We begin then by looking at creation from the differing perspectives of the biblical narrative and some other ancient stories.
This will help to show the distinctiveness and power of the Bible’s account of creation.
Creation in the ancient Near East
The recitation of creation stories in the ancient world bore little resemblance to our detached discussions on creation today. To these ancient peoples it was a matter of worship. Their sagas were not like the telling of fairy tales, but recitations of the annual religious festivals. Recounting these stories had the serious purpose of seeking both to preserve the order of society and to guarantee order and life before the threats of chaotic forces. Read more
Medieval theology was called ’scholasticism’, because it was developed for teaching purposes by professional instructors in monastic schools (scholae) and universities. It flourished between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) was its greatest, most creative and most influential figure. (A pope declared his theology to be eternally valid as recently as 1879!) Read more
People have been trying for thousands of years to prove that God exists. Some of the arguments used can be traced back to Greek philosophy. Over the centuries several types of argument have been put forward:
- The Ontological Argument — from the Greek word on (being) — attempts to prove the being of God by reason alone; first put forward by Anselm (1033-1109). God is defined as something greater than anything else that can be conceived. Such a being must exist, for if he did not, he would not be the greatest conceivable being.
- The argument in its various forms has fascinated philosophers down to the present day. But most philosophers today would regard it as fallacious on the grounds that it is at best a piece of abstract logic. A definition may be logically self- consistent, but does it apply to something that actually exists? Before we can say it does, we need evidence to show that there is something actually corresponding to the definition.
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Before Jesus put to his disciples the question Who do you say I am‘?’ he asked them Who do people say I am?’ and they answered One of the prophets’. That is the natural answer. To the Muslim, Jesus is one of God’s messengers. To the Hindu he is one of the jeevanmuktas, who have realized identity with Brahman in this life. To the average man in Europe or North America, where religion is an optional leisure-time activity, he is ‘one of the founders of world religions’. This is the ‘natural‘ answer, for if there is a variety of alleged revelations the natural thing to do is to assume that the truth lies somewhere between or beyond them all. This is natural, because it leaves me free to shape my idea of God as I like. Read more
Was a common first name for a Jewish man. Nine others of this name are known at the time. It was the Greek version of three common Hebrew names,
Joshua, Jehoshua and Jeshua. This was the name by which Jesus was known in his lifetime, and it occurs nearly 600 “ales in the Gospels. Its meaning was: ‘The Lord (Yahweh) is my help’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’. Later New Testament writers use the name rarely; only the writer to the Hebrews uses it much. It stresses Jesus‘ humanity, as the carpenter of Nazareth. Read more
