Download or read book A Cosmic Leap of Faith written by Vincent A. Pizzuto and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 2006 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the array of christologies embodied within New Testament literature, the so-called "hymn" of Colossians 1: 15-20 offers a unique and invaluable contribution to contemporary theological and inter-religious discourse. This is because it conveys what is arguably the highest christological affirmation within the canon. Pizzuto contends that the hymn is a creative and faith-filled composition by the same deutero-Pauline author of the Colossians epistle itself and demonstrates that there is an inextricable relationship between the chiastic structure of Col 1: 15-20 and a proper understanding of its provenance, authorship and theology. Although the hymn echoes theological motifs consistent with Second Temple Judaism and loosely reflects a number of syncretistic influences, it is fundamentally the novelty of the "Christ-event," - the historical impact of Jesus of Nazareth - that has been most influential in determining the christological categories of Col 1: 15-20 and its larger epistolary framework. Pizzuto thus defends the overall integrity of the hymn against those who would assert that it reflects a pre-Christian or pre-Colossians origin. He concludes that Col 1: 15-20 represents something of a "leap" beyond Pauline christology into a new and unequivocal conviction of the cosmic implications of the Cross.

Download or read book A Quantum Leap of Faith written by Michael Bodner and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-27 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America today is faced with a great number of concerns. One of the larger ones is the role of religious thought and practices in our everyday lives. Issues such as abortion, Intelligent Design, and the moral and ethical impact of technology on its citizens weigh heavily on almost all of us. These issues predominate both the front pages and the op-ed pages of our newspapers. They fill the news media on both television and the net. They created heated arguments in almost every community in our world, often leading to open conflicts between friends and even family members. Religion and faith are in conflict within the hearts and minds of educated people exposed to more and more information. Science has marched directly into realms covered by faith, leading to great angst within people who try and balance their "Church" mind with the secular world. Nowhere is this conflict more apparent than in the issues generated in the reconciliation of theology and modern science. As cosmology crossed over into the sacred ground of the Creation with the discovery of the Big Bang, scientists themselves discovered that they had come face to face with the questions around the existence of God, the Creator, and his role in Creation. While most of the general population believes that scientists are atheists, and that the basic tenets of theology and science are antithetical, the opposite is actually closer to the truth. There is a ground where science and theology can, and must, share thoughts. Scientists like Einstein and Hawking speak of trying to "understand the mind of God" and make bold conjectures as to whether or not God had any choices in his design of the Universe. This book attempt to build a bridge from Science to Faith and back, and opens the mind of the Child. the Mind of Man and relates them both to the Mind of God.

Download or read book Purpose in the Universe written by Tim Mulgan and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two familiar worldviews dominate Western philosophy: materialist atheism and the benevolent God of the Abrahamic faiths. Tim Mulgan explores a third way. Ananthropocentric Purposivism claims that there is a cosmic purpose, but human beings are irrelevant to it. Purpose in the Universe develops a philosophical case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism that it is at least as strong as the case for either theism or atheism. The book borrows traditional theist arguments to defend a cosmic purpose. These include cosmological, teleological, ontological, meta-ethical, and mystical arguments. It then borrows traditional atheist arguments to reject a human-centred purpose. These include arguments based on evil, diversity, and the scale of the universe. Mulgan also highlights connections between morality and metaphysics, arguing that evaluative premises play a crucial and underappreciated role in metaphysical debates about the existence of God, and Ananthropocentric Purposivism mutually supports an austere consequentialist morality based on objective values. He concludes that, by drawing on a range of secular and religious ethical traditions, a non-human-centred cosmic purpose can ground a distinctive human morality. Our moral practices, our view of the moral universe, and our moral theory are all transformed if we shift from the familiar choice between a universe without meaning and a universe where humans matter to the less self-aggrandising thought that, while it is about something, the universe is not about us.

Download or read book Colossians and Philemon written by David W. Pao and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2016-05-24 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series is designed for those who know biblical languages. It is written primarily for the pastor and Bible teacher, not for the scholar. That is, the aim is not to review and offer a critique of every possible interpretation that has ever been given to a passage, but to exegete each passage of Scripture succinctly in its grammatical and historical context. Each passage is interpreted in the light of its biblical setting, with a view to grammatical detail, literary context, flow of biblical argument, and historical setting. While the focus will not be on application, it is expected that the authors will offer suggestions as to the direction in which application can flow.

Download or read book A Quantum Leap of Faith written by Michael Simon Bodner Ph D and published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America today is faced with a great number of concerns. One of the larger ones is the role of religious thought and practices in our everyday lives. Issues such as abortion, intelligent design, and the moral and ethical impact of technology on its citizens weigh heavily on almost all of us. Religion and faith are in conflict within the hearts and minds of educated people exposed to more and more information. Science has marched directly into realms covered by faith, leading to great angst within people who try and balance their Church mind with the secular world. Nowhere is this conflict more apparent than in the issues generated in the reconciliation of theology and modern science. Scientists themselves discovered that they had come face-to-face with the questions around the existence of God, the Creator, and his role in Creation. While most of the general population believes that scientists are atheists, and that the basic tenets of theology and science are antithetical, the opposite is actually closer to the truth. There is a ground where science and theology can, and must, share thoughts. This book attempts to build a bridge from science to faith and back and opens the mind of the child, the mind of man, and relates them both to the mind of God.

