A closer walk with God

A closer walk with God FAITH is commitment enriched by reason and reason illumined by faith
Denial does not rule out the existence of God. INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Scripture reveals the existence of God without doubt. There is a clear need of understanding of the concept of the Church, first we need to consider what it is not and what it is. The church is not a continuation of the Old Testament. While there is a connection between the saints of all ages [Jn.10:16, Rom.16:24], there are people of God throughout various ages. Christianity is not New Wine poure

d in old wine skins rather is new in new wine skins, [Matt.9:19] the church is not a continuation of the old system because Israel and the church are not in familiar terms. Paul distinguishes between the Jews, Gentile and the church, [1Cor.10:32] Paul speaks of the Church as one new man, [Eph.2:15, Col.3:11] composed of believing Jews and believing gentiles. The church is not a continuation of a synagogue, though there are similarities between them, there are also differences.
[Matt.16:18] Jesus said I will build my church; this could not be a synagogue because synagogue already existed. When the apostles preached in the synagogue their message was evangelistic, calling for repentance and faith. The people from the synagogue who believed formed the local bodies of believers apart from the synagogue, when the church began the believers initially met in the temple and not in the synagogue. The church is not a denomination
We often speak of various denominations of churches but the term church does not occur in the scriptures. Some of the denominations claim to be the only true church but the word of God warns us about such denominations. [1Cor.1:11-17] There may be many denominations, but there is only one true universal church, all the redeemed of this age are members of this one spiritual body. The church is considered in two sections the Universal sense and the Local sense. In the Universal sense the church consists of all those who in this age are born of the spirit of God and have by the same spirit be baptized into the body of Christ –the word ecclesia in Greek simply means called out people and it is referred at least 100 times in the Old Testament. The English word church comes from the Greek word Kuriacos which means belonging to the lord. [1Cor.11:20, Rev.1:10] the secondary definition of church means called out of the world and belonging to the lord, the church is also called the building of God. [1Cor.3:19, 6:16, Eph.2:20-22, 1Tim.3:15] Christ is the corner stone of this building [Matt.16:18, 1Cor.3:11, 1Pt.2:6] and dwells in it by his spirit. [1Cor.3:16, 6:19] the believers perform priestly service in the temple [Heb.3:15, 1Pt.2:9, Rev.2:6] it is also called the body of Christ [Rom.12:4, 1Cor.12:27, Eph.1:22, 3:6, 4:4, 5:23-30, 12:16, Col.1:18, 1:24, 2:19, 13:15] it is also called the bride of Christ. [2Cor.11:2, Eph.5:24-32] as a bride of Christ the church is to be faithful to Christ. [Jms.4:4]Prepare for the wedding ceremony. [Rev.19:7] to be married some day to Christ.[Jn.3:29] and to reign with him [Rev.19:6-20, 20:6], other figures used as wine. [Jn.15:1-5, Heb.13:20, 1Pt.2:25]
In the Local sense the word Church is used as in the group of the professed believers in any one locality, thus we read of the church in Jerusalem [Acts.8:1, 11:22], in Ephesus [Acts.20:17], Cenchreae [Rom.16:1],in Corinth [1Cor.1:2, 2Cor.1:1], we read of the church of Laodicea [Col.4:16], and we read of the church of Thessalonians [1Thes.1:1, 2Thes.1:1] sometime the term is in plural as in the churches of Galatia. [Gal.1:2, of Judea. 1Thes.2:14] of Asia [Rev.1:4].

