Category: Christianity

Word of the Week 16/05/16 - Discipleship

16/5/2016

To follow the teachings and practices of another person; Specifically Jesus Christ in Christianity.

A disciple is literally one who “sits at the feet” of a teacher; he or she is a learner, follower and dedicated to a this leader. Whilst there are lots of examples of disciples throughout history the most famous group must be the disciples of Jesus. We often focus on “the twelve” - the closest of Jesus’ followers who tried to emulate his life and continued his message after his life - but there were of course many more disciples than that, including women such as Mary Magdalene and figures such as Joseph of Arimathea.

But of course Christians today also try to be Jesus’ disciples and try to enact the teachings and example of him in their lives. We can perhaps identify three features of Discipleship that are both in the Gospels and in the lives of Christians today:

Calling:

During his ministry Jesus called the disciples to follow him - he sought them out and called them by name. They just seem to drop everything (including family and livelihood) and follow! So it also for modern Christians than many claim they have been called by Jesus. They feel they have a vocation (a calling) to act out their own ministry. This does not necessarily mean to be priests, but it could be to play a certain kind of role in their community and act out the Christian message.

Follow:

The disciples literally went where Jesus went. Whilst modern Christians cannot follow in his footsteps (except perhaps on pilgrimage) they aim to act in the ways that Jesus taught. For example by following the guidance set out in the Sermon on the Mount, being Agapeic towards others and following the command to love God and Neighbour.

Evangelize:

Finally, Jesus commanded his disciples to go out and “make disciples of all the nations”. At this point the disciples became “Apostles” - one who is sent. So it is that Christians also feel they should be evangelists to the world and spread the word of God. This is why at the end of every communion service the congregation is commissioned and sent out into the world to spread the Gospel.

So it is that Discipleship is made up of three elements; the feeling of having been called by God, the desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and to be evangelists and spread the word of God.

Word of the Week: w/c 08/02/16 - Ash

7/2/2016

Powdery, nitrogen rich, residue left behind after burning a substance

Wednesday this week sees the start of the season of Lent as Christians celebrate Ash Wednesday. This is normally marked with a Eucharist including the imposition of ashes - the cross is drawn on the forehead of each person using ash. But why do Christians do this? Why ash?

First of all the ash is made from the burning of last year’s palm crosses given out on Palm Sunday when Christians remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is symbolic of where the season of Lent is heading to - Ash Wednesday is the start of this penitential season and Christians are look forward to Holy Week which begins with Palm Sunday.

Another major symbol of ash is that it reminds them of their mortality - as the ash is placed on their foreheads the priest says: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ”. This is an echo of Genesis chapter 3:19 when Adam is cursed following his sin with the words “"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return”. This is also picked up the book of Ecclesiastes when the writer says “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return“. “Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes” is also part of the funeral liturgy. So it is that Christians are focused on the shortness of their lives and the need to be faithful to God during such a short time during Lent.

Ashes also have a long history of being used to express grief and repentance in the BIble - for example Job repents when he doubts God in chapter 42 of the eponymous book of the bible and says: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”. And Jesus himself talks of this practice when criticising the scribes and pharisees: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago (sitting) in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11.21). Early Christians such as Tertullian suggested that Christians should confess their sins accompanied by lying in ashes.

Finally Christians might like to reflect on the power of ash - out of such an apparently dead thing comes new life. Ash is a fantastic fertilizer and this seems to be a perfect metaphor for the message of Easter when Christians believe that Jesus used his death to secure new life for the world in the resurrection. Christians remember how in a few short weeks they will celebrate that in Jesus’ death and suffering their future salvation has been bought.

Word Of The Week: W/C 11/1/16 - Reformation

10/1/2016

1. The action or process of reforming an Institution or practice

2. a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

The Corruption of the Roman Catholic Church was at the heart of Martin Luther's attack on it in 1517 when he wrote the "95 Theses" thus sparking off the German Reformation spread across the whole of Europe including Britain. However Luther was not always rebellious; Luther grew up a faithful Catholic Christian, well educated and intelligent. Having survived being struck by lightning in 1503 he dedicated himself to the religious life and joined an Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg, progressing in his studies there to taking on a university lectureship nearby at the new university.

But during his adulthood and time as a priest he began to have serious misgivings about the way the church acted, it’s practices and the claims that it made upon it’s congregations.One day he saw what he needed in the text of St Paul’s letter to the Romans (New Testament) – God’s grace was there for him all the time if only he reached out by faith alone for forgiveness through Christ: Christ had died for him, he could not save himself however hard he tried, but God could! Fired by a new enthusiasm he set about declaring this truth to all around him and denouncing many Church practices such as penance, the veneration of the saints and the Virgin Mary, belief in Purgatory – indeed anything which could not be found in the Bible.

