Why Did The Son of God Submit Himself To Baptism?

Francesco Albani's The Baptism of Christ

The baptism of Jesus has been difficult to interpret. Why did the Son of God submitted Himself to be baptized? Even John himself asked a similar question (Mt 3:14)

The three possible reasons why Jesus wanted to be baptized:

• His identification with the penitent people of God, the community of the Kingdom of God that John founded. Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. (Matthew 3:15 NIV)

• His readiness to break out from the silence of his past thirty years, and to usher in His messianic task

• His demonstration of His wholehearted commitment and devotion to His Father’s work. "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." (Mark 10:38-40 NIV)

Three unusual events that occurred at Jesus’ baptism:

1. Heaven being “torn open” (Mark 1:10)

Whether this event of heaven being torn apart is a physical event or indicating a theological reality or both, is unclear. The bottom line is, this indicates that Jesus possessed a direct access to God. Mark uses a similar term in Mark 15:38, “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mark 15:38 NIV)

2. The Spirit “descending like a dove” (Mark 1:11)

Again, this does not necessarily mean that an actual dove was physically present. The significance of this is that, in Mark 1:8, John the Baptist says that “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Before the Son of God would bestow the Spirit on His followers, He must Himself be anointed by the Spirit. Jesus’ awareness of the Spirit’s anointing is also evident from the first sermon he preached in Nazareth where, opening the scroll of Isaiah 61:1-2, he said that "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21 NIV) (Stein, Robert H. "Chapter 6." Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996. Print.)

3. A voice from heaven was heard (Mark 1:11)

This does not mean that at that moment, God the Father adopted Jesus as His Son. In John’s gospel, for example, it is clear that Jesus is the Son of God even before His incarnation (John 1:1-4 predtes 1:14).

In other words, as Stein said, He (Jesus) is not “promoted” at his baptism. Rather, the voice is an affirmation of who Jesus was and a commendation that God was pleased with the silent years. (Stein, Robert H. "Chapter 6." Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996. Print.)

Three Critical Views Regarding the Virginal Conception

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Three Critical Views Regarding the Virginal Conception

1. Wasn’t the Virgin Birth Story Derived From Pagan Myths?

According to this view, the accounts of Matthew and Luke arose among Greek Christians who were acquainted with the many myths in paganism that have to do with virgin births of various Greek gods and superheroes. For examples, the birth of Perseus was conceived when the god Zeus, appeared in the form of shower of gold, had sex with his mother, Danaë.

Nevertheless, a careful comparison of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ birth with the many miraculous birth stories would reveal that almost all the pagan accounts involve a sexual encounter between a god and a human woman because the god’s lust. In any of these cases, the woman had no possible claim to be a virgin, and if she was a virgin before the encounter, she certainly was not after the encounter.

This is in stark contrast from the asexual nature of Mary’s experience in the gospel account. There is no hint of God’s lust for Mary in any way parallels to that of Apollo for the mother of Octavius[1].

2. Wasn’t the Virgin Birth Story As A Result of Misinterpretation of Isaiah 7:14?

Perhaps the account of the virgin birth was the result of misinterpretation of the passage in Isaiah:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, NIV)

Since this is a prophecy concerning a future virgin birth, it is claimed that church “created” the virgin birth in order for the prophecy fulfillment to take place.

However, it has to be acknowledged if we take into consideration the original context of Isaiah’s prophecy, it may not be exclusively about the virginal birth of Jesus. Rather, it referred to the birth of Hezekiah, the son and successor of King Ahaz.

This is because the Hebrew word where we get the word “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 (NIV) is the word “`almah”. This feminine noun means a young woman, which may or may not be a virgin.

Thus, as Stein said (in Jesus The Messiah: A Survey Of The Life of Christ, IVP Academic Press, p66):

“…whereas the interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 as referring to the virgin birth is understandable in the Christian church due to an already established tradition of the virgin birth, the reverse is not at all likely….It was the story of that gave rise to the messianic interpretation of this passage (of Isaiah 7:14), not the reverse.”