02/10/2017

Nice to see someone speaking up

26/08/2016

A Solution to your Hairy Story.
Hair fall is one of the biggest problems today, many of the people especially men, though they may not accept the fact so easily yet go on to purchase expensive oils and treatments even to the extreme of hair transplant, which still does not guarantee its stay.
Hair fall is commonly found in Men more than Women, Ever wondered why.
I bring you the simple reason behind your hair fall,
Understand every hair on your body has its own way of growth. Some hairs would take 1 day to grow to a height of 1mm others may take 2 there are others that take a time of 14 days. These are not explained to you by any doctors, they take your panic or anxiousness to get their purses filled.
The hair when it first grows it would take its own shape to grow they may turn like an Horn or stick up like a porcupine, until the time this hair has the strength to stand in that position. As this hair grows longer and it finds itself unable to still stand in this position it curls downward according to your patting.
TIPS
Wash your hair with gently with water,
Don’t use shampoo every time you come under the shower,
Use shampoo once a week. Or when you feel it’s really required.
Treat your hair kindly just massage through your hair,
Don’t scrub your hair vigorously, as though there is paint stuck to their head.
Shake dry your head; dust off the excess water and just dab dry your head / hair.
Never rub the towel on your head as if to make them shine.
Apply oil immediately after bath.
Apply some regular oils used for the head.
Comb your hair after 10 minutes.
If you feel that this was useful, you can recharge my Mobile +91 9900185891.
And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Luke 12:7
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.. Matt 10:30
So forget about your hair and enjoy. God Bless You.

The Sanctity – of – Life and the Quality – of – Life ViewsThe Sanctity – of – Life ViewHuman life is sacred because of t...
25/02/2014

The Sanctity – of – Life and the Quality – of – Life Views

The Sanctity – of – Life View
Human life is sacred because of the relationship of humans with God. God made human beings persons in his own image and likeness. Since humans are the image of God. Human life is treated sacred, and God requires that humans respect life’s sanctity. The incarnation gives human life the ultimate sanctity. The divine word gives human life the ultimate sanctity by assuming human life [Jn.1:14] through communion with Jesus Christ, Christians share in the divine life. Thus Christians have good reason to treat human life with respect and reverence. The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees the sanctity of human life.
Besides these religious aspects, one can also find a rational foundation of the sanctity of human life. As bodily life is good intrinsic to human persons (integral part of their very reality) and not something extrinsic and valuable only as a means to other human goods. Life retains its sanctity in all circumstances.
Human life is not just an idea or abstraction. It is a concrete reality of a person who exists, acts, grows, and develops. For any other living being to be is to live, and to die is cease to be. Thus human life is the concrete reality of a human person. No conditions can reduce the intrinsic goodness and sanctity of human life. Disease, disability and mutilation only reduce participation in the good of life. Yet, as a person’s life remains an intrinsic good, its goodness and sanctity are unaffected by such conditions.
Because a human person’s always retains its goodness and sanctity, it must be always treated with respect. The respect for life includes a mortal absolute forbidding the intentional killing of the innocent. Also, respect for life demands more than just not killing, it entails many responsibilities. One needs to express respect for life by cherishing life, by protecting the dignity of every human person, by accepting the equality of all human beings, etc.
Since body life is vulnerable and everyone’s life is threatened in many ways,
Respect for life (cherishing life) means that one should act to protect oneself and others against the loss of life.
Respect for life includes protecting and promoting health. As every bodily organ and part is personal,
Respect for life requires respect for bodily integrity.
Respect for life includes respect for everyone’s freedom and conscience.
However this responsibility is sometimes limited to many other responsibilities and human circumstances.
The most acceptable Sanctity of Life Principle could be stated as follows;
It is absolutely prohibited either intentionally to kill a person or intentionally to let a person die, and to base decisions relating to the prolongation or shortening of human life on considerations of its quality or kind; however, it is sometimes permissible to refrain from preventing death. It implies two basic affirmations:
1. All human persons are equal in dignity.
2. All human lives are absolutely directly inviolable.
An unfortunate case of a calamity such as Tsunami, Earthquake etc. Need of saving one’s own life is important to benefit in saving lives of those less fortunate.
• Injured but able to survive and recover Allow them to fend themselves
• Injured seriously but need attention and nursing. Need to save them
• Injured very badly will not survive even after attention Ignore them, until…

The Quality of Life View (not in a Christian’s point of view)