One day John Tetzel, a pardoner (a priest who toured round hearing confessions and pronouncing forgiveness) came to Wittenberg selling indulgences, the profits going to build a new cathedral in Rome (and to a local dignitary who had given him permission). This was the last straw for Luther, who in 1517 nailed 95 Theses against the errors of the Church to his own church door in Wittenberg. Among these he said –
All Christians are saints; the Virgin Mary has no special place in heaven

Priests have no special status – all believers are priests really
The Mass is a reminder of Christ’s Last Supper and sacrifice for our sins, it does not become Christ’s body and blood
The Pope has no authority to represent Christ on earth or to excommunicate anyone

But was Luther justifed in these claims? Well certainly at the start of the C16, the Roman Catholic Church was all powerful in western Europe. There was no legal alternative. The Catholic Church jealously guarded its position and anybody who was deemed to have gone against the Catholic Church was labelled a heretic and burnt at the stake. The Catholic Church did not tolerate any deviance from its teachings as any appearance of ‘going soft’ might have been interpreted as a sign of weakness which would be exploited.

Latimer & Ridley being burnt at the stake - www.wikimedia.com

Relic of the Nail of the Cross - Ipernity.com

Its power had been built up over the centuries and relied on ignorance and superstition on the part of the populace. It had been indoctrinated into the people that they could only get to heaven via the church.
This gave a priest enormous power at a local level on behalf of the Catholic Church. The local population viewed the local priest as their ‘passport’ to heaven as they knew no different and had been taught this from birth by the local priest. Such a message was constantly being repeated to ignorant people in church service after church service. Hence keeping your priest happy was seen as a prerequisite to going to heaven.

This relationship between people and church was essentially based on money - hence the huge wealth of the Catholic Church. Rich families could buy high positions for their sons in the Catholic Church and this satisfied their belief that they would go to heaven and attain salvation. However, a peasant had to pay for a child to be christened (this had to be done as a first step to getting to heaven as the people were told that a non-baptised child could not go to heaven); you had to pay to get married and you had to pay to bury someone from your family in holy ground.
To go with this, you would pay a sum to the church via the collection at the end of each service (as God was omnipresent he would see if anyone cheated on him), you had to pay tithes (a tenth of your annual income had to be paid to the church which could be either in money or in kind such as seed, animals etc.) and you were expected to work on church land for free for a specified number of days per week. The days required varied from region to region but if you were working on church land you could not be working on your own land growing food etc. and this could be more than just an irritant to a peasant as he would not be producing for his family or preparing for the next year.

However, unfair and absurd this might appear to someone in the nowadays it was the accepted way of life in 1500 as this was how it had always been and no-one knew any different and very few were willing to speak out against the Catholic Church as the consequences were too appalling to contemplate.

The Catholic Church also had a three other ways of raising revenue:

Relics: These were officially sanctioned by the Vatican. They were pieces of straw, hay, white feathers from a dove, pieces of the cross etc. that could be sold to people as the things that had been the nearest to Jesus on Earth. The money raised went straight to the church and to the Vatican. These holy relics were keenly sought after as the people saw their purchase as a way of pleasing God. It also showed that you had honoured Him by spending your money on relics associated with his son.

The Pope as the Antichrist, signing and selling indulgences, from Luther's 1521 Passional Christi und Antichristiby Lucas Cranach the Elder. en.wikipedia

Indulgences: These were ‘certificates’ produced in bulk that had been pre-signed by the pope which pardoned a person’s sins and gave you access to heaven. Basically if you knew that you had sinned you would wait until a pardoner was in your region selling an indulgence and purchase one as the pope, being God’s representative on Earth, would forgive your sins and you would be pardoned. This industry was later expanded to allow people to buy an indulgence for a dead relative who might be in purgatory or Hell and relieve that relative of his sins. By doing this you would be seen by the Catholic Church of committing a Christian act and this would elevate your status in the eyes of God.

