'? 17 but the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive? 18 and the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them: 'Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?'? 19 and the midwives said unto Pharaoh: 'Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them.'? 20 and God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty? 21 and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. (Exodus 1: 15-21)
The lord does not speak here of the Hebrew male children as being alive before their birth, instead he speaks of the favor he gives to the midwives who save the Hebrew male children at their birth, in…...

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References

A Hebrew - English Bible According to the Masoretic Text and the JPS 1917 Edition (2005) retrieved December 10, 2010 from:  http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm

In their devotion, the Israelites took on strict rules and regulations. For example, there are dietary traditions that stem back to following God's word. This covenant was solidified by the sign of the tablets which the Ten Commandments were written on. This then defined the nature of both Judaism and Christianity.
Finally, the covenant made with David established a physical resting spot for all people of the Jewish faith -- the Kingdom of Israel. As part of the covenant, there was a royal dynasty established through David's descendants (2 Samuel 7:11-16). The first Temple of Jerusalem as God's house, built by David's son as part of his promises in the covenant with God, (2 Samuel 7:4-7). For the devotion of both David and his descendents, "the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house," (2 Samuel 7:11). Thus, David united the Jewish people under one nation…...

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References

Barnavi, Eli. (2002). A historical Atlas of the Jewish People. New York: Schocken Books.

Felix Just, S.J. (2006). Major covenants between God and human beings in the Bible. Covenants, Pillars, and Theologies in Ancient Judaism. Retrieved 28 Nov 2009 from  http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Covenants.htm 

Laughlin, John C.H. (2006). Fifty Major Cities of the Bible. London: Routledge.

Smith, Ralph Allan. (2009). The Covenantal Structure of the Bible. Berith.org. Retrieved November 27, 2009 at  http://www.berith.org/pdf/The-Covenantal-Structure-of-the-Bible.pdf

Bible
Genesis as a whole establishes fundamental Biblical theology, defining the role of God in the world and God's relationship with and responsibilities to humanity. The establishment of patriarchal rule is a central theme of Genesis, evident in passages like Genesis 17:1-4. Although not Abram's first encounter with God, this interaction highlights several key elements of God's covenant with Abram, elucidates the necessity for total submission to God, and characterizes God as almighty and omnipotent. Also central to this passage is the promise to bless Abram's offspring, thus establishing Abram as the patriarchal leader of two distinct but biologically related lineages: that of Ishmael and that of Isaac. In Genesis 17:1-4, God bestows upon Abram the blessing of being the "father of many nations," and not just one great nation. The difference between God's injunction in Genesis 17:1-4 and the previous promise issued in Genesis 12:2 is powerful and has social,…...

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References

Bible: NIV

Bible Hub (2014). Genesis 17. Retrieved online:  http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/17-1.htm 

Bray, L. (n.d.). The divine prerogative. Retrieved online:  http://lukebray.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/the-divine-preogative.pdf 

Deffinbaugh, B. (2004). Grasping the great truth of God. Retrieved online:  https://bible.org/seriespage/18-grasping-great-truth-god-genesis-171-27

The author claims that Christianity, in order to remain healthy and viable, needs to reclaim the Old Testament to maintain a tie to the world at large. Christianity, like all religions and cultures, needs connection, identification, and unity. Moreover, the New Testament, according to Rosenweig, should be viewed as a "counterpart," not as a canon that was "intended to supercede" the Jewish Bible (238). Rather, the New Testament can "supplement and outrange" the Old (238). Historically, the New Testament is like an organic outgrowth from the Hebrew Bible, a scripture that characterized a newly emerging religion and culture that while separate and distinct from Judaism is nevertheless intimately tied to it.
The Hebrew Bible is usually referred to "in a spirit of opposition" to the New Testament. Christianity views the "fruitful tension" between the Old and New Testaments as "a torment it wished to evade," (239). The need of Christian…...

Bible in the Life of the Church Today
Today, the Holy Bible remains the mainstay of Christian churches around the world, but there remains a debate over its precise role in the life of the church. To help determine the facts in this debate, this paper reviews a series of selected essays surrounding the nature of the Bible and its use in the modern Christian church. This review includes a synopsis and description of the structure of each article, the main points of interest and an analysis concerning the extent to which the authors succeeded in conveying these main points. Finally, a description of the author's methodology and an assessment concerning the validity of each author's arguments is followed by an evaluation of their effectiveness in communicating their main themes and a summary of the research and important findings regarding the main themes addressed in these articles are provided in the…...

