Communication in Christianity

             Christianity and communication can never be separated, because the essence of religion itself is communication between man and God. While some religions hold that the gods were discovered like historical artifacts, Christianity holds that the first humans, Adam and Eve, were in direct communication with God: "And the Lord God commanded the man..." (Genesis 2:16, NIV).
             This communication, according to the bible, can be broken through sin. Because God cannot stand sin, and Adam and Eve have already sinned by Genesis 4, the bible may be functionally split into sections by the breaking and re-forging of the covenants.
             The Old Testament is a book that describes a covenant broken by the first humans. As men were sinful, they had to be cleansed by ritual sacrifice. While the Israelites do not understand it at the time, these sacrifices achieve nothing in themselves-"You not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:16-17, NIV)-but were representations of the future sacrifice of Jesus Christ which would retroactively act as the true repayment for their sins. Even ritual sacrifices left the Israelites with little actual contact with God, and only one tribe was deemed worthy to enter into the presence of God, and then only with exceedingly meticulous preparation.
             Jesus Christ was the introduction of the new covenant, symbolized by the destruction of the temple curtain when Jesus died, which was itself a symbol of God's separation from man: "The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom" (Mark 15:38). The barrier was then broken, but there was also no method by which to communicate with God; it was only when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, leaving the Holy Spirit-"All of them were filled with the Holy S...

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Communication in Christianity. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:56, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/202595.html