gospels is metamorphothe, describing Jesus as having undergone metamorphosis.

The Gospels state that Jesus led three of his apostles - Simon Peter, John the Apostle, and James the Great - to pray at the top of a mountain. Once at the top, Jesus became transfigured, his face shining like the sun, and his clothes a brilliant white.

They claim that Elijah and Moses suddenly appeared with Jesus and talked with him; Matthew and Mark do not say what the conversation was about, but Luke states that it was about Jesus' future death. Once they had spoken with each other, the Gospels paralleling a similar event during the Baptism of Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. (Matthew 17:4-6 (NIV))

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The Plagues of Egypt

The Plagues of Egypt (Hebrew: מכות מצרים, Makot Mitzrayim), the Biblical Plagues or the Ten Plagues (עשר המכות, Eser Ha-Makot) are the ten calamities inflicted upon Egypt by God in the Biblical story recounted the book of Exodus, chapters 7 - 12, in order to convince Pharaoh (possibly Ramesses II, making the pharaoh of the Oppression Djeserkheperure Horemheb) to let the Israelite slaves leave. (see also Pharaoh of the Exodus).

The plagues as they appear in the Torah are:

1. (Exodus 7:14-25) rivers and other water sources turned to blood ('Dam')

2. (Exodus 7:26-8:11) amphibians (commonly believed to be frogs) ('Tsfardeia')

3. (Exodus 8:12-15) lice ('Kinim')

4. (Exodus 8:16-28) Either flies, wild animals or beetles ('Arov')

5. (Exodus 9:1-7) disease on livestock ('Dever')

6. (Exodus 9:8-12) unhealable boils ('Shkhin')

7. (Exodus 9:13-35) hail mixed with fire ('Barad')

8. (Exodus 10:1-20) locusts ('Arbeh')

9. (Exodus 10:21-29) darkness ('Choshech')

10. (Exodus 11:1-12:36) death of the firstborn ('Makat Bechorot')

    see also: Passover

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sayings of Jesus on the cross

The seven sayings of Jesus on the cross are a traditional collection of seven short phrases uttered by Jesus at his crucifixion gathered from the four Gospels, immediately before he died.

Seven sayings

The seven sayings form part of a Christian meditation that is often used during

• Lent,
• Holy Week, and
• Good Friday

The traditional order of the sayings is:

1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do
   (Luke 23:34).

2. Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise
   (Luke 23:43).
   

3. Woman, behold your son: behold your mother
   (John 19:26).

4. Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?
   ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?", Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34).

5. I thirst
   (John 19:28).

6. It is finished
   (John 19:30).

7. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit
   (Luke 23:46).

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Parable of the Good Samaritan

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a famous New Testament parable appearing only in the Gospel of Luke. The majority view indicates this parable is told by Jesus in order to illustrate that compassion should be for all people, and that fulfilling the spirit of the Law is just as important as fulfilling the letter of the Law. Jesus puts the definition of neighbor into an enlarged context, beyond what people usually thought of as a neighbor.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn in Jericho and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper.

'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

(Luke 10:25-37)

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Ministry of Jesus

According to the Gospels, the Ministry of Jesus began when Jesus was around 30 years old, and lasted a period of 1-3 years. In the Biblical narrative, Jesus' method of teaching involved parables, metaphor, allegory, sayings, proverbs, and a small number of direct sermons. This was the first coming of Jesus, most Christian denominations believe in a Second Coming when Jesus will return to the earth to fulfill aspects of Messianic prophecy, such as the general resurrection of the dead, last judgment of the dead and the living and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (also called the "Reign of God"), including the Messianic Age.

The start of Jesus' ministry

From Nazareth to Capernaum

Some time after having rejected Satan's temptation, Jesus is described as leaving Nazareth. While Matthew doesn't explain why Jesus did this, both he and Mark mention that John the Baptist was arrested by Herod Antipas at this time. Luke gives a different circumstance, stating that Jesus left when the people of Nazareth rejected him. The texts don't recount what occurred between Jesus being tempted and John being arrested, but Jones believes that some months likely elapsed, with Jesus frequently being seen as a disciple of John the Baptist, until this was no longer possible (due to John being arrested). France argues that it was the flight from Nazareth which resulted in Jesus carrying out a ministry based on itinerant preaching, which R. T. France sees as being quite different to the ministry which John the Baptist had carried out.

