Introduction In our world today, our differences are often used as a means to create distance between us, even among Christians in the Church. Christians’ lives would not just be interesting without variety to spice them up. Just as the body consists of various parts all working together to achieve different things, Christians are of various races, groupings and undertakings need to unite to achieve the tasks that God has set for them. God created all human as a diverse people and He wants ...
Introduction Today, there is a problem of morality. There are professing Christians that argue that the Bible permits committed, loving homosexual relationships. Some other Christians justify going to R-rated movies by saying, “I need to understand where our culture is at. Also, some argue that genuine Christians may fall into habitual immorality or greed and that the consequence is, they lose their rewards, not eternal life. And these spring up the question of ‘Where is the balance betwe...
Introduction The church in Jerusalem represented in Acts 6 verses 1–4 was promptly challenged by the problem of inequity and lack of fair play among the various stakeholders and such disaffection reached a situation of murmur and open agitation. This challenge to the apostles was a threat to the consolidation of the already established Christian community in Jerusalem and its spread to the whole world. Something must be done to arrest the situation or the Church runs the risk of disintegrat...
Christians’ spirituality (CS) usually plays a key role in the development and practice of shared values, equal opportunities based on trust, hope, good relations and reciprocity among communities. However, Christians’ spirituality seems not to have achieved these objectives in Kenya and Nakuru County in particular. This is evident in the lack of cohesion and frequency of conflicts among ethnic communities since 1992. This study investigated the influence of Christians’ spirituality...
The pentateuchal Priestly source comprises portions of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and a small portion of the end of Deuteronomy. The Priestly source seems also to continue beyond the Pentateuch, at least in Joshua. Within the Priestly source, two main strata can be identified: P, “Priestly”; and H, “Holiness.” P provides the narrative backbone of the source and includes within its narrative the revelation of laws in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. H includes small portions i...
Genesis is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) and the Old Testamment. Oral tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis (Henry 12). It is a book about “beginnings.” It tells of such things as the beginning of creation, of languages and of a chosen nation. Commencing with the creation of the heaven and the earth, and concluding with the death of the patriarchs Jacob and Joseph, this book supplies us with information with regard not only to the first beginnings and earlier stages o...
The Gospel according to Matthew is one of the Synoptic Gospels. It was written by Matthew who was believed to be an eyewitness of many of the events he recorded. He was a tax collector before he was called by Jesus and had scribal skills and knowledge of Judaism. He was a competent witness of what he has recorded. He emphasized Jesus’ Jewish heritage and demonstrated how Jesus fulfils the Old Testament prophecies (Kapolyo 1105). Matthew’s gospel is a teaching gospel containing five blocks...
The title ‘Exodus’ is derived from the name which ancient Greek translators gave to the book, ‘Exodus’ meaning ‘the going out’, ‘exit’. The name reflects the book’s particular interest in the departure of the Israelites from Egypt (Alexander 92). As the second book of the Bible, Exodus forms part of a larger narrative which begins in Genesis and continues at least as far as the book of Deuteronomy. Exodus does not mention the person responsible for giving the book its presen...
Christian Ethics is ethics which considers the specific situation, gathers the facts and uses the principles (commands and doctrine) and values to be found in Christianity. In this way, morality is used to describe our principles or convictions about what is right and wrong and our ultimate values. As seen in it, moral philosophy tries to study those principles and values, analyzing them critically and working out how we make decisions. Christian ethics also follow what is called “Applied o...
Traditionally, the years following Jesus until the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles is called the Apostolic Age, after the missionary activities of the apostles. According to the Acts of the Apostles (the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed), the Jerusalem church began at Pentecost with some 120 believers,[86] in an "upper room," believed by some to be the Cenacle, where the apostles received the Holy Spirit and emerged from hiding following...
In the NT apostles are servants, first of Jesus Christ and then of the church. Apostolic service embraces a wide range of specific functions. Paul wrote the following to the Corinthian Christians: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. (1 Cor. 12:27-28 NIV)
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................... PAGE NR Abstract ................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ............................................................ iii Declaration .......................................................................... iv Copyright statement ........................................................... v Dedication ..........................................................................
INTRODUCTION The Summa Theologiae is a vast and complex work that many take to be the most comprehensive account ever given of the Christian Faith. Aquinas was writing at a time when the works of Aristotle, which many Christians took to be antithetical to the Christian Faith, had recently been recovered. One of Aquinas’ tasks was to show how Aristotle could, on the contrary, be an aid for the presentation of the Christian Faith. Because of his extraordinary philosophical skills, Aquinas has...
Key Note: Luke’s concept of salvation “today” is not just application to the present—it is a rhetorical strategy, aimed at bearing witness to audiences of all times and places regarding the saving power of Jesus. By “today”, Luke’s … narratives certainly draw attention to the here and now of faithful living. For Luke, God’s reign has not just drawn near; it stands right before us “today” in Jesus’ ministry. Whatever Luke’s intentions with “today” language, it do...
The book of First Corinthians is the seventh book of the New Testament. The epistle to the First Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul at the close of his three years residence in Ephesus. There was an occasion of this Epistle of a letter of inquiry concerning such things as marriage and the use of foods offered to idols. Paul was also greatly troubled by reports from Corinth of deepening divisions, increasing contentions, and other problems, and by a case of incest that had not been ju...