Believers In Christ Research Articles

The Apocalypse of Peter as the Origin of the Christian Hell. Sense and Purpose of the Afterlife Punishment in Fire

Abstract Since the announcement of the punishment in the Apocalypse of John, the sentence of the godless in the lake of fire has occupied a central role in early Christian apocalypses. The punishment for the wicked in the lake of fire has acted as a deterrent and paints a terrible portrait that awaits the evil and the unbelievers. During the development of the eschatological motif, apostates and unfaithful Christians have also been included in the fiery punishments. What is the function and purpose of the early Christian apocalypses? This question will be examined in the second-century Apocalypse of Peter. As a result, this paper argues that the Apocalypse of Peter is a work intended to convey comfort to the believers in Christ who were threatened and suffered persecution.

Chiesa d’Oriente e Chiesa d’Occidente

Christian unity has always been a desire and a challenge in the history of Christianity. The schism of 1054 is thus a symbolic moment of constant challenge. The present text seeks to make a journey along the path of ecumenical dialogue, especially between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Churches, trying to understand the reasons for separation and, at the same time, the effort to find a way of dialogue. The basis of the research are the documents developed by the Catholic Church, and those prepared in collaboration with other Churches. He also wishes to reflect on the traditions of the Christian East, with the aim of promoting the ecumenical journey of believers in Christ towards full communion and unity. It highlights the role of the Second Vatican Council and its consequences for ecumenical dialogue, highlighting the relationship with the Eastern Churches, especially after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. It also underlines the magisterial role of Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, who continued ecumenical dialogue in the commitment to make the Church breathe with both lungs. On this journey we have moved from the dialogue of charity to the dialogue of truth. The steps taken in recent years are described with the documents resulting from the dialogue: Monaco (1982), Bari (1987), Valamo (1988), Balamand (1993), Ravenna (2007), Chieti (2016) and Alessandria (2023).

Plato’s Shadow: The Encroaching Doctrine of the Soul’s Immortality in the Early Church

The influence of Plato’s concept of the soul as innately immortal and indestructible had a profoundly unbiblical influence upon many of the early church fathers’ views regarding human nature, the final judgment of the wicked, and God’s gift of immortality to believers. I will argue my thesis by initially defining the nature of the soul according to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, with an emphasis on its mortality. I will primarily utilize Scripture itself, although secondary sources—such as commentaries on the Hebrew and Greek versions—are essential due to interpretational differences. This will help to demonstrate how the Biblical view differs significantly from the Platonic view. Likewise, I will explore the Platonic view of the nature of the soul through the use of various primary and secondary sources. Additionally, I will use the writings of many early church fathers to highlight various instances in which the early church adopted the Platonic view of the soul and applied it to areas of their theology. Lastly, I will use both primary and secondary sources to make the case that the adoption of Platonic doctrine on the immortal soul has had an ‘unbiblical’ influence on how many Christians have viewed human nature, which alters the views of the final judgment of the wicked as well as the concept of God’s gift of immortality to believers in Christ. Ultimately, I will argue that this issue is important because it affects how we see the character of God and is, therefore, related to how we worship him.

The Relation between Justification and Identity as Key to Evaluate the Radical New Perspective on Pauls

According to prevalent approaches to the Pauline corpus, the concepts of justification and salvation are often interpreted as constituting a believer’s legal and salvific status before God in distinction from such a person’s ethnic identity. In the so-called Radical New Perspective on Paul, Judaean believers in Christ are envisioned to keep their nomistic identity in distinction from gentile believers, which is then differentiated from their legal and salvific status before God. In this contribution, the relation between justification and identity is defined more closely in order to evaluate the tendency to distinguish between justification/salvation and identity. This is done especially by analysing texts in the Pauline corpus in which the concepts of justification, salvation and identity overlap. Keywords: Justification, Identity, Ethnicity, Pauline Theology, Radical New Perspective on Paul, Paul within Judaism

Barriers for Believers in Christ from Muslim Backgrounds: A Case from North America

Despite increasing numbers of converts from Islam, there are still difficulties for Believers in Christ from Muslim Backgrounds (BMBs) to become part of their local churches. Their understanding and expectation of churches are often vastly different from the reality on the ground. In addition, they also often have diverse practical issues that prevent a smooth integration within their adoptive Christian communities. This article reflects on the perspectives of BMBs related to their difficulties and barriers to fully embracing their new faith or belonging in local churches in North America. It also outlines the normative shape of faith communities in Islam and Christianity and suggests how local churches may better serve converts by encouraging closer belonging and informed discipleship.