In other words, it is most probable that Isaiah’s prophecy in 7:14 has dual fulfillment, initially in Isaiah’s day, and ultimately, at the birth of Jesus.

3. Wasn’t the Virgin Birth Story Derived From Jewish Thoughts?

Closely linked to the above point of contention, according to some Jewish sources, the Greek word for virgin is the word “parthenos”. Jesus, it was argued, was not born of a virgin but was the illegitimate offspring of Mary and a soldier named Panthera. Thus Jesus was not conceived supernaturally to a virgin (parthenos). This whole myth of virgin birth was to cover up Jesus’ illegitimacy resulting from Mary’s adultery with Panthera. This is clearly a parody with the switch of the ‘r’ and the ‘n’. There was no such evidence to support such theory.

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[1] See Probe Ministries Article: Was Jesus Really Born of a Virgin? By Michael Gleghorn in Leadership University website. URL: http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/virgin.html

Four Events Surrounding the Birth of Jesus

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Four events surrounding the birth of Jesus which probably have been contemporarily misconstrued due to the popular versions portrayed through mass media:

The innkeeper that had no room for Jesus (Luke 2:7)

Traditionally the innkeeper has often been the labeled as “heartless” for turning away the holy couple as there was no more room in his inn (and this is often taken out of context to remind Christians to keep the central focus central - a good Christmas message as an antidote to the frenzied Christmas shopping!).

However, the Greek word from which most English translations (including ESV, NASB, KJV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT) render as “inn” in Luke 2:7 is the word “katalyma.” Although “inn” is one of the meanings of “katalyma”, this Greek word can simply means a lodging place, a guest chamber or even a dining room.

The argument is, if Luke, being a careful, methodical historian, were to mean “inn” in Luke 2:7, why did he use another word (“pandocheion”) in Luke 10:34 in the account of the Good Samaritan taking care of the wounded Jewish man? Unlike “katalyma”, “pandocheion” specifically means a public house for the reception of strangers. In other words, the “inn” that Joseph and Mary came to could possibly be simply a neighborhood house with an extra or two rooms to spare and the innkeeper could possibly be no innkeeper at all as it were, in a commercial sense.

Furthermore, given the fact that Joseph and Mary were returning to Bethlehem, the city of Joseph’s family origin, certainly Joseph had family or relatives there. Hence, the lodging place in which they were unable to stay could even be the home of a relative.

Thirdly, given the economic difficulty[1] that Joseph and Mary were in, it is likely that they could not afford a commercial lodging place at that time.

The third point has to do with the Greek word “topos” in Luke 2:7. This word is usually translated as “room” in many English translations (including KJV, NKJV, NLT, NIV, NASB). However, “topos” simply means a place, or space marked off, from the surrounding space. It does not specifically mean “room”.

The Shepherds tending their sheep (Luke 2:8-20)

Tending flocks, together with agriculture, formed the basis of the Palestine economy. However, the dryness of the ground made it necessary for the flocks to move about from places to places, usually during spring. At times, this requires a stay for months at a time in isolated areas, far from the owner's home.

On the other hand, Palestine is very cold in December. Shepherds are usually not in the fields in the winter time. The sheep are penned up. Arguably therefore, December 25th is probably not the date for Jesus' birth. Shepherds are in the early March until early October. Nevertheless no one knows for sure when Jesus was born . The irony is, Luke gave very specific details about the event, even down to what the baby Jesus was wearing (the swaddling clothes) and where he slept (in a manger) (Luke 2:12). These details are important because they speak of His nature and character - meek and lowly. Therefore, if God wants us to know in more specific details regarding the birth of Jesus, in His sovereignty, He could certainly do so through the accurate, inspired writing of Luke.

The second point regarding the shepherds has to do with the shepherds themselves.

To quote Stein:

"We should not romanticize this scene as being a pronouncement to hardworking and respected 'ranchers.' Shepherds were generally considered dishonest. The were unclean according to the law."