According the quality of life view, all human lives do not have equal value. All human lives are not really to be treated as ‘Human’ lives. It considers seriously only those who are ‘persons’. Only persons have a right to continued life. A human life has a special value in so far as the human being is self conscious, self aware, rational, and autonomous, with hopes, ideals, ambitions, life-purposes and so on. A possessor of such qualities of life only is a human person. The advocates of quality of life view hold that life and death decisions are to be based on quality of life assessments. It means that different lives are to be treated differently considering the quality or kind of life.
The advocates of quality of life view do not accept the absolute inviolability of human life and the equality of all human lives. They consider human life only as a good instrument. It means that human life has sanctity (inviolability) only in so far as it is a pre-condition for the exercise of rationality, purpose, the ability to make a choice, the exercise of freedom etc.
Moreover, according to them, there is a strong connection between the values of life and the interest of the possessor of life. It means that human life has value and sanctity only if it is of value to the one whose life it is. The interests, desires and preferences of the possessor of life are the determining factors in estimating the value of life. Thus any human being could envisage situations that she or he would decide life or death by herself or himself.
In that respect, the wrongness of an action against the life of a person is related to the extent to which the action prevents his interests and preferences from being fulfilled. Thus, the wrongness of killing lies not in taking life, but rather in overriding in a most profound way the interests, desires and preferences of a person who does not want to die. According to Quality of Life ethic, there is no intrinsic moral difference between killing and letting die. More over letting die is more often worse than direct killing as it is does not consider adequately the best interests of a person concerned and the prevention of pointless suffering. Anthony Shaw defines ‘Quality of Life’ of a person mathematically as follows: QL = NE x (H+S).
Here, (QL) represents the Quality of Life, (NE) represents a human being’s natural endowment, (H) represents the contributions made to the individual by his home and (S) represents the contributions made to the individual by the society. This equation is one of the multiplications and hence the quality of life of a human person is zero when either (NE) is zero or (H+S) is zero.
The Quality of Life view has indefensible moral and practical consequences. Such a view is discrimination and against justice. It is again basic human dignity. It is a threat to life’s overall meaning and significance. The Quality of Life ethic is indefensible, mainly because it depends on fluctuating norms of desires and preferences. It leads to relativism. It affects human relationships negatively that each person would relate to others with suspicion and fear. The instrumental view of life cannot be rationally acceptable as it leads to dualism. Human person is a unity. Life is the constitutive aspect of a person which cannot be separated from any of the qualities of a person, without any reference to the absolute (God), life loses its overall meaning and significance. This may lead to vitalize ‘survival of the fittest’. However, the Quality of Life considerations are indispensable in proper decision making in medicine to provide proper treatment by assessing the exact condition of the person or patient.

20/02/2014

Conscience – Explanations of the formation of conscience.

Conscience is not a distinct faculty or a separate faculty of the mind Conscience is not mere conviction about morality, Conscience cannot be identified to common sense beliefs about it. Conscience is misunderstood as a feeling. Conscience is not infallible – guide to conduct – Confusion between subjective conviction and Objective rightness…