Review: Shaker Fever: America’s Twentieth-Century Fascination with a Communitarian Sect, by William D. Moore

Review: <i>Shaker Fever: America’s Twentieth-Century Fascination with a Communitarian Sect</i>, by William D. Moore

Kryteria przynależności do wspólnoty wierzących w I–II wieku

The Christian Church in the 1st and 2nd century was already conscious of being a commu- nity of believers. The criteria of membership developed gradually and frequently only inciden- tally. Consequently it is still too early to say of a developed problem orthodoxy/orthopraxis or heterodoxy/heteropraxis. The basic 2nd century criteria of being a member of Christian Church in and out were as follows: belief in Jesus Christ corroborated by baptism, a sincere will of belonging to the Church of true believers in Christ, and a duty to live in agreement with the high moral standards. If a Christian man or woman broke the principles observed by the commu- nity, he/she was successively removed from the Church society of the faithful, and had to re- main out of the Church until he/she again converted to the true faith. The similarities between the Christian excommunication and Jewish herem are clearly visible. A heterodoxy was re- garded as sinful (a lack of unity with the church) and consequently must have been a painful experience of isolation from one another on both sides, orthodox and heterodox.

(Um)welt-Ethos. Creation, ecology and environment in ecumenical perspective

Christianity is sometimes considered as guilty of the ecological miscare throughout history. The words ‘economy’, ‘ecology’ and ‘ecumenism’ come from the same word (oikos – house) and remain very close in their respective developments. But Welt-ethos must be preceded by a Welt-logos and by an Um-welt-logos, that means that Nature has her own voice in our relationship with the Planet. This is a counter-intuitive principle in the history of Christianity, whose position has been sometimes ambiguous. An historical approach can help us to understand better these abstract ideas as incarnated in the present moment. This ecumenical and ecological spirituality is lived not only by monks and friars, but also by all believers in Christ, and the theology of creation is an ecumenical meeting-point between all Christians. In this study we will follow here a biblical, historical, ecumenical and comparative methodology, for understanding how was lived this issue in the Christianity, and how must be lived in the future.

Kelompok Kecil: Strategi Efektif Bagi Pembinaan Warga Gereja

The small group method is very effective as a means of growing faith that leads to maturity of believers in Christ to become more like Christ. Many parachurch ministries and major churches have done it and have proven to be very effective. However, recently, many churches in urban areas have not given sufficient attention and have not considered small group discipleship as an effective strategy in cultivating church members. Even though Jesus has passed down discipleship through small groups which is very effective for Christianity to this day so that the church has a coaching pattern for every believer to grow his faith towards maturity, namely towards becoming more like Christ. For this reason, this research was carried out using library research methods from various book texts and research journals on small group discipleship. The results of this study indicate that believers and churches must make small group discipleship a strategy in faith education because it has been proven effective since the time of Jesus.

The Relation Between The Book Of Life With Believers Verse Unbelievers

The first states that the believer's relationship in the book of life is permanently recorded. Jesus emphasized / explained on the status of believers who have been registered in the Book of Life (Luke 10:10, Hebrews 12:23). The Apostle Paul also said that partners in constant and permanent ministry are listed in the Book of Life (Phil. 4:3). The names of erasures from the Book of Life never apply to believers in Christ because believers are secure in Him, kept by the power of God (1 Pet. 1:5) and are safe in the hands of the Father and the Son (John 10:28-30). Second, how do unbelievers relate to our lives? In the book of Psalm 69, is a messianic psalm that describes the suffering of Christ caused by his enemies. Who are the enemies of Christ? Those who reject Him. What David said in Psalm 69:28, about the unbelievers, David said "May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and may they not be recorded as righteous." Why? Because their actions show not only unbelief, but a hard heart condition that prevents repentance from having faith and coming to the Messiah. The methodology used in writing this article is to study the original language words, text analysis, and interpretation to get the meaning as desired by the author. By means of theological interpretation, translation and analysis of the study of native language words. The Book of Life, especially in Daniel 12:1, has the purpose of protecting those listed in the Book of Life when tribulation comes. The Book of Life implicitly benefits those listed by providing protection to escape this great tribulation. However, for those who are not recorded in us life will suffer various punishments from God. Therefore, the names recorded in the Book of Life must be understood from, namely to protect entry into the Millennium Kingdom and enjoy all the blessings there.

“I Have Come Not to Abolish but to Fulfil”: Reflections on Understanding Christianity as Fulfilment without Presupposing Supersessionism

This article explores the interrelationship between the two major issues that the theologians of earliest Christianity were pondering, i.e., how to explain the suspension of the eschaton, and how to understand the relation between Christ believers and the people of Israel. Whereas within a couple of decades a number of answers were already given to the former question in order to appease the questioners and marginalize the topic, the answer to the latter question has been not only formative for all Christian thinking for two millennia, but also utterly destructive for Jewish–Christian relations throughout the ages. This article recognizes that after two thousand years of supersessionism, it takes a lot of work to articulate a Christian theology which is fulfilment without supersessionism—but not as much work as the first generations of Christ believers had to devote to de-eschatologizing their message in order to be able to hand it over to future generations of Christians. They prevailed the challenge of their time—will we?