The truth is, due to the nature of these shepherds having to leave home to tend the flocks for months in isolated place, many of the sheep owners get hireling shepherds to do this job, especially so, as the shepherd job is also exposed to the dangerous threat of wild beasts and robbers. Unfortunately, many of these hireling shepherds have bad reputation as being dishonest and thieving, stealing some of the increase of the flock as well as the produce such as milk (as opposed to the good shepherd - this contrast is brought about by Jesus in John 10:12-13). Therefore, the shepherds mentioned in Luke 2 may not necessary be the owners themselves, but hireling shepherds.

To quote Stein again (Jesus The Messiah: A Survey Of The Life of Christ, IVP Academic Press, p75):

"Their [the dishonest shepherds] presence at the birth of Jesus was recorded by Luke to show his readers that the good news of the gospel is for the poor, the sinners, for outcasts, for people like these shepherds."

Wise Men from the East (Matt 2:1-12)

Popular folklore places three wise men at the manger alongside the shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth. However, no where in the Bible does it mention three (the number is ambiguous in Matthew 2:1-12). Furthermore, Matthew points out that they found Jesus in a “house” (Matt 2:11), and not in a “stall with a manger” as in Luke 2:7.

Matthew’ reference to the slaughter of the children two years old and below suggests that two years had passed since the birth of Jesus.

The slaughter of the children (Matt 2:16-18)

This massacre is attributed to Herod the Great. Everything that we know about this man tells us that he was precisely the kind of person who would have done such an atrocious act. He was paranoid concerning his rule. He not only built fortresses such as Antonia in Jerusalem, Sebaste, Caesarea, Gaba, Herodium, etc. He killed his uncle Joseph, his mother-in-law (Alexandra), his sons Alexandra and Aristobolus, his favorite wife (Mariamne) and Antipater, the son he had chosen. As he was dying in the fortress of Herodium, he had the leading citizens of his kingdom gathered in the amphitheater of Jericho. Then he ordered that upon his death all these citizens be killed so that his death would be mourned! There was a saying that goes “Better Herod’s swine than his son” because Herod being half-Jewish, refrained from eating pork.

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[1] The fact that Joseph and Mary were poor could be gleaned in Luke 2:24 when they could only afford two pigeons during Mary’s purification. According to the law, after the birth of a child, a woman would have to undergo a purification rite, which involved the sacrificial giving of a lamb and a pigeon or a dove (Leviticus 12:1-8)

The Various Literary Sources Available For Studying the Life of Christ

The various literary sources available for studying Jesus’ life can be divided into the following categories:

1. Christian sources, which can be further divided into
1. Biblical
2. Extra-biblical
2. Non-Christian sources, which can be further divided into
1. Pagan sources
2. Jewish sources

It is evident that we do not learn a great deal about Jesus of Nazareth from sources outside the New Testament.

1. Christian sources

Biblical sources

Although much less is known regarding the life of Christ from Acts to Revelation, the following are some of the facts found scattered throughout from Acts to Revelation:

Attributes	Scripture References
His birth
He was as a descendent of David	Romans 1:3
He was raised as a Jew under the law	Galatians 4:4
He was truly a man (a real incarnation)	1 John 1:1-3, 4:1-3
He was poor	2 Cor 8:9
His character
He was gentle and meek	2 Cor 10:1
He was righteous	1 Pet 3:18, Acts 7:52
He was sinless	2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22
He was humble	Phil 2:6-8
He was tempted	Heb 2:18; 4:15
Events of His life
The Lord’s Supper	1 Cor 11:23-26
The Transfiguration	2 Pet 1:16-18
His Crucifixion
He experienced hostility	Heb 12:3; Rom 15:3
He was betrayed	1 Cor 11:23; Acts 1:15-20
The Jews present at His trial chose Barabbas over Him	Acts 3:14
The Jewish leadership bore responsibility in his crucifixion	1 Thess 2:14-15; Acts 2:23, 36; 7:52
He suffered without resisting	1 Pet 2:21-23
He was crucified	1 Cor 1:23
He rose from the dead	1 Cor 15
He ascended into heaven	Acts 1:9-11; Eph 4:8-10
His teachings	Romans 12:14 (compare with Matthew 5:44)
	Romans 12:17 (compare with Matthew 5:39)
	Romans 13:7 (compare with Mark 12:17)
	Romans 13:8-10 (compare with Mark 12:31)
	Romans 14:10 (compare with Matthew 7:1)

Extra-biblical sources

According to John 21:25, not everything that Jesus said or did is recorded in the four canonical Gospels.

