Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Bible, History, History, New Testament

Early Footsteps of the Man of Galilee: Place Where Christ Prayed, Garden of Gethsemane

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The Garden of Gethsemane

Just outside of the garden and near the wall is pointed out a place where, it is asserted, Christ prayed. A lamp is kept continually burning there. If indeed, tradition is right in locating this important act of the Christ, the place is, next to Calvary, of all holy places, the most sacred. Here there was a heart that gathered into itself with sympathizing tenderness the woe and anguish of a race. Over against the story of the Garden of Eden, where the first man fell, we may place in our thought the story of the Garden of Gethsemane, where the second Adam triumphed. What the race lost in Paradise through transgression the race regained in Gethsemane by obedience. That the exact location of Eden and of Gethsemane can never be authoritatively declared does not lessen the hold of both upon the human imagination.

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Vincent, John, James Lee and R. E. M. Bain. Earthly Footsteps of The Man of Galilee and the Journeys of His Apostles. New York, NY;St. Louis, MO: N. D. Thompson Publishing Co., 1894.

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Quote, Redemptive History

Sabbatum Excerpt: N.T. Wright on God’s Overflowing Divine Love in Jesus’ Death

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And as we watch the events of Jesus’s final days unfold, we cannot simply look on and register them as an odd quirk of history. The claim being made in the stories of Jesus is that this was the perfect storm. This was where the hurricane of divine love met the cold might of empire and the overheated aspiration of Israel. Only when we reflect on that combination do we begin to understand the meaning of Jesus’s death. Only then might we begin to understand how it is that the true Son of God, the true High Priest, has indeed become king of the world. This is, of course, to run too far ahead of ourselves. If we are to approach that density of understanding, we must first grasp just how powerful, within the ancient scriptures, this theme of God’s sovereign, independent action really was.

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Wright, N. T. (2011-10-25). Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters (p. 39). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

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Bible, New Testament, Old Testament, Terminology

Biblical Nuggets: Antitheses

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Antitheses: In the New Testament studies, we find Jesus’ six contrasting teaching on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:21-48 to the teachings of Moses in the Old Testament. Those six contrasting teachings of Jesus is called antitheses. It is also known as “six antitheses,” because Jesus quotes or paraphrases Moses’ command to Israelites but adding his own antithetical or oppositional statements to make it stronger. Each anthesis is set in motion with the distinctive formula, “You have heard that it was said,” immediately followed by the antithetical response, “But I [Jesus] say to you.”

Six Antitheses:

1. Murder/Anger (5:21-26)

Moses (OT): You have heard it was said… “You shall not kill”

Jesus (NT): But I say to you … that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

2. Adultery/Lust (5:27-30)

Moses (OT): You have heard it was said…”You shall not commit adultery”

Jesus (NT): But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

3. Divorce (5:31-32)

Moses (OT): “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

Jesus (NT): But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

4. Oaths (5:33-37)

Moses (OT): “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

Jesus (NT): But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

5. Retaliation/Revenge (5:38-42)

Moses (OT): “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 

Jesus (NT): But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…

6. Love your Enemies (5:43-48)

Moses (OT): “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 

Jesus (NT): But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, … For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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The key verses are from English Standard Version (ESV), Zondervan.

Apologia, Research

Movie: The Case for Christ

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This video is based on the Gold Medallion award-winning best-seller, The Case for Christ book by Lee Strobel. He testifies his journey from atheism to Christian faith through his two-years investigation of the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. He was the former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune. Trained as a legal investigator, he set his journey to examine the historical accuracy of the Gospels, the personal claims of Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection from the dead. He sought to find the answer whether Jesus is who He claimed to be – the Son  of God and Savior of the world? The movie is noteworthy to watch for its contents featuring Lee’s interviews with 10 leading Biblical scholars and cutting-edge apologists from North America and England. The BIG QUESTION is: Is there any evidence that corroborates the truthfulness and historicity of Jesus of Nazareth and his exclusive claim to be the Son of God? Watch this movie out!

Apologia, Religion and Spirituality, Research, Review, Theology

Shaping Apologetics in a Skeptical Age

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Zarathustra Shrugged – What Apologetics should Look Like in a Skeptical Age

Andy Crouch’s essay entitled “Zarathustra Shrugged: What Apologetics should look like in a skeptical age” is a section of his book, “Engaging Unbelief” was originally published in Christianity Today, September 3, 2001 (vol. 45, no.11), p. 101. This is my summarization and critique on his essay.

In the present day of secularism and humanism, Andy Crouch says in his essay, Zarathustra Shrugged that today’s skeptic young generation poses the challenging question to the postmodern era’s apologists. The author Crouch tells us how his friend ended his one-on-one conversation with the young skeptic without any fruition. Despite a hard-fought and well-presented intellectual argument, Crouch’s friend could not win the soul of young man. His skepticism remains firm as it was. His reaction toward the logical argument is the explicit example for shaping the apologetics in a skeptic age.

The main point of the essay is the reflection question of the present skeptical age that if Christianity is worth believing and how apologetics should look like. In his own words, Crouch says that “many people do not ask ‘Is Christianity true?’ but ‘Is it worth believing?’” In the past centuries, evangelicals made every effort to give the reason for the hope they have in Christ Jesus. Every reason of the evangelicals counter-attacked the modern atheist, Bertrand Russell who authored celebrated book ‘Why I am not Christian?’ The counterarguments from Christian apologetics of his time weakened the position of postmodernism and atheism. Continue reading Shaping Apologetics in a Skeptical Age →