The Gospel According to Luke commonly shortened Essay Example for Free

The Gospel According to Luke commonly shortened Essay The Gospel According to Luke commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke is the third and longest of the four Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension. The purpose of Luke is to write a precise and reliable history of Jesus’ Christ’s life, while bringing out the theological significance of the history. He is a Greek and the only Gentile Christian writer of the New Testament. The language of Luke reveals that he is an educated man. We learn in Colossians 4:14 that he is a physician. In this book Luke refers many times to sicknesses and diagnoses. Being a Greek and a doctor would explain his scientific and orderly approach to the book, giving great attention to detail in his accounts. He addressed his Gospel to the Greek people (a non-Jewish). The Gospel according to Luke is the first part of a two-volume work that continues the biblical history of God’s dealings with humanity found in the Old Testament, showing how God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in Jesus and how the salvation promised to Israel and accomplished by Jesus has been extended to the Gentiles. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are closely related. Written by the same author and for the same purpose, both were addressed to a Christian named Theophilus and were designed for the purpose of presenting to him a complete and well authenticated narrative of the early history of the Christian movement. Luke was a faithful friend and travel companion of Paul. , who came to be known in Christian circles as the Apostle to the Gentiles,. He wrote the book of Acts as a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Some discredit Lukes Gospel because he was not one of the 12 disciples. However, Luke had access to historical records. He carefully researched and interviewed the disciples and others who were eyewitnesses to the life of Pauls interpretation of Christianity as a universal religion did much to eliminate the barriers between Jews and Gentiles. When Jews and Gentiles are contrasted in Luke, often the Gentiles are presented in the more favorable light. As nearly as we can determine, the Gospel of Luke was written toward the end of the first century, probably between the years 85–90 A. D. By this time, Christianity was fast becoming a worldwide movement. The predominant theme in the book of Luke is the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. The Savior entered human history as the perfect man. He himself offered the perfect sacrifice for sin, therefore, providing the perfect Savior for humankind Luke shows the broad humanitarian character of Jesus work that was manifested from the first in Jesus attitude toward the Samaritans and others whom the Jews regarded as their enemies. Jesus never failed to commend those who had a humble and contrite heart and it made no difference whether they were Jews or Gentiles. Lukes Gospel gives special emphasis to prayer, miracles and angels as well. Interesting to note, women are given an important place in Lukes writings. The gospel closes with an account of the resurrection and the subsequent meetings of Jesus with the disciples and others. As two men are walking to the village of Emmaus, Jesus joins them, but the men do not recognize Jesus until he sits at a table with them and blesses the food that they are about to eat. Later, Jesus meets with the eleven disciples in Jerusalem and overcomes their suspicions by showing his hands and feet to them. They cook some fish, and Jesus partakes of the food with them. Then follows a farewell discourse to the disciples, during which Jesus gives them instruction concerning what they should do. Afterward, they go together as far as Bethany, and after blessing the disciples, Jesus departs from them.

Civil War Essay -- essays research papers

Civil War Civil war was the greatest war in American history. It was waged in 10,000 places-from Valverde, New Mexico, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than three million Americans fought in it and more than 600,00 men died in it. It was not only the immensity of the fight but the new weapons, the new standards of generalship, and the strategies of destruction which made the Civil War an event present ever since in the American consciousness. Here are some of the crucial events of the war: the firing of the first shots at Fort Sumter; the battles of Shiloh, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg; Sherman's dramatic march to the sea; the surrender at Appomattox. In fact, Civil War wasn't simply the story of great battles and great generals, it was also an elaborate portrait of ourselves, American people- individuals and families, northerners and southerners, soldiers and civilians, slaves and slaveowners, rich and poor, urban and rural. Twenty years before Civil War started, South and North didn't have a good relationship already and there were many issues that they didn't agree on each other such as Clay's compromise, Fugitive slave act, Pottawatomie massacre, etc. The Southern states supported slavery because the slave population held more than 40 percent of the entire population and also they needed slavery for their industrialization. Therefore, if they freed all the slaves, someone would predict, many whites would have no jobs and many things would be up-side-down. As the result, controlling over slaves was very important for the Southern. But the Northern were opponent of slavery since the slavery population took less than 10 percent of the entire population and Southern states were already free. Then something really happened when Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president. The Southern states then decided to secede, which meant that they were leaving the nation because they thought how could Lincoln be the president of the United States if most of the Southern didn't vote for him. Now, as we could see, our nation started to divide into two, the south and the north. During the year of 1861 to 1865, there were thousands of war between south and north and there were countless people died in it. The war immediately began when south and north fought for Fort Sumter. At Lincoln's inaug... ...enges of Reconstruction and of defining African Americans' rights. Therefore, many Moderate Republican, who made up the majority of the Republican party, angry because his failure to protect African American's rights. After congress took over the reconstruction from Johnson, they quickly passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which declared that everyone who was born in the land of United States was a citizen with full civil right, (not guarantee for voting rights). Then Fourteenth Amendment was also passed in June 1866. It required states to extend equal citizenship to African Americans and all people were born naturalized in the United States.) Then Fifteenth Amendment was passed at the following year, it pointed out that everyone should have rights of vote no matter what color the people were. Many African American children started to go to school and being educated just like everyone else. Many African Americans involves politics and protect their own rights. As we knew, countless people didn't have jobs and started die from hunger, therefore, Industrialization was needed so that those people could have jobs. Many Southern landowners turned into factory owners.