In addition to the Gospel accounts, there are evidences to suggest that oral tradition concerning Jesus were remembered and passed down even after the Gospels were written.

Some of these possible sources of traditions include the apocryphal Gospels – especially the Gospel of Thomas.

These apocryphal gospels lack these three criteria to be included as canonical - apostolicity, consistency, and catholicity[1].

Many of these "lost Gospels" or "Gnostic Gospels" taught that Jesus was God, but not man (a heresy known as Docetism). In fact, the popular Gospel of Thomas likely teaches that Jesus is a divine teacher, but it is quite doubtful whether he is even human. Many of the infancy Gospels, such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas[2], etc., were written to explain how Jesus was basically non-human by having the child Jesus perform amazing miracles.

Many of these gospels were written after the second century and they depended heavily on the gospel accounts.

First, the Gospel of Thomas shows dependence on the first century New Testament writings, even parts of the Gospel of Mark that were edited by Matthew and Luke.

In fact, the early Church fathers who extensively cite portions of the New Testament show no awareness of the Gospel of Thomas in the early second century.

2. Non-Christian sources

These general sources do not reveal much about Jesus save for establishing beyond reasonable doubt the following facts:

Jesus was truly a historical person

Jesus lived in Palestine in the first century of our era

The Jewish leadership was involved in the death of Jesus

Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the governorship of Pontius Pilate

Jesus’ ministry was associated with wonders/sorcery.

(Ref: Stein, Robert H. Chapter 2. Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996)

Pagan sources

Example of pagan sources include:

Pliny the Younger

In a letter addressed to the emperor Trajan concerning the trial of Christians under his jurisdiction, he mentioned regarding the opportunity he allowed for these Christians to abandon their faith by calling upon the pagan gods. From his questioning of Christians Pliny learned that:

“….they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light [Sunday], when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up…..”

In Against Celsus by Origen, Origen defends Christianity against the attacks of Celcus, whereas in The Passing of Peregrinus by Lucian of Samosata, Lucian ridicules Christianity by telling of Peregrinus who feigned conversion in order to reap benefits from naïve and sympathetic Christians. In either case, mention is made of the life of Jesus, but as in the case of Pliny, this information is obtained secondhand from Christians removed by some time from the actual events.

Jewish sources

Josephus for example, wrote many great works – among which are his two most famous works, The History of the Jewish War and the Antiquities of the Jews. In the Antiquities, for example, there are two references to Jesus, and the famous of this is the Testimonium Flavianum (quoted below), although there have been some doubts regarding the authenticity of this passage:

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not cease. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life. For the prophets of God had prophesied these and myriads of other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still up to now, not disappeared.

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[1] Three criteria for canonicity:

Apostolicity - Was a book written by an apostle or associate of an apostle of Jesus? This was the first and main criteria for allowing a book to be in the canon of Scripture. If a book was written by either an apostle or an associate of an apostle (i.e., Mark was an associate of Peter and Luke was an associate of Paul), then the book could be in the canon. An apostle was someone who had seen the resurrected Jesus and who had a close fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor. 9:1). However, if the book was written over a hundred years after the time of Jesus, as is the case with most of the Gnostic Gospels including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, etc., then such books were obviously not written by an apostle and should not be in the canon. The last apostle who lived was the apostle John who died around 100 A.D. Any epistle written after that time was definitely not apostolic.

Consistency - Did the book agree with undoubtedly authentic writings? Another criteria was whether such a book agreed with obviously authentic books of the New Testament. For example, the book of James was questioned because there was some doubt whether it agreed with Paul's writings (i.e., Romans and Galatians). No one seriously questioned whether Paul actually wrote a core number of epistles such as Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians.

Catholicity - Was the book circulated amongst various churches? Another criteria, but less important, was whether a book was circulated amongst various churches. This criteria was known as catholicity or universality.

