What did Jesus mean who said, "Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”
by Roland Clarke
Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” thus echoing Jesus words, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me...will save it.” Emulating Jesus, Jim Elliot and his four teammates laid down their lives as martyrs so the Waodani people could hear and receive eternal life. Interestingly, the paradox of 'saving/losing' one's earthly life has wider application. As Solomon wrote, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Jesus also said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” A modern Kurdish proverb echoes this paradox, “What you give away you keep,” as well as Arabic proverbial wisdom, “If you do charity your house will always be rich.” So what is the outcome of living this way? Cherokee (& Persian) sages came up with an interesting proverb, “When you were born you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” (cf. Book of Ecclesiastes 7:1-5)
Jonah's Story Was A Central Motif in Jesus's Preaching
“[L]et us consider which is harder, for a man after having been buried to rise again from the earth, or for a man in the belly of a whale…to escape corruption.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
Catechetical Lecture 14.18 [1]
Jonah Ίωνας
The Jewish Tanakh, or the Hebrew scriptures of the revelation library that is the Old Testament of the Bible, contains the full writings of all the writing prophets. This includes the entire book of Prophet Jonah (4 chapters). Jonah is also importantly referred to in the New Testament by Jesus himself, as recorded seven times in two of the four gospels: three times in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 12, once in verse 16:4, and three times in the Gospel of Luke chapter 11. In both gospels Jesus is asserting that he himself is greater than both Jonah and Solomon, and that is all the more reason why his audiences should repent. So much so that if they did not, then both the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites will rise up at the time of the final divine judgment to condemn them. Very strong words. But where did Jesus get off claiming to be greater than both prophet Jonah and King Solomon? Where indeed? Clearly Jesus believed he was the greatest of the prophets, and more than a prophet, the one-and-only Messiah, and rightful King of Israel (even though he never sought political power). If he was not then it
God's Revelation of Himself In Jesus to the Apostle Matthew
Until recently Zenon Sommers was a student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who has since graduated and is spending 9 months in Austria as a teaching assistant with the Fulbright program.
The comparison of the Bible's four gospels is a field of study that will never run dry. While all four follow a somewhat similar structure, each gospel narrative features a surprisingly similar but somewhat different portrait of Jesus from the other three. Matthew's is the first one of the four in order of placement preceding Mark, Luke, then John. As an immediate disciple of Jesus and an Apostle, and having spent three years with him, Matthew wrote primarily what he personally saw and heard from Jesus, or God incarnate. In this gospel we see a picture of Jesus as a prophesied king ushering in the messianic kingdom, or reign, of God coming to earth. This eye-witness perspective shapes every aspect of the gospel, culminating in Jesus’s trial and crucifixion for the crime of blasphemy.
by Adam Simnowitz
Christian Monotheism: the Biblical Witness to the Trinity
التوحيد المسيحي: دلائل من الكتاب المقدّس لعقيدة الثالوث
by Adam Simnowitz for Hemlock Park, 9-6-22
I. Introduction
II. Definition
III. Trinity (as a term)
IV. The Witness of the Bible Summarized
A Solution to the So-Called Euthyphro Dilemma
by John Shaheen—
*John wrote this as a pre-med senior at UM-Dearborn (Biology) who graduates this weekend. He has also been the student president of Ratio Christi all four years, as well as a co-founder and Vice President of Faith & Reason in his final year.
Despite having been written over two millennia ago, the Euthyphro Dilemma remains one of the most famous and persistent problems in philosophy of religion. It is still being discussed in published literature today and taught in nearly every intro philosophy course. In its original form, Plato writes of a dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro (Plato et al., 2017). Socrates asks Euthyphro whether moral goodness (piety) was defined by the gods choosing it, or were the gods just cognizant of a standard that existed outside themselves? This question has been reposed over the centuries to apply to a more orthodox, monotheistic conception of God. While many thinkers have merely accepted and defended one of the horns of the dilemma, others have contested that it is a false dilemma and proposed other options. William Alston, Paul Copan, and William Lane Craig are a few names that have defended the coherence of a third option (Alston, 2001, Copan & Meister 2008, Craig & Moreland, 2012.) Furthermore, they defend that an argument for God’s existence can be crafted from the existence of objective moral values and duties. This argument require that their theistic explanation is the best account of morality that is currently available. The Euthyphro Dilemma, if successful, undermines this project. Here I will argue that the Euthyphro dilemma is unsuccessful in this regard, hence the moral argument cannot be criticized from this direction.