Christians are branches in Christ, and so God expects fruit from us because we have been called to bear fruit. Jesus says that he is the true vine from whom we are to receive nourishment. Truly we need this nourishment to live a productive life that bears fruit. Just as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in our Old Testament text were nourished with excellent wisdom and understanding that was ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in the whole kingdom of Babylon (Daniel 1:...
Several factors have an influence on how the Christian message is received by non-Christian hearers and how the Christian theology is being received by people generally. One such ideology that developed in the mid to late twentieth-century, which has become prominent in the modernized societies, is “Postmodernism.” This broad movement expresses itself in a variety of subjects including art, architecture, history, literature, medicine, and religion. As the movement gained ground, postmoder...
Abstract The messianic prophecies in the Old Testament start with a promise of hope and a virgin birth in the Garden of Eden after the fall of humanity in Genesis 3:15. The theme of the Messiah is woven into each book of the Old Testament as a part of Israel’s salvation history specifically as follows: the seed of the woman in Genesis, the Passover lamb in Exodus, the high priest in Leviticus, the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night in Numbers, the prophet like Moses in Deute...
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 to Hans Luder and Margareth Lindemann in Eisleben, Germany, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Martin Luther was a German priest, a professor of theology, and an iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. Breezy Aaron explained that when he was younger, he dedicated himself to a monastic life, fasted, prayed a lot, and always confessed to keep himself clean from sin. Later on in his life, one of his superiors by the name of Johann von Staupi...
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...
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...
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)
Liberal theology is rooted in modern, secular theories of knowledge and has moved towards participation in the work of the church as the priority for Christians at the expense of delineating theological belief, which has led to the abandonment of many orthodox beliefs in many mainline denominations.