(Reference: Myths about the Lost Books of the New Testament by Ryan Turner. In: CARM online. Available at: http://carm.org/myths-about-lost-books-of-new-testament. Accessed on 20 December 2010.)

[2] For example, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas describes the life of the child Jesus, with fanciful, and sometimes malevolent, supernatural events, comparable to the trickster nature of the god-child in many a Greek myth. One of the episodes involves Jesus making clay birds, which he then proceeds to bring to life, an act also attributed to Jesus in Qur'an 5:110. In another episode, a child disperses water that Jesus has collected, Jesus then curses him, which causes the child's body to wither into a corpse . Another child dies when Jesus curses him when he apparently accidentally bumps into Jesus. (Infancy Gospel of Thomas 2.1 to 5)

Troeltschian Principles In Studying the Life of Christ?

Resurrection of Christ by Noel Coypel, 1700, using a hovering depiction of Jesus.

The German theologian, Ernst Troeltsch, apply the following three principles in all historical investigations to interpret any piece of document:

1. Principle of Criticism

According to this principle, all historical judgments are and will always remain provisional. And since any conclusion is subject to revision, historical inquiry can never attain absolute certainty but only relative degrees of probability.

If this is true, then, it will be impossible or risky to base one’s eternal hope on any event of the past.

By applying this principle to a document dealing with the resurrection for example, that piece of document could be subjected to a different interpretation depending on the findings of the different forms of criticism – source criticism, redaction criticism and form criticism.

Source criticism is the search for the original sources which lie behind a given biblical text. For example, the Markan priority with the addition of a possible ‘Q’ source in the two-source hypothesis of the synoptic gospel accounts.

Redaction criticism has to do with the editorial content of the author and by observing certain repetitive themes, styles, vocabulary, etc of the author, redaction criticism draws certain distinctive elements of an author/editor's theology. In the case of Matthew’s gospel, for example, Matthew’s prevailing theme is the emphasis on the Messiah-ship of Jesus, and to point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the many messianic prophecies for the Jewish nation.

Form criticism on the other hand, attempts to classify the various units of scripture by their literary pattern and that attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission.

2. Principle of Analogy

The principle of analogy assumes the uniformity of nature – past experiences are similar to our present experience. In other words, historical knowledge is possible because all events are similar in principle. The laws of nature in biblical times were the same as now.

As such, since our present experience is non-miraculous, our interpretation of the past must be non-miraculous as well. With respect to the life of Jesus, this means that his life must be interpreted as having been non-miraculous.

In essence, by applying this Troeltschian principle, one would have to conclude that, whatever that gives rise to the faith of the disciples, it cannot be the miracle of the resurrection. As Stein says in his book, ‘although never stating it quite so bluntly, an investigator of the Matthew’s resurrection account using the historical-critical method is essentially saying, “Let’s investigate what we can learn about the history of this account, but we must of course agree at the start that Jesus did not rise from the dead!” (Stein, Robert H. Chapter 1. Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996).

3. Principle of Correlation

According to this principle, the phenomena of history are inter-related and inter-dependent and no event can be isolated from the sequence of historical cause and effect. Therefore, any historical explanation must always take into consideration the preceding and subsequent events and be interpreted in light of them.

Liberal theologians employ an undogmatic, non-supernatural, historical method of biblical interpretation.

In the words of a liberal theologian, Rudolf Bultmann:

The historical method includes the presupposition that history is a unity in the sense of a closed continuum of effects in which individual events are connected by the succession of cause and effect….This closedness means that the continuum of historical happenings cannot be rent by the interference of supernatural, transcendent powers and that therefore there is no “miracle” in this sense of the world. Such a miracle would be an event whose cause did not lie within history… (Existence and Faith, as quoted in Stein, Robert H. Chapter 1. Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996).

One does not have to assume that the Bible is specially inspired by God, nor does the Bible contain any specifically divine discourse, or that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God. Therefore, in the view of a liberal theologian, the resurrection account would have to be started with a non-miraculous presupposition.

