1) The two elements of first-century Jewish's monotheism as presented in N.T. Wright's article are first, that there was one God, who created heaven and earth and who remained in close and dynamic relation with his creation; and, second, that this God had called Israel to be his special people.
             2) Precisely because this god was both other than the world and continually active within it Jews of Jesus' day had developed several ways of speaking about the activity of this god in which they attempted to hold together what they dared not separate. The works transcendent and immanent are pointers to this belief but do not clarify it much.
             3) Some of the monotheistic teachings that can be drawn from Philippians 2:5-11 are
             Jesus is God. Jesus humbled himself and became man. Christ gave his life on the cross as an attitude of obedience. God raised him from the dead. The risen Christ is Lord .
             4) the historical background of Colossians 1: 15-20 is that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Christ is the 1st born over all creation. Christ is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Christ is the head of the body, the church. Christ is the great reconciler between god and man/women.
             5) Matthew's story, told form Joseph's point of view, reminds one of various biblical birth stories. The whole book is about the scriptures being fulfilled in Jesus. Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfills at least three biblical themes. He brings Israel into the promised land' Jesus is the Greek for Joshua. As Immanuel, he embodies God's presence with this people. As the new David, he is the messiah born at Bethlehem.
             Luke tells the story from Mary's point of view. His setting is just as Jewish as Matthew's, with verbal and narrative allusions to and echoes of the Septuagint. Like Matthew, he insists that with this story Israel's history is reaching it God-ordained c...