Pilgrimages: These were very much supported by the Catholic Church as a pilgrim would end up at a place of worship that was owned by the Catholic Church and money could be made by the sale of badges, holy water, certificates to prove you had been etc. and completed your journey

Catholic areas (olive), Protestant areas (blue) and Muslim areas (red) after the reformation - wikipedia.com

It was the issue of indulgences that angered Martin Luther into speaking out against them - potentially a very dangerous thing to do. However, Luther avoided capture or burning at the stake, the fate of several previous (and later) rebels against the Church’s power. He married a former nun, demonstrating that the lifelong celibacy expected of monks, nuns and priests had no place in Protestant Christianity. He bought his former small monastery in Wittenberg and turned it into the family home! He died peacefully at home, having witnessed the transformation of Europe in his lifetime.

Eventually in England William Tyndale headed the reform movement, in Switzerland John Calvin established Geneva as a Protestant city, and princes across the continent joined in, sensing they could get free of the Habsburgs and the Church’s control. Thus a spiritual rebellion and reform movement became a massive political upheaval: for example Henry VIII in England broke with the Catholic Church (now nicknamed ‘Roman’ Catholic), became Protestant and took the entire Church in England with him. Wars were to follow for a new-look Europe over the next hundred years, and considerable conflict occurred under the Tudor and Stuart monarchs in England.

Everywhere Protestant churches were stripped of Catholic emblems or signs, such as saints’ statues or elaborate altars, service books and scriptures were produced in the local language, new Creeds were written for Protestant beliefs, the Bible took centre stage in Christian worship and Christians were encouraged to have a personal faith and to follow their own conscience. Countries gained independence from Rome and from the Empire, scholars were free to undertake new study (hence Protestants were at the forefront of science), and the New World, America, became the home of a vigorous Protestantism.

The question remains as to whether Martin Luther ever intended this all to happen? Did he just want to clean up the church or start a whole new movement? We will never know for certain, but what is for sure is that this single man shaped the destiny of Europe and ultimately the entire world. It shows the power of the individual and the importance of a powerful idea, but it also reminds us to be careful what we wish for!

Word of the Week: w/c 4/1/16 - Epiphany

5/1/2016

Epiphany, held on the 6th January, is a Christian festival which celebrates the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God and the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus

This week is the festival of Epiphany; celebrated in the West on January 6th. It commemorates the arrival of the Magi who came to worship the infant Jesus. I don’t really want to get into a discussion about the likelihood of this event or who the Magi were but I do think It is interesting to think a little more deeply about the gifts that Magi offered and what this tells us about the person of Jesus. At the very least this can tell us what the only gospel writer who records their visit, Matthew (chapter 2), wanted to convey about the Messiah.

Gold is an expression of kingship on Earth, Gold was a highly valued metal and worn by rulers in crowns or other jewellery. Christians believe that Christ is the true king who now reigns in heaven. Jesus was also descended from the line of David, the greatest King of Israel who the Jews of Jesus' day yearned to see return and free them from oppression at the hands of the Romans (although Jesus is ultimately not this kind of Messiah)

Frankincense is an aromatic resin that is burned to give a sweet smell at times of prayer and worship. It was burned in the Temple to cover the smell of blood from sacrifices there is also a sense that the smoke rising carries prayer to God. This therefore is symbolic of Jesus’ role as deity - God made incarnate.

Finally the myrrh is an embalming ointment that was used for anointing the dead. This therefore is representative of Jesus’ future suffering and death. Jesus' resurrection was indeed discovered by women coming to anoint his body - however there is no mention that this myrrh is what they intended to use.

One of my favourite Christmas carols that considers the symbolism of these three gifts is Bethlehem Downcomposed by Peter Warlock and written by Bruce Blunt. It picks up wonderfully on the duality of Jesus’ life - “gold for a crown” becomes “wood for a crown” and myrrh is given both for its “sweetness” and “embalming”. The juxtaposition of the first two major verses against the minor tonality of the last two works wonderfully. The last verse never fails to bring a lump to my throat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

When He is King we will give Him a King's gifts,
Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown,
Beautiful robes", said the young girl to Joseph,
Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down.

Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight,
Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold,
Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music,
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.

When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets,
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown,
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary,
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down

Here He has peace and a short while for dreaming,
Close-huddled oxen to keep him from cold,
Mary for love, and for lullaby music,
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem Down.

Word Of The Week: W/C 27/04/15 Beatitudes

26/4/2015

The eight distinctive sayings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–11) in which he declares that the poor, the meek, those that mourn, the merciful, the peacemakers, the pure of heart, those that thirst for justice, and those that are persecuted will, in various ways, receive the blessings of heaven

The Beatitudes are the eight declarations of blessedness spoken by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12), each beginning with "Blessed are..."