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The seven churches of Asia

The seven churches of Asia (properly Asia Minor) are seven major churches of the early Christianity, as mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. All sites are in modern-day Turkey. In Revelation, Jesus Christ instructs 'Saint John the Evangelist' to:

"Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."(Revelation 1:11)

It should be understood that "churches," in this context, refers to the community of Christians living in each city, and not merely to the building or buildings in which they gathered for worship. This letter should also apply to the community of Christians today (the Christian Church).

The seven churches are located in...

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Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Kierkegaard strongly criticized both the Hegelianism of his time, and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals with religious problems such as the nature of faith, the institution of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices. His early work was written under various pseudonyms who present their own distinctive viewpoints in a complex dialogue. Kierkegaard left the task of discovering the meaning of the works to the reader, because "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". Subsequently, many have interpreted Kierkegaard as an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, individualist, etc. Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, Kierkegaard came to be regarded as a highly significant and influential figure in contemporary thought.

Life

Early years (1813–1841)

Søren Kierkegaard was born to an affluent family in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. His mother, Ane Sørensdatter Lund Kierkegaard, had served as a maid in the household before marrying Søren's father. She was an unassuming figure: quiet, plain, and not formally educated. She is not directly referred to in Kierkegaard's books, although she too affected his later writings. His mother died on July 31, 1834, age 66.

His father, Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, was a melancholic, anxious, deeply pious, and fiercely intelligent man. Convinced that he had earned God's wrath, he believed that none of his children would live past the age attained by Jesus Christ, that of 33. He believed his personal sins, such as cursing the name of God in his youth and possibly impregnating Ane out of wedlock, necessitated this punishment. Though many of his seven children died young, his prediction was disproved when two of them surpassed this age: Søren and Peter Christian Kierkegaard, a Lutheran bishop several years Søren's senior. This early introduction to the notion of sin and its connection from father and son laid the foundation for much of Kierkegaard's work (particularly Fear and Trembling). Despite his father's occasional religious melancholy, Kierkegaard and his father shared a close bond. Kierkegaard learned to explore the realm of his imagination through a series of exercises and games they played together.

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Auschwitz

Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camps. Located in southern Poland, it took its name from the nearby town of Oświęcim (Auschwitz in German), situated about 50 kilometers west of Kraków and 286 kilometers from Warsaw. Following the German occupation of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim was incorporated into Germany and renamed Auschwitz.

The complex consisted of three main camps:

1. Auschwitz I, the administrative center;
2. Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp or Vernichtungslager; and
3. Auschwitz III (Monowitz), a work camp. The first two of them have been on the World Heritage List since 1979. There were also around 40 satellite camps, some of them tens of kilometers from the main camps, with prisoner populations ranging from several dozen to several thousand.

The camp commandant, Rudolf Höss, testifed at the Nuremberg Trials that 3 million people had died at Auschwitz during his stay as a commandant. Later he decreased his estimate to about 1.1 million. The death toll given by the Soviets and accepted by many was 4,000,000 people. This number was written on the plaques in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The Museum revised this figure in 1990, and new calculations by Dr. Franciszek Piper now place the figure at 1.1 million about 90 percent of them Jews from almost every country in Europe. Most of the dead were killed in gas chambers using Zyklon B; other deaths were caused by systematic starvation, forced labor, lack of disease control, individual executions, and so-called medical experiments.

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embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells.

Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are pluripotent. This means they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body. Pluripotency distinguishes ES cells from multipotent progenitor cells found in the adult; these only form a limited number of cell types. When given no stimuli for differentiation, (i.e. when grown in vitro), ES cells maintain pluripotency through multiple cell divisions. The presence of pluripotent adult stem cells remains a subject of scientific debate, however, research has demonstrated that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from adult fibroblast cultures.

Because of their plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, ES cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. However, to date, no approved medical treatments have been derived from embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Adult stem cells and cord blood stems cells have thus far been the only stem cells used to successfully treat any diseases. Diseases treated by these non-embryonic stem cells include a number of blood and immune-system related genetic diseases, cancers, and disorders; juvenile diabetes; Parkinson's; blindness and spinal cord injuries. Besides the ethical problems of stem cell therapy there is a technical problem of graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation. However, these problems associated with histocompatibility may be solved using autologous donor adult stem cells or via therapeutic cloning.

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