Conscience is a human process of assessment and judgment involving the whole person and not just an intellectual event…. We limit the verdict of Conscience to judgment about the rightness or the wrongness to the acts of the owner of that conscience. It is true that an account of Conscience cannot begin without an appeal to common sense, it need not end there. It is not just that one thing. It is not a feeling – feelings are not judgments and can often be very misleading and wrong to weigh true Conscience with a particular feeling. It is a judgment and but also ones best judgment on what is the morally right thing to do. The church calls Conscience as the spark of the Holy Spirit. The sacredness of human; sacred because God speaks to us. Conscience is human’s most secret core and his sanctuary there he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. ….yet freedom of Conscience is not absolute, it is limited by the common good (does not give the right to murder or su***de)
Conscience is rooted to truth about mankind and law, and what is good and evil.
Formation of Conscience
It is a lifelong process. The Conscience formation must include the wholeness of the person it is a matter of constantly growing in awareness of the truth. It means making the teachings of Jesus one’s own vision and values an ongoing process of conversion. Formation of Conscience involves understanding the order of basic principles of morality and knowing to apply these norms to form reasonable judgments of Conscience.
How Conscience is formed
Moral education is an atmosphere of love, training in love under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The earliest growth of self control with the accompanying feeling of self satisfaction, shame and guilt begins in that mysterious area of babyhood – growth springs from the love – security relationship of the child – efforts to train the child in acceptable ways of behavior – child needs to experience loving acceptance as a person. It is the child’s appreciation of the love of the mother and father, a love which is warm, secure, and stable that his natural power of self criticism self judgment and self control will grow. At early stages of childhood the child sees right and wrong only instinctively, in relation to its parent’s demands and standards.
Self control grows out of Love identification with his mother and father and absorption of their standards into one’s own internal system which is a point in good and normal development which indicates the first growth of what we call ethical conscience. To conclude it is from the relationship of Love and from an atmosphere of constant, secure loving that conscience will grow truly as a loving response to love received.
Christian Conscience is being faithful in communication with the Lord all his life particularly through prayer and reading of the scriptures giving God’s Spirit the opening to your Conscience.
Bearing witness to Christ guided by the Magisterium to avoid the mindless obedience to external authority.
We form our Conscience by making responsible decisions. Conscience relies on the moral quality of the groups to which we belong.
When a person listens to his Conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.

11/01/2014

Darwin’s Evolution Theory and the creation accounts in the Bible.
Charles Darwin, who was an empirical scientist, published in 1859 the results of his experiments in the form of a book titled “The origin of Species” he demonstrated with examples that for the living beings including man, there is a prehistory of evolution through millions of years before they attained the present forms. The living beings had to withstand climatic conditions and other vicissitudes so much that only those who were fit could survive, this is called the survival of the fittest. Those that survived emerged as a new species. He stated that even man emerged as a new species from apes or ape like beings. But Darwin could not reason out for the intelligence, spiritual thinking and existence of a spiritual soul which is the basis of these endowments in man. That is why his theory was not fully accepted. He could not say that evolution is not a process producing a particular new species at a definite time or stage. He stated that evolution of a new species occurs as a result of a Saltus ( = aleap, or jump) and it is casual.
People who accepted the evolution theory at least partially, were annoyed by the Biblical statement regarding the six days of creation. They tried to reconcile the biblical statements about creation with the Darwin Theory of evolution by proposing concordism. That is to say, the millions of years required for the evolution of new species according to the theory of Darwin may be reckoned as a day in the Biblical creation account. But today we know that such concordats are not needed because empirical sciences are concerned with material things whereas theology is a superlative science supported by revelation and faith and it remains in the realm above matter. Even if the evolution theory proves without doubt in future that man is evolved from a lower species, we can say without hesitation that the first human couple, as the ancestors of the present day human kind came to existence only when the Creator infused spiritual soul into man along with the concomitant intellect free will spiritual outlook etc.

07/01/2014

Denial does not rule out the existence of God. Scripture reveals the existence of God without doubt.