The Greek word translated “blessed” means "spiritual well-being and prosperity." This refers to the deep joy of the soul held by those who posses these attitudes. Those who experience the first aspect of a beatitude (poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted) will also experience the second aspect of the beatitude (kingdom of Heaven, comfort, inherit the earth, filled, mercy, see God, called sons of God, inherit the kingdom of Heaven). The blessed have a share in salvation and have entered the kingdom of God, experiencing a foretaste of heaven.

The Beatitudes describe the ideal disciple and their rewards, both present and future. The person whom Jesus describes in this passage has a different quality of character and lifestyle than those still "outside the kingdom." They are quite literally the blessed attitudes to hold and Christians believe how people should act in this life.

As a literary form, the beatitude is also found in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms (1:1; 34:8; 65:4; 128:1) and in the New Testament as well (John 20:29;14:22;James 1:12;Revelation 14:13).

Word of the Week: W/C 30/03/15 - Atonement

29/3/2015

An action that makes Amends for a wrong.

christian Theology: the reconciliation of God and man through Jesus christ.

This week Christians across the world will join together to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with the events of Holy week and Easter Sunday. A large focus of the language and theological themes in these services will be around the idea of Atonement. So what does this important idea mean?

The word itself literally means “at-one-ment” and is about being at harmony or equal with someone. Christianity and Judaism are based on the idea that the relationship between God and Man is broken - this is seen in the Genesis 2-3 narrative when Adam and Eve sin against God by eating from the tree and so Fall from God’s presence. The Old Testament is the story of God’s chosen people continuously failing to live up to God’s commandments and needing to be rescued only to fall away again. These stories are seen by many Christians as symbolic of our own relationship with God - we often fail live up to our own expectations or the expectations of others.

So what was to be done? Christians teach that the only way that this relationship could be properly fixed was by God himself - he was the only one with the power to truly reconcile God and Man. There are a number of theories about how this happened; Alister McGrath summed these up in his book Christian Theology: An Introduction in this way:

The cross as sacrifice
The cross as a victory
The cross and forgiveness
The cross as a moral example

The Cross as Sacrifice:

The image of God as sacrifice has, over history, been a very popular idea. The New Testament uses the Old Testament image of the suffering servant (Isaiah 53:5) and applies it to Christ. This image is picked up by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews; “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” - Hebrews 10.10. - the Sacrifice of Christ was the perfect sacrifice.

In the Old Testament, the tradition was that regular sacrifice was needed to mend and maintain the relationship between God and Man - this was the focus of Temple worship and the Jewish day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Jesus is seen as the ultimate sacrifice who fixes the relationship perfectly. John the Baptist says of Jesus: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1.29)

As Augustine says in City of God:

By his death, which is indeed the one and most true sacrifice offered for us, he purged, abolished and extinguished whatever guilt there was by which the principalities and powers lawfully detained us to pay the penalty...He offered sacrifice for our sins. And where did he find that offering, the pure victim that he would offer? He offered himself, in that he could find no other.

Cross as Victory:

The New Testament frequently describes Jesus’ death as a victory over sin and Evil as represented by the Devil. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus describes himself as the “ransom for many” - somehow paying off evil, so restoring the relationship between God and Man.

Cross and forgiveness:

Some thinkers, such as Anselm, argued that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penatly for our sin in order to right the relationship between God and Man. Jesus’ death is a “Satisfaction for sin” - a “satisfaction” was an idea used in the early church to describe the public actions - such as pilgrimage, giving to charity etc. - that people can undertake to show that they are grateful to God. Only Jesus could make total satisfaction as only he is without sin.

The Cross as moral example:

This final type, and probably the most popular idea in Christian thinking today, is the notion that Jesus’ death expresses God’s love for his people - Jesus by accepting a difficult and undeserved death shows the world the best way to act and so reunites us with God. This idea was around in the early Church but was brought to the fore by Peter Abelard in the twelfth century:

“The Son of God took our nature, and in it took upon himself to teach us by both word and example even to the point of death, thus binding us to himself through love.”

Jesus influenced us through his actions and teaching when he was alive - but most strongly through his martyrdom and resurrection. A death for others “which not only frees us from slavery to sin, but also secures for us the true liberty of the children of God, in order that we might do all things out of love rather than out of fear - love for him that has shown us such grace that no greater can be found.” (Abelard)

So this week, as you listen to the language of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter day, I hope you will think about these ideas of Atonement and question which one is the best model.

Which model for atonement do you think is the most coherent? Can you believe more than one or all of them at once? Or do you think that they all fail in some way?

