Methodology In Doing Biblical Theology Religion Essay

The methodological analysis used in making Biblical divinity is clearly depicted in the book Introduction of The Gospels written by Mark Allan Powell. He speaks about the spiritual, political, and societal universe of the Gospels. In respects to faith, there were two Judaic groups mentioned in the Gospels such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and a group of Semitic people, the Samaritans. The political relations in the Gospels was under Roman opinion. The construction included Cesar, a male monarch and governor. However, the council of Judaic leaders “ Sanhedrin ” had authorization under the concluding determinations of the governor. Socially, there was a mix of civilizations influenced by Grecian Hellenism ( 5 ) . The writer besides writes about the genre of the Gospels where some bookmans have labeled them as historical fiction ( 6 ) , although the original readers may hold labeled them as antediluvian lifes, which present the philosopher-hero as a godly figure ( 7 ) . In this sense, Jesus is the godly figure and hero at the same clip. His decease is the major event in His life and His Resurrection is what makes the narrative fascinating.

I learned from Powell that there are phases of transmittal of the Gospel tradition. The first phase has to make with the historical Jesus affecting the singular expressions. The 2nd phase is the early tradition affecting written beginnings and unwritten tradition. The 3rd phase has to make with the editing of the Gospels affecting emendation and composing analysis ( 24-25 ) . Fourth, there was the saving of the manuscripts including text unfavorable judgment. The 5th phase has to make with interlingual rendition into several linguistic communications. Finally, it is the response of the Gospels including the different attacks such as narrative unfavorable judgment, reader-response unfavorable judgment, feminist unfavorable judgment, and deconstruction ( 36-37 ) .

General Learning about the Evangels

There are several points made by the writer in respects to the Gospels that impacted my life. I learned that the Gospel of Mark misses some of the of import narratives of Jesus ‘ life and ministry such as the Christmas and Easter narratives every bit good as the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord ‘s Prayer among others. Harmonizing to Powell, “ the Gospel of Mark seems unfinished ” ( 39 ) . On the other manus, it is interesting to cognize that the Greek word euthys, that means “ instantly ” , appears 42 times in the Gospel of Mark doing me believe that there was a sense of urgency in holding the Gospel written. Not merely that but Powell emphasized that it appears 11 times in the first chapter ( 41 ) . Another of import facet of this Gospel of Mark is that the lingual manner seems to be non excessively stylistic and polished. Mark used several literary devices such as rhetorical manner by narrating and seting narratives together ; two-step patterned advances to add more lucidity in his statements ; and infixing events and narratives ( 44 ) . I concur with Powell that Mark attributes the best portrayal of the individual of Jesus ( 44 ) . I am astonied how Mark clearly demonstrated Jesus ‘ emotions, yet maintains His godly authorization and sovereignty to be able to learn His adherents about God ‘s land. In add-on, Mark glorifies God in his major subjects such as God ‘s Kingdom, Christology, and discipleship.

The Gospel of Matthew is larger than Mark ‘s Gospel because Matthew added the five great discourses of Jesus such as the Sermon on the Mount ( Matt. 5-7 ) , the Missionary Discourse ( Matt. 10 ) , the Parables ( Matt. 13 ) , the Community Discourse ( Matt.18 ) , and the Eschatological Discourse ( Matt. 24-25 ) . Powell stated that Matthew had the influence of the Q and M stuffs ( 61 ) . Matthew seems to be really organized and gives inside informations about the family tree of Jesus ( Matt. 1 ) being divided into three sections of 14 coevalss. I was impacted how Powell explained the usage of gematria in Matthew chapter 1. He said, “ the letters in the Hebrew name David add up to fourteen, and since traditions held that the Messiah would be a descendent of David, that figure took on messianic overtones for Matthew ‘s community ” ( 66 ) . Matthew besides used Numberss by placing the five discourses of Jesus and the 12 fulfilment commendations in the Gospel ( 66 ) . Another of import fact that I learned is that Matthew is the lone 1 among the four Gospel authors that speaks about the church ( Matt. 16:17-20 ; 18:15-18 ) . Harmonizing to Powell, “ Matthew portrays Jesus as get downing the church during his life on Earth ” ( 68 ) . This is a really strong statement and I believe that Jesus instituted it with the intent of conveying glorification to His Father. On the other manus, I was intrigued in reading the paragraph that Powell wrote about how “ Matthew appeared to hold regarded Mark ‘s Gospel as theologically unequal ” ( 75 ) . I disagree in what he said about Mark ‘s deficiency of advancement in discipleship, because we find groundss in the Gospel of Mark that the adherents did follow Jesus. I agree that Mark does non hold a effectual philosophy of the church but it contains other facets that seemingly Matthew took into consideration when composing the Gospel of Matthew that I mentioned earlier in this paragraph.

In his analysis, the writer states “ The Gospel of Luke is similar to Matthew in that it combines both Mark and Q ” ( 85 ) . He clearly described that Luke used about a half of the Gospel of Mark and that M and L contains “ superior literary quality ” among them ( 85 ) . I besides learned that Luke is really organized although he omits the narratives that are recorded in Mark 6:45-8:26 and Mark 9:41-10:12 and that Luke is the lone book that has a continuance into the book of Acts ( 87 ) . Powell even writes that Luke-Acts is a individual two-volume entity ( 89 ) . This book clearly develops the subjects written in Luke including supplication, worship, adult females, work of the Holy Spirit, fulfilment of prognostication, and redemption ( 89-95 ) . I agree with Powell that Luke is more interested in demoing historical context and position for his narrative with the intent of steering Christians to cognize the truth ( 99 ) .

In respects to the Gospel of John, it is interesting to cognize that “ about 90 per centum of the stuff in it is unparallel in the other Gospels ” ( 112 ) . However, John does non compose about the dispossessions, fables, Transfiguration, or mentions about Second Coming, Eucharist, and other narratives in the other Gospels. What it brought to my attending was the fact that the Gospel of John passed through phases of redacting ( 115 ) . Harmonizing to Powell, these phases included unwritten studies of Jesus ‘ words and workss, so prophesying and learning during decennaries to determine stuff. After these two phases follows a period of forming everything as a unit, completing with the concluding edition ( 115 ) . There are other of import doctrinal points in the Gospel of John that I learned by reading this book such as the two natures of Christ, the usage of symbolism, Jesus speech production of Himself, the function of the Holy Spirit, miracles as “ marks ” , and love of God and for one another.

Application to Life and Ministry

There are many applications for my life and ministry. As a young person curate of my church, deriving all of this cognition of how scriptural divinity is nonnatural for the apprehension of the Gospels, I can convey this information to my young person. They have asked me several inquiries in respects to the veracity of the Gospels and the historical Jesus. Now, I have some responses for them based on Powell ‘s research. I can lucubrate a sermon series about the Gospels and give more inside informations about each Gospel.