As much of Christianity cannot be proven and may not be accepted on faith alone, one must be brought to understand Christianity. The compelling arguments in the Bible are used by Biblical apologists who employ the art of persuasion to defend the Christian faith. The role of an apologist is to study, practice and demonstrate the truth of Christianity in an effort to bring a non-believer to the table of believers with the hope that those converted will also share the gospel of Jesus Christ. There have been many notable apologists since the first century, all of whom had a historical impact on how Christianity is perceived today. This writing will note the reason apologetics proved to be necessary, provide a brief history of selected apologists and describe their literary contributions to the Christian movement.
“Identify the key principles behind situation ethics” Situation ethics is a Christian ethical theory that was principally developed in the 1960’s by a priest called Joseph Fletcher and expanded by Bishop John Robinson. It is a teleological theory, but in contrast to utilitarianism; it is based on Christian principles, and primarily the promotion of agape. The moral worth of any action is judged on its consequences, not on the action itself. The judgement is made on how much love is produced by the action. In the 1960’s the traditional Christian Church was going through massive change.
These included his understanding of what individuals need to attain Salvation and his 95 Thesis. Through these beliefs, Luther consequently impacted Christianity in many ways. Some of which include the widespread questioning of Catholic Church, the birth of a new Christian visitant – Protestantism, the development of Protestant denomination: Lutheran, Calvinist – Baptists, Church of England etc., and the Counter Reformation. One of the ways in which Martin Luther was a catalyst for the Reformation of the Christian Church was his understanding of salvation. During the 1500’s, the Catholic Church was in a state of nepotistic and was shrouded in corruption and wrongdoing.
If there is one substantial difference which matter most as utterly irreconcilable that will always cause debate between Christians and Muslims, it is certainly Jesus Christ. Statement of the Problem The problem addressed in this study is to find out the similarities and the differences in the views of Christians and Muslims concerning the identity of Jesus and the impact of his ministry. This has particular reference to the life and teachings of Jesus here on earth particularly enough about his death and resurrection. And also touches his titles or given names in both the Bible and the Qur’an. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to compare the descriptions of both Christians and Muslims’ understanding about the identity of Jesus.
Then, the writer will point out the main teachings of the Emerging Church proponents, which is the uncertainty of Scripture and the inability to know absolute truth. The research paper will then conclude with a discussion of the dangers of the Emerging Church Movement. Table of Contents Introduction 4 The Nature and History of the Emerging Church 4 Postmodern Perspective 6 Re-defining Christianity 7 Teachings of the Emerging Church 7 Uncertainty of Scripture 9 Absolute Truth 9 Dangers of the Emerging Church 10 Truth v Experience 11 Relativeness of Sin 12 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Introduction Since the beginning of Church history, the Church has had to deal with controversy. The writer of this paper believes that sometimes controversy is necessary in order to develop a systematic belief system. Creeds were developed to address doctrinal issues.
Christian Worldview and the Scientific Method A worldview is a collection of presuppositions, convictions and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life (MacArthur, 2006). In this day and age the Earth has vast number of religions and cultures each pertaining and subscribing to their own worldviews. These views range from different forms of Christianity to a completely secular vision of the world. This paper will outline the scientific method, how it is used to gain knowledge and truth, different ways to obtain knowledge, and human nature’s influence over how they seek knowledge truth through a Christian worldview perspective. Scientific Method The father of empiricism, Sir Francis Bacon, is credited with establishing and popularizing the scientific method as an inquiry into natural phenomena (Delaney, 2012).
Christology is the study of the person and the nature of Jesus Christ and Christological claims are those that regard the life, work and nature of Jesus, which are central to the Christianity due to his centrality to faith due to his teachings and expressions of the word of God. The ambiguities within scripture in the New Testament (which studies the life and work of Jesus) led to debate in the early Church between Christians regarding the nature of Jesus, for which there are many theories. For example “Docetism”, which is the belief that Christ seemed human but was actually divine, “Adoptionism”, which is the belief that Jesus was born a man like any other and was adopted by God at his time of baptism by John the Baptist and finally “Marcionism”, which is the belief that Jesus came into the world from beyond, to teach and spread knowledge of the true God of Grace who is spiritual and separate from the physical world and to separate this from the other, false God who has led many astray into worshipping him. The historical background of the early Church involves the controversies and disagreements regarding high Christology, which emphasizes the divine Jesus, and low Christology, which emphasizes the life of human Jesus. One of the earliest Christological controversies was the Arian controversy, sparked by the priest who
Christian Fundamentalism is a part of the Fundamentalist movement that began in the late 19th century in response to the challenges of Modernism, which portrayed strictly grounded beliefs regarding the literal translation of the Bible, and the way life has been created. Throughout history, the beliefs of Christian- or more specifically, Creationist fundamentalists have been molded and shaped due to the rise of intruding ideas regarding science and evolution. As a result, concepts such as Intelligent Design have risen as a response to such ideas. The contradictory nature of Christian fundamentalists comes into play when the concept of Intelligent Design is compared to their original beliefs. Their original beliefs are established in The Fundamentals of Faith, which was published in 1910-1915.
Anderson defines the roles of the discipleship counselor and the counselee as well as God's role in therapy. He goes on to explain the steps of Freedom in Christ, which he explains is a tool that is supposed to help resolve root issues between people and God. It is based on biblical principles and truths as researched and studied by Anderson. This paper will discuss three themes taken from the book: Jesus, the wonderful counselor, the definition of mental illness according to the Bible and the Steps of Freedom in Christ. The first theme is that Jesus is used in the counseling session as the Wonderful Counselor.
As such, central to this thesis is the theme of truth- truth in the Christian religion expressed in the faith and teaching of the Catholic Church which Ratzinger sets out to address together with the questions above. In response to these questions, Ratzinger examined the relationship between Christian Faith and other cultures and religion, and the question of truth vis-à-vis the religions of the world. For the sake of this work I shall concentrate only on the questions that arise from the first part of the book. On the challenge and approach to a theology of religions: In response to this question, Ratzinger first of all identifies two basic assumptions by Modern Christian scholars (which for him were derisory) that influences their approach to the challenge of other religions- the value for salvation and the irrelevance of the distinctiveness of other religions. According to him, these presumptions are determinant for the views of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism- and places other religions as being ultimately of less value.