Word of the Week: 19/01/15 - Eucharist

17/1/2015

The celebration of the “Lord’s Supper” at which Christians remember Jesus' death and resurrection. It features a re-telling of the events of Maundy Thursday and the sharing of the bread and wine. From the Greek, εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning "thanksgiving".

A few months ago the WotW was Sacrament and this week we turn our attention to the most commonly practised of the sacraments; The Eucharist. Otherwise known as The Mass, Holy Communion and The Lord’s Supper Christians believe it was instituted by Jesus on the night before he was crucified. In all four gospel accounts (and Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians) he shares the Passover meal with his disciples on the night of his arrest and during the meal he commands them to remember what He was about to do on behalf of all mankind: shed His blood on the cross thereby paying the debt of humanity's sins (Luke 22:19). This is why so many denominations remember this event and re-enact the last supper.

That said, the importance of the Eucharist varies a great deal; from Roman Catholics who celebrate it daily in their churches to Free Churches who might only share the Lord’s Supper on rare occasions.

For Catholics the last supper was the summit of Jesus’ ministry on earth and is so important now because a mystery occurs every time that it is performed; transubstantiation. This is the turning of the bread into the literal body and blood of Christ. This is not to say that it changes form and that you would be able tell the difference with your senses but the reality of it has changed.

For most denominations the act is symbolic and the sharing of the bread and wine is an opportunity to gather as a community and worship together. Jesus’ command “do this in remembrance of me” is seen as a command to meet together and share a meal – this is certainly how the early Christians interpreted the commandment. In the book of acts it records how the Apostles met "Day by day, attending the Temple together and breaking bread in their homes” (2.46) and how St Paul shared the Eucharist with other early Christians (Acts 20:7). As such it is an act which links modern-day Christians with their fore-fathers in a long line of succession back to Jesus’ death.

So no matter what Christians believe happens at the Eucharist and how they “dress it up” (or indeed dress it down) it is a central point of reference for all Christians and, along with Baptism, is something that you can almost guarantee that a practising Christian has participated in.

If you are a practising Christian comment below to give your insight on the importance of the Eucharist.

Word of the Week: w/c: 5/1/15 - Epiphany

1/1/2015

Epiphany, held on the 6th January, is a Christian festival which celebrates the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God and the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus

Gold is an expression of kingship on Earth, Gold was a highly valued metal and worn by rulers in crowns or other jewellery. Christians believe that Christ is the true king who now reigns in heaven. Jesus was also descended from the line of David, the greatest King of Israel who the Jews of Jesus' day yearned to see return and free them from oppression at the hands of the Romans (although Jesus is ultimately not this kind of Messiah)

Frankincense is an aromatic resin that is burned to give a sweet smell at times of prayer and worship. It was burned in the Temple to cover the smell of blood from sacrifices there is also a sense that the smoke rising carries prayer to God. This therefore is symbolic of Jesus’ role as deity - God made incarnate.

Finally the myrrh is an embalming ointment that was used for anointing the dead. This therefore is representative of Jesus’ future suffering and death. Jesus' resurrection was indeed discovered by women coming to anoint his body - however there is no mention that this myrrh is what they intended to use.

One of my favourite Christmas carols that considers the symbolism of these three gifts is Bethlehem Down composed by Peter Warlock and written by Bruce Blunt. It picks up wonderfully on the duality of Jesus’ life - “gold for a crown” becomes “wood for a crown” and myrrh is given both for its “sweetness” and “embalming”. The juxtaposition of the first two major verses against the minor tonality of the last two works wonderfully. The last verse never fails to bring a lump to my throat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

Word of the Week: w/c 1/12/14: Advent

30/11/2014

The Christian season of preparation for Christmas and the Second coming of Christ

Sunday marked the start of Advent and the beginning of a new year in the Church. The Season of Advent is a penitential season, a time for introspection and preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. The word comes from the Latin term Adventus – which means “coming”. This is a translation of the Greek word Parousia – commonly referred to as the second coming of Christ. So it is that Advent is looking forward to celebrating Christ’s first coming, but also anticipates the second coming of Jesus and the subsequent judgement that will follow.

This focus on the Eschaton (see the previous WotW) means that Advent is a time of the year when Christians focus on reforming themselves. Even the colours used in Church reflect this attitude as the vestments and altar cloths turn to purple and blue which are traditionally penitential and hopeful colours. Traditions that Christians in the West have tended to follow at this time of the year include lighting a candle on an Advent wreath each successive Sunday to represent a different aspect of Christian history that preceded Jesus: The Patriarchs, Prophets, St John the Baptist and The Angel Gabriel’s annunciation are remembered on successive Sundays. If the wreath, as in the image here, features a fifth candle this is known as the Christ Candle and is lit on Christmas Eve.

