1.
Stained glass
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The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques, although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has extended the term stained glass to include domestic leadlight. As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together by strips of lead. Painted details and yellow stain are used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as illuminated wall decorations, Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship, artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. During the late Medieval period, glass factories were set up there was a ready supply of silica. Silica requires very high heat to become molten, something not all glass factories were able to achieve, such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network, Glass is coloured by adding metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while it is in a molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blue, much modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and gives a brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass coloured while in the pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass
2.
Reginald Hallward
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Reginald Hallward was a British artist who was born at Sandown on the Isle of Wight. He was a glassmaker, poet, painter and book designer and he is best known for his stained glass and light glass works for British churches. Hallward founded a business to publish his and his wifes books of poetry. Following World War I, Hallward created memorials for World War I soldiers in England, France, some of his projects involved his wife, an artist and poet, and his daughter, also an artist. He privately educated before studying at the Slade School of Fine Art, Hallward worked on stained glass and also painted tempera murals for several churches and throughout his life painted landscapes in oil. He worked with Christopher Whall as a glassmaker during Whall’s time at Dorking Hallward utilized the British Art and he preferred to outline in black paint rather than have all his outlines in leaded glass. To ensure the quality he desired, he performed all the tasks for generating the final product, the tasks included painting, firing and leading with his own hands. For a period he ran his own press, the Woodlands Press and he printed his own verse which he illustrated with chalk drawings that he created or those of Adelaide. This enterprise brought him contact with James Guthrie of the Pear Tree Press. Hallward is thought incidentally to have been the inspiration for Basil Hallward in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray, Hallward painted the landscape Newport, Pembrokeshire in oil on canvas in 1937. The painting is part of the collection of National Museum of Wales - Amgueddfa Cymru in Cathays Park, Cardiff, in 1887 he married Adelaide Bloxham who was also a painter, illustrator and author. They had three daughters, Faith Margaret, Patience Mary and Priscilla and two sons Michael and Christopher and his daughter Patricia Mary Hallward was also an artist and trained with her father. Like Reginald she finally settled in Merionethshire, for part of his life, Hallward lived in North Wales in the Mawddach Crescent, Fegla Fawr, Arthog. In 1901 moved to Shorne near Gravesend in Kent where he made his base until he retired to Merionethshire,1906 - Hallward and his wife, Adelaide, both exhibited at the Clergy and Artists Exhibition starting 29 June 1906. 1921 - Exhibition of Hallward’s work, Reginald Francis Hallward, Flowers of Paradise image
3.
Beatitudes
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The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a proclamation, without narrative, cryptic, precise. Each one includes a topic that forms a major biblical theme, four of the blessings also appear in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. The term beatitude comes from the Latin noun beātitūdō which means happiness, in the Vulgate, the book of Matthew titles this section Beatitudines, and Beatitudes was anglicized from that term. Each Beatitude consists of two phrases, the condition and the result, in almost every case the condition is from familiar Old Testament context, but Jesus teaches a new interpretation. Together, the Beatitudes present a new set of Christian ideals that focus on a spirit of love and humility different in orientation than the usual force and they echo the ideals of the teachings of Jesus on mercy, spirituality, and compassion. While opinions may vary as to exactly how many distinct statements into which the Beatitudes should be divided and these eight of Matthew follow a simple pattern, Jesus names a group of people normally thought to be unfortunate and pronounces them blessed. The nine Beatitudes in Matthew 5, 3–12 during the Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled, Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. The other four have similar entries in Luke, but are followed almost immediately by four woes, the four Beatitudes in Luke 6, 20–22 are set within the Sermon on the Plain. Verse 20 introduces them by saying, and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh, Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of mans sake. Luke 6,23 appears to parallel the text in Matthew 5, 11-12, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The four woes that follow in Luke 6, 24–26 Woe to you who are rich, Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn, Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets
4.
Abrahamic religions
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the largest Abrahamic religions in terms of numbers of adherents. As of 2005, estimates classified 54% of the population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions. Christianity claims 33% of the population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0. 2%. It has been suggested that the phrase, Abrahamic religion, may mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Christians refer to Abraham as a father in faith, there is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim, indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham. Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and it is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abrahams son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites. The Báb, regarded by Baháís as a predecessor to Baháulláh, was a Sayyid, or a descendant of Muhammad. Tradition also holds that Baháulláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, while there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, there are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity, and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháí Faith not shared by Judaism. Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob and it has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches, dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones. Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central. The Islamic faith consider all prophets and messengers from Adam through the messenger to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding Islam split into two branches, each of which now have a number of denominations
5.
God
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In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, divine simplicity, many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent and all loving. Furthermore, some religions attribute only a purely grammatical gender to God, incorporeity and corporeity of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the immanent transcendence of Chinese theology. God has been conceived as personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, in pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism, God has also been conceived as the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God, there are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about Gods identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one true Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, He Who Is, I Am that I Am, in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, in Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a concept of God. In Chinese religion, God is conceived as the progenitor of the universe, intrinsic to it, other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Baháí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. The earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus, the English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau-, in the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic God and gods in polytheism. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, in many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton. Allāh is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning The God, Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning placing ones mind, Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God
6.
Hebrew Bible
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They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
7.
Gospel of Matthew
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The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The narrative tells how the Messiah, Jesus, rejected by Israel, most scholars believe the Gospel of Matthew was composed between AD80 and 90, with a range of possibility between AD70 to 110. The title Son of David identifies Jesus as the healing and miracle-working Messiah of Israel, as Son of Man he will return to judge the world, an expectation which his disciples recognise but of which his enemies are unaware. As Son of God he is God revealing himself through his son, the gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelists community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. The original versions of the Gospel of Matthew and the gospels are lost. The oldest relatively complete extant manuscripts of the Bible are the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, besides these, there exist manuscript fragments ranging from a few verses to whole chapters. P104 and P67 are notable fragments of Matthew, in the process of recopying, variations slipped in, different regional manuscript traditions emerged, and corrections and adjustments were made. The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous, the author is not named within the text, the consensus is that Papias does not describe the Gospel of Matthew as we know it, and it is generally accepted that Matthew was written in Greek, not in Aramaic or Hebrew. The majority view of scholars is that Mark was the first gospel to be composed. The author of Matthew did not, however, simply copy Mark, an additional 220 verses, shared by Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark, from a second source, a hypothetical collection of sayings to which scholars give the name Quelle, or the Q source. The author also had at his disposal the Greek scriptures, both as book-scrolls and in the form of collections, and, if Papias is correct. The majority view among scholars is that Matthew was a product of the last quarter of the 1st century, the Christian community to which Matthew belonged, like many 1st-century Christians, were still part of the larger Jewish community, hence the designation Jewish Christian to describe them. The author of Matthew wrote for a community of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria, Matthew, alone among the gospels, alternates five blocks of narrative with five of discourse, marking each off with the phrase When Jesus had finished. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the words The Book of Genealogy of Jesus Christ, John baptizes Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. Jesus prays and meditates in the wilderness for forty days, and is tempted by Satan and his early ministry by word and deed in Galilee meets with much success, and leads to the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the discourses. The sermon presents the ethics of the kingdom of God, introduced by the Beatitudes and it concludes with a reminder that the response to the kingdom will have eternal consequences, and the crowds amazed response leads into the next narrative block. From the authoritative words of Jesus the gospel turns to three sets of three miracles interwoven with two sets of two stories, followed by a discourse on mission and suffering. Opposition to Jesus comes to a head with accusations that his deeds are done through the power of Satan, Jesus in turn accuses his opponents of blaspheming the Holy Spirit
8.
Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
9.
New Testament
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The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
10.
