Gnostics By Irenaeus Summary

Conclusion The understanding of the definition of sin enables the faithful appreciate atonement. Researching the nature of sin assists the congregation to remind themselves of God’s will and his divine purpose for humanity.

When you hear presumption (guessing) is gone V21 “assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,” - Paul has been talking throughout this letter as if the Ephesians are actually believers/ Christians o I have been doing the same  But there is an IF here isn’t there • You are a Christian if o You heard Him, have been taught in Him, believed in Him, and resolved to follow him  Paul warns believers to "test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test" (2 Corinthians

B. The Doctrine of Justification by Faith This section seeks to provide an overview of the historical development of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Justification is a forensic (legal) term related to the idea of acquittal. In the Christian context, it refers to the divine act whereby God makes humans who are sinful acceptable or just before Him (Grenz 1999: 69). We will examine the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church’s position on this.

(Hindson and Caner 270). Homosexuality perverts the very design of marriage. The fact that modern society want to challenge and change the definition of marriage should scare Christians. The sinful world wants to divert from the teachings

If humans are projecting their own natures onto the idea of God, what follows is that when we understand religion we are not coming to knowledge of God, but rather of ourselves. Feuerbach says this quite explicitly: "Consciousness of God is self-consciousness, knowledge of God is self-knowledge. " What Feuerbach is getting at is that the idea of God is reducible to humankind, it is in essence anthropology. One leading scholar on Feuerbach, Eugene Kamenka, notes this reduction: "Feuerbach presents each of these reductions so forcefully, with so much rhetoric, that he appears to regard each of them as the true essence in terms of which the whole of religion should be explained." If religion is, strictly speaking, anthropology then we must, if we are religious persons, grow up and realize that God and man are identical.

Dostoevsky provides his own response to Ivan’s accusations through his character, Alyosha. Alyosha acknowledges that Ivan 's approach and defense of atheism, "lies in that he renounces God out of love for mankind, comes forward against the Creator in the role of the advocate of all suffering creation" (Kiskaddon, Elissa. “Dostoyevsky and the Problem of God”). Alyosha tells Ivan his reason for rejecting God is simply a ‘rebellion’ and says; “One cannot live by rebellion...” (The Brothers Karamazov pg 245).

Ephesians and Colossians: The epistle to the Ephesians church is a faith treatise on victorious Christian living or said in other words a ‘triumph of faith’ and so does Colossians. However,Colossians the apostle addresses some heretical teachings probably by Gnostics who argued the body was bad or evil and that nothing good can come from the evil body. Some also taught of celestial and constellation worship and philosophies of men. (Tokunboh Adeyemo: 2005:1155: Biblestudies.org). Paul explains how believers’ faith is rooted in Christ and how Christ overcame the devil and triumphed on the cross.

A major strength of The Theology of John Wesley is Collins’ discussion of prevenient grace. Collins ends his summary of total depravity by arguing that “for those such as Wesley who followed the Augustinian tradition, the effects of the fall are so devastating that response-ability along the way of salvation is not a possibility at all unless God first of all sovereignly restores humanity through prevenient grace to some measure of the relation previously enjoyed” (73). It is almost as if Collins cannot help but talk about prevenient grace as soon as he has convinced the reader of the truth of human depravity. This is a thoroughly Wesleyan approach, as Wesley was only interested in discussing original sin in order to convince his audience of their need for the salvation which comes through Christ. Collins beautifully distinguishes between Wesley and

“The rest of us are expected to defend our prejudices. But ask a religious person to justify their faith and you infringe ‘religious liberty” p.45; In the whole of chpt.4 of ‘The God Delusion,’ Dawkins also draws from statistical data, reasons why religious people compared to atheists, have lower IQs: As challenging and infuriating as his statements may be, we must examine honestly our position within the scope of our God-given guidelines to see why Dawkins and his peers have been allowed the unwavering advantage to question with good reason, our beliefs in general terms of

The early church fathers were surrounded by cultured world and they made comprehensive use of reason and philosophy to defend Christianity. Justin Martyr stressed the ineffability, omnipotence and impassibility of God. Others like Athenagoras and Theophilus focused on God's simplicity, indivisibility and universal providence. Irenaeus emphasised on self-sufficiency and perfection of one God to counter Gnostics. Bible taught that the primary divine attributes of God are eternity, immutability, omniscience and omnipotence and they were

by Thomas Warren is a product of the final chapter of his doctoral dissertation in Philosophy entitled “God and Evil: Does Judeo-Christian Theism Involve a Logical Contradiction?” (Pg. xii). The book begins with a survey of the attacks atheists launch against Christianity on the problem of evil. He includes excerpts of quotes from prominent antagonists to Christianity including; J. L. Mackie who stated in so many words that there is no rational proof for the existence of God because evil exist, David Hume who argues that the existence of a good God and existence of evil demonstrate a logical contradiction, and others from further back like Epicurus whose belief is like that of Mackie. The existence of evil and human suffering is perhaps the strongest argument atheists have brought froth to create some doubts in the minds of Christians, specifically those who are weak in knowledge because of lack of study.

He questions how the empirical validity influences the spiritual myth. The reader of the “Paul statement” can infer not only Paul’s perceptions, but also their own regarding the passages while overlooking the historicity of the Pauline statement. Similarly Paul’s experiences within the context of the reading provide validity for while influencing the reader’s own experience. This mythologizing of the text allows a bridge between the original message and what is relevant to the reader within the empiricism of the text.

Christianity has always been subjective and ambiguous, which allows for theories and speculation to develop regarding the religion’s values and characteristics. A key matter in theology seeks to understand those values and to identify a model of living that guides people away from corruption to remain in God’s image. Athanasius of Alexandria’s On the Incarnation and Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Anti-Christ address this issue with viewpoints that directly contradict each other. Athanasius examines the Incarnation to defend his position that natural human desires corrupt mankind and suggests there is nothing to prevent evil and sin other than God’s salvation while Nietzsche asserts that corruption occurs from a loss of instinctive nature and proposes

In his First Apology, Justin Martyr relies on truth and reason to defend Christians, who are being treated unfairly. He believes that their beliefs are misunderstood and overlooked. According to Justin Martyr, Christianity is the most reasonable and he wants to convince the Emperor so that he ends the unjust treatment towards them. Justin Martyr begins by saying Christianity is the most reasonable; “It is the voice of reason, and ever attended to by men truly pious and worthy the name of philosopher, that truth alone is the thing to be had in the highest honour, and to hold the first place in our affections and the ancients to be followed nor one step further than they are followers of truth”(78).

In James Knoll’s article Serial Murder: A Forensic Psychiatric Perspective, which was published in the Psychiatric Times, Knoll takes a more psychological look, into murders and breaking down the concept of it. Firstly, he breaks into society’s amazement with serial murders, showing that there and multiple books, movies, and television shows that center around that theme. Even though serial murders is completely terrifying to most of the society, it is very rare compared to other crimes. From the last six decades, victims of homicides that are female have decreased. In the circumstance of serial murders, there has been documentation of the events for centuries, even going back to the sixteenth century.