Religion and Theology

1.a) Revelation. This means God showing himself to man. In Exodus 33v 22 God says to Moses that no one can see his face and live. Yet he does reveal himself through his word  as in the word of the Lord came ( Jonah 1 v 1) and through Christ, John 1 v 14 (N.I.V.) The word became flesh  and made his dwelling among us.

Covenant  an agreement with two sides. In theological terms between God and man, a promise made on oath (Genesis 24 v 7).

Yahweh is the name of the God of Israel. The usual meaning given is He is. The name is considered by Jews to be too sacred to pronounce, therefore it is usually replaced by Adonai (Lord).

Shema  A Jewish prayer dating back to 2nd century B.C.E. or earlier and used at both morning and evening prayers according to Chambers Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions ( page 478). It stresses the uniqueness of God.

Prayer The verbal expression of religious feeling and communication with God.

The Law This  refers to the firs t5 books of the Old Testament ( the Pentateuch) and also to the laws, given by god to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19 ff), which are contained therein.
The major sins, are outlined in the10 commandments, Exodus 20. They can be divided into sins against God and sins against the community.

b) The first church consisted of the followers of Jesus and those converted at Pentecost (Acts 1 and 2.) They believed that Jesus was the Messiah ( Acts 1 v 17) and that he was God incarnate.( John v14)
c) The Jews expected the Messiah who would overcome their enemies, the Romans, something Jesus did not do. Also, they had a strong belief in God as one person (Exodus 20 v 3), so would have found it difficult to accept Jesus as also being God.

2.a) The 4 gospel writers are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All wrote during the 1st century C.E.
Mark. The general consensus of scholars, although there is some disagreement, is that Mark wrote first, between 60 and 70 C.E., before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that he was writing on behalf of Peter and probably in Rome. It contains few Old Testament references and so seems to have been aimed mainly at a Gentile readership.

Matthew was written by the disciple of that name at some time after Mark. He was writing for a Jewish readership. The date and place of writing are unknown.

Luke a Gentile also wrote after Mark, and after his meeting with Paul, probably writing at some point after the destruction of Jerusalem temple in C.E. 70. He is writing to Theophilus ( Luke 1) It could have been written in either Greece or Rome where he was companion to Paul.

John, brother of James, (Matthew 4 v 21). It may have been written in Ephesus where it is known John lived. The dating generally accepted is late, perhaps 90 C.E. or later.

b) Matthew writes from a Jewish perspective because he saw Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy. He includes lots of Old Testament prophecies because he wants Jews to understand this.
Mark saw Jesus as the servant of man and God going about doing good deeds and so his gospel moves quickly from one action to another with no long discourses.

Luke worked closely with Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, and so he emphasizes the universality o f the grace of God (Luke 2 v 32). He sees Jesus as a light for revelation to the Gentiles.

John. His purpose as stated in John 20 v 31 is evangelistic because he saw Jesus as the Christ and as Son of God. His message could have been understood by both Jews and Gentiles.

3. The Ebionites were a Judaeo-Christian sect who insisted on keeping all the Jewish laws as described in the Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions ( page 154) They saw Jesus as not being fully divine. The Docetists on the other hand denied any humanity in Jesus and stressed his purely divine nature. The mainline church however believed him to be , in some mystical way, both man and God as outlined in an early Christian hymn (Philippians 2 v 6 Being in the very nature of God and in John 1 v 14 the word became flesh (N.I.V.) The different ideas were causing stress and confusion. The church wanted to formulate its doctrines as being unique and believed that the Christ had to be both fully man and God to be the Messiah as promised and also the Savior. The first council of Nicaea met in 325 C.E. They declared that Jesus was of the same substance as the Father i.e. fully God and yet incarnate i.e. fully flesh.

4. a) The final Schism was the result of differences that had arisen in both political, linguistic, organisational and theological areas because in part of the different cultures which developed in East and West.

b) In the16th century, Martin Luther raised objections against indulgences, especially as this involved soteriology i.e. the doctrine of salvation. Luther preached salvation by faith, but the sellers of indulgences, backed by church authorities, stressed salvation because of works. As people followed Luthers Protestantism the church lost property when former Roman Catholic churches were destroyed, abandoned or converted to the new way.  The Council of Trent met from 1545 to 1563. It was called together both to combat Protestant ideas and also to reform the Roman Catholic Church. It served to clarify many doctrinal points and practices.