Considering the etymology, Theology is derived from 2 Greek words Theo’s meaning GOD and Logos meaning science or systematic study. It is a discourse on God or God talk however; God is an infinite being and ever fully incomprehensible to finite human persons. Since our knowledge of God is limited. Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God. Theological and religious language is only a symbolic language. Theology is in fact a systematic study on human life and human realities in relation to God and his eternal design for humans and of the entire creation.
Western understanding of Theology.
In the West Theology is more a faith seeking understanding (fides quaerens intellectum- St.Anselm) of God, of oneself, of fellow human beings and human realities, and the entire creation. Here theology is more rational, academic, abstract and philosophical.
Eastern understanding of Theology is more Bible oriented, patristic and liturgical. Here Theology is more liturgies centered. This is clear in the Eastern expression; the law of praying is the law of believing (lex orandi, lex credenda) it does not mean that liturgy is the norm of Theology. However it means all Christians beliefs and doctrines have their origin in the liturgy and prayers of the Church, and it is from liturgy that these doctrines were taken up to theology for discussion and clarification. This is better understood if this Eastern expression is put in the reverse order: the law of faith or belief is the law of prayer or liturgy (, lex credenda, lex orandi).
In fact, the Eastern and Western understanding of theology are complementary and mutually enriching. Thus in the contemporary context, especially in the Indian context a comprehensive understanding and approach of theology is essential. In this sense theology is a faith reflection on human life and human realities or a critical reflection on Christian praxis – the concrete life of Christian faith and the historical praxis of faith in the society, including economical, socio-cultural environmental and political issues of life.
Christian Theology its definition. Christian Theology could also be understood as hermeneutics interpretation of Christian faith in the context of contemporary existential realities and interpretation of contemporary realities in the light of the Word of God. It is a continuous dialogue and interaction between the Gospel or Christian faith and the realities of the time. It is also interpretation and re-interpretation of the Christian story and history. Similarly theology could also be understood as the theological anthropology which facilitates authentic human life in relation to God, other human persons and to the entire God’s creation.
From the above discussion, a working definition of Christian Theology could be made as follows:
Christian Theology is a systematic and critical understanding and reflections on the meaning of human life and other realities revealed by Jesus Christ in the light of faith and reason, considering also the changing realities of the world by the believing community.

Sources of Theology the foundations of theology are faith and revelation
The three sources of Christian Theology are Sacred Scriptures, Sacred Tradition, and Magisterium or the official teaching of the church. The resources of Theology are:
1. Human persons and Human experiences.
2. Cultural resources
3. Different religious traditions
4. The people’s movement and the voice of the marginalized.
5. Human Sciences and Homan findings
6. The Cry of the poor,
7. The groaning of the environment, etc.

17/11/2013

Matthew Gospel refers Matthew by two names: Matthew and Levi many Jews of Christ’s day had two names Hebrew and the other was Greek or Roman. Matthew had two names both of them were Hebrew. It is possible that Jesus gave Levi the name Matthew which means Gift of the Lord – is also the first among the New Testament some say he was given the preference probably because of the chronological order of the disciples in the Bible. Written around the period 70 to 90 A.D. from Antioch in Syria to the Jewish Christians. The source could be from various forms such as his memories, the gospel Mark and a collection of sayings of Jesus already available oral narrations. The book has been thoroughly revised by a Greek speaker.
The person Matthew was a Jew, a tax collector by profession he was also surnamed as Levi – [Lk.5:27], he was the son of Alpheus [Matt.10:3, Mk.2:14, Lk.5:27 to 29, Lk.6:12 to 15]brother of James the less [Mk.3:18] The bible does not give much account of Matthew after the resurrection but tradition reveals through Fr. Iraneus who lived until 75 A.D. explained that Matthew was engaged in the writing the original document while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome –62 - 64 A.D. he probably completed his writing by 69 A.D. It was written in Aramaic after this he preached among the Jews (Hebrew). Fr.Clement of Alexandria explains that Matthew went to Ethiopians, Greek of Macedonia, to the Syrians and Persians. He was the brother of (James the less Zealot rebel against Romans) Fr.Paias -60 to 150 A.D. explains that the book was translated to Greek, Fr. Eusebius – 260 to 340 AD, Fr. Jerome 340 to 420 A.D. are also supporting the statement.
Matthew wrote the Gospel to the Jews, he wanted to prove Christ as the promised messiah; he refers to the scriptures of the Old Testament quite often.
[Matt.2: 1] Magoi - Greek – Wise men from the east
[Matt.2:19 and 22] Angel and a dream (difference of idea) Herod written traditionally
[Matt.1:2 to 16]Genealogy leading to Abraham
[Matthews’s message contains Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Isaiah -53 of which the prophets prophesied, Jesus is king (King of the heavenlies). Son of God, the Teacher, the Christ, [Matt.23:10] Jesus the savior, he speaks of the holy city, holy palace, he portrays the blind Bartemeus addressing Jesus as the son of David he condemns religious leaders [Matt.5:11-13] It is also considered as the favorite book of the Church
1. More than any other synoptic writer. Matthew quotes from the OT Prophets and prophecies, and refers to their fulfillment.
2. He uses such phrases as the Holy City, the Holy Place, the son of David, frequently, these terms would appeal to the Jewish mind.
3. Matthew does not explain comments, he makes reference to Jewish religious acts and practices, and this implies that his recipients have prior knowledge of these things.
4. Matthew emphasis that Jesus did not come to destroy but fulfill the law, this too would appeal to the Jewish mind.
5. Matthew repeatedly condemns the Jewish religious leaders for their evil ways. Gentiles would be interested in such an emphasis.
6. Throughout the gospel accounts. Matthew answers the question that Jesus was prone to ask.