Download or read book Colossae in Space and Time written by Alan H. Cadwallader and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2011-12-07 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient site of Colossae in south-west Turkey has been sorely neglected by archaeologists and biblical commentators. It has never been excavated. Modern scholarship in general has been content to repeat nineteenth century assessments, especially those of J.B. Lightfoot and W.M. Ramsay. This is the first modern contribution to gather the archaeological, historical, classical and biblical materials related to the site and its region, some of which is published in English for the first time. It marks a major step forward in scholarship on Colossae, and is designed to restore Colossae to time and space, to its material and comparative significance. Colossae emerges as a site of uninterrupted human activity in dynamic interaction with its neighbours from before the Achaemenid period to beyond the end of Byzantine control. Evidence of a chalcolithic origin of Colossae is presented along with an assessment of the relationship of the site to the modern city of Honaz. An array of international scholars have brought their specialisations in various periods and disciplines to yield a radically new assessment of the history and importance of the site. All future scholarship will be able to use this volume as the necessary foundation for research. The volume includes the first chronology of the ancient site and the first English translation of the key Byzantine text centred on the ancient city, as well as major new insights into the text of the Epistle to the Colossians.

Download or read book Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley written by Ulrich Huttner and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-11-29 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley, Ulrich Huttner explores the way Christians established communities and defined their position within their surroundings from the first to the fifth centuries. He shows that since the time of Paul the apostle, the cities Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea allowed Christians to expand and develop in their own way. Huttner uses a wide variety of sources, not only Christian texts - from Pauline letters to Byzantine hagiographies - but also inscriptions and archeological remains, to reconstruct the religious conflicts as well as cooperation between Christians, Jews and Pagans. The book reveals the importance of local conditions in the development of Early Christianity.

Download or read book The Nature of Christian Doctrine written by Alister E. McGrath and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-02-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking account of the origins, development, and enduring significance of Christian doctrine, explaining why it remains essential to the life of Christian communities. Noting important parallels between the development of scientific theories and Christian doctrine, Alister E. McGrath examines the growing view of early Christianity as a 'theological laboratory'. We can think of doctrinal formulations as proposals submitted for testing across the Christian world, rather than as static accounts of orthodoxy. This approach fits the available evidence much better than theories of suppressed early orthodoxies and reinforces the importance of debate within the churches as a vital means of testing doctrinal formulations. McGrath offers a robust critique of George Lindbeck's still-influential Nature of Doctrine (1984), raising significant concerns about its reductionist approach. He instead provides a more reliable account of the myriad functions of doctrine, utilising Mary Midgley's concept of 'mapping' as a means of coordinating the multiple aspects of complex phenomena. McGrath's approach also employs Karl Popper's 'Three Worlds', allowing the theoretical, objective, and subjective aspects of doctrine to be seen as essential and interconnected. We see how Christian doctrine offers ontological disclosure about the nature of reality, while at the same time providing a coordinating framework which ensures that its various aspects are seen as parts of a greater whole. Doctrine provides a framework, or standpoint, that allows theological reality to be seen and experienced in a new manner; it safeguards and articulates the core vision of reality that is essential for the proper functioning and future flourishing of Christian communities.

Download or read book The Image of the Invisible God written by Travis R. Niles and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 2023-11-09 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The First Urban Churches 5 written by James R. Harrison and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2019-11-23 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh examination of early Christianity by an international team of New Testament and classical scholars Volume 5 of The First Urban Churches investigates the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. Building on the methodologies introduced in the first volume and supplementing the in-depth studies of Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi (vols. 2-4), essays in this volume challenge readers to reexamine preconceived understandings of the early church and to grapple with the meaning and context of Christianity in its first-century Roman colonial context. Features: Analysis of urban evidence found in inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious, and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in the cities of the Lycus Valley

Download or read book New Testament Christological Hymns written by Matthew E. Gordley and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We know that the earliest Christians sang hymns. Paul encourages believers to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." And at the dawn of the second century the Roman official Pliny names a feature of Christian worship as "singing alternately a hymn to Christ as to God." But are some of these early Christian hymns preserved for us in the New Testament? Are they right before our eyes? New Testament scholars have long debated whether early Christian hymns appear in the New Testament. And where some see preformed hymns and liturgical elements embossed on the page, others see patches of rhetorically elevated prose from the author's hand. Matthew Gordley now reopens this fascinating question. He begins with a new look at hymns in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world of the early church. Might the didactic hymns of those cultural currents set a new starting point for talking about hymnic texts in the New Testament? If so, how should we detect these hymns? How might they function in the New Testament? And what might they tell us about early Christian worship? An outstanding feature of texts such as Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and John 1:1-17 is their christological character. And if these are indeed hymns, we encounter the reality that within the crucible of worship the deepest and most searching texts of the New Testament arose. New Testament Christological Hymns reopens an important line of investigation that will serve a new generation of students of the New Testament.