Ioudaismos and ioudaizōin Paul and the Galatian Controversy: An Examination of Supposed Positions

The use of ἰουδαϊσμός in the literature of the Second Temple period until Paul’s time suggests a more specific meaning than Judaism in general and points to a perception of it under siege and in need of defence. Additionally, the verb ἰουδαΐζω describes the inclinations of non-Jews to the Jewish way of life. Both terms reflect two different ideas of Israel: one segregated from all other peoples, the other porous and more flexible. These ideas were at odds by the end of the Second Temple period and held by the groups of believers in Christ. Read in the foil of that conflict, the controversies that Paul faces in the letter to the Galatians show the continuity and discontinuity of his life after the revelation of the Son, and explain why he considered himself a faithful Judean but no longer ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ.

PERAN PENDIDIKAN AGAMA KRISTEN DALAM KELUARGA TERHADAP PEMBENTUKAN KARAKTER REMAJA DI ERA 4.0

Abstract Adolescence is a period of life transition from childhood to adulthood where many changes and developments occur in adolescents themselves. Adolescence is also a period that is very vulnerable to wrong behavior due to negative influences from outside the family. The problems that are happening to adolescents in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 such as promiscuity, free sex, addiction to technology, use of illegal drugs, and so on can erode the character of Christian youth. This discussion uses a qualitative descriptive method aimed at describing the role of Christian Religious Education in the family to shape the character of Christian adolescents in the face of the 4.0 era so that they do not experience deterioration of character and without losing their identity as believers in Christ. The results obtained show that the role of Christian Religious Education in the family is very important as an effort to shape the character of adolescents facing the 4.0 revolution era, namely the family acts as an educator, the family as a counselor, the family as a center of worship and the family as a counselor.

Jesus in the Heart of the Earth: Deciphering the Jonah Saying (Matthew 12:39–41)

The unique comparison between Jonah and the Son of Man in the First Gospel has been notoriously difficult for several reasons. First, “three days and three nights” cannot be fitted into the interval of Jesus’s burial in the tomb from Friday evening to Sunday morning; second, the resurrection of Jesus, which is understood by some as “the sign of Jonah,” was not witnessed by “an evil and adulterous generation,” but only by believers in Christ; third, an above sea-level tomb like the one that contained Jesus hardly qualifies as “the heart of the earth” as commonly understood; and fourth, interpreting “the heart of the earth” literally as Sheol still does not resolve the chronological problem. However, the enigma of the Jonah saying unravels with a shift in perspective. This article will recognize that shift and propose a new understanding of this passage.

Liturgia szczytem i źródłem modlitwy uczniów Chrystusa w Kościele starożytnym

The main theme of the article is the relationship that should exist between the liturgy and the private devotion of Christians. The Second Vatican Council defined the liturgy as the summit to which everything that the Church lives every day should lead and as the source that constantly nourishes her life and activity. Through a skilful return to the sources, the Council deduced this teaching from the rich Tradition of the Church – set on the rock that is Jesus and then, starting from Christian antiquity, laboriously consolidated and grounded by generations of believers in Christ. Although this process of consolidation and grounding of the Church’s Tradition has persisted without interruption until our present day, the article focuses our attention solely on the earliest stage, that is on Christian antiquity or, in other words, the history of the Apostolic Church (i.e. the period roughly coinciding with the first century), when the content of this Tradition was still being constituted, and on the earliest stage of the history of the post-Apostolic Church (i.e. the period from the second century to the beginning of the fifth century), when the content of the Apostolic Tradition began to be preserved by the Church (as it still is today).

God's Saved Israel: Reading Romans 11:26 and Galatians 6:16 in Terms of the New Identity in Christ and the Spirit by P. La G. Du Toit

