Eternal Life In Christianity This article covers Eternal Life in Christianity. Eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, as outlined in Christian eschatology. The Apostles’ Creed testifies: “I believe… the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.” In this view, eternal life commences after the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, although...
New Testament The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity. The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity. The New Testament’s background, the first division of the Christian...
List Of Major Textual Variants In The New Testament This is a list of major textual variants in the New Testament, with a focus on differences between categories of New Testament manuscripts. The Textus Receptus (“received text”) is the name subsequently given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which was first...
The New Testament Verses Not Included In The Bible This article covers the List of New Testament Verses Not Included In the Bible. The New Testament verses not included in modern English translations are verses of the New Testament that existed in older versions of the Bible (primarily the King...
The Gospel Harmony The gospel harmony is an attempt to compile the canonical gospels of the Christian New Testament into a single account. This may take the form either of a single, merged narrative or a tabular format with one column for each gospel, technically known as a synopsis, although the word harmony is often used for...
Summary Of The Books Of The Bible This article covers the summary of the books of the Bible. THE OLD TESTAMENT There are 39 books in the Old Testament, generally separated into 4 divisions: The Pentateuch, traditionally designated as the 5 books of Moses. Historical Books, number 12, from Joshua...
What Is Q Source? The Q source (Q document, Q Gospel, or Q from German: Quelle, meaning “source”) is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus‘ sayings (logia). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in the Gospel of Mark. According to this hypothesis, this...
Who Decides What To Include Into Bibles? This article covers the answer to the question: “Who Decides What To Include Into Bibles?” Old Testament books that are included in the Bibles used by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians, but not in the Bibles used by most Protestant Christians and Jews....
Which Bible Do You Believe? This article covers the answer to the question: “Which Bible Do You Believe?” There is a violent debate amongst Christians regarding which Bible to use. We would think all the Bibles are the same since they claim each one is by God. Some of them...
The Unreliability Of Gospels This article covers The Unreliability Of Gospels. The Gospels were composed after the early Christians had become divided into different factions. They were in fact composed to propagate the special teachings of the various schools and their authors showed no hesitation in tampering with the earlier...
What Is Biblical Apocrypha? The biblical apocrypha (‘hidden’) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books found in some editions of Christian Bibles in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments or as an appendix after the New Testament. Some Christian Churches include some or all of the same texts...
Internal Consistency Of The Bible The internal consistency of the Bible concerns the coherence and textual integrity of the Bible. Disputes regarding biblical consistency have a long history. Classic texts that discuss questions of inconsistency from a critical secular perspective include the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus by Baruch Spinoza, the Dictionnaire philosophique of Voltaire, the Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and The Age of Reason by Thomas...
Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose content is largely distinct. The term synoptic (synopticus) comes via Latin from the Greek σύνοψις, synopsis, i.e....
Transfiguration Of Jesus The transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament when Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (2 Peter 1:16–18). It has also been hypothesized that the first...
Parables Of Jesus The Parables of Jesus are found in the Synoptic Gospels and some of the non-canonical gospels. They form approximately one third of his recorded teachings. Christians place high emphasis on these parables; since they are the purported words of Jesus, they are believed to be what the Father has taught, indicated by John 8:28 and 14:10. Jesus’s parables are...
Sources For The Historicity Of Jesus This article covers the sources for the historicity of Jesus. Christian sources, such as the New Testament books in the Christian Bible, include detailed stories about Jesus, but scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the Biblical accounts of Jesus. The only...
Olivet Discourse The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it includes Jesus’ warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of...
Christian Religious Texts Christian Religious Texts form the cornerstone of a religion, instilling law, character, and spirituality in its people; some are narratives of historical figures in the faith. A text might be viewed as the unchanging “Word of God;” other texts are revised and expanded by later generations. Texts...
The Gospels: Contradictions and Improbabilities in the Descriptions Each of the four Gospels contains a large number of descriptions of events that may be unique to one single Gospel or common to several if not all of them. When they are unique to one Gospel, they sometimes raise serious problems....
The General Genealogies Of Jesus This article covers The General Genealogies of Jesus. The Gospels contain very few passages which give rise to a confrontation with modern scientific data. Firstly, however, there are many descriptions referring to miracles which hardly lend themselves to scientific comment. The miracles concern people-the healing...