... his stay in Babylon, made it easy for him to be faithful the remaining 69 years and 355 days! Many a time, our decision not to compromise comes far too late (after we have already compromised a little!). To the best of my knowledge my colleagues in college never once offered me a cigar to smoke ... by them! Also, we must note that he reserved his thick friendship only for his disciples. In fact he met them "often" in an olive grove - something he did not do with his "sinner" friends (John 18:2). Following the model of Jesus we can have a circumspect friendship with our unbeliever pals wi...

• Word Count: 2925
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... ; 3:36, "anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life". This view takes eternal life as something that has already been given, not something that will be attained after death. Believers should not keep eternal life as a future hope, something that has not been given. It is an already opened gift to all who are truly apart ... undermining free will and choice. This argument mainly comes from one with an Arminian viewpoint; as a Calvinist has a different view on free will altogether. An Arminian could indeed hold this view without compromising there view on free w...

• Word Count: 2774
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... but mostly all are based on the same principle: there is something far greater than us and we must worship it. Being that this is such a widespread principle one would think that religions would have some kind of common ground especially when it comes to two of the oldest and most significant religions in existence today. ... Judaism and Christianity would reveal the root of their long-standing discord. According to the Bible, the origins of the Jewish people can be traced all the way back to Abraham, who is considered to be the father of Judaism. It is believed that Abraham circumcised ...

• Word Count: 2649
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Fall, man lost his original desire for God. When he lost that desire something happened to his freedom. He lost the moral ability to choose Christ (Sproul, 1996, pp. 130-131). This moral inability does not come about through external coercion, but, as the above Scriptures indicate, it comes about from an internal hatred towards God. The Bible emphatically asserts that unbelievers have ... : mind, body, emotions, will, etc. As has been argued, the will is in bondage to the desires of the heart. And the heart is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lo...

• Word Count: 5514
• Approx Pages: 22
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... p185). To interpret is to appropriate here and now the intention of the text (Ricoeur, 1995, p185). Thus, the interpretation is complete when the reading releases something like an event, an event of discourse, an event of the present time. What happens in that event is that the interpreter obtains the possibility to see ... them. Division in the church, he said, is worse than war (Shelly, 1990, p25 ). At this council the dating of Easter was established. Rules were framed that defined the authority of bishops, thereby paving the way for a concentration of power in ecclesiastical hands....

• Word Count: 2796
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... One question, that must be answered is, "Is there a difference between killing and letting someone die, when it comes to an argument about euthanasia?" Members of different Christian denominations would answer this question in different ways. Generally, the view of the Catholic church is that Euthanasia and any other form of killing ... not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked." Christians, who oppose Euthanasia (Catholic Church), may do so because they believe that "The human person is created to praise, reverence and serve God" . This is based on the belief...

• Word Count: 2030
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... the Corinthian church with a view of the resurrection or the lack thereof. The church at Corinth was in the heart of Greek culture. They saw the afterlife as something only for the soul. According to Greek philosophers, the soul was the real person, imprisoned in a physical body, and at death the soul was released. There ... : "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied- (15:19). We have wasted our time, in other words, if our Christian hope is nothing more than just a way to cope with the uncertainties of life and not built upon the very truth o...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School