By studying the life of Christ by basing on the Troeltsch’s principles, miraculous happenings would not be possible. And a study of the life of Jesus that excludes the miraculous is destined from the start to produce a Jesus who is an aberration. As it has been said, where one starts one’s investigation will determine the results one obtain.

As Stein said,

In light of the importance of presuppositions about the supernatural on the outcome of one’s work, authors should make clear from the start the position they take on this matter. It is misleading to say that “due to their investigation” authors conclude that Jesus was not born of a virgin, that the miracles are later myths created by the church, that the faith of the early church gave rise to the accounts of the resurrection and not the other way around, and so on. All these conclusions were predetermined before any investigation began. It should come as no surprise that when one starts with the view that miracles cannot happen, the conclusion is that miracles investigated did not happen.” (Stein, Robert H. Chapter 1. Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996).

Book Review: Jesus the Messiah

Title: Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ
Author: Robert H. Stein
Hardcover: 290 pages
Publisher: IVP Academic (October 30, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0830818847
ISBN-13: 978-0830818846

Each of us has our own sets of presupposition. A presupposition is a thing that is tacitly assumed to be true beforehand at the beginning of a line of argument or a course of examination. And according to Stein, “..where one starts one’s investigation determines the results one will obtain… [and] before anyone ever investigates the miraculous accounts associated with Jesus’ life, he or she has predetermined certain outcomes.” (Ref: Stein, Robert H. Chapter 1. Jesus the Messiah: a Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996)

Our presupposition influences our worldview, which in turn, influences the outcomes of any of our investigations. For example, David Hume, the English philosopher, used the following syllogism to eliminate the possibility of miracles:

A miracle is a violation of the “laws of nature.”
The “laws of nature” are inviolable.
Therefore, miracles could not be possible.

In the book, Jesus The Messiah, Stein adopted the orientation of looking at the life of Jesus through the lens of a Christian worldview. He assumes the presence of the supernatural and the possibility of the miraculous. It assumes that the Gospel accounts are reliable and are presumably truthful unless proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be otherwise.

This noetic orientation that the author adopts differs from the historical-critical method of looking at the life of Jesus.

Historical-Critical Method In contrast, the historical-critical method is about reconstructing the historical context of a text and then to determine the author's intended meaning from within those parameters. This method is not only historical but also critical.

The biblical texts are not to be considered as divinely inspired. As a result, according to this method, as with all other texts, the truth claims made by a biblical text are open to refutation. In other words, the biblical texts are to have no a priori standing. Unfortunately, such an approach to studying the life of Jesus is not possible, because the historian will still be influenced by his or her view on the historical possibility of the events surrounding the life of Jesus.

General Organization of the Book This book is divided into two parts. The first part, “Key Issues In Studying the Life of Christ” contains three chapters and it deals with the general approach that the author adopts in writing this book. He exposes the presuppositions that all of us have when we approach this subject of the life of Christ. He touches on the various sources (Christian, non-Christian, Jewish, pagan sources, etc) that are available to us to aid us in this endeavor.

The second part of this book deals with the various aspects of Jesus’ life – almost chronologically: chapter 4 deals with His virginal conception, chapter 5 regarding His boyhood, chapter 6 is about His baptism, chapter 7 on the temptation that He faced, chapter 8 is about the call of His disciples, chapter 9 on His messages, chapter 10 is about the Person of Jesus and His understanding of Himself and His mission, chapter 11 is about the confession of Jesus, chapter 12 is about the transfiguration, chapter 13 the events of Palm Sunday, chapter 14 the cleansing of the temple, chapter 15 is about the Last Supper, chapter 16 is about the events at the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal and arrest, chapter 17 the trial, chapter 18 the crucifixion, chapter 19 is about the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

In summary, although an academic book, I find that this book is written in an easy-to-understand format with much clarity and comprehensive.

Book Review: Then Sings My Soul Special Edition [Deckle Edge] By Robert Morgan

Then Sings My Soul (Special Edition) by Robert Morgan indeed is a delightful collection to own, and I am so grateful to Booksneeze.com to make this book available for review.

It is a collection of 150 hymns for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, general all-time favorites, etc.