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References

Anderson, B.W. 'Tradition and Scripture in the Community of Faith' in The Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 100, No.1 (March 1981), pp 5-21

Martens, E. A. "What Have They Done to the Bible? A History of Modern Biblical Interpretation." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 382-385.

Neuman, W. L. (2009). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Paul, M. "Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture, by Frances Young" in Shofar, Vol. 18, No. 3, p. 147.

..hat in these last days spoken unto us by his Son...by whom also he made the worlds," thus arguing that Jesus' message is an expansion of the Old Covenant. (Ellingworth, 1993).
The Catholic interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews is that it is a firm announcement of the superiority of the New Testament revelations made by Jesus over the Old Testament revelations made by the lesser prophets. Further, the Epistle to the Hebrews successfully proves this point by comparing Jesus to the angels as mediators of the Old Covenant, Moses and Josue as founders of the Old Covenant, and by opposing the high priesthood of Christ. (Lane, 1985).

At its core, this passage is an extension of Pauline Christianity, or the version of Christianity advocated by the Apostle Paul and which survived as the dominant version of Christianity. First and foremost, as a part of the Pauline Christianity, this passage is…...

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Bibliography

Ellingworth, Paul. "Commentary on Hebrews." NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.

Hughes, P.E. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977.

Lane, William L. Hebrews: Call to Commitment. Hendrickson, 1985.

Bible
"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises," (Hebrews 6:12). The promises referred to in the Bible include spiritual gifts like wisdom, and also the gifts of material abundance and fecundity. The Bible teaches that laziness, or sloth, is incompatible with wisdom or success. Moreover, the Bible teaches that only foolish people are lazy and slothful, because they allow themselves to be distracted by desires. The person who is distracted does not work, and when a person does not work, he or she cannot eat. "The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor," (Proverbs 21:25). Hands that refuse to labor are naturally hands that cannot provide food to sustain the body, let alone spiritual nourishment for the soul.

Thus, the Bible makes the connection between laziness and foolish desires. It is desire that causes laziness, and laziness…...

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Work Cited

Bible: English Standard Version; King James Version

Paul twice refers to his helper, Onesimus, as "Beloved" (Colossians 4:9 and Philemon 1:16). But then, in Ephesians, Paul begins to speak of all of those who have been saved as the "Beloved." This is the first instance of a group being given this special blessing. In Ephesians 1:5-6, Paul says that we have been adopted as children of God, by God's own free will and good pleasure and praiseworthy grace, and we have been accepted into the Beloved who have been redeemed by the Blood and forgiven of our sins.

Truly, being the Beloved of God is a special favor. Paul tries to tell the members of the church in Rome how, though each one is favored by God in a different way, each is a member of a group that is loved by one another (Romans Chapter 12: 6-10). In Verses 9 and 10, Paul says: "Let love be…...

If the Incarnation were not a spiritual event, then more concrete terms would suffice in describing the Son of God. hurch schisms have evolved related to the misinterpretation and reinterpretation of the Incarnation of hrist. Prophecy also discounts the importance of time and place when studying the incarnation of hrist. As Walvoord (nd) points out, "prophecy does not necessarily include all the intermediate steps between the great events in view."
Because of the difficulties in interpreting prophecy and scripture, the Incarnation of hrist can best be understood from a personal perspective. hrist has had a profound impact on billions of souls, enabling the transformation of humanity and human history. At the most basic level, the Incarnation of hrist suggests the mystery and transcendence of God. The Incarnation reminds me of the limitations of the human mind and the power of God; in other words, the Incarnation humbles me and makes…...

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Christ's Incarnation in fact entails humiliation and despair. Christ's crucifixion was also a matter of prophecy, and a profound mystery that Christians continue to grapple with. We find solace in knowing that God's only Son sacrificed his blood to help save humanity. The Incarnation also makes God feel closer to us. By assuming the form of flesh, God proved that He is close. God proved Himself via miracles and the transcendence of the physical laws that bind us to a mundane existence. The Incarnation reminds us of our sins and the fall from Grace detailed in the Book of Genesis. The Incarnation also reminds us of hope, forgiveness, and salvation.