He has parables, [Matt.18] Greatest and forgiveness, [Matt.24] the signs of the end time age, he gives importance to mercy and forgiveness, (as his testimony tax collector to disciple) he builds a bridge connecting to the Old and New Testaments. It is the first of New Testament. The word Church was first introduced in the Gospel, [Matt.6:18 and 18:17] He seemed interested in the end of the age and (eschatology) its signs and the 2 nd coming of Christ.
Matthew was killed with a halberd (a pike fitted with an ax head) in Nadabah.

29/10/2013

We may never fully understand how the gospels originated and what sources each writer used for his account. But a more important challenge than solving the literary mysteries of the gospels is learning to appreciate the unique portrait which each writer offers of Jesus.

29/10/2013

The Gospel in Four Editions. Why, though, are there four versions of the same story? Why not one account? This question is as old as the church itself. Around A.D. 150, Tatian compiled a life of Christ called the Diatessaron by harmonizing the four gospels. His contemporary, Marcion attempted to resolve the problem by choosing one gospel, Luke and discounting the others.
The church however resisted Tatian’s artificial life of Jesus and Marcion’s choice of one gospel to the exclusion of the other three. Prior to Tatian and Marcion the church had accepted each of the four gospels as faithful and complementary witness to Jesus Christ. The church also adopted symbols for the gospels.
Matthew a lion, Mark as an ox, Luke a man, John an eagle (or variations thereof) from the fourfold witness to God in scripture [Ezek.1:5,10:14, Rev.4:7] at an early date the church realized that the combined witness of the four gospels was required to declare the full significance of Christ. The gospel of John presents a more independent account of Christ. John’s relationship to the first three gospels can be considered only after a thorough discussion of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The synoptic problem arises from the attempt to explain the general similarity of Matthew, Mark and Luke, while accounting for their individual differences two of the four gospel writers Mark and Luke were not eyewitnesses of the events they relate and some questions remain about the other two (see Matthew Gospel of, John Gospel of) this means we cannot assume that the similarities and differences among the gospels comes solely from their personal perspective as interpreters of Jesus and his ministry. Other sources also probably contributed to the compositions of the four gospels.

11/09/2013

SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

The importance of Gospels in the life of a Christian is remarkable they provide us with the primary sources of information. The second Vatican Council recognizes the gospels in its dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum (art18) when it says among all scriptures even those of the New Testament the gospels have a special pre-eminence, because they are the principle witness of life and teaching of the incarnate word our savior the English word Gospel is the translation of the Greek word euangelion (n) which literally means “good news” or “good tidings.” The term “synoptic” is an adjective formed from the noun “synopsis”
Synopsis is derived from the compound Greek word syn(= together)+opsis (= seeing ,vision , view) hence “seeing together” or “common perspective. This was found by scholars in the 18th century “the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke gives a common view of the gospel story, but priority was given to the gospel of Mark (Marken Priority)it was the earliest manuscript, the content of which is Jesus himself. They are called synoptic because they share a common view of Jesus, as opposed to the quite different view of in John’s gospel.
Matthew and Luke also have some materials in common which was found by Qulle a Scholar. And it is believed that Matthew and Luke could have probably copied from Mark some materials along with theirs, Mark + Matt + Luke + Q = Matthew and Luke Gospels.
1. However Qulle the Q Problem remains a theory and a theory only.
2. However one must never fear to question when necessary but not to the extent of losing the value of the Word of God.
3. However the principles do not change.- [2Pt.2:21]