Each hymn is presented in a two-page format, the left page is the music score of the hymn, and the right page is a devotional styled story behind the hymn.

The music score is written in an easy to play format, and being someone who enjoys playing piano, this book is really a great compilation to have.

Then Sing My Soul includes some of the hymns that I love the most, for example:

He leadeth me

Be Thou My Vision

And Can It Be That I Should Gain

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

This is My Father's World

'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus

It Is Well With My Soul

Take My Life and Let it Be

Amazing Grace

The Old Rugged Cross

I Surrender All

.....................and the all-time classic children hymn, Jesus Loves Me This I Know.

It also includes the newer 'Because He Lives' by Bill and Gloria Gaither. It is so encouraging to read the story on how the Gaithers wrote 'Because He Lives'. It was during the sixties when racial tensions were on the rise in America that the Gaithers were blessed with another newborn that they were not expecting. They were pretty worried for the future of the new baby that Gloria was carrying. As they prayed, God gave them comforting words. In the words of the Gaithers, they said:

While pondering and praying about these things, we came to realize anew that our courage doesn't come from a stable world, for the world has never been stable. Jesus Himself was born in the cruelest of times. No, we have babies, raise families and risk living because the Resurrection is true!

Furthermore, this special edition comes with the deckle or jagged edge with French flap cover that gives the book a classical feel.

I give a 5-star for this book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Product Review: Navigators' Topical Memory System Kit

I remember I used to apply Navigators' Topical System to commit selected scriptures into memory but somehow I defaulted and did not have the discipline to persevere.

The Topical Memory System Kit (TMS), developed by The Navigators. is aimed to improve your knowledge of the Bible, deepen your walk with God, and memorize verses that will carry you through the hard times of life.

This kit includes:

• 60 verse cards in the NIV, NASB, MSG, ESV, NRSV, NLT, NKJV, and KJV
• course workbook
• verse card holder

I find that having the workbook together for me to work through the scriptures are incredibly useful. It makes the scriptures come alive! It helps me to reflect and think through. It helps me to apply the scriptures in real life situations.

To give an example, for Week 1 Series A (Live the New Life), the verses to memorize are 2 Cor 5:17 and Galatians 2:20.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 NIV)

And the questions for meditation for 2 Corinthians 5:2

• What is the key to living a truly new life?
• What has happened to your "old" life?
• What things have changed in your life since you became a Christian?

And these questions remind me that the very essential thing that truly allows me to live as new life is about being in Christ. It is not about me, it is not about what I have done and not done. The old life is gone! The old life is dead and I do not need to obey to the lustful desires of my old life. The more I spend my time living the new life that Christ has enabled me to do so, the more I want to desire the new life. And the last question helps me to reflect on what had happened to my life ever since I become a new creation in Christ - hating the things that I used to tolerate, becoming more aware of sins as things that displease God, etc, etc - these are the slowing moving process that shape me day by day into the likeness of Christ, my Savior.

LIVE THE NEW LIFE
Christ the Center	2 Corinthians 5:17	Galatians 2:20
Obedience to Christ	Romans 12:1	John 14:21
The Word	2 Timothy 3:16	Joshua 1:8
Prayer	John 15:7	Philippians 4:6,7
Fellowship	Matthew 18:20	Hebrews 10:24,25
Witnessing	Matthew 4:19	Romans 1:16
PROCLAIM CHRIST
All Have Sinned	Romans 3:23	Isaiah 53:6
Sin's Penalty	Romans 6:23	Hebrews 9:27
Christ Paid the Penalty	Romans 5:8	1 Peter 3:18
Salvation is not by Works	Ephesians 2:8,9	Titus 3:5
Must Receive Christ	John 1:12	Revelation 3:20
Assurance of Salvation	1 John 5:13	John 5:24
RELY ON GOD'S RESOURCES
His Spirit	1 Corinthians 3:16	1 Corinthians 2:12
His Strength	Isaiah 41:10	Philippians 4:13
His Faithfulness	Lamentations 3:22,23	Numbers 23:19
His Peace	Isaiah 26:3	1 Peter 5:7
His Provision	Romans 8:32	Philippians 4:19
His Help in Temptation	Hebrews 2:18	Psalms 119:9,11
BE CHRIST'S DISCIPLE
Put Christ First	Matthew 6:33	Luke 9:23
Separate From the World	1 John 2:15,16	Romans 12:2
Be Steadfast	1 Corinthians 15:58	Hebrews 12:3
Serve Others	Mark 10:45	2 Corinthians 4:5
Give Generously	Proverbs 3:9,10	2 Corinthians 9:6,7
Develop World Vision	Acts 1:8	Matthew 28:19,20
GROW IN CHRISTLIKENESS
Love	John 13:34,35	1 John 3:18
Humility	Philippians 2:3,4	1 Peter 5:5,6
Purity	Ephesians 5:3	1 Peter 2:11
Honesty	Leviticus 19:11	Acts 24:16
Faith	Hebrews 11:6	Romans 4:20,21
Good Works	Galatians 6:9,10	Matthew 5:16