Old Testament
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Its counterpart is the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names. The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books, the Catholic canon comprises 46 books, the 39 books in common to all the Christian canons corresponds to 24 books of the Tanakh, with some differences of order, and there are some differences in text. The additional number reflects the split of texts in the Christian Bibles into separate books, for example, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah, the books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical. In general, Protestant bibles do not include books in its canon. The Old Testament consists of translations of many books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. The canon formed in stages, first the Pentateuch by around 400 BC, then the Prophets during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books. The Old Testament contains 39 or 46 or more books, divided, very broadly, into the Pentateuch, the books, the wisdom books. For the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions, for the Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. Likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the spelling when referring to them in the New Testament. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b gives a different order for the books in Neviim and Ketuvim and this order is also cited in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7,15. The order of the books of the Torah is universal through all denominations of Judaism and they are present in a few historic Protestant versions, the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version. Empty table cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon, several of the books in the Eastern Orthodox canon are also found in the appendix to the Latin Vulgate, formerly the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, there is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much the material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah, were finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two to four Books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and these history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. God is consistently depicted as the one who created or put into order the world, the Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well
11.
God in Christianity
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In Christianity, God is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe God to be both transcendent and immanent, although the Judæo-Christian sect of the Ebionites protested against this apotheosis of Jesus, the great mass of Gentile Christians accepted it. This began to differentiate the Gentile Christian views of God from traditional Jewish teachings of the time, in the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted. As time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible and this never becomes a tritheism, i. e. this does not imply three Gods. The doctrine of the Trinity can be summed up as, The One God exists in Three Persons and One Substance, as God the Father, God the Son, Trinitarians, who form the large majority of Christians, hold it as a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways, early Christian views of God are reflected in Apostle Pauls statement in 1 Corinthians, written ca. In John 14,26 Jesus also refers to the Holy Spirit, by the middle of the 2nd century, in Against Heresies Irenaeus had emphasized that the Creator is the one and only God and the maker of heaven and earth. These preceded the presentation of the concept of Trinity by Tertullian early in the 3rd century. This did not exclude either the fact the father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ or that he had even vouchsafed to adopt as his son by grace. Eastern creeds began with an affirmation of faith in one God and almost always expanded this by adding the Father Almighty, as time passed, theologians and philosophers developed more precise understandings of the nature of God and began to produce systematic lists of his attributes. These varied in detail, but traditionally the attributes fell into two groups, those based on negation and those based on eminence. Throughout the Christian development of ideas about God, the Bible “has been, in Christian theology the name of God has always had much deeper meaning and significance than being just a label or designator. It is not an invention, but has divine origin and is based on divine revelation. This is reflected in the first petition in the Lords Prayer addressed to God the Father, in Revelation 3,12 those who bear the name of God are destined for Heaven. John 17,6 presents the teachings of Jesus as the manifestation of the name of God to his disciples, the Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular, generally using the terms in a very general sense rather than referring to any special designation of God. However, general references to the name of God may branch to other forms which express his multifaceted attributes. Scripture presents many references to the names for God, but the key names in the Old Testament are, God the High and Exalted One, El-Shaddai, in the New Testament Theos, Kyrios and Pater are the essential names. The theological underpinnings of the attributes and nature of God have been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity
12.
Quran
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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
13.
Abraham
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Abraham, originally Abram, is the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism. His story features in the texts of all the Abrahamic religions and Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity. The biblical narrative revolves around the themes of posterity and land, Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land originally given to Canaan, but which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. Various candidates are put forward who might inherit the land after Abraham, Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons, but on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives all Abrahams goods, while the other sons receive only gifts. Terah, the ninth in descent from Noah, was the father of three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, Haran was the father of Lot, and died in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees. Abram married Sarah, who was barren, Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households. On the way Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister, however, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, for which he tried to find the reason. Upon discovering that Sarai was a woman, Pharaoh demanded that they and their household leave immediately. When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abrams and this became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each familys cattle. But Lot chose to go east to the plain of Jordan where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre, where he built another altar to worship God. During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities against Elam, Abrams nephew, the Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodoms armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target, one person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants, Abrams force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim. When they caught up with them at Dan, Abram devised a plan by splitting his group into more than one unit. Not only were able to free the captives, Abrams unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, upon Abrams return, Sodoms king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh, the kings dale
14.
Psalms
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The Book of Psalms, commonly referred to simply as Psalms or the Psalms, is the first book of the Ketuvim, the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί psalmoi, meaning instrumental music and, by extension, the book is an anthology of individual psalms, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many of the psalms are linked to the name of David, over a third appear to be musical directions, addressed to the leader or choirmaster, including such statements as with stringed instruments and according to lilies. Others appear to be references to types of composition, such as A psalm and Song. Many superscriptions carry the names of individuals, the most common being of David, others named include Moses, Asaph, the Sons of Korah and Solomon. A natural way of understanding these attributions is as a claim to authorship, Psalms are usually identified by a sequence number, often preceded by the abbreviation Ps. Numbering of the Psalms differs—mostly by one digit, see table—between the Hebrew and it is generally admitted that Pss.9 and 10 were originally a single acrostic poem, they have been wrongly separated by Massorah, rightly united by the Septuagint and Vulgate. On the other hand, Ps.144 is made up of two songs — verses 1–11 and 12–15, Pss.42 and 43 are shown by identity of subject, of metrical structure and of refrain, to be three strophes of one and the same poem. The Hebrew text is correct in counting as one Ps.146, later liturgical usage would seem to have split up these and not a few other psalms. Zenner combines into what he deems were the original choral odes,1,2,3,4,6 +13,9 +10,19,20,21,56 +57,69 +70,114 +115,148,149,150. A choral ode would seem to have been the form of Pss.14 +70. The two strophes and the epode are Ps,14, the two antistrophes are Ps.70. It is noteworthy that, on the breaking up of the ode, each portion crept twice into the Psalter, Ps.14 =53, Ps.70 =40. Other such duplicated psalms are Ps and this loss of the original form of some of the psalms is allowed by the Biblical Commission to have been due to liturgical uses, neglect of copyists, or other causes. The Septuagint bible, present in Eastern Orthodox churches, includes a Psalm 151, Some versions of the Peshitta include Psalms 152–155. There are also the Psalms of Solomon, which are a further 18 psalms of Jewish origin, likely written in Hebrew. These and other indications suggest that the current Western Christian and Jewish collection of 150 psalms were selected from a wider set, gunkel divided the psalms into five primary types, Hymns, songs of praise for Gods work in creation or in history. They typically open with a call to praise, describe the motivation for praise, two sub-categories are enthronement psalms, celebrating the enthronement of Yahweh as king, and Zion psalms, glorifying Mount Zion, Gods dwelling-place in Jerusalem
15.
Throne of God
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The Throne of God is the reigning centre of God in the Abrahamic religions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The throne is said by various books to reside beyond the Seventh Heaven and is called Araboth in Judaism. Many in the Christian religion consider the ceremonial chair as symbolic or allegorical, micaiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel all speak of Gods throne, although some philosophers such as Saʿadiah Gaon and Maimonides, interpreted such mention of a throne as allegory. The heavenly throne room or throne room of God is a detailed presentation of the throne. Micaiahs extended prophecy is the first detailed depiction of a throne room in Judaism. Zechariah 3 depicts a vision of the throne room where Satan. Many Christians consider this an event, others such as Goulder view the vision as symbolic of crisis on earth. The concept of a heavenly throne occurs in three Dead Sea Scroll texts, later speculation on the throne of God became a theme of Merkavah mysticism. In the New Testament, the Throne of God is talked about in several forms, including Heaven as the Throne of God, The Throne of David, The Throne of Glory, The Throne of Grace and many more. It is also said that out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, in Islamic theology, The Throne is the greatest thing ever created by God. Some Muslims believe God created the throne as a sign of his power and not as place of dwelling. The Quran mentions the throne some 25 times, such as in verse 23,116, The Quran depicts the angels as carrying the throne of God and praising his glory, similar to Old Testament images. The Ayat al-Kursi, is a verse from Al-Baqara, the sura of the Quran. It references the Throne, and also Gods greatest name, Al-Hayy Al-Qayyoom, scholars of hadith have stated that the Prophet Muhammad said the reward for reciting this verse after every prayer is Paradise, and that reciting it is a protection from the devil. Prophetic hadith also establish that The Throne is above the roof of Al-Firdaus Al-Ala, the highest level of Paradise where Gods closest and most beloved servants in the hereafter shall dwell
16.