The synoptic Gospels differ substantially at many levels from the Gospel of John. The first three evangelists interpret the mystery of Christ more or less in the same way, whereas John interprets the mystery of Christ in quite a different way. The differences between the synoptic and John could be seen with regard to the place of Jesus public ministry, the duration of Jesus ministry, the narration of incidents and the theological emphases.
The place of Jesus Ministry according to the synoptic gospels, Jesus spent the major part of his public ministry in Galilee, making Capernaum as the centre of his activities. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus spent his major part of his public ministry in Judea making Jerusalem as its centre of his activities.
The duration of Jesus ministry it is from [Lk.3:23] that we know that Jesus begins his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. Since the synoptic mention only one visit to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover feast [Matt.26:2, Mk.14:1, Lk.22:1], this gives the impression that Jesus public ministry may have lasted less than one year. But according to John Jesus made four journeys to Jerusalem [Jn.2:13, 5:1, 7:10-14, 12:12] since John mentions at least three Passover feasts [Jn.2:13, 6:4, 11:15 and 12:1]. One could conclude that Jesus public ministry lasted about three years.

Differences in narration of incidents. There are striking differences in the narration of incidents between the synoptic and John
1. Jesus cleansing of the temple takes place earlier in the beginning of Jesus public ministry. [Jn.2:13-22] whereas a few days before Jesus death in the synoptics. [Mk.11:15-19]
2. John appears to have changed the position of the cleansing of the temple for theological rather than chronological reasons. Probably to make the Lazarus episode the cause of Jesus death.
3. According to the synoptics the main theme of Jesus preaching is the Kingdom of God. [Mk.1:15, Matt.4:17-23, Lk.4:43, 8:1] Whereas the main theme of Jesus preaching in John is “eternal life”. [Jn.1:4, 5:21, 24, 6:53, 10:10, 14:6, 20:1]
4. John presents High Christology in his writing. His extraordinary depth and profundity in the ministry of Christ is seen. He begins his gospel with the pre-existent Word of God. It is primarily the evangelist’s own grasp of truth of the Christian claims about Jesus that we see reflected in his gospel.
5. The teaching of the pre- Easter Jesus
6. In John what we find is Christology from above or descending Christology. Whereas in the synoptics a Christology from below or an ascending Christology
7. According to the opinion of modern scholars it is the synoptic gospels that are closer to the historical Jesus – A human being like us in all things except sin.

The Three stages of Gospel formation.
The public ministry or activity of Jesus of Nazareth (the first third of the 1 st century 1 to 33 AD). During this period Jesus did many things, orally proclaimed his message, and interacted with others. He chose companions who travelled with him and saw and heard what he said and did. Their memories of his words and deeds supplied the raw, “Jesus material.” These memories were already selective. These were memories of what was said and done by a Jew who lived in Galilee and Jerusalem in the 20s.
The (Apostolic) preaching about Jesus (the second third of the 1 st century 33 to 66 AD). Those who had seen and heard Jesus had their following of him confirmed to post-resurrection appearances; and they came to full faith in the risen Jesus as the one through whom God had manifested ultimate salvation to Israel. And eventually the whole world. A faith they vocalized through confessional titles Messiah, Christ, Lord, Savior, Son of God etc. that post resurrection faith illumined the memories of what they had seen and heard during the pre resurrection period; and so they proclaimed his words and deeds with enriched significance. We speak of these preachers as “apostolic” because they understood themselves as sent forth by the risen Jesus, and their preaching is often described as kerugmatik proclamation intended to bring others to faith. Eventually the circle of missionary preachers was enlarged beyond the original companions of Jesus and the faith experiences of newcomers like Paul enriched and proclaimed. Another factor operative in this stage of development was the necessary adaptation of the preaching to new audience. If Jesus was a Galilean Jew of the first third of the 1 st century who spoke Aramaic by mid- century his gospel was being preached in the Diasporas to urban Jews and Gentiles in Greek, a language that he did not normally speak. This change of language involved translation in the broadest sense of that term that is a vocabulary and patterns that would make the message intelligible and alive for new audiences.
The Written Gospels (the last third of the 1st century approximately) While Mark, the first evangelist was writing the gospel some written materials were available. During the oral period the narratives and sayings circulated mainly as single and self- contained detached units each complete in it. The passion narrative circulated as one single unit. Mark joined them together on a non chronological basis.

