Domenic Marbaniang

From Marbaniang, Domenic. Ethics (1998). Published as Philosophical Ethics (2012) 2.1.1.3. Christianity and Normative Ethics Christian ethics, as the author believes, is a mean between Teleological and Deontological Ethics. The concept is that of a God who wills a universal law for all humans, at all times, a Will that is in accordance to His own nature and, therefore, a necessary , for all existence contingent on Him. Any being that rebels against this Will rebels against its own well-being or good , that is contingent on the Creator. The good expresses the teleological dimension and the necessary will expresses the deontological dimensions of Christian ethics. Since this Will is of Divine nature, it must be revealed by the illumination of the Spirit in man. Since man, as the Revelation (Scripture) tells us, is created in the image and likeness of God, he is able to know and choose this will for his life. However, the fallennes of man has alienated him from the divine will. Therefore,...

From Marbaniang, Domenic. Ethics (1998), Published as Philosophical Ethics (2012) 3. Applied Ethics in a Naturalistic Autonomous Society This chapter is important before we move into the next chapter where we will be dealing mainly with the importance of God, Scripture, Church, and Evangelical Christianity in relation to ethics. 3.1. Naturalistic Autonomous Society It wouldn’t be appropriate to call this society godless; for man at times tends to look to a greater power beyond him in awe or aspiration. But, it is necessary to say that here is no impulsion to follow any kind of divine edict or law under fear of punishment: the idea of God, practically, seems nonsensical in this setting. This society, thus, is naturalistic and autonomous. Human reason, emotions, experiences, and aesthetic contemplation play an important role in making ethical decisions. 3.2. The Knowledge of an “Ought” An understanding of “ought” is impossible without the knowledge of good and evil. An understanding of ...

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and religious thinker, is generally considered one of the founders of existentialism. His philosophy was mainly “an answer to the challenge of theological nihilism – the dead orthodoxy of a dead Church.” 1 It was an attack on the rationalist’s desire for proofs as an evasion of the claim of revelation. Kierkegaard has become popular more recently due to the uprise of secular existentialism and Christian existentialism; both of which find their origins in his ideas. Yet, “it would be inaccurate to call Kierkegaard an existentialist. He himself was concerned to understand how to become a Christian, whereas existentialism is concerned with what it is to be a human being.” 2 In his Philosophical Fragments (1844), Kierkegaard goes on to explain that it is always better and appropriate to reason from existence and that existence is never subject to demonstration. The person who attempts to demonstrate the existence of God...

Author Name: John “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, “son of thunder” Father: Zebedee, Matt.4:21 Mother: Salome (guess cf. Matt.27:56; Mk.15:40; Jn.19:25, perhaps a sister of Mary, mother of Jesus) [1] Brother: James House: Jerusalem, Jn.19:27 [2] Profession: Fishing business in Capernaum, but after the call, disciple of Christ, apostle of love; had been a disciple of John the Baptist (Jn.1:35,40) Note: Rejection of John as the author of the book and attributing the work to a certain John of Ephesus undermines the book as a testimony to the Deity of Jesus. The rejection is based on inadequate evidences. [3] Date About 90 AD, Purpose An eye-witness’ testimony of the things which took place; a testimony to the Truth, so that the readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have life in His Name. (Jn.21:24; 20:31) The Text In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all ...

THE BOOK The book often goes under the title “The Song of Solomon”, but is also called “The Song of Songs” or “Canticles”. It is the first of the five Megilloth, the fivescrolls read by the Jews at various feasts: Canticles (Passover), Ruth (Pentecost), Ecclesiastes (Tabernacles), Esther (Purim), and Lamentations (anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem). The title in Hebrew as well as in the LXX is “The Song of Songs”. The Vulgate entitled it Canticum Canticorum, hence the alternative English title Canticles. [1] THE DATE The greatest objections to the dating of the book to the Solomonic era are concerned first with the use of Greek, Persian, and even Sanskrit loan words; and then with the reference to Tirzah (6:4) which indicates that the book was completed in the Persian Period or at a period prior to the time of Omri (885/84-874/73 BC) who built Samaria as his capital city to replace Tirzah, which was the chief city of the northern kingdom in the early night century BC. [2] AU...

TEXT I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. (Psa 32:8-10) INTRODUCTION The Book of Psalms is the first book of the Writings in the Hebrew Bible and one of the poetical books in the English Bible. The English designation “psalm” comes from the Latin Psalmi and the Greek Psalmoi (“songs sung with musical accompaniment”), a translation of the Hebrew mizmor (“a song accompanied by musical instruments”). The Hebrew title ( tehillim ) signifies the contents of the book: “songs of praise.” [1] “…the Psalms of the Hebrews must be considered sui generis, since they constituted the supreme example of religious devotion and served as effective vehicles for the propagation of truths unfolded in th...

© October 1998 Many scholars think that Luke is most untrustworthy in the speeches of Acts. They point out that the speeches are all in the same general styple, a style that is found in the narrative portions of Acts. And they claim that the theology of the speeches is distinctively Lukan, rather than Petrine, Pauline, or whatever. It is therefore concluded that Luke has followed the Thucydidean model 1 and put on the lips of his speakers the sentiments that he felt were appropriate for the occasion. Several responses to this accusation are necessary. First , as we noted above, Thucydides claims that only when he did not have information available did he not report what was actually said. Some other ancient historians were far more free in inventing speeches, but there is no a priori reason to compare Luke with them instead of with those who did seek accuracy in recording speeches (e.g., Polybius; see 12:25b.1,4). Second , uniformity of style in the speeches means only that Luke has n...

THE BOOK The passage is taken from the book of Exodus which forms the second book in the Pentateuch. The name “Exodus” comes from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and means “exit” or “departure”. This name was also retained by the Vulgate, the Latin version, by the Jewish author Philo, and by the Syriac version. The name of the book in Hebrew is taken from the first words of the text: “And these are the names of” ( We’elleh Shemoth ) or simply Shemoth . The Pentateuch (i.e., “the five books) is in the Hebrew known as Torah, which means “Law”, “instruction”, “teaching”. [1] AUTHOR The traditional belief is that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (i.e., the Pentateuch). The NT writers believed that to be true (Lk.2:22-23; Jn.7:19; Acts 3:22). [2] DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING The date of writing can be inferred to between Moses’ eightieth birthday and his one hundred and twentieth birthday, when he died, just as the wilderness wandering was drawing to a close ...