Saadia Gaon
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Rabbi Saadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature, known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy, he was one of the more sophisticated practitioners of the philosophical school known as the Jewish Kalam. In this capacity, his philosophical work The Book of Beliefs, Saadia was also very active in opposition to Karaism, in defense of rabbinic Judaism. Expression was given to this claim by Saadia in calling his son Dosa, at a young age he left his home to study under the Torah scholars of Tiberias. At age 20 Saadia began composing his first great work, the Hebrew dictionary which he entitled Agron, in the same year he left Egypt and settled permanently in the Land of Israel. In 922 a controversy concerning the Hebrew calendar, that threatened the entire Jewish community. Since Hillel II, the calendar had been based on a series of rather than on observation of the moons phases. One of these required the date of Rosh Hashanah to be postponed if the calculated lunar conjunction occurred at noon or later. Rabbi Aaron ben Meir, the Gaon of the leading Talmudic academy in Israel, Saadia was in Aleppo, on his way from the East, when he learned of Ben Meirs regulation of the Jewish calendar. His dispute with Ben Meir was an important factor in the call to Sura which he received in 928, under his leadership, the ancient academy, founded by Rav, entered upon a new period of brilliancy. This renaissance was cut short, though, by a clash between Saadia and David, much as Nissim had predicted, in a probate case Saadia refused to sign a verdict of the exilarch which he thought unjust, although the Gaon of Pumbedita had subscribed to it. When the son of the exilarch threatened Saadia with violence to secure his compliance, each excommunicated the other, declaring that he deposed his opponent from office, and David b. Zakkai appointed Joseph b. Jacob as gaon of Sura, while Saadia conferred the exilarchate on Davids brother Hassan, Hassan was forced to flee, and died in exile in Khorasan, but the strife which divided Babylonian Judaism continued. Saadia did not fail to reply, the seven years which Saadia spent in Baghdad did not interrupt his literary activity. His principal philosophical work was completed in 933, and four years later, through Ibn Sargados father-in-law, Bishr ben Aaron, Saadia was reinstated in his office, but he held it for only five more years. Zakkai died before him, being followed a few months later by the exilarchs son Judah, Saadia translated the Torah and some of the other books of the Hebrew Bible into Judeo-Arabic, adding a Judeo-Arabic commentary. Torah Isaiah Megillot Tehillim, Iyyov, and Mishlei Daniel Saadia translated Megillath Antiyuchas into Judeo-Arabic and this small work has been frequently reprinted. Short monographs in which problems of Jewish law are systematically presented, of these Arabic treatises, little but the titles and extracts is known, and it is only in the Kitab al-Mawarith that fragments of any length have survived
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Maimonides
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In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician. Born in Cordova, Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve,1135 or 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician and he died in Egypt on December 12,1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. Nonetheless, he was acknowledged as among the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law and he is sometimes known as ha Nesher ha Gadol in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah. Aside from being revered by Jewish historians, Maimonides also figures prominently in the history of Islamic. Influenced by Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and his contemporary Averroes, he in his turn influenced other prominent Arab and Muslim philosophers and he became a prominent philosopher and polymath in both the Jewish and Islamic worlds. His full Hebrew name is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, whose acronym forms Rambam and his full Arabic name is Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin Maimūn bin ʿUbaidallāh al-Qurtabī or Mūsā bin Maymūn for short. In Latin, the Hebrew ben becomes the Greek−style suffix -ides to form Moses Maimonides, Maimonides was born in Córdoba during what some scholars consider to be the end of the golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula, after the first centuries of the Moorish rule. At an early age, he developed an interest in sciences and he read those Greek philosophers accessible in Arabic translations, and was deeply immersed in the sciences and learning of Islamic culture. Maimonides was not known as a supporter of mysticism, although a strong type of mysticism has been discerned in his philosophy. He expressed disapproval of poetry, the best of which he declared to be false and this sage, who was revered for his personality as well as for his writings, led a busy life, and wrote many of his works while travelling or in temporary accommodation. Maimonides studied Torah under his father Maimon, who had in turn studied under Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash, a Berber dynasty, the Almohads, conquered Córdoba in 1148, and abolished dhimmi status in some of their territories. The loss of protected status threatened the Jewish and Christian communities with conversion to Islam, death. The historical records of abuses against Jews in the immediate post-1148 period are subject to different interpretations, Maimonidess family, along with most other Jews, chose exile. Some say, though, that it is likely that Maimonides feigned a conversion to Islam before escaping and this forced conversion was ruled legally invalid under Islamic law when brought up by a rival in Egypt. For the next ten years, Maimonides moved about in southern Spain, during this time, he composed his acclaimed commentary on the Mishnah in the years 1166–1168. Following this sojourn in Morocco, together with two sons, he sojourned in the Holy Land, before settling in Fustat, Egypt around 1168, while in Cairo, he studied in a yeshiva attached to a small synagogue. In the Holy Land, he prayed at the Temple Mount and he wrote that this day of visiting the Temple Mount was a day of holiness for him and his descendants
18.
Intertestamental period
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It is known by members of the Protestant community as the 400 Silent Years because it is believed to have been a span where God revealed nothing new to his people. It is said many of the Deuterocanonical or Anagignoskomena books, accepted as scripture by Roman Catholicism. This is also the time when many pseudepigraphal works were produced, an understanding of the events of the intertestamental period provides context for the New Testament. Archived from the original on August 7,2015, what happened in the intertestamental period
19.