The BIBLE (The Good news) is a document written by believers to believers and for believers they are interpretations of the life of Jesus Christ. The New Testament was written in Greek Apostolic Preaching – Oral Period. The census was taken at the birth of Jesus. The death of Herod the Great occurred in 04 BC. Death of Jesus occurred at around 30AD.
30 to 68 AD. The incidents in the life of Jesus was orally communicated, there was a 30 years gap before writing the Gospel. Some of reasons for the delay are
• Imminent expectation of dolorosa.
• AD 35 – Materials such as some of the miracles, Parables, and sayings of Jesus and Passion of Christ was already available
• Presence of the eye witnesses
• Considered oral transition superior to written transition
• Illiteracy
• AD 66 – Jerusalem war began
• AD 70 – Jerusalem was destroyed

MARK is the Author known as John Mark Cousin of Barnabas also known as Marcus in Latin, companion of Paul, disciple of Peter – is the first written Gospel, Written during the rule of Nero around the period 55 - 68 AD to the persecuted Christians in Rome the source being Peter.
• The message of Mark to his audience is “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many”[Mk.10:45] service and sacrifice is seen all through his writings,
• [Mk.14:51] records of a young man who followed Jesus. Here Notice the word young man, The Lord’s supper [14:14] speaks of a large upper room furnished. Which could have been the house of Mark? The same place the believers were praying [Act.12:12-14], here is mother Mary mentioned describes that she was a widow and they were probably very wealthy.

• Notice they were able to afford a servant (Rhoda). It is assumed that John Mark during the Lord’s Supper expected Jesus to stay there overnight and learning of Jesus going to the Garden of Gethsemane he could have hurriedly worn only the linen and left his robe behind. Notice the Linen which was a very costly garment and only the wealthy could afford it and he rejected the fine Linen cloth and left.
• [Lk.22:9-13] speaks of John Marks house as only he was a man so rich was able to afford men slaves to carry water [Lk.19:30-31], also probably was John Mark’s house.
• Mark is best known by his Latin name Marcus, but in the Jewish circle he was called by his Hebrew name John whose surname was Mark. And he wrote to the Hellenistic (Greek) probably his father was a Greek the reason of his wealth. In his Gospel he uses words such as Legion, Centurion, [15:16], Praetorium, [6:27], executioner, [12:42], and penny. Which were more of Latin [Act.2:25] Saul and Barnabas took Mark with them on their journey, [Act.13:5] as assistant [Act.13:13], he departs from them [Act.15:37], Cousin of Barnabas, [2Tim.4:11], Barnabas determined to take John Mark, Split of Paul and Barnabas, [Col.4:10], Helpful for ministry Phlmn.24, fellow laborer [1Pt.5:13], Peter addresses him as son, (even in the Gospel he gives more importance to Peter after Jesus.) the following scriptures reveal that Peter could have confirmed such evidence only to a person of loyalty [Mk.9:5, 14:40, 8:33], The gospel Mark is an elaborate form of [Act.10:34-43], The incident in [Mk.5:21-43], Mark uses 395 words to explain whereas Luke uses 285 words and Matthew uses 138 words this study was done by William Lane.
• Joseph’s name is not mentioned in his book
• The words Son of God mentioned addressed by a pagan centurion
• Mark was reportedly torn to pieces by a mob in Alexandria after he told them that their god, a statue carved from stone, was worthless

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