I don’t want to get on a soap-box about this (but I'm going to!), but I think it is quite clear that in modern society we have lost sight of this season and have certainly lost the value of it. So many people say that by the time Boxing Day arrives they are fed up with Christmas, having had it rammed down their throat for the past month or probably more. This should not be the case and was not the case in the past; Christmas really begins on the 24th December and then lasts 40 days – how many of us in early February are still thinking about the Christmas message? Not many. We have, probably due to the commercialisation of Christmas and our instant gratification society, got it all the wrong way round (you only have to think about the scenes on Black Friday). We don't want to wait for it and we are too focused on the material side of Christmas. What's wrong with a bit of anticipation and delayed gratification?

So, when people wish me “Merry Christmas” this year before Christmas Eve, I am going to make a concerted effort to reply “Thoughtful Advent” – they’ll probably think me a pretentious idiot but hey ho…

w/c 28.7.14 - Genesis

30/7/2014

Genesis

The first book of the Old Testament recounting the events from the Creation of the world to the sojourning of the Israelites in Egypt
The coming into being of something; the origin.

Every week there will be a post going up here outlining the “word of the week” - at the same time that word should be on whiteboards around the Religion and Philosophy department at School.

As this is the first post it seemed appropriate to start at the beginning!

“Genesis” has a two derivations within Philosophy; the first is the first book of the Jewish and Christian bible. The book sets out a “history” of the earth and humanity from creation until Joseph settles in Egypt. It begins with the famous words; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, tells of Adam and Eve’s temptation and ejection from the Garden, Noah’s flood, the promises to Abraham to make his offspring a great people and eventually Joseph’s dreams and dream interpretation.

There has been a great deal of interest in recent decades on how Genesis should be interpreted made famous by scholars such as Richard Dawkins who have criticised those Christians with a literalist/fundamentalist view that all scripture should be interpreted literally. The reality is that most Christians do not see Genesis as a literal account of how the world began, rather it is better interpreted as allegory or aetiologically. This means that Adam and Eve’s sin is a story about human nature and everyone’s failed relationship with a loving God, Babel is an ancient story trying to explain the diversity of language and Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac is an examination of faith in extreme circumstances.

A very good documentary which examines this issue is “Did Darwin Kill God” presented by Conor Cunningham - you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/9x3JJILFmU4?list=PLvdMe5Deq6Zodtalew25fx6d_rq4qlStC

The second meaning of the word to philosophers is the generation of an idea or the creation of a concept. For example; “Hard Determinism had its genesis in the order and predictability of Newtonian physics”. Quite how philosophers are supposed to come up with new ideas… that is much more difficult to blog about!

Word of the Week 16/05/16 - Discipleship

To follow the teachings and practices of another person; Specifically Jesus Christ in Christianity.

Word of the Week: w/c 08/02/16 - Ash

Powdery, nitrogen rich, residue left behind after burning a substance

Word Of The Week: W/C 11/1/16 - Reformation

1. The action or process of reforming an Institution or practice

2. a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

Word of the Week: w/c 4/1/16 - Epiphany

Epiphany, held on the 6th January, is a Christian festival which celebrates the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God and the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus

Word Of The Week: W/C 27/04/15 Beatitudes

Word of the Week: W/C 30/03/15 - Atonement

An action that makes Amends for a wrong.

christian Theology: the reconciliation of God and man through Jesus christ.

Word of the Week: 19/01/15 - Eucharist

Word of the Week: w/c: 5/1/15 - Epiphany

Word of the Week: w/c 1/12/14: Advent

The Christian season of preparation for Christmas and the Second coming of Christ

w/c 28.7.14 - Genesis

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To follow the teachings and practices of another person; Specifically Jesus Christ in Christianity.

Powdery, nitrogen rich, residue left behind after burning a substance

1. The action or process of reforming an Institution or practice​2. a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

Epiphany, held on the 6th January, is a Christian festival which celebrates the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God and the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus

An action that makes Amends for a wrong. christian Theology: the reconciliation of God and man through Jesus christ.

The Christian season of preparation for Christmas and the Second coming of Christ

Archives

Categories

1. The action or process of reforming an Institution or practice

2. a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

An action that makes Amends for a wrong.

christian Theology: the reconciliation of God and man through Jesus christ.