Wisdom of Solomon
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The Book of Wisdom, is one of the books of the Bible. It is considered scripture, classified as deuterocanonical by the Roman Catholic Church and similarly, protestant churches generally consider it to be non-canonical, and thus not Biblical scripture. It is one of the seven Sapiential or wisdom books included within the Septuagint, along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, and Sirach. The Book of Wisdom should not be confused with the Wisdom of Sirach, an Aramaic translation of the Wisdom of Solomon is mentioned by Naḥmanides in the preface to his commentary on the Pentateuch. Athanasius writes that the book of Wisdom and three other books, while not being part of the Canon, were appointed by the Fathers to be read. Epiphanius of Salamis mentions that the Wisdom of Solomon was of disputed canonicity, augustine writes in his book On Christian Doctrine that the Wisdom of Solomon and other deuterocanonical books are Canonical books. According to the monk Rufinus of Aquileia, the book of Solomon, pope Innocent I sent a letter to the bishop of Toulouse citing the book of Solomon as a part of the Old Testament Canon. This list mentions too the book of Solomon as a part of the Old Testament Canon, the Synod of Hippo, followed by the Councils of Carthage, the Council of Florence and finally the Council of Trent listed the book of Solomon as a Canonical book. The book is believed to have written in Greek language. The traditional attribution of The Book of Wisdom to Solomon has been rejected in modern times. Although the book of Wisdom is also called the Wisdom of Solomon, scholars believe that the book represents the most literary post-classical Greek language found in the Septuagint, having been written during the Jewish Hellenistic period. The author of the text appears well versed in the philosophical, religious. Peter Ennss theory identifies the author of Wisdom of Solomon as an Alexandrian Jew writing c.26 BC, some commentaries mention Wisdom 14,22 as a clear reference and condemnation of the so-called Pax Romana. The exclusive use of references to events prior to the Solomonic kingdom is a device the author used to make his work appear to be a genuine piece of Solomonic literature. The philosophical influences on the Book of Wisdom may include those of Middle-Platonism, some religious and ethical influences may also stem from Stoicism, found in the writings of the Alexandrian Jew, Philo, to whom Book of Wisdom has on occasion been wrongly attributed. A sorites appears in Chapter 6 and this logical form is also called chain-inference, of which the Stoics were very fond. One passage has notable similarity to Virtues speech to Heracles in Xenophons Memorabilia, although the Book of Wisdom is non-canonical in the Rabbinical Jewish tradition, the work was at least known to medieval Jews, as Rabbi Moses ben Nachman attests. That it was known to ancient Jews as well is trivially true, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the last section is devoid of all connection with what precedes it
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Sibylline Oracles
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This article is about the Sibylline Oracles. For the books, see Sibylline Books, the Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Fourteen books and eight fragments of Sibylline Oracles survive, in an edition of the 6th or 7th century and they are not to be confused with the original Sibylline Books of the ancient Etruscans and Romans which were burned by order of Roman general Flavius Stilicho in the 4th century. Instead, the text is an odd pastiche of Hellenistic and Roman mythology interspersed with Jewish, Gnostic, the Sibylline Oracles are a valuable source for information about classical mythology and early first millennium Gnostic, Hellenistic Jewish and Christian beliefs. Some apocalyptic passages scattered throughout seem to adumbrate themes of the Book of Revelation, the oracles have undergone extensive editing, re-writing, and redaction as they came to be exploited in wider circles. One passage has an acrostic, spelling out a Christian code-phrase with the first letters of successive lines, the Sibylline Oracles in their existing form are a chaotic medley. They consist of 12 books of various authorship, date, and these oracles were anonymous in origin and as such were apt to modification and enlargement at pleasure by Hellenistic Jews and by Christians for missionary purposes. Celsus called Christians Σιβυλλισται because of prophecies preached among them, especially those in the book of Revelation, the preservation of the entire collection is due to Christian writers. The oldest of the surviving Sibylline oracles seem to be books 3-5, the third oracle seems to have been composed in the reign of Ptolemy VI Philometor. Books 1-2 may have been written by Christians, though there may have been a Jewish original that was adapted to Christian purposes. Some have suggested that the texts may include some fragments or remnants of the Sibylline Books with a legendary provenance from the Cumaean Sibyl. This official copy existed until at least AD405, but little is known of their contents, the Christian apologist Athenagoras of Athens, writing A Plea for the Christians to Marcus Aurelius in ca. Some fragmentary verses that do not appear in the collections that survive are only known because they were quoted by a Church Father. Justin Martyr, if he is truly the author of the Hortatory Address to the Greeks, thus, a student may find echoes of their imagery and style in much early medieval literature. These books, in spite of their content, have sometimes been described as part of the Pseudepigrapha. They do not appear in the lists of any Church. The text has been transmitted in fourteen books, preserved in two manuscript traditions, one containing books 1–8, the other 9–14. However, book 9 consists of material from books 1–8 and book 10 is identical to book 4, so that the edition by Collins contains only books 1–8 and 11–14
21.
Messiah
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In Abrahamic religions, the Messiah, is the one chosen to lead the world and thereby save it. The term also appears in the forms Messias, Christ, or Al-Masih, the concepts of the Messiah, Messianism, and the Messianic Age grew from Isaiahs writings during the latter half of the 8th century BCE. The term comes from the Hebrew verb meaning to apply oil to, to anoint, in the Hebrew Bible, Israels kings were sometimes called Gods messiah -- Gods anointed one. A messiah could also be a high priest or prophet. Messiahs did not even need to descend from Jacob, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. In Judaism, the Jewish Messiah, often referred to as King Messiah, is expected to descend from King David, the Jerusalem Temples rebuilding will usher in a Messianic Age of global peace. In Christianity, the Messiah is called the Christ, from Ancient Greek, χριστός, the concept of the Messiah in Christianity originated from the Messiah in Judaism. However, unlike the concept of the Messiah in Judaism and Islam, in Chabad messianism, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, and Menachem Mendel Schneerson, seventh Rebbe of Chabad, are Messiah claimants. Resembling early Christianity, the deceased Menachem Mendel Schneerson is believed to be the Messiah among adherents of the Chabad movement, in Hebrew, the Messiah is often referred to as מלך המשיח (Meleḵ ha-Mašīaḥ in the Tiberian vocalization, pronounced, literally meaning the Anointed King. The Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament renders all thirty-nine instances of the Hebrew word for anointed as Χριστός, the New Testament records the Greek transliteration Μεσσίας, Messias twice in John. Al-Masīḥ is the Arabic word for messiah, in modern Arabic, it is used as one of the many titles of Jesus. Masīḥ is used by Arab Christians as well as Muslims, and is written as Yasūʿ al-Masih by Arab Christians or ʿĪsā al-Masīḥ by Muslims, the word al-Masīḥ literally means the anointed, the traveller, or the one who cures by caressing. In Quranic scripture, Jesus is mentioned as having been sent down by Allah, strengthened by the spirit, and hence, anointed with the task of being a prophet. The Israelites, to whom Isa was sent, had a practice of anointing their kings with oil. An Imam Bukhari hadith describes Jesus as having wet hair that looked as if water was dripping from it, Muslims believe that this is just one of the many signs that proves that Jesus is the Messiah. The literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach is anointed, which refers to a ritual of consecrating someone or something by putting holy oil upon it, in Judaism, the Messiah is not considered to be God or a pre-existent divine Son of God. He is considered to be a political leader that has descended from King David. That is why he is referred to as Messiah ben David, the messiah, in Judaism, is considered to be a great, charismatic leader that is well oriented with the laws that are followed in Judaism
22.
Gospel of Luke
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The Gospel According to Luke, also called the Gospel of Luke, or simply Luke, is the third of the four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, Luke is the second-longest of the four gospels, and together with Acts of the Apostles, the pair make up a two-volume work from the same pen, called Luke–Acts. The cornerstone of Luke-Acts theology is salvation history, the understanding that Gods purpose is seen in the way he has acted. The gospels sources are the Gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source, and a collection of material called the L source. Luke-Acts does not name its author, the most probable date for its composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Autographs of Luke and the other Gospels have not been preserved, as is typical for ancient documents, the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume and he admired Paul, but his theology was significantly different from Pauls on key points and he does not represent Pauls views accurately. The eclipse of the attribution to Luke the companion of Paul has meant that an early date for the gospel is now rarely put forward. Luke-Acts is a history of the Founder of the church and his successors. All three authors anchor the histories of their respective peoples by dating the births of the founders and narrate the stories of the founders births from God, each founder taught authoritatively, appeared to witnesses after death, and ascended to heaven. Crucial aspects of the teaching of all three concerned the relationship between rich and poor and the question of whether foreigners were to be received into the people. The author used as his sources the gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source. Mark, written around 70 AD, provided the narrative outline, for these Luke turned to Q, which consisted mostly, although not exclusively, of sayings. Mark and Q account for about 64% of Luke, the remaining material, known as the L source, is of unknown origin and date. Most Q and L-source material is grouped in two clusters, Luke 6, 17-8,3 and 9, 51-18,14, Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper. The author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large. He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to Theophilus, the name means Lover of God, here he informs Theophilus of his intention, which is to lead his reader to certainty through an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. He did not, however, intend to provide Theophilus with a justification of the Christian faith – did it happen
23.