The complete set of these verses with commentaries (both in free audio mp3 download and pdf a single bundled file) can be accessed here (in the Navigators' Discipleship Library).

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Disclosure of Material Connection:

I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Children Learn What They Live

Children Learn What They Live (1998 version)
by Dorothy Law Nolte (1924 - 2005)

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

An older version..........

Children Learn What They Live (1959)

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn . . .
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight . . .
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive . . .
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself . . .
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy . . .
If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilt . . .

BUT

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient . . .
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident . . .
If a child lives with , he learns to be appreciative . . .
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love . . .
If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is . . .
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice . . .
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and those about him . . .
If a child lives with friendlienss(sic), he learns the world is a nice place in which to live . . .

WITH WHAT IS YOUR CHILD LIVING?

The Paradoxical Commandments

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The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

The Paradox of Our Time in History

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The Paradox of Our Time in History
by Bob Moorehead

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom. Indeed these are the times!

Taming the Tongue: T.H.I.N.K Before You Speak

I enjoyed Rodney Duncan's sermon in church last week on taming the tongue. Speaking from the book of James, he pointed out that the tongue has the power to:
1. Direct
2. Destroy
3. Delight

And finally he gave an acronym of T.H.I.N.K. We need to THINK before speak.

T - Is it True?
H - Is it Helpful?
I - Is it Inspiring?
N - Is it Necessary?
K - Is it Kind?

I myself have made many mistakes in the past before on words that I knew I should not have spoken. Once you have let your words out, there is no way you can retract them back. This acronym T.H.I.N.K is going to be really helpful to me. Everybody needs a little reminder from time to time.

7 Problematic Distractions

Distractions! Distractions! Distractions!

Perry Noble describes 7 distractions that a Christian must be careful of lest he falls into one of them.

This post reminds me of Andy Stanley's statements on the Principles of the Path, which goes something like this:

Anything that grabs our attention, influences our direction, which in turn determines our destination.

Direction, not intention, determines our destination.

So, if you do not want to end up in a destination that you never wanted to in the first place (for example, broken marriages, failed exams, become enslaved by sins, etc), then be very mindful of the things, the people, the issues, etc that capture your attention, as well as those that you decidedly pay or not pay attention to.

Because these things will in turn influence the direction you are heading (a path you are taking, a spiritual downhill, a growing addiction, etc)!

Beware of these 7 'P's, the 7 'p'roblematic distractions that can potentially capture your attention, and in turn, influence the direction you are heading:

1. Pleasure
2. Pride
3. Procrastination
4. People – Someone is always going to not like what you do, who you are and what you stand for…always! (Galatians 1:10)
5. Performance – One of the greatest problems with success is that leaders can actually begin to believe that they are the ones that caused success to happen
6. Problems - We can’t view problems as God’s punishment…but rather we must view them as God’s preparation! David didn’t see the lion and the bear as a problem but rather he viewed them as opportunities to prepare him for the greater problems in life (I Samuel 17:33-37)
7. Passion - Passion can be a distraction when we use it to run over people rather than lead them!

Read more.