Introduce to Christian Religion

Chapter Outline

Introduction:
Learning Objective:
Contents:
1. Religion and Moral Values.
2. Necessity of Religion in social life.
3. Historical background of the Christian Religion.
Summery:
SAQ:

Introduction

Man is the dearest creation of God. He fashioned man with love. He fashioned them best among all of the creations. His will is to make them happy, that’s for why man also naturally wants to be happy, and this aspiration is from the bottoms of their heart. Man has to fulfill Gods will with his work and lead his life as God will. When they do so they are on the way of life but when derails it means devil leads the wrong way that is the way of Death. St. John Paul said’ for it is not by hearing the law that people are put right with God, But by doing what the Law commands. The Gentiles do not have the Law; but wherever they do by instinct what the law commands, they do not have the Law. Their conduct shows that what the law commands in written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes defend themselves.

Human is a social being. For the betterment of the society and lead a meaningful life some Law was need and God provides by Moses and the teachings of the prophets, that was not the burden but as gift for the mankind. Social and Religious Laws help individuals to lead their life to the enlighten path of life. People have to learn and fallow the rules as if they can live in peace and rejoice the Lord God. Following the rule of society and religion actually one respect and care others. Jesus said ‘Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.’Type-in An Introduction to your chapter below this line. You may like to link this chapter with the previous chapter here to maintain continuity.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you are expected to learn about:

Explain Gods will to human being;
Describe the Necessity of Religion and Moral Values in human life;
How God created man and woman;
Explain Religion;
Describe how to exercise religious in human life;
Describe the nature of the scribes and the Pharisees;
Explain Peters witness.

Creation of God

3.1 God Created Man (Genesis 2:7-9)
Yahweh God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and thus men become a living being. Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. Yahweh God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at a good and evil in the middle of the garden.

3.2 God Created Woman (Genesis 2:18-25)
Yahweh God said, ’It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild bests and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would given it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. Yahweh God built the rib he had taken from man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:

‘This at last is bone from my bones, And flesh from my flash! This is called to be woman, For this was taken from man.’

This is why man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body. Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front each other.

3.3 Ownership given on the Creation (Genesis 1:27-28)

God created man in the image of himself, in the image of god he created him, male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying to them, ‘be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’

3.4 Sin (Genesis 3:1-7)

The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said,” You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death”. Then the serpent said to the woman, No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of the both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make them-selves loin-cloths.

SAQs-1

1. God fashioned man from-

a) Green vegetables
b) Fruits
c) Soil
d) Water

2. God planed a garden in-

a) Bangladesh
b) India
c) Pakistan
d) Eden

3. God said, It is not good that man should be-

a) Alone

b) Together

c) Sleep all the day

d) Eat fruits

4. God blessed them saying to them

a) be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth

b) God created

Necessity of Religion in the social life

2.1 Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees (MATTHEW 23: 1-23

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat; therefore do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tip up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call on one your father on earth, for you have one father- the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind Guides, who say, whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothings, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath. You blind fools! For which the greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath. How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the alter, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.

2.2 What God Requires. (MICAH 6: 6-8)

“With what shall I come before The LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with Burnt offerings, With calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of Oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

SAQs-2

1. Jesus said scribes and Pharisees are sit on -

a) Disciples seat
b) Moses seat
c) Lowers seat
d) none of them

Historical background of the Christian Religion.

3.1. The Promise of the Holy Spirit. (ACTS 1:1-11)

In the first book, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the holy spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the father. “This,” he said,” is what you have heard from me; for john baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel? He replied, it is not for you to know the times or periods that the father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said” men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

3.2. Peter addresses the crowd. (ACTS 2:14-47)

But Peter standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to I what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: In the last days it will be God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my salves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and sings on the earth below blood, and fire and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the noon to blood before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders and signs that God did through him among you as you yourselves know-this man handed over to you according to the definite plan and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right and so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence. Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a Prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying. He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption. This Jesus God raised up and for that all of us are witness. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”. Therefore let the entire house of Israel knows with certainty that God has made him both Lord and messiah this Jesus whom you crucified”. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles,” brothers, what should we do? Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for your, for your children and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him. And he testified with many other arguments and ex- horded them, saying, save your selves from this corrupt generation. So those who welcomed his message were baptized and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.

Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they should sell their possessions and good and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising. God and having the good will of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

SAQs-3

1. John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the -

a) Fire strome
b) Holy spirite
c) Word of God
d) Heart of Jesus