Synoptic Gospels
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The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose content is comparatively distinct, the term synoptic comes via Latin from the Greek σύνοψις, synopsis, i. e. This strong parallelism among the three gospels in content, arrangement, and specific language is attributed to literary interdependence. Broadly speaking, the gospels are similar to John, all are composed in Koine Greek, have a similar length. In content and in wording, though, the synoptics diverge widely from John but have a deal in common with each other. Though each gospel includes some material, the majority of Mark and roughly half of Matthew and Luke coincide in content, in much the same sequence. This common material is termed the triple tradition and this stands in contrast to the material found in only two of the gospels, which is much more variable in order. The classification of text as belonging to the tradition is not always definitive. For example, Matthew and Mark report the cursing of the fig tree, clearly a single incident, despite some differences of wording. Searching Luke, however, we find only the parable of the fig tree. Some would say that Luke has extensively adapted an element of the triple tradition, an illustrative example of the three texts in parallel is the healing of the leper, More than half the wording in this passage is identical. Just as interesting, though, is that each gospel includes words absent in the two and omits something included by the other two. It has been observed that the tradition itself constitutes a complete gospel quite similar to the shortest gospel. Mark, unlike Matthew and Luke, adds little to the triple tradition. Pericopae unique to Mark are scarce, notably two healings involving saliva and the naked runaway, Marks additions within the triple tradition tend to be explanatory elaborations or Aramaisms. The pericopae Mark shares with only Luke are also few, the Capernaum exorcism and departure from Capernaum, the strange exorcist. A greater number, but still not many, are shared with only Matthew, most notably the so-called Great Omission from Luke of Mk 6, most scholars take these observations as a strong clue to the literary relationship among the synoptics and Marks special place in that relationship. The hypothesis favored by most experts is Marcan priority, that Mark was composed first, a leading alternative hypothesis is Marcan posteriority, that Mark was formed primarily by extracting what Matthew and Luke shared in common
24.
Nag Hammadi library
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The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. D. The discovery of these texts significantly influenced modern scholarship into early Christianity, the contents of the codices were written in the Coptic language. The best-known of these works is probably the Gospel of Thomas, subsequently, a 1st or 2nd century date of composition circa 80 AD or earlier has been proposed for the lost Greek originals of the Gospel of Thomas. The buried manuscripts date from the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Nag Hammadi codices are currently housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. The story of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 has been described as as exciting as the contents of the find itself, neither originally reported the find, as they sought to make money from the manuscripts by selling them individually at intervals. The brothers mother burned several of the manuscripts, worried, apparently, as a result, what came to be known as the Nag Hammadi library appeared only gradually, and its significance went unacknowledged until some time after its initial discovery. In 1946, the brothers became involved in a feud, and his brother-in-law in October that year sold a codex to the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. The resident Coptologist and religious historian Jean Doresse, realizing the significance of the artifact, after the revolution in 1952, these texts were handed to the Coptic Museum in Cairo, and declared national property. Pahor Labib, the director of the Coptic Museum at that time, was keen to keep manuscripts in their country of origin. Meanwhile, a single codex had been sold in Cairo to a Belgian antique dealer. After an attempt was made to sell the codex in both New York City and Paris, it was acquired by the Carl Gustav Jung Institute in Zurich in 1951, through the mediation of Gilles Quispel. It was intended as a present to the famous psychologist, for this reason. The papyri were finally together in Cairo, of the 1945 find, eleven complete books. The first edition of a text found at Nag Hammadi was from the Jung Codex, a translation of which appeared in Cairo in 1956. Due to the political circumstances in Egypt, individual tracts followed from the Cairo. This state of affairs did not change until 1966, with the holding of the Messina Congress in Italy, at this conference, intended to allow scholars to arrive at a group consensus concerning the definition of gnosticism, James M. A facsimile edition in twelve volumes was published between 1972 and 1977, with subsequent additions in 1979 and 1984 from the publisher E. J, brill in Leiden, entitled, The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices
25.
Gospel of Thomas
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The Gospel According to Thomas is an early Christian non-canonical sayings-gospel that many scholars believe provides insight into the oral gospel traditions. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture, the Coptic-language text, the second of seven contained in what modern-day scholars have designated as Codex II, is composed of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Almost half of these sayings resemble those found in the Canonical Gospels and its place of origin may have been Syria, where Thomasine traditions were strong. The introduction states, These are the words that the living Jesus spoke. Didymus and Thomas both mean twin, some critical scholars suspect that this reference to the Apostle Thomas is false, and that therefore the true author is unknown. It is possible that the document originated within a school of early Christians, some critics further state that even the description of Thomas as a gnostic gospel is based upon little other than the fact that it was found along with gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi. The name of Thomas was also attached to the Book of Thomas the Contender, which was also in Nag Hammadi Codex II, and the Acts of Thomas. While the Gospel of Thomas does not directly point to Jesus divinity, it also does not directly contradict it, the Gospel of Thomas is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four Canonical Gospels. Bishop Eusebius included it among a group of books that he believed to be not only spurious, however, it is not clear whether he was referring to this Gospel of Thomas or one of the other texts attributed to Thomas. The manuscript of the Coptic text, found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi and it was first published in a photographic edition in 1956. This was followed three years later by the first English-language translation, with Coptic transcription, in 1977, James M. Robinson edited the first complete collection of English translations of the Nag Hammadi texts. The Gospel of Thomas has been translated and annotated worldwide in many languages, the original Coptic manuscript is now the property of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt, Department of Manuscripts. These three papyrus fragments of Thomas date to between 130 and 250 AD, prior to the Nag Hammadi library discovery, the sayings of Jesus found in Oxyrhynchus were known simply as Logia Iesu. The corresponding Uncial script Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas, found in Oxyrhynchus are,1, fragments of logia 26 through 33, with the last two sentences of logion 77 in the Coptic version included at the end of logion 30 herein. 654, fragments of the beginning through logion 7, logion 24,655, fragments of logia 36 through 39. 8 fragments designated a through h, whereof f and h have since been lost, although it is generally thought that the Gospel of Thomas was first composed in Greek, there is evidence that the Coptic Nag Hammadi text is a translation from Syriac. The earliest surviving references to the Gospel of Thomas are found in the writings of Hippolytus of Rome
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Heaven
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According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases enter Heaven alive. Some believe in the possibility of a Heaven on Earth in a World to Come, another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions, Heaven is considered as Svarga loka, and this cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, the modern English word heaven is derived from the earlier heven, this in turn was developed from the previous Old English form heofon. By about 1000, heofon was being used in reference to the Christianized place where God dwells, all of these have been derived from a reconstructed Proto-Germanic form *Hemina-. In Ancient Egyptian religion, belief in an afterlife is much more stressed than in ancient Judaism, Heaven was a physical place far above the Earth in a dark area of space where there were no stars, basically beyond the Universe. Their heart would finally be weighed with the feather of truth, almost nothing is known of Bronze Age Canaanite views of Heaven, and the archeological findings at Ugarit have not provided information. The 1st century Greek author Philo of Byblos may preserve elements of Iron Age Phoenician religion in his Sanchuniathon, in the Middle Hittite myths, Heaven is the abode of the gods. In the Song of Kumarbi, Alalu was king in Heaven for nine years before giving birth to his son, Anu was himself overthrown by his son, Kumarbi. The Baháí Faith regards the description of Heaven as a specific place as symbolic. The Baháí writings describe Heaven as a condition where closeness to God is defined as Heaven. For Baháís, entry into the life has the potential to bring great joy. Baháulláh likened death to the process of birth and he explains, The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. Accordingly, Baháís view life as a stage, where one can develop. The key to progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestation of God. Baháulláh wrote, Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return, in Buddhism there are several Heavens, all of which are still part of samsara. Those who accumulate good karma may be reborn in one of them, however, their stay in Heaven is not eternal—eventually they will use up their good karma and will undergo rebirth into another realm, as a human, animal or other being. Because Heaven is temporary and part of samsara, Buddhists focus more on escaping the cycle of rebirth, Nirvana is not a heaven but a mental state
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Jewish Christian
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Jewish Christians, also Hebrew Christians or Judeo-Christians, were the original members of the Jewish movement that later became Christianity. In the earliest stage the community was made up of all those Jews who accepted Jesus as a person or the Messiah. It is also a used for Jews who converted to Christianity but kept their Jewish heritage. 1st century Jewish Christians were totally faithful religious Jews and they differed from other contemporary Jews only in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. Those that taught that Gentile converts to Christianity ought to adopt more Jewish practices than the Church had already included, nevertheless, Judaizing continued for several centuries, particularly among Jewish Christians. As Christianity grew throughout the Gentile world, Christians diverged from their Jewish, Hebrew Christians — a 19th-century movement of Jewish converts to Christianity acting semi-autonomously within the Anglican and other established churches. Though it is used in some texts concerning the early church. Hebrew Roots — A religious movement that embraces both Old and New Testaments but without the observance of the Jewish Talmud and many Jewish traditions not supported by Scripture, Christian Jews — a modern term which is frequently encountered in texts dealing with sociology and demographics. Judaizers — Early Christians who maintained or adopted Jewish religious practices, judean Christians — Christians from Judea who were predominantly Jewish. Jesus was a Jew, and his movement was Jewish. He preached in the Jewish countryside, not the Hellenistic cities, after his execution, his followers saw him alive, although in what sense historians do not know. They formed a community to wait for him to return, Later, the Gospels represent a time when Christian theology was not fully formed and the separation from Judaism was not yet complete. It has been argued that this Jewish Christian sect was in danger of being wiped out as they were being persecuted. Peter and John were imprisoned by a Jewish leadership who were annoyed because they were teaching the people. The Sadducees in particular rejected the Pharisaic doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, Saint Stephen was tried by a Sanhedrin for blasphemy against Moses and God and was stoned to death, under the watch of Paul of Tarsus, before his conversion. A further blow to this Jewish sect was the death of their second leader, the High Priest Ananus ben Ananus took advantage of this lack of imperial oversight to assemble a Sanhedrin who condemned James on the charge of breaking the law, then had him executed by stoning. Josephus reports that Ananus act was viewed as little more than judicial murder. Three events would greatly affect the fortunes of early Jewish Christianity, after that, the Jerusalem bishops were uncircumcised Greeks
28.