Reference

Walvoord, J.F. (nd). The Incarnation of the Son of God. Bible.org. Retrieved June 12, 2010 from  http://bible.org/seriespage/incarnation-son-god

He indicates that even what Paul writes to people through his epistles is the Word of God. He is (again presciently) aware that the words might be twisted and misunderstood). But he has no doubt that Paul's writings (more prolific that his own were) as well as his own are divinely inspired Scripture. Paul, writing in Corinthians sums up the closeness of the role of the Holy Spirit in the furtherance of God's Words. He indicates that what he preaches does not come from him. hey are not his teachings, but directly the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which manifests itself in the form of words.
In recognizing Scriptures as the unadulterated Word of God, one must also consider biblical references of what Jesus, his apostles, prognosticators and epistle-writers thought of scripture. Simply put, what do the primary characters of the New estament think of the Old estament? Several centuries…...

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The astronomical notions of the earth being the center of the Universe are false. Not only are there several universes and galaxies, the Sun is the center of our universe. (Armstrong 1996) the school of thought indicates that the bible writers were influenced by pagan religion followed at the time. The pagans specifically believed in the flatness of the earth and the centrality of the earth and this is reflected in the Bible. (Swindler n.d.) Archeological evidence is also lacking to prove inerrancy. A lot of this comes from the Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus. Stories about the existence of Palestine, the towns of Beersheba and Canaan are anachronistic. Their existence has been historically and archeologically shown to be after the time period that the Bible describes when these places existed. This means that the books of Exodus and Leviticus were written much later than they originally claimed.

The evolution of religion as it is practiced with society has taken place for the better. From a socio-cultural standpoint, strict adherence to the Bible for all time would be detrimental to members of society. Indeed, we call people who do not evolve as backward and primitive. The Bible makes mention of corporal punishment, non-acceptance of homosexuality, intolerance towards other religions, required that a wife be a virgin by the time of her wedding on penalty of death (by stoning), capital punishment for adultery and a variable acceptance of slavery. If we adhered to these issues mentioned in the Bible as inerrant, practicing Christians would not be able to survive in today's society. At least from this standpoint then, most reasonable people will agree that the dictates of the Bible cannot be eternally binding.

If all

Slavery in the Bible
In modern estern countries, many Christians and Jews may wish to portray God as the comfortable deity of a middle-class consumer society like the United States, but the Bible demonstrates that nothing could be further from the truth. In the Bible, the God of history from the story of Cain and Abel, through Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the Prophets and of course the ministry of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Repeatedly, God intervenes on the side of the poor, the weak, the lowly and the outcast, and against the rich and powerful. He has mercy on Joseph when his brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt and elevates him about all others. God takes the side of a young shepherd boy David against the thuggish giant Goliath and then against the evil and corrupt King Saul. ith Jesus, the constant messages is that God shows mercy…...

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WORKS CITED

Anderson, Bernard W. The Unfolding Drama of the Bible, 4th Edition. Augsburg Fortress Publishing, 2006.

Cahill, Thomas. The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels. Anchor Books, 1998.

Jesus
The central figure in the New Testament of Christianity is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus in many ways has both historical and spiritual natures, due to his being born to a typical Jewish family (father Joseph and mother Mary) in Galilee but also being recognized by his disciples as the Son of God who was divinely conceived. Jesus was called Christ, a term derived from the Greek term for "anointed one," and his followers in his lifetime and thereafter believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. As a religious figure in his lifetime and due largely to his radical religious and political beliefs, Jesus upset the social and political order in the oman-controlled Levant. The teachings of Christ included a tremendous upheaval of traditional Jewish custom, laws, and ritual codes of conduct ranging from the abolition of circumcision to the doing away with…...

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References

Bible: NIV

"Egypt in Bible History." Retrieved online:  http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201011/egypt-in-bible-history/ 

"Who Is Jesus Christ?" Retrieved online:  http://www.biblicaljesus.org/

M. Louise Cornell is professor of education at Providence College in Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada. She believes the real influence of the Bible grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century. The Bible at that time, according to Cornell, was "wrested" from the hands of the priests and placed in the outstretched arms of lay people during the Reformation, as the Christian mission was becoming a powerful movement (Thiessen, 1998). During the Reformation scholars and Christian activists emphasized that "each person, filled with the Holy Spirit, could interpret the Bible without help," Cornell explains.