Download or read book The Historical Reliability of the New Testament written by Craig L. Blomberg and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 809 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions about the reliability of the New Testament are commonly raised today both by biblical scholars and popular media. Drawing on decades of research, Craig Blomberg addresses all of the major objections to the historicity of the New Testament in one comprehensive volume. Topics addressed include the formation of the Gospels, the transmission of the text, the formation of the canon, alleged contradictions, the relationship between Jesus and Paul, supposed Pauline forgeries, other gospels, miracles, and many more. Historical corroborations of details from all parts of the New Testament are also presented throughout. The Historical Reliability of the New Testament marshals the latest scholarship in responding to New Testament objections, while remaining accessible to non-specialists.

Download or read book Colossians and Philemon written by Michael F Bird and published by Lutterworth Press. This book was released on 2011-05-26 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Michael Bird's commentary on Colossians and Philemon in the New Covenant Commentary Series pays close attention to the socio-historical context, the flow and dynamics of the text, their argumentative strategy, theological message, and the meaning ofColossians and Philemon for the contemporary church today. Bird situates Colossians in the context of Paul's Ephesian ministry and describes how Paul attempts to persuade a congregation in the Lycus Valley to remain firm in the gospel and to grasp the cosmic majesty of Jesus Christ over and against the views of certain Jewish mystics who have thrown the Colossians into confusion. He shows how, in the letter to Philemon, Paul intercedes for a slave estranged from his master through a carefully crafted feat of pastoral persuasion from a missionary friend of Philemon. The commentary combines exegetical insight, rhetorical analysis, theological exposition, and practical application all in one short volume. Bird shows Paul at work as a theologian, pastor, and missionary in his letters to the Colossians and Philemon."

Download or read book Christology in Review A Layman s Take on Books about Christology written by Nick Norelli and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book On the Trail of the Septuagint Translators written by Anneli Aejmelaeus and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 2007 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays of this revised and expanded collection were written by Prof. Anneli Aejmelaeus over a period of 25 years. The thread that runs through all these essays and holds the collection together is translation technique, which is characterized as a central aspect of methodology rather than an object of study. Only by tracing the trail of the Septuagint translators is it possible to gain a reliable picture of the different translators and of the Hebrew Vorlage their work was based on. The themes dealt with in the individual essays range from the study of syntactical features of the Greek language used in the Septuagint to the quest for the correct understanding of the underlying Hebrew, from the overall description of the translation character of certain biblical books to the application of translation technical data in textual criticism of the Hebrew text, and from methodological questions to the discussion of theological interpretation by the translators, reflecting the ongoing discussion in the international field of Septuagint studies and representing a significant and distinctive critical position in it.

Download or read book Transformations in the Septuagint written by Theo A. W. van der Louw and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 2007 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study inaugurates interaction between Septuagint research and Translation Studies. From the field of Translation Studies the author has singled out approaches suited to LXX-research. The historical survey of views of translation in Antiquity reveals that among Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Jews similar disputes about language and translatability existed. Three Septuagint-chapters, Genesis 2, Isaiah 1 and Proverbs 6, are analysed in-depth, whereby the transformations ('shifts') are categorised with help of linguistic Translation Studies. Before ascribing 'deviations' either to the translator's ideology or to a variant in the Hebrew parent text, we must ascertain that the 'deviation' does not have a purely translational origin. Every transformation has a reason, and by categorizing the reasons behind all transformations one can trace the translational hierarchy that (un)consciously guided the translator. The rationale behind a transformation can be detected by analysing the literal alternative which the translator rejected. The conclusions of this study are of importance for Translation Studies, Classical Studies and Theology.

Download or read book In Spirit and Truth written by Benny Thettayil and published by Peeters Publishers. This book was released on 2007 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the context of his conversation with the Samaritan woman the Johannine Jesus says "the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth" (4:23). In this monograph Benny Thettayil undertakes a detailed exegetical study of the fourth evangelist's understanding of 'worship in Spirit and truth'. Part One is devoted to a detailed exegetical analysis of John 4:19-26 focusing on the relationship between Jews and Samaritans, the meaning of pneuma and aletheia as well as the question whether Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman. In Part Two Thettayil offers an extensive study of the replacement theme in the Fourth Gospel. He studies this issue in connection with the Johannine community and with the presentation of Jesus as the fulfilment of the temple. In his final chapter Thettayil enters into the difficult field of "Johannine Replacement Theology", taking up the challenge of confronting the theological implications of the way the fourth evangelist presents judaism.