Names of God in Christianity
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In Christian theology the name of God has always had much deeper meaning and significance than being just a label or designator. In Christianity, the name of God is not a human invention and this is reflected in the first petition in the Lords Prayer addressed to God the Father, Hallowed be Thy Name. In Revelation 3,12 those who bear the name of God are destined for Heaven, John 17,6 presents the teachings of Jesus as the manifestation of the name of God to his disciples. The Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular, however, general references to the name of God may branch to other special forms which express his multifaceted attributes. Scripture presents many references to the names for God, but the key names in the Old Testament are, God the High and Exalted One, El Shaddai, in the New Testament Theos, Kyrios and Patēr are the essential names. The Old Testament usually uses the name of God in the singular, however, the general name of God may branch to other special names which express his multifaceted attributes. The simplest form by which God is referred to in the Old Testament is El, Elohim is likely derived from the same root and points to God as being strong and mighty, able to judge and to strike fear. Elyon refers to elevation and being exalted and these are, however, not proper names for God, but epithets also used for rulers and judges. Adonai has a context and refers to God as a powerful ruler. Similarly, El Shaddai, derived from shad i. e. Lord, Yahweh is the principal name in the Old Testament by which God reveals himself and is the most sacred, distinctive and incommunicable name of God. Based on Lev,24,16, He that blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death, Jews generally avoided the use of Yahweh and substituted Adonai or Elohim for it when reading Scripture. The pronunciation of YHWH in the Old Testament can never be certain, thus Jehovah was obtained by adding the vowels of Adonai to the consonants of YHWH. Jehovah appears in Tyndales Bible, the King James Version, and other translations from that time period, for instance, Jehovahs Witnesses make consistent use of Jehovah. Many English translations of the Bible translate the Tetragrammaton as LORD, in the same sense as the substitution of Adonai, the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible to Greek mainly used the word Kyrios for YHWH. Apostle Paul was likely familiar with the use of the term Kyrios in the Septuagint and used it in his letters to refer to Jesus, thus signifying his divinity. The pronouncement I Am that I Am in Exodus 3,14, in the iconographic tradition of Eastern Christianity, it is common to depict Christ with a cruciform halo inscribed with the letters Ο, Ω, Ν for ὁ ὢν He Who Is. While the Old Testament has a variety of names and epithets that refer to God in Hebrew. The essential uses of the name of God the Father in the New Testament are Theos, Kyrios, the Aramaic word Abba, meaning Father is used by Jesus in Mark 14,36 and also appears in Romans 8,15 and Galatians 4,6
29.
Chuck Missler
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Charles W. Chuck Missler is an author, evangelical Christian, Bible teacher, engineer, and former businessman. He is the founder of the Koinonia House ministry based in Coeur dAlene, charles W. Missler graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1956 before working for several years in the aerospace and computer industries. He joined the Ford Motor Company in 1963, Missler joined Western Digital as chairman and chief executive in June 1977, and became the largest shareholder of Western Digital. In 1983 Missler became the chairman and chief executive of Helionetics and he left Helionetics in 1984 to pursue other opportunities in the high-technology field. The suit was settled when Misslers firm agreed to pay Helionetics $1.6 million, in 1989 he headed up the Phoenix Group International, a former Colorado real estate company that entered the high-tech industry to sell personal computers to Russian schools. Phoenix filed for protection in 1990 when the deal did not develop as anticipated. After teaching for years at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Missler moved to Coeur dAlene in 1992. Through this organization, Missler distributes a newsletter and Bible study tapes, hosts a radio show. He has also involved in efforts to use computers to decipher what he considers coded messages contained in the Bible. Missler is a prominent speaker on the subject of bible prophecy, Missler has also written the foreword to Exo-Vaticana, a book that uses evidence to draw attention to the Vatican and its practices. The book loosely presents the possibility that the Vatican is communicating with extraterrestrial life, after the plagiarism was acknowledged, book shipments to bookstores were discontinued and all of the authors proceeds donated to a ministry. Missler has also accused of plagiarism of New Age writer Michael Talbots 1992 book The Holographic Universe in his 1999 book Cosmic Codes, Messages from the Edge of Eternity. Missler has also acknowledged this plagiarism and has publicly apologized. He said a correction would be inserted in all unsold copies, Missler has donated all of the authors proceeds from the book to a ministry. 2002 Learn the Bible in 24 Hours Pub, Nelson Books ISBN 0-7852-6429-9 Behold a White Horse,2006 Prophecy 20/20, Profiling the Future Through the Lens of Scripture Pub, Thomas Nelson ISBN 0-7852-1889-0 Alien Encounters, The Secret Behind the UFO Phenomenon. The Creator, Beyond Time & Space, Cosmic Codes, Hidden Messages From the Edge of Eternity. Hidden Treasures in the Biblical Text, the Kingdom, Power, & Glory, The Overcomers Handbook. Why Should I Be the First to Change, the Key to a Loving Marriage
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Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
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Kingdom of God (Christianity)
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The Kingdom of God is one of the key elements of the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Drawing on Old Testament teachings, the Christian characterization of the relationship between God and humanity inherently involves the notion of the Kingship of God. The Old Testament refers to God the Judge of all and the notion that all humans will eventually be judged is an element of Christian teachings. Building on a number of New Testament passages, the Nicene Creed indicates that the task of judgment is assigned to Jesus, the New Testament is written against the backdrop of Second Temple Judaism. The view of the kingdom developed during that time included a restoration of Israel to a Davidic Kingdom, the coming of the kingdom of God involved God finally taking back the reins of history, which he had allowed to slacken as pagan Empires had ruled the nations. Most Jewish sources imagine a restoration of Israel and either a destruction of the nations or a gathering of the nations to obedience to the One True God, Jesus stands firmly in this tradition. His suffering and death, however, seem to cast doubt upon this but his resurrection establishes his claim, the claim of his exaltation to the right hand of God establishes him as king. Thus the mission of the Church begins, and fills the time between the coming of the Kingdom, and its ultimate consummation with the Final Judgment. The term kingdom of God has been used to mean Christian lifestyle, a method of world evangelization, others relate it not to our present or future earthly situation, but to the world to come. The interpretation of the phrase is based on the theological leanings of the scholar-interpreter. Kingdom of God is translated to Latin as Regnum Dei and Kingdom of Heaven as Regnum caelorum, Kingdom of Heaven appears 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew and nowhere else in the New Testament. Matthew also uses the term Kingdom of God in a handful of cases, there is general agreement among scholars that the term used by Jesus himself would have been Kingdom of God. Matthews use for the term Kingdom of Heaven is generally seen as a parallel to the usage of Kingdom of God in Mark and Lukes gospels. Matthew is likely to have used the term Heaven due to the fact that the background of his Jewish audience imposed restrictions on the frequent use of the name of God. France suggests that in the few cases where Kingdom of God is used, Matthew seeks a more specific and personal reference to God, the enthronement psalms provide a background for this view with the exclamation The Lord is King. However, in later Judaism a more national view was assigned to Gods Kingship in which the awaited Messiah may be seen as a liberator and the founder of a new state of Israel. The term Kingdom of God does not appear in the Old Testament, although his Kingdom, however, the Kingdom of God is a prominent phrase in the Synoptic Gospels and there is near unanimous agreement among scholars that it represents a key element of the teachings of Jesus. Historically, the Church Fathers presented three separate interpretations of the Kingdom of God, the first was that Jesus himself represents the Kingdom
