Three great faiths had their origin in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They are rigidly monotheistic, in that they declare that God is one, that there can be no other object of worship, and that there can be no other basis for the unity of all mankind.
The Jews declare every day, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.’ Read more
There is also much in the Bible other than history and its interpretation. For example:
The mainstream Christian view of God, which has been so muddied and pulled out of shape in our time, came from the Bible. How then does the Bible present God?
The God of the Bible is the self-revealing Creator acting as Redeemer. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments find their unity in this common theme. The Bible’s history books tell how God is carrying through a great plan for the salvation of a vast international community which the New Testament calls the church. Read more
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
‘He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.’ What exactly do these words in the Apostles’ Creed mean?
In Eastern or Roman culture, to sit on the right-hand side of the emperor was the same as sharing his political and military power. This role of co-regent was reserved for the eldest son, and his accession to the throne was celebrated as a national festival. 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
Jesus Christ is the heart of the Christian faith. What has the Christian church believed about Jesus down the centuries? Who was, who is Jesus Christ? Man, or God, or both? If he is both, how are his manhood and his ‘Godhood’, or divinity, related to each other?
These are questions about the person of Christ - who he is. As a subject of Christian belief it has traditionally been distinguished from the work of Christ-what he did and does for humanity as saviour and Lord. This article traces the development of Christian beliefs about the person of Christ. ‘Christ°logy’ is the name theologians use for this subject. Read more
It must not be forgotten that the traditional doctrine of the incarnation remains the official teaching of most branches of the church. It is embodied not only in the early creeds but also in the great church confessions of the century following the Reformation. At its beginning in 1948 the World Council of Churches declared itself to be ‘a fellowship of churches which accept the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour‘. In 1961 this basis was expanded to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit’. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) clearly assumed the church’s traditional teaching ‘concerning Christ the Word of God made flesh’. Its own statements dealt chiefly with Christ’s historical place in God’s dealings with mankind. Read more