But in order to understand the Bible, there was a critical need for literacy. And so many schools were established, Cornell continues in the publication Faith Today, and throughout the Reformation the Bible played a significant role. "By the time of the second generation of Christians," Cornell goes on, "the developing Christian community needed to find…...

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Works Cited

Escobar, Samuel. 2006. The United Bible Societies and World Mission. International Bulletin

Of Missionary Research 30 (April): 77-81.

Pathrapankal, Joseph. 2006. From Areopagus to Corinth (Acts 17:22-31; I Cor 2:1-5) a Study

On the Transition from the Power of Knowledge to the Power of the Spirit. Mission Studies 23, 61-79.

"
This point-of-view makes sense. Stuart and Fee have already suggested that the point of iblical interpretation is not to look for a novel or unique interpretation, but to really try to understand the point of the passages being studied. Therefore, their idea that people should feel free to consult commentaries, so that they can understand how other people have interpreted the texts, is a good one. Moreover, they suggest that people own multiple commentaries, with their ownership of each commentary geared toward the specific books being studied. Again, this is an excellent suggestion. Much like reading multiple versions of the ible, reading multiple commentaries on specific books is likely to stimulate intelligent analysis of the books in question.

Conclusion

Stuart and Fee do a very good job of helping guide people on how one should approach the ible. In fact, their book would be helpful for novices as well as for people…...

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Bibliography

Stuart, Douglas and Gordon D. Fee. How to Read the Bible for All its Worth. (Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).

Stuart, Douglas and Gordon D. Fee. How to Read the Bible for All its Worth. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003),

13.

Bible
The History of the Bible

Today's Bibles are the end product of a long process of transmission that involved diverse stages and many different communities. To understand how the various editions and translations of the Bible have come to us, one must first understand the vastness of the early the communities which copied and transmitted the work as well as the popularity of unauthorized translations and editions by unorthodox religious that compelled counter-editions to appear in later centuries. This paper will look at the transmission of the Bible from the early Greek/Hebrew editions to the standard Latin Vulgate edition of the Middle Ages and finally to the English and other language editions that appeared under Bede, Jean Wycliff, Martin Luther, Willam Tyndale, and in the Coverdale Bible, the Geneva Bible and the King James Version.

Because the Bible contains so much that is often interpreted in different ways, editions that have attempted…...

Apocrypha: Unveiling the Controversial and Enigmatic Texts

The term "apocrypha" originates from the Greek word "apokryphos," meaning "hidden" or "not publicly known." It refers to a collection of biblical texts that are not included in the Hebrew Bible or Christian canon, but are considered non-canonical by some religious traditions. The apocryphal texts have been the subject of theological debate and controversy throughout history, as their authenticity and divine inspiration have been questioned.

Historical Context and Origin

The apocryphal texts emerged during the intertestamental period, between the composition of the Old and New Testaments. During this time, Jewish literature flourished, producing a wide range....

Deuteronomy 6:4 states, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." This verse emphasizes the importance of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible by declaring that there is only one true God, Yahweh, whom the Israelites are to worship. It instructs the people of Israel to recognize and acknowledge the oneness and supremacy of God, and to worship only Him, rejecting all other gods or idols. This declaration served to set the Israelites apart from the surrounding polytheistic cultures and firmly establish their belief in monotheism.


One way in which Deuteronomy 6:4 emphasizes the importance of monotheism is by....

Understanding Monotheism in the Hebrew Bible

Monotheism, the belief in and worship of a single god, is a fundamental principle of the Hebrew Bible. This belief distinguishes the ancient Israelites from the surrounding polytheistic cultures and serves as a cornerstone of their religious identity. Deuteronomy 6:4 encapsulates this crucial doctrine, proclaiming the centrality of Yahweh, the one and only God, in the lives of the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 6:4: A Cornerstone of Monotheistic Faith

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4)

This verse is known as the Shema, a foundational declaration of faith that is central to Jewish religious....