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God the Father
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God the Father is a title given to God in various religions, most prominently in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person God the Son and the third person God the Holy Spirit. Since the second century, Christian creeds included affirmation of belief in God the Father, primarily as his capacity as Father and creator of the universe. While a religious teacher in one faith may be able to explain the concepts to his own audience with ease, many believe they can communicate with God and come closer to him through prayer – a key element of achieving communion with God. For instance, after completing his monumental work Summa Theologica, Catholic St. Thomas Aquinas concluded that he had not yet begun to understand ‘God the Father’. Although God is never addressed as Mother, at times motherly attributes may be interpreted in Old Testament references such as Isa 42,14, Isa 49, 14–15 or Isa 66. This passage clearly acknowledges the Jewish teachings on the uniqueness of God, over time, the Christian doctrine began to fully diverge from Judaism through the teachings of the Church Fathers in the second century and by the fourth century belief in the Trinity was formalized. Judaism In Judaism, God is described as Father as he is seen as the one, indivisible and incomparable, transcendent, immanent. The God in Judaism is the giver of the shabbath and the torahs—written, oral, mystical—to his chosen people. In Judaism, the use of the Father title is generally a metaphor, referring to the role as Life-giver and Law-giver, and is one of many titles by which Jews speak of and to God. The Jewish concept of God is similar to the Christian view, being that Christianity has Jewish roots, though there are some differences, and also the concept of God the Father in Biblical Judaism is generally more metaphorical. Islam The Islamic concept of God differs from the Christian and Jewish views, the father is not formally applied to God by Muslims. Also Muslims believe God is Wali, Wali means custodian, protector and helper. In Quran 9,23, Allah is more preferred to Father, also, Allah is called as Rahim. Rahim means both Merciful, Compassionate and Womb, Uterus Baháí Faith In the Baháí faith God is also addressed as father. Since the second century, creeds in the Western Church have included affirmation of belief in God the Father, the primary reference being to God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe. This did not exclude either the fact the father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ or that he had even vouchsafed to adopt as his son by grace. Tertullian also discussed how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, while the expression from the Father through the Son is also found among them
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Westphalia
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Westphalia is a region in northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 7,802 sq mi and 7.9 million inhabitants, the region is almost identical with the Province of Westphalia which was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918 and the Free State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged with the Northern Rhineland, another part of Prussia. In 1947, the state with its two parts was joined by a third one, Lippe, a former principality and free state. All of the 17 districts and 9 independent cities of Westphalia, the Westphalian language, a variant of the German language, spreads north of Westphalias borders into southwest Lower Saxony. Being a part of the North German Plain, most of Westphalias north is flat, in the south the German Central Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes, other important rivers are the Ems and the Lippe. The Langenberg and the Kahler Asten in the Sauerlands part of the Rothaar Mountains are Westphalias, Westphalia is divided into three governmental districts. These are subdivided into districts and independent cities. All districts and independent cities of the districts of Arnsberg. The District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a historic region. The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed, a horse on a red field. It is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of todays Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state also covers parts of the Old Saxons duchy. The colors of Westphalia are white and red, the flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colors with the Westphalian coat of arms in its center. The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhinelands colors green/white, the flag of the Prussian Province of Westphalia already displayed the colors white and red. The flag of Lower Saxony shows the colors of Germany and the Saxon Steed, composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the Westfalenlied is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia
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Last Judgment
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In Christian belief, it is the final and eternal judgment by God of the people in every nation resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew, Christian Futurists believe it will take place after the Resurrection of the Dead and the Second Coming of Christ while Full Preterists believe it has already occurred. The Last Judgment has inspired numerous artistic depictions, beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits, do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name. And in thy name have cast out devils. and in thy name done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Then said one unto him, Lord, are few that be saved. And he said them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are, depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. The doctrine is supported by passages in the Books of Daniel, Isaiah. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them, and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees, I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me, I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire and his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father
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Nicene Creed
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The Nicene Creed is a Symbol of faith widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene /ˈnaɪsiːn/ because it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople, the Anglican and many Protestant denominations generally use the singular form, but sometimes use the plural. The Apostles Creed is also used in the Latin West, on Sundays and some other days, one or other of these two creeds is recited in the Roman Rite Mass after the homily. The Nicene Creed is also part of the profession of faith required of those important functions within the Catholic Church. In the Byzantine Rite, the Nicene Creed is sung or recited at the Divine Liturgy, immediately preceding the Anaphora, Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed can stand for the revised version of Constantinople or the later Latin version or various other versions. Icon/Symbol of the Faith is the designation for the revised version of Constantinople 381 in the Orthodox churches. Profession of Faith of the 318 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Nicaea 325, profession of Faith of the 150 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Constantinople 381. In musical settings, particularly when sung in Latin, this Creed is usually referred to by its first word, the purpose of a creed is to provide a doctrinal statement of correct belief, or orthodoxy. For that reason a creed was called in Greek a σύμβολον, a word that meant half of an object which. The Greek word passed through Latin symbolum into English symbol, which later took on the meaning of an outward sign of something. The Nicene Creed was adopted in the face of the Arian controversy, whose leader, Arius objected to Alexanders apparent carelessness in blurring the distinction of nature between the Father and the Son by his emphasis on eternal generation. Alexander accused Arius of denying the divinity of the Son and also of being too Jewish, both Arius and Alexander rejected Gnosticism, Manichaeism and Sabellian formulae. The Nicene Creed was created as a result of the adoption of the doctrine of Arius far outside Alexandria. The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the co-essential divinity of the Son, the 381 version speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Athanasian Creed describes in much detail the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostles Creed makes no statements about the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but, in the view of many who use it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, at that time, the text ended with the words We believe in the Holy Spirit, after which various anathemas against Arian propositions were added
36.