Salvation

Initial thesis statement: Is salvation â€Å"by faith alone† (according to Luther) or must there be a â€Å"cooperation of faith and works† in salvation (according to the Roman Catholic tradition)? My initial answer to this question before I began this study was that of the Roman Catholic tradition, one must have the combination of both faith and works. Although faith plays a big part of salvation, I tend to believe without both works and faith you may not receive it. 2) First view: Salvation is â€Å"by faith alone† is held to be true by many people.Perhaps the most popular figure from the European Reformation, Martin Luther, noted for his doctrine of justification by faith alone was one who believed that only faith was needed for salvation, and he also held true that God provided everything that is necessary for justification. In 1528 Luther spoke out about salvation saying, â€Å"This faith alone, when based upon the sure promises of God, must save us; as our text clearly explains. And in the light of it all, they must become fools who have taught us other ways to become godly. †¦Man may forever do as he will, he can never enter heaven unless God takes the first step with his Word, which offers him divine grace and enlightens his heart so as to get upon the right way. † Another important person who was on the side of salvation through faith alone is Paul. He uses a passage from Ephesians to support of his idea. â€Å"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith-and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. † He puts the emphasis on the fact that salvation is by faith alone.Paul later goes on to say â€Å"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. † That being said, we as humans are created to do good works, but reach salvation through faith alone. Yet another passage suggesting tha t we must only have faith is â€Å"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. † 3) Opposing view: In contrast to Luther’s view, the Roman Catholic view states that salvation is by a â€Å"cooperation of faith and works. James 2:17-18: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, â€Å"You have faith; I have deeds. † Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. This creates a big contradictory in the bible. Although some may say deeds are not needed, in this very passage we are told without them our justification ceases to exist. One verse that simply breaks down and gives a great example of salvation through faith and works is James 2:20-26 that states: â€Å"20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?Was not our father Abraham considered ri ghteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, â€Å"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,† and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 6 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. † In this passage are two great examples of two different people that receive salvation through both their work and faith in God. They didn’t know exactly what was going to happen when they listened to the word of God and did as he told them, but through faith in him they were able to do so and reach j ustification. They had never seen God but were put in the position to decide whether or not he existed. 4) â€Å"Critical Realist†: With respect to this doctrine I agree with the Roman Catholic tradition that salvation must have a cooperation of faith and works.The reason I still hold this to be true is that throughout the bible and other readings the support behind the idea of works and faith both being crucial to receiving salvation is much stronger than those of Luther. Luther made some great points that through faith, works is automatically going to be inclusive. He also made the point that God makes the first step to giving you all the things necessary to obtain salvation. However, I believe that if someone is faithful in the lord God and wants to be welcome to salvation, then in the rocess of life the works will come naturally to that person. On the other hand if someone is said to be faithful in God and do something harmful or bad to another person, then that so-called faithful person has gone against his/her faith in doing so causing them to fade away from salvation. I have learned from Luther’s view that there are many supportive articles and passages. I have also learned that there are great ideas in both of these arguments, however when it comes down to choosing one of the following the Roman Catholic tradition.My initial has not been strengthened nor weakened after doing the research and studying both sides. Both sides hold a firm argument, but the Roman Catholic view just seemed to catch my attention more. 5) Final Thesis Statement: This doctrine helps answering the initial question by giving information about both of the opinions and going into detailed arguments. I would say that the answer to the initial question is the to obtain salvation, one must have a combination of faith and works.Work Cited â€Å"On Faith & Coming to Christ, by Martin Luther. † <http://homepage. mac. om/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlonfaith. htm>. McGrath, Alister E. Historical Theology: an Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Print. Ankerberg, John, and John Weldon. Protestants & Catholics: Do They Now Agree? Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995. Print. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. McGrath, Alister E. Historical Theology: an Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Print. [ 2 ]. â€Å"On Faith & Coming to Christ, by Martin Luther. † . [ 3 ]. Ephesians 2:8-9 [ 4 ]. Ephesians 2:10 Salvation A. Name the central character, protagonist – The main character is Langston Huges. (The author) B. Describe his/her key qualities or personality traits (complicated, stereotype, unique, round, flat, etc. ): Langston Huges is seemed as he’s full of integrity, honest to himself, sensitive, and observant. C. Who is another important character in the story, an antagonist? – Other important characters mentioned in this story are the Aunt, his friend Westley, and the pastor. II. Setting or time and place: Identify where and when the story takes place – The place is at bible church when Huges was 13 years old. III. Plot: A. What structure or design does the sequence of events follow: chronological, spatial, or order of importance? – The structure that is used in this story is chronological. A. Discuss the opening, rising action, climax (twist, surprise, turning point, and unexpected development), resolution and the denouement – The story started out in church and Huges was put into a special meeting to be seen by Jesus. You were told you were saved when you saw a light and before you knew it all the kids except Huges and Westley were remaining not being able to see the light. Westley got tired and pretended to be saved and Huges remained there for a while until he made a decision to be like Westley and got up to be pretended to be saved. Climax: When he cries late at night in bed. IV. Conflict/resolution (individual vs. individual; individual vs. society; individual vs. nature; individual vs. self? ): Huges is dealing with society so it would be individual vs society. A. What major problem is the main character faced with? Huges was attempting to be seen by Jesus and was trying to wait for a light to be saved. He’s taking things too literally. B. How does the main character attempt to solve this major problem? Langston Huges gets up and says he saw a light from Jesus. He tries to solve it by making confessions. V. Point of view: (First person, third person observer, third person omniscient? )- First person VI. Message or lesson: Can you think of appropriate expressions, proverbs or maxims that capsulate the main lesson? (Stand your ground): When you want to introduce an abstract subject to a child, you have to approach it easy and not so literal. VII. Theme: controlling or main idea: (brevity of life, loneliness, human suffering as a result of world conflicts, etc. The theme is about religion. (Religious experience as related by a child)

Definition and Examples of Pragmatic Competence