How crucial was the printing press to the development of the Reformation?
How crucial was the printing press to the development of the Reformation? Will Hanrahan 1/8/04 Both contemporaries and historians acknowledge that the printing press was significant in the spread of ideas of the Reformation. It has been argued by Elizabeth Eisenstein that printing did not just spread Protestant ideas but helped to shape the Reformation in the first place 'Printing was a cause of religious changes, and not simply a consequence' (The Printing Press as an agent of change, Cambridge University Press) Printing ended the scribal corruption and copying errors which made it easier to define theological positions exactly and made it easier for Luther to attack the corruption of the Doctrine. With regard to the sola scriptura, an appeal to the Bible as the sole authority had been made before Luther by other reformers such as Wycliffe; but an evangelical, or bible based, religion only became possible once the Bible could be mass produced. In September 1522 Luther published the September testament, a translation into German of Erasmus's Greek New Testament. Within 12 Years, 200,000 copies of the September testament had been sold and by 1534, Luther had completed his translation of the Old Testament as well. The Church had faced heresy before and had generally contained it slowly but surely, but now it seemed defenseless. The printing press gave it no time. We
Outline your knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics and structure of the Acts of the Apostles
Outline your knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics and structure of the Acts of the Apostles [35] The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament which outlines the events of 'Apostolic Age' of Christianity. Within the book, there is a definite structure behind it with reoccurring and consistent themes and characteristics that continually appearing throughout it. In terms of the structure of the book, there are three consistent themes which consistently appear and develop throughout Acts as the Apostles progress through the journey. The themes I refer to are geographical, biographical and theological. The geographical theme is first made evident by Jesus's final command before he ascended into heaven, in 1:8 of Acts. Jesus said "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The book of Acts then proceeds to tell the story, where the events fulfil this prophecy and the actual book could be divided into sections based on what Jesus said. From the start of the book until chapter 6, the Apostles are situated "in Jerusalem" and from then to chapter 12 is the story of how the Apostles fled Jerusalem and went out to "Judea and Samaria". From Chapter 12 onwards chronicles the missionary journeys and the road to Rome, which was
Outline the arguments for the dependency of morality and religion
Outline the arguments for the dependency of morality and religion Morality is something that comes to humanity in addition to the need for survival of humanity. In fact sometimes, to act in the most moral way possible, survival is put at risk. One can therefore assume that there must be another force that governs why we are moral. And this external force one can reason is therefore God. Many feel that there is a reason for morality to be based upon something, and as it cannot be based upon anything human, due to inherent faults exists within humanity, it has to be based upon something else, which has a higher level of goodness than that which is found in humanity. Aquinas said that the goodness and morality, which is in humans, is merely a reflection of the utter and true goodness that is found in God. The issue than many have with this is that it almost forces one to be religious or to have religious beliefs to be able to call oneself moral, as morality comes from God. It was Russell that argued that this was not the case. He said that one must love the things one thinks to be good, and to hate those things one thinks of as bad, but to say that they are good or bad because of the existence of God. Kant said there must be "a holy author of the world who makes possible the highest good'. In a sense, God allows us to reach our most perfect sense, at the point at which we die
Explain the role of God as a judge(25 marks)
Explain the role of God as a judge(25 marks)- goodness of God Christians believe God is the lawgiver and the judge of humanity. He sets these laws to protect us from otherwise damage and can therefore judge when we have trespassed. Christian belief is held that God will reward or punish us accordingly to his judgement of the individual. Theologically, Christians believe in Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats-that God on the last day will separate the saints from the sinners according to his judgement. This serves the purpose of giving us an incentive to follow God- a loving direction in which he leads. Biblically, the idea of God as a judge is supported by Jesus' sermons "Do not judge lest ye be judged" "My father in heaven will be the judge". However this causes the question of whether an omnibenevolent being can engage in judgement. From one angle it seems unlikely how if judgement is forbidden for us how it could be contextually good for God. However, form the Xian viewpoint God has the right to judge everything to his perfect standard and as he creates the laws for us to follow judging in no way lessens his perfect love. This is in accordance with the parable of the plank "Remove the plank in your own eye before you judge the speck of sawdust in your brother's" in Jesus' words. God being perfect himself, he is free to judge. However, an objection to this can be
Examine why the writers of the synoptic gospels edited the material they used.
(a) Examine why the writers of the synoptic gospels edited the material they used. (30 marks) Although, the three Synoptic Gospels illustrate the narrative of the life and the ministry of Jesus, they tell it from a different perspective, depending on the writers own interest and purpose. Luke's gospel is predominantly about the early stages of Jesus' life, such as, the birth stories, presentation at temple etc. Luke's gospel marks the importance of the aspects of the Jewish tradition. For example, the temple mentioned in Luke's account is a represents Jewish origin. In ancient times, the temple in Jerusalem was important in the life of Jewish people. It main purpose was to offer Jews sacrifices and offerings of harvest e.g. Passover, It was used to mark important events in human life e.g. birth of Jesus. This is where Mary makes a traditional offering after the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:22). Another important event that occurred in Jesus' life was the Bar Mitzvah- the coming of age. This is where Jesus goes to the temple at the age of twelve. "They found him in the temple sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his intelligent answers..." (Luke 2:46-47). Luke was acknowledged as doctor, and it was occasionally proposed the author of Luke has particular interest in the diagnosis of illness. Luke tends to be
Explain the beliefs that Christians hold about their responsibilities for those at the beginning and end of their lives?