Eschatology
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Eschatology /ˌɛskəˈtɒlədʒi/ is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is referred to as the end of the world or end time. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning last and -logy meaning the study of, the Oxford English Dictionary defines eschatology as The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. In the context of mysticism, the phrase refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality, in many religions it is taught as an existing future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as the Messiah or Messianic Age, the end time, history is often divided into ages, which are time periods each with certain commonalities. One age comes to an end and a new age or world to come, where different realities are present, begins. When such transitions from one age to another are the subject of eschatological discussion, the phrase, end of the world, is replaced by end of the age, end of an era, or end of life as we know it. Much apocalyptic fiction does not deal with the end of time but rather with the end of a period of time, the end of life as it is now. It is usually a crisis that brings an end to current reality and ushers in a new way of living, thinking, or being. This crisis may take the form of the intervention of a deity in history, a war, eschatologies vary as to their degree of optimism or pessimism about the future. In some eschatologies, conditions are better for some and worse for others, e. g. heaven, in Baháí belief, creation has neither a beginning nor an end. Instead, the eschatology of other religions is viewed as symbolic, in Baháí belief, human time is marked by a series of progressive revelations in which successive messengers or prophets come from God. In this view, the heaven and hell are seen as symbolic terms for the persons spiritual progress. In Baháí belief, the coming of Baháulláh, the founder of the Baháí Faith, signals the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity and other major religions. Christian eschatology is concerned with death, a state, Heaven, hell, the return of Jesus. Eschatological passages are found in places, esp. Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Matthew 24, The Sheep and the Goats, and the Book of Revelation, the Second Coming of Christ is the central event in Christian eschatology. Most Christians believe that death and suffering will continue to exist until Christs return, there are, however, various views concerning the order and significance of other eschatological events
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Apocalypticism
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This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of catastrophic global event. Apocalypticism is often conjoined with the belief that knowledge that will likely be revealed in a major confrontation between good and evil forces, destined to change the course of history. Apocalypses can be viewed as good, evil, ambiguous or neutral and they can appear as a personal or group tendency, an outlook or a perceptual frame of reference, or merely as expressions in a speakers rhetorical style. Jewish apocalypticism holds a doctrine that there are two eras of history, the present era, which is ruled over by evil, at the time of the coming era, there will be a messiah who will deliver the faithful into the new era. Moses of Crete, a rabbi in the 5th century, claimed to be the messiah and promised to lead the people, like the ancient Moses, through a parted sea back to Palestine. His followers left their possessions and waited for the promised day, some scholars believe that Jesus apocalyptic teachings were the central message Jesus intended to impart, more central even than his messianism. Various Christian eschatological systems have developed, providing different frameworks for understanding the timing, the gospels portray Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, described by himself and by others as the Son of Man – translated as the Son of Humanity – and hailing the restoration of Israel. Jesus himself, as the Son of God, a description used by himself and others for him, was to rule this kingdom as lord of the Twelve Apostles. Albert Schweitzer emphasized that Jesus was a prophet, preparing his fellow Jews for the imminent end of the world. Many historians concur that Jesus was a prophet, most notably Paula Fredriksen, Bart Ehrman. E. P. Sanders portrays Jesus as expecting to assume the position in Gods kingdom, above the Apostles, who would judge the twelve tribes. The preaching of John was, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, other scholars such as Ehrman and Sanders accept that Jesus was simply mistaken, that he believed the end of the world to be imminent. We make sense of these pieces of evidence if we think that Jesus himself told his followers that the Son of Man would come while they still lived, the fact that this expectation was difficult for Christians in the first century helps prove that Jesus held it himself. We also note that Christianity survived this early discovery that Jesus had made a very well. There are a few recorded instances of apocalypticism leading up to the year 1000, however they mostly rely on one source, Rodulfus Glaber. Specifically in Western Europe, during the year 1000, Christian philosophers held many debates on when Jesus was actually born and this caused confusion between the common people on whether or not the apocalypse would occur at a certain time. Because both literate and illiterate people commonly accepted idea of the apocalypse, they could only accept what they heard from religious leaders on when the disastrous event would occur. Religious leader, Abbo II of Metz believed that Jesus was born 21 years after year 1 which was accepted by close circles of his followers
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World to come
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Under Christian eschatology, the phrase is found in the Nicene Creed, We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. It is also found in the King James Version of the New Testament at Matthew 12,32, Mark 10,30, Luke 18,30, Hebrews 2,5, in Hindu eschatology the current age is the Kali Yuga, a period of decline. Kalki will appear to all evil, beginning a golden age of Satya Yuga. HaOlam HaBa, or the world to come, is an important part of Jewish eschatology, the afterlife is known as Olam haBa, Gan Eden and Gehinom. According to the Talmud, any non-Jew who lives according to the Seven Laws of Noah is regarded as a Ger toshav, and is assured of a place in the world to come, the final reward of the righteous. In Zoroastrian eschatology, the world to come is the frashokereti and this is followed by a last judgment. The yazatas Airyaman and Atar will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river. All mankind—both the living and the resurrected dead—will be required to wade through that river, the river will then flow down to hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu and the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe. There have been a range of dates predicted, purportedly from different methods of calculation and this is not a rare occurrence and last happened in early 2012, passing without event. The time of arrival of Kalki has not been asserted by astrologers
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Heaven in Christianity
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Traditionally, Heaven in Christianity is the location of the throne of God as well as the holy angels, though this is in varying degrees considered metaphorical. In traditional Christianity, it is considered a state or condition of existence of the fulfillment of theosis in the beatific vision of the Godhead. The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven where he now sits at the Right Hand of God, various people have been said to have entered heaven while still alive, including Enoch, Elijah and Jesus himself, after his resurrection. According to Roman Catholic teaching, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is said to have been assumed into heaven and is titled the Queen of Heaven. Some specific descriptions of this Kingdom as given in the canon of scripture include—, Seeing God as He is, sharing in his life—1 Jn 3,2,1 Cor 13,12, Jn 17,24 Peaceful Conditions on a New Earth—Is. 2, 2–4,9,7,11, 6–9,27,13,32, 17–18,33, 20–21,60, 17–18,5, 3–5, Rev.21 Eternal Rule by a Messiah–King—Ps. 72, Jer 31, 33–34, Zech 2, 10–11,8,3,14,9, Matt 16,27, Jude 2,34 an heir of David, Is. 9, 6–7,11, 1–5 Bodily perfection—No hunger, thirst, death, or sickness,1,25,4,4,33,24,35, 5–6,49,10,65, 20–24, Jer. 3, 9–19, Matt 13,43 Ruined cities inhabited by people, a fragment from the early 2nd century of one of the lost volumes of Papias, a Christian bishop, expounds that heaven was separated into three distinct layers. He referred to the first as just heaven, the second as paradise, Papias taught that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce a hundredfold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold. According to some views, some Christians in the 1st century believed that the Kingdom of God was coming to earth within their own lifetimes and they looked forward to a divine future on earth. In the 2nd century AD, Irenaeus wrote that not all who are saved would merit an abode in heaven itself, Eastern Orthodox cosmology perceives heaven as having different levels, the lowest of which is Paradise. At the time of creation, paradise touched the earth at the Garden of Eden, after the Fall of man, paradise was separated from the earth, and mankind forbidden entry, lest he partake of the Tree of Life and live eternally in a state of sinfulness. At his death on the Cross, the Orthodox believe Jesus opened the door to Paradise to mankind again, various saints have had visions of heaven. However, in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, it is only God who has the final say on who enters heaven, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, heaven is part and parcel of deification, the eternal sharing of the divine qualities through communion with the Triune God. The Catholic Church teaches that heaven is the end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings. It holds that, by his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has opened heaven to us, the life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. Heaven is the community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ
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David
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David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, reigning in c. He is described as a man after Gods own heart in 1 Samuel 13,14 and Acts 13,22. The Hebrew prophets regarded him as the ancestor of the future messiah, the New Testament says he was an ancestor of Jesus. God is angered when Saul, Israels king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice and later disobeys a divine instruction to not only all of the Amalekites. Consequently, he sends the prophet Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Sauls courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, and brave in battle. So David enters Sauls service as one of the royal armour-bearers, and plays the lyre to soothe the king, war comes between Israel and the Philistines, and the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Sauls army, refusing the kings offer of the royal armour, he kills Goliath with his sling. Saul inquires the name of the heros father. Saul sets David over his army, all Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him. Saul plots his death, but Sauls son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his fathers schemes and David flees. He becomes a vassal of the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but Achishs nobles question his loyalty, Jonathan and Saul are killed, and David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Sauls son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, with the death of Sauls son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David, Your throne shall be established forever. David wins more victories over the Philistines, while the Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites, during a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba and causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him, in fulfillment of these words Davids son Absalom rebels. The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, Absaloms forces are routed, and Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, and killed by Joab, contrary to Davids order. Joab was the commander of Davids army, David laments the death of his favourite son, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom
