The Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount is one of Jesus' most quoted, and most referenced teachings. The Sermon, a guideline to Christian behavior, worship, and spirituality, is found in the Gospel According to Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7. The sermon is broken into a vast array of ideol...

The term scapegoat originates from Biblical times. More specifically, chapter 16 in the book of Leviticus presents the story of Yom Kippur, more commonly and modernly known as the "Day of Atonement." This was a day when man's sins were to be forgiven through strict ritualistic practic...

The Five Gospels: Theories & Conspiracies In the beginning stood four men. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Synoptics of the Bible. Men with a vision, to conceive a living testimony of their Lord and Savior Jesus. But today many followers of Christ as well as scholars are skeptical abou...

The Fall of Satan from Paradise: Cause? Effect? The Fall of Satan from Paradise Lost, by John Milton, is an epic poem, which illustrates of Satan's rebellion and exile from the great celestial city. In the poem Satan stands up against The Almighty GOD and as a result he is cast out of heaven ...

Artist: Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi) Title: Christ Presented to the People Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi) was trained in Lombardy, but most of his career was spent in Siena, where he was, together with Beccafumi, an influential artist. This work dates from the last decade of his life. The u...

The speeches of Moloch, Belial, Mammon, and Beelzebub represent particular ways of looking at life. Milton derived these views from I John 2:15 and 16 which says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the w...

Does God Love You? Q. What kind of a question is that? Anyone who can read sees signs, tracts, booklets and bumper stickers saying, "God Loves You." Isn't that true? A. It's true that God offers His love to the whole world, as we read in one of the most quoted verses in the Bible: "For God so loved...

Critical Analysis Worthy of Being Called In Ephesians 4:1-3, we read, "As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit thro...

Gnostic writings of Jesus portray him as a heavenly redeemer made less of flesh than of spirit. The emphasis of Jesus' importance is not on his physical humanness but rather, on his ability to show people the way to the kingdom. Jesus put on flesh in order to give people gnosis and reveal to the...

In Celsus' On The True Doctrine, I believe that there are four arguments of Celsus against Christianity that, in my view, best represent the Roman philosophical world-view and values. The first of the four arguments I believe to be of importance is that of the virgin birth. Jesus claims to be ...

This chapter contains one of the most well known--and one of my favorite--Bible stories, including the famous question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Like all Bible narratives, it is very succinct, offering only the facts and not even all of those--such as exactly how Cain killed Abel...

Muhammad: Describe something about the person of Muhammad and the roles he occupied during his life. How is he compared to Moses and Jesus in Islamic traditions? Consider his contributions, the nature of the culture, and the needs of emerging Islam as you discuss the need for a successor after his d...

The evidence for the life of Jesus Christ is almost entirely restricted to the four Gospels as found in the Holy Bible. According to Timothy George, Jesus was born "shortly before the death of King Herod the Great in 4 B.C.E.," although the exact date has not been determined (2003, 45). He...

Peter and Paul Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ and was one of the twelve disciples. He was formally known as Simon but Jesus changed his name after he became a disciple. Paul was a blasphemous christian hater. He was a leader of the atheists until he became an apostle of Christ, but before...

Like most morality plays, The Digby Mary Magdalene, uses allegorical exemplum form to relate moral material to the audience. The usual plot of morality plays is an allegorical challenge for the spiritual good of the mankind figure. Susan Haskins, in her book Mary Magdalene, Myth and Metaphor, state...

IS YOUR BIBLE HOLY OR JUST FULL OF HOLES? A COMPARATIVE BIBLE STUDY Answer the following questions using a NIV Bible ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matthew 6:13 How does the lords prayer end? Ma...

Knowing God In the scriptures we read of relationships that people like the apostles had with Jesus. The friendships that they had were deep and personal. They were also challenging. Jesus challenged the disciples regualarly as well as encouraged them. He warned them of the evil they were to ...

St Luke's gospel explains the life of Jesus as well as many other miracles. The Pharisees enforced the law of Moses and were very strict with their religious teachings. Many Jews feared them because they had the authority to cast them out if any sins were committed. Jesus was not against the t...

In The Koran, Surah 12, the story of Joseph is told. This story is very familiar to many Christians and Jews. There are many elements of this story as told in The Koran. Five specific elements of this version of the classic story are the narrator, the knowledge of the events, the importance of Jo...

Violence in the Bible In the Bible, there are a range of references related to violence. It is a reoccurring theme in the Old and New Testament. The acts of violence are either at the hand of God as a form of divine retribution against the sins of man or acts of jealousy and revenge by the mort...

Along with being a personal narrative of a man¡s journey to overcome sin, the Inferno also is a cascading allegory of the Medieval interpretation of the relationship between good versus evil and the afterlife. It is on the allegorical level that one infers that hell is representative of sin, with S...

The Myth of Consumerism Every society has mythology. In some societies, it's religion. Our religion is consumerism. Ellen Weis, San Francisco's Museum of Modern Mythology Consumerism fuels the capitalist fire. In a capitalist society, the goal is to make money, by whatever means possible, expl...

Symbols There are several similarities between the ways in which Judaism and Christianity apply imagery and symbolism. The most common general symbol for each is, respectively, the Star of David and the Cross of Christ. The Star signifies the prophets, and the way in which they in turn represent...

Biblical Relationships in Wangerin's The Book of the Dun Cow The relationship between good and evil in Wangerin's novel, The Book of the Dun Cow, is conveyed by farm animals that portray characteristics of religious characters and events from the Holy Bible. Wangerin, being a preach...

THE SERVANT OF CHRIST "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10). Does The Preacher Please Men Or God? With sarcasm Paul asks in Galatians 1:10: "Am I trying to persuade God to fall in li...