While few Methodists pastors believe in inerrancy, conservatives view scripture as the unique revelation of God. The Bible contains all we need to know to be saved and to live the Christian life. Conservatives believe that the four gospels are the heart of scripture and accurately portray the life of Christ. Christian Ethics- Because of their skepticism of human nature and reason, conservatives believe we must be guided by the principles found in the Old and New Covenants. Christian love must be guided by the moral teachings of scripture and the church.
According to Luther, a strong faith is the foundation and necessity for a good Christian life. Luther defines a true Christian as “a spiritual, new, and inward man.” Luther makes it clear that no outward or bodily actions are connected with the “liberty or the slavery of the soul.” No evil bodily or external works will injure the soul. Nor will any pure external actions or works save the soul. The most important thing for Christian salvation is the Bible, or as Luther refers to it, “the most holy word of God, the Gospel of Christ.” In order for the soul to be saved, we need the word of God, nothing more. In order to receive salvation, one must have faith in the word of God and “preach Christ”.
Explain how Christians make moral decisions. (25 marks) Christians have different ways of making moral decisions. Some rely on pure Biblical teaching, others on the Churches leadership, and others on their own conscience and others on Thomas Aquinas’ Natural Law. People of the Catholic Church believe Jesus gave His authority to Peter, and it has been passed down ever since, currently lying with Pope Benedict. The Catholic Church has a magisterium - its teachings have a God-given authority that is equal to the authority of scripture.
Instead it means than humanity is only saved by the free grace and mere good will of God and that whosoever believes in Christ and has faith may escape Hell. These concepts are illustrated throughout the works of Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Works Cited "Edwards, Jonathan, 1703-58, American Theologian and Metaphysician." The Columbia Encyclopedia. N.p. : Columbia UP, 2013.
Leaders had risen to power by force, manipulation, consensus, charm, or ability. None had risen from servanthood. This rise to leadership was as alien then as it often is today. “ Jesus Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7, New International Version). Though Jesus had the authority to be God, he became one of us.
(Stassen, Yeager, & Yoder, 1996, p. 10) Module 4 consists of a clear presentation of the teleological ethical perspective of Niebuhr, as well as his classical typology (and examples from church history) of distinct responses to the enduring problem of how Christians can or should live in a fallen world. This is followed by a thorough analysis and critique of Niehbuhr's model by John Howard Yoder. The Basics of Christ and Culture Briefly, Niebuhr's five types of Christian ethics as noted by Stassen et al. (1996) include the following: · New Law (Christ Against Culture) portrays Christians as a totally new kind of people living by totally new ethical standards at odds with all foundational aspects of worldly cultures. · Natural Law (Christ of Culture) portrays Christians as seeking to accommodate the ethics and values of the Gospel to bring out the very best in existing but imperfect cultures.
When one partakes in a Catholic communion, one is accepting the body of Christ. The greatest conflict and difference between the Catholic and Protestant churches is the question of transubstantiation versus consubstantiation; the Catholics and early Protestants had distinctive and unique beliefs about what happened during communion. The Catholics believed that every mass led to the miracle of transubstantiation, and the bread and wine actually became the body and blood of Christ. The Protestants saw it as more of a symbolic action. The first phrase of Ave Verum Corpus means ‘Hail true body’, and for Byrd, the most important word wasn’t Ave or Corpus, but Verum, because the word ‘true’ emphasized he was in the true presence of Christ when participating in the Eucharist.
EXPERIENTIAL APOLOGETICS Judi Fall Introduction to Apologetics /APOL500 February 7, 2010 INTRODUCTION Likely, the most important thing you can do, as a Christian, is to share the gospel with others. Whether you are a Christian or are not, you need to hear the gospel. But that being said, it is easier said than done. There are those who will be willing to hear and those who will not. Being able to give an answer to everyone who asks is known as apologetics, which means to “give an answer.” 1{Hindson, Caner, 28} Paul said in 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
Christ and Culture This paper will seek to examine and evaluate closely some key historical models in which Christians have understood the relation of Christ to culture. The relationship between Christ and human culture as Scripture presents it. However, this essay is somewhat limited to Andrew Walls’ “pilgrim principle”[1]in his essay ”The Gospel as Prisoner and Liberator of Culture” and Niebuhr’s “Christ Against Culture”[2] view form his book Christ and Culture. This paper will also try to answer the question whether in light of the “pilgrim principle” Christians should adopt “Niebuhr’s “Christ Against Culture” view. In trying to answer the not-so-easy question above, the author will briefly refer to African Culture, a culture with which the writer is familiar and comfortable to discuss.
In his Renaissance humanist play, The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster explores the opposition between these two major branches of Christianity, in the context of social and political constructs. Webster’s protagonists, the Duchess of Malfi and her new husband Antonio, have to deal with the harsh repercussions of adopting the Protestant doctrine in an intensely Roman Catholic society. His story functions as a critique of the oppression of the Catholic Church Institution and its religious political system, stressing the need to return to the basic concepts of Christianity, like the Ten Commandments, that are uncorrupted by deceit and manipulation. Webster suggests that in the humanist tradition of ad fontes, returning to the sources of Christianity and the simplicity of biblical scripture is the solution to end the unnecessary and oppressive political system of the Catholic Church. The Protestant tradition of Sola Scriptura is part of the solution for Webster, which is the reason that his play has a