Explain the beliefs that Christians hold about their responsibilities for those at the beginning and end of their lives? Jesus showed the most compassion in his life to the weak in society The Christian beliefs towards our duty and responsibilities towards others at the beginning and end of their lives can be explained by the teachings of Jesus. From the very routes of the creation of human life, the duty of our responsibility is set. Adam and Eve were created as equals, as are all human life. They were also made in the image and likeness of God. If taken literally and practiced this would mean that life is sacred and God given and therefore it is our duty to respect and cherish all life, as all our equals. The parable of the sheep and the goats describes the final judgment being the accounting of each individual on how they have treated others through out their lives. When interpreting the passage, it would mean that Christians hold an up most responsibility for those at the begging and end of our lives. If this parable is coincided with the parable of the talents it is made even more relative as the parable of the talents says it is necessary to develop our lives and others to the best of our ability. With the human life we inherit, we are called to follow the Ten Commandments that the Lord sent to Moses. - Respect your farther and mother - Do not commit murder The
Outline your knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding authorship and date of Luke's gospel.
Outline your knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding authorship and date of Luke's gospel. (30 marks). There are two main issues to be disscussed when considering authorship and date of Luke- They are often put under two simple headings, external evidence and internal evidence. However, the true strory is much more complicated than this. It is usually agreed that the writer of Acts is the same person who wrote Luke. This is because in the preface of both books, they are adressed to the same person, Theophilus. Also, both books share a similar style of vocabulary. Tradition unamimously says Luke as the author. This is sometimes dismissed as no more than guesswork. Howeve, the point is put across by many authors, Leon Morris included, that Luke was not an important enough figure in the early church to have two considerable volumes attributed to him without good reason- surely if people were guessing they would be more likely to attribute it to an apostle. This provides a weighty argument which ois further inforced by Martin Dibelius. He points out that because of the address to Theophilus there must have been a desire to circulate the book among the educated and for such readers the name of the author would have certainly been included. So it is extremley unlikely for tradition to attribute to Luke a book which was known from its oublication to be written by
Using quotations from at least three written texts (ancient and/or modern), argue the case for or against the view that only Christian believers can or should be theologians.
Using quotations from at least three written texts (ancient and/or modern), argue the case for or against the view that only Christian believers can or should be theologians Before attempting to answer this question, one must define some principles of the nature of Christian theology. It is obvious that anyone may create a theology based purely on ideas from one's own imagination, with no boundaries or guidelines to it. Such a theology may be creative, intelligent, and reasonable, but could not be classed as Christian theology. Something must act as a rule and a guard, lest the Christian religion break down into nothing more than dispersed, individual, self-made theologies. Theology in a Christian context must and does find its foundation in Scripture, "the supreme authority to life and thought" (Vanhoozer 1998, p. 380). Now that the thing that is to be interpreted in the building of Christian theology has been identified as Scripture, one may ask the question of who is able and qualified to interpret it. In 1860, Benjamin Jowett published his essay, "On the Interpretation of Scripture". He argued that the Bible should be regarded as any other ancient collections of literature, using tools of literary and historical scholarship. He implied that a critic who stands apart from traditional beliefs and practices is in a better position to find the true meaning of the
The Work of one Christian Relief Agency - Christian Aid
The Work of one Christian Relief Agency Christian Aid Christian Aid is an organisation that supplies aid to those in need. It is generally considered to have been the first missionary agency to support indigenous mission boards in countries all over the world. It all began in 1945 when Bob Finley was asked to speak at a rally of Youth for Christ in a Chicago stadium. His testimony was so fresh, unique and powerful that the 25,000 people in the stadium interrupted him several times with spontaneous applause. His words were broadcasted all over the continent and he was sent to speak at rallies throughout the U.S. and Canada. Along with his close friend, Billy Graham, they were enlisted as field evangelists with the Youth for Christ and spoke at youth rallies, churches, public schools, seminaries, colleges and Bible institutes. Between 1948 and 1950 Bob Finley traveled the East - China, Korea and Asia - preaching the word and lead Korea in the spiritual awakening that took place there in early 1950. Bob Finley returned to America determined to arouse the churches about the need for reform in foreign missions. He said the best way to plant a Christian witness in closed countries was to reach people who were away from home. Then when they would go back to serve Christ in their homelands; get behind them with financial assistance. Following the presentation of his honorary
Describe One Miracle Particular to Luke, and another of a different type.
Describe One Miracle Particular to Luke, and Another Miracle of a different Type. The word miracle which derives from the Latin 'miraculum' meaning amazement or wonder may also be defined as an extraordinary event, considered to have a supernatural cause. In common with the other New Testament Gospels, Luke presents Jesus as a worker of miracles and indeed as the object of miraculous activity. Miracles, especially healing miracles, play an important part in all of the synoptic Gospels. However, through further research and study it is quickly made apparent that Luke includes more miracle stories in his Gospel than either of the other synoptic Gospel writers. Luke includes no less that 19 miracles in his Gospel, which include healing miracles, exorcisms, resurrections and nature miracles. Luke used these miracles to show the power and authority of Jesus, but also to give the proof that he was truly the Son of God to non-believers. According to Banks, "While there is no clear pre-Christian evidence that the Jews expected a miracle-working Messiah, it appears that some did regard Moses, the miracle-working deliverer of God's people, as a prototype of the Messiah." Most of the miracles stories tell us about Jesus healing, because of the faith shown by the person in need of a cure. Through the miracles, the gospel writer is trying to show the authority of Jesus as Messiah, how