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Two-sets of words that every christian should know
There are two important set of words concerning God and his relationship with us that will both enrich our understanding as well as help us keep away from contradictions and wrong notions about God. These are: “Transcendence-Immanence” and “Creator-Creature” distinctions. These two words provide us biblical balance in our knowledge of God and His ways. Those of you who follow…
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▶ ወንጌል ስለ ልጁ ሹመት የምሥራች ቃል ነው፡- በሰማይና በምድር ኢየሱስ ጌታና ክርስቶስ ሆኖ ተሹሟል
“ወንጌሉም ስለ ልጁ፣ በሥጋ ከዳዊት ዘር ስለ ሆነ፣ በቅድስና መንፈስ ደግሞ ከሙታን በመነሣቱ የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ መሆኑ በኀይል ስለ ተገለጠው ስለ ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ነው” 1:3-4 ይህ የምንናገርለት ወንጌል ባለቤትና ይዘት ዓለው። ወንጌል የእግዚአብሔር ነው “ለእግዚአብሔር ወንጌል የተለየ…” (1:1)። ወንጌል ባለቤት፤ ምንጭና ይዘት ስላለው የአንድ ተቋም ይዞታ አይደለም፤ ባለቤቱም እግዚአብሔር አብ ነው! ከዚህ የተነሳ ይህንን ወንጌል ማንም ሥጋ ለባሽ “የእኔ…
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I AM WHO I AM: Appropriate and Inappropriate Languages about God and Christ
Earlier generations of Christians used to put a lot of effort to discern and talk about the nature of what it is that they believe. That is to say, for them, knowing “what it is” that they believe precedes from what it is they are to “practice and experience.” Worship is Learning the Language of God’s self-Revelation. Worship is only…
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Evaluating variant readings for John 6:69
Text Variants Table 1.1 Variants Manuscripts ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ א B C* D L W Samss pbo ὁ χριστὸς ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ ?66 Sams ly bo ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ C3 Θ* f1 33 565 lat Sysc ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. b syc ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος K N Ψ 579. 700.…
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አማራጭ ንባቦችና ትንታኔያቸው (“ክርስቶስ የሕያው የእ/ር ልጅ” ወይስ “አንተ አንድያ የእግዚአብሔር ቅዱስ”)
ይህ ጥናታዊ ጹሑፍ በዮሐንስ ወንጌል ምዕራፍ 6:69 ላይ ከተለያዩ ቅጂዎች የተወሰዱትን አማራጭ ንባቦችን ይተነትናል። የመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ጥሩ አንባቢዎች ከሆናችሁ ሁለት ነገሮችን በተደጋጋሚ አስተውላችኋል። በመጀመሪያ በመጽሐፍ ቅዱሳችሁ ግርጌ ላይ በተደጋጋሚ፦ “አንዳንድ ቅጂዎች__ይላሉ“; “አንዳንድ የጥንት ቅጂዎች __እና __የላቸውም” የሚሉ ታገኛላችሁ። በሁለተኛ ደረጃ ደግሞ ሌላ አይነት ትርጉሞችን ስታመሳክሩ፤ በቀደመው ትርጉም ላይ በግርጌ የነበረው አሁን ጥቅስ ሆኖ፤ ጥቅሱ ደግሞ አሁን ግርጌ ሆኖ ታስተውላላችሁ። ይህንን…
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PREACHING AND PREACHERS: Quotes
I am sharing with you few quotes from a chapter written by one of the great preacher of the 20th century Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his seminal book on “Preaching and Preachers” PREACHING AND PREACHERS THE TOTAL GOSPEL _In other words, it easy to praise the power and authority of the Word of God and deny this claims by the way…
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Confessing Jesus as the Son of God: In Christian and Muslim Context
This is my summary and brief response to a workshop I attended in 2013, taught by Dr. Donald A. Carson on the subject of the Sonship of Christ in Christian and Muslim context. Dr. Carson mentions three objectives. (1) It is important to try to find how one moves from exegesis to doctrinal confessions. Some systematic theologies assume the bible…
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Come to Me, and I will Give You Rest
Jesus with an open arm declared: To those who are weary of being separated from the life of God and have not yet made the decision to respond to His call and follow Christ, his arms are still wide open to embrace you, forgive your sins and give you His rest. Will you respond in faith and repentance? For these…
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How Should We Read Commentaries?
How Should We Read Commentaries? Or more importantly, should we read them? I will dedicate the later part of this post to types of commentaries and their different siblings. However first let me address the need and the danger thereof reading commentaries. A NASCAR driver knows how to maneuver his car very well. A lab technician masters his basics. A…
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Yahweh quenches our thirst
The first invitations, here in Isaiah 55:1 “everyone who thirsts come to the waters” focus on the spiritual condition of those who would come, namely those who are “thirsty”. That means those who think they are satisfied and have everything they need, by definition are those who reject this invitation. Those who are truly thirsty are those who know that…
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Nuancing the Glory of Christmas
Few years ago, I remember sharing, during our musical rehearsal for Christmas, something that I have noticed missing in our Christmas vocabularies. What is common between angels, manger, stable, a donkey, a baby wrapped in a cloth, ox, shepherds, the Maggi? You guessed it, the nativity scene. The harmony between Christmas and the nativity scene goes without saying. The bible…
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Watch Live Sunday November 15, 2015 starting at 4pm
Sunday November 15, 2015 starting at 4pm How to study and Interpret the Bible: Session One In this series we have started to discuss as to the need to interpret the bible. The word Interpretation comes from the Greek word (hermeneuō), which is translated as ‘to interpret’, or ‘to explain’. To put it simply, hermeneutics deals with interpreting and explaining…
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For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see. You probably have seen the movie Amazing Grace. There we see John Newton confessing “I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great savior” This was a man who knew God’s forgiveness. When…
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GOD IS OUR PROBLEM AND GOD IS OUR SALVATION
Humanities’ big problem in the first instance is not Economic, it is not Social, it is not Political, and it definitely is neither the Republican party nor the Democrats. Even though, all of these areas are real issues that need resolutions. We need to work hard to fight poverty, social injustices and political turmoils. No doubt. However, these are secondary…
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Nicene-Constantinople Creed (A.D. 325-381): Part 1
Introduction was the year 325 AD. 318 bishops, from around the Roman Empire, begun to arrive on horseback at Nicaea- a small town in modern iznik, 2 hours from Istanbul, Turkey. Their travel expenses were covered by the Emperor Constantine. This was the first official council met since the persecution ended. Most of the Bishops present at the council had…