Reviewed by: God's Saved Israel: Reading Romans 11:26 and Galatians 6:16 in Terms of the New Identity in Christ and the Spirit by P. La G. Du Toit Annelie van der Bank Du Toit, P. La G. 2019. God's Saved Israel: Reading Romans 11:26 and Galatians 6:16 in Terms of the New Identity in Christ and the Spirit. Eugene: Pickwick. ISBN: 978-53265361. Pp. 422. Paperback. $48. God's Saved Israel, by Philip la G. du Toit, is a comprehensive monograph, based partially on his Ph.D. research (2012–2013). It deals with the provocative issue in the apostle Paul's theology of his understanding of Israel's salvation found in passages such as Rom 11:25–27 and Gal 6:16. Du Toit's main aim, clearly stated in the introduction, is to "determine the respective referents of 'all Israel' who 'will be saved' (Rom 11:26) and 'the Israel of God' whom Paul blesses (Gal 6:16)" (4). The book, consisting of a little over four hundred pages divided into seven chapters, consists of a comprehensive and detailed unpacking of the theme. The key passages that are discussed are Rom 9–11 and Gal 6:7–16 in which especially Rom 11 and Gal 6:11–16 are seen as key texts to unravel the meaning of the "salvation of 'all Israel'" (Rom 11:26) and "the Israel of God" who is blessed (Gal 6:16). In this sense the book fits in well within Du Toit's field of interest in Pauline studies, and especially focuses on the way in which the apostle Paul understood Israel. Chapter one introduces the topic of the book, establishes the boundaries of the project and provides a comprehensive explanation of several terms and concepts, including the methodology of the study (theological-exegetical). In addition, Du Toit emphasises the problems set out in the study with reference to the fluidity of the meaning attached to identity. He differentiates between three modes of identity, which he labels: "A. Israel according to the flesh. B. Israel as children of the promise and as partakers of election. C. Believers in Christ as partakers of the new creation and the Spirit" (27). These three modes of identity are [End Page 198] used throughout the book, which means that the reader needs to keep track of which modes of identity are meant. In chapter two, in which the focus is concerned with the differentiation between Israel as nation and spiritual Israel, Du Toit first turns his gaze outwards, which provides a good contextual basis for understanding the issue at hand in Paul. Du Toit argues that in writings other than those of Paul, there is a definite distinction between the concepts Israel, Israelites and Judaeans. Insiders considered themselves as "Israel/Israelites" whereas outsiders viewed them as "Judaeans." The notion of "Judaeans" also had a more ethnic connotation, whereas "Israel/Israelites" rather portrayed a religious sense. Until the time of Justin, early Christians did not think of themselves in terms of "Israel/Israelites." Paul seems to have applied an insider-outsider distinction, which meant that spiritual Israel represented an insider-group within the demarcation of Israel of the flesh, or ethnic/national Israel. Old Testament salvation was dependent on perfect obedience to the whole law, but because all have sinned and all are unable to conform to the requirements of the whole law, everyone is in need of salvation through faith in Christ. This is why Paul implied that historical Israel was not able to conform to the whole law, and why he distinguished between Israel of the flesh (Judaeans) and spiritual Israel. In chapter three, the author unpacks identity mode C (believers in Christ as partakers of the new creation and the Spirit) and argues that Paul reformulated the meaning of Abrahamic kinship from being physical and/or ethnic to that of the spiritual, thereby making covenant membership based on law, circumcision and other external identity markers invalid. Consequently, "[f]aith in Christ is the marker of identity in Christ, which is apart from the law and opposed to the law, including works and circumcision" (117). The fundamental basis for this...

‘Instruments of Justice:’ Biblical Contributions to a Public Theology of Engagement in Eastern European Context

Abstract The context of Eastern Europe, where faith was hidden and restricted to the private life of believers for so many decades, requires a rediscovery of the public dimension of faith. This article explores the issue of justice in Paul’s letter to the Romans and shows how this could represent an important resource for thinking afresh about justice in the context of Eastern Europe. There is also an important and necessary discussion on the righteousness, justification, justice, terminology in Paul. Paul has a particular understanding of justice as an integral part of the gospel, and that the believers in Christ are empowered to act as ‘instruments of justice.’

Dekalog drogą do wolności narodu - IV Pielgrzymka Jana Pawła II do Ojczyzny

Artykul przedstawia glowne myśli nauczania Jana Pawla II, oparte na dekalogu, wygloszone podczas swojej czwartej pielgrzymki do Polski. Ukazuje glowne przeslanie dziesieciu przykazan danych przez Boga, najpierw Narodowi Wybranemu, a potem wszystkim wierzącym w Chrystusa wszystkich czasow. Narod polski, ktory wkracza w nową rzeczywistośc spoleczną i ekonomiczną, jest nauczany przez polskiego papieza o potrzebie zachowania postawy ucznia Chrystusa przez przyjecie nauczania, ktore On glosil. Wreszcie artykul przedstawia Dekalog jako najlepszą droge dla Polakow do uzyskania pelnej wolności. Obecne problemy moralne mozna juz znaleźc w nauczaniu Jana Pawla II.

Хлысты и русалки

Starting with the views of V.V Rozanov, the article studies the correlation of Slavic “Rusalii” (Green Week) eschatological rites and the intra-Church mystic sects traditionally called “Whips” (Khlysty or Christ believers) and “Skopsy”. The author comes out with the suggestion that those two phenomena were genetically connected. The author analyses the issue of the emotional experience of the communion unity using ritual eschatological dances and motions. Intra-Church mystic groups are closely connected with the history of Russian and Slavic folk spiritual culture.

Anthropology and New Testament Theology

Anthropology and New Testament Theology