How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God

by Richard R. Hopkins

Author	: Richard R. Hopkins
Publisher	: Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
Total Pages	: 399
Release	: 2023-02-14
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1462100031

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This insightful book brings profound new insights to the Trinitarian doctrines of “orthodox” Christianity. With clear and precise documentation, the book shows how these doctrines migrated into early Christianity from Greek philosophy. The various aspects of Trinitarian belief are isolated, linked to their Greek sources, and carefully analyzed to show they differ radically from biblical teaching. The Writings of early Church Fathers, portrayed in their historical context, show that during the second century, theological concepts taught in Platonism were adopted as Christianity struggled to end Roman persecution. Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a famous Stoic philosopher, was putting Christians to death because their belief did not conform to the Hellenized religion of the day. The book shows that the early church fathers sought to save their people’s lives by redefining the Christian God in Greek terms. Their efforts brought metaphysics to Christianity and ushered in concepts like the Trinity. After presenting the historical setting in which these philosophical errors were embraced as Christian doctrine, the book compares orthodox Christian theology today, called “classical theism,” to biblical teachings. The book identifies how Greek philosophy has influenced major attributes of God taught in classical theism. The book constitutes a major challenge to those who accept the tenants of classical theism but do not know the many aspects of their doctrine that are based on Greek philosophy.

The 1,300 Years’ War

by Robert Maddock

Author	: Robert Maddock
Publisher	: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages	: 368
Release	: 2016-09-22
Genre	: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN	: 1524533769

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The book is in two volumes and describes the evolution of Judeo-Christianity and Islam and the 1,300 years of warfare between them. Islam and Christianity follow gods with different characteristics and differing doctrinefree will versus determinism. They were engaged in bloody conflict from AD 632 until 1856 (Crimean War) when the Ottoman Empire became the sick man of Europe. It reignited with Egyptian encouragement backed by Soviet money, the arming of fedayeen terrorists in 1956, and the Six-Day War following Egypts seizure of the Suez Canal, and it has become progressively more serious ever since.

By the Gift and Power of God

by Leo Kappa

Author	: Leo Kappa
Publisher	: Balboa Press
Total Pages	: 495
Release	: 2018-06-12
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1504395484

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Although Christian academics such as Dr. Stephen Webb, Margaret Barker, and Richard Mouw classify the Latter-Day Saints as Christian, most ordinary, believing Christians remain unaware of just how very Christ-centered the LDS Church is and what a strong position the church holds scripturally and theologically. Many Christians today have never had the opportunity to consider the numerous Bible prophecies fulfilled by the Book of Mormon, the prophet Joseph Smith, the historic Christian apostasy, and the prophecies of Gods great and marvelous latter-day work, which is a new dispensation to set things rightnamely the restoration we announce to the world. Christians everywhere must be informed about what God has done for them in these times and why it was necessary as we all prepare for the glorious return of our Lord Jesus with a vast host of angels to judge the earth.

A Topical Guide to the Koran & Sharia Law

by Robert Maddock

Author	: Robert Maddock
Publisher	: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages	: 986
Release	: 2020-03-17
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1543455263

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This book is based on the 1734 translation of the Koran by George Sale. This translation is in King James English, making comparisons between it and the King James Bible easily. This is a topical guide that will take a word or short phrase and find it in every verse of the Koran where it appears. These verses are placed together so that the reader can readily determine the context and, therefore, the meaning of the word or phrase. In some instances such as the word “jihad,” which does not appear in the Sale translation, it is traced in the University of Michigan’s online translation of the Koran. There it appears thirteen times, but in only two does it mean an internal struggle. In the other eleven, it means warfare. When analyzing words and phrases in the Koran, it is important to know when they were received and written. It is also important to know that the Koran includes material that seems to come from other sources. This has been outlined in volume 2 of the 1,300 Years’ War. As noted in volume 1 of the 1,300 Years’ War, Muhammad (PBUH) has been thought by many for over 150 years to have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy associated with visual and auditory hallucinations. These seizures last less than three minutes. It is, therefore, important to know which suras might have come from a single episode. A table shows this in volume 1 (table 8). Many scholars divide the Koran into four major periods: early Mecca (AD 610–615), mid-Mecca (AD 616), late Mecca (AD 617–621) and Medina (AD 622–632). The analysis of the verses in these periods found that militancy against non-Muslims progresses: 7.7 percent of the verses from early Mecca are militant. This rises to 10.6 percent in the mid-Mecca period, and 18.3 percent in the late Mecca period. It tops out at 29.3 percent in the Medina period. The colored version of the topical guide shows these periods in black, blue, green, and red. In the black and white edition, it shows these four periods of the Koran in plain italics, boldface italics, regular plain type, and boldface regular type. The reason this division is important is the doctrine of abrogation (2:106) given early in the Medina period. This states that verses given later may nullify verses given earlier. Thus, many peaceful verses given in the early parts of the Koran may be nullified by the “verse of the sword” (9:5) given later toward the end of the prophet’s life: “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them.” So far as I have been able to determine, there has been no stylistic analysis of the Koran. A person studying the Koran or the history of Islam will find this work most valuable.

Christian Fruit--Jewish Root

by John D. Garr

Author	: John D. Garr
Publisher	: Golden Key Press
Total Pages	: 417
Release	: 2015-04-13
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1940685273

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Christian Fruit--Jewish Root is an in-depth, scholarly examination of the Hebraic foundations of the major tenets and practices of Christianity. This volume confirms the truth that the inherent Jewishness of the Christian faith is simply an undeniable historical and theological fact. By evaluating Christian doctrine and polity through the Jewish mindset of Jesus and the apostles, this book uncovers a veritable treasure of Hebraic truth. For every authentic Christian fruit, there is a Jewish toot! This truth id demonstrated across a wide spectrum of theological truth, including: Scripture, Messiah, Salvation, Faith, Baptism, Gospel, Grace, and Descipleship. Christianity owes a profound debt of gratitude to the Jewish people and to biblical and Second Temple Judaism for the foundations of the truths and practices that it hold dear. As you read this challenging, informative, and inspirational book, you will be amazed at just how Jewish Christianity, the "other Jewish religion," actually is.

Is God a Trinity?

by United Church of God

Author	: United Church of God
Publisher	: United Church of God
Total Pages	: 205
Release	: 2011-08-02
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1257958844

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You might be surprised to find that God is not a trinity. The Trinity is one of mainstream Christianity’s most widely accepted and revered doctrines held by millions of Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox believers. The belief that God is three persons—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—coexisting in one being is how the trinity doctrine is often defined. But the word trinity appears nowhere within the pages of the Bible. You can not cling to long-held religious traditions if they contradict the Scriptures. Your beliefs must rest solidly on the teachings of the Holy Bible. This Bible Study aid, "Is God a Trinity?", goes into great detail explaning the non-biblical origins of the trinity and how this false gospel replaced the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Discover how the Bible communicates a true picture of God and learn about the awesome plan He has promised for you and all mankind. Chapters in this ebook: -- Is the Trinity Biblical? -- The Surprising Origins of the Trinity Doctrine -- Greek Philosophy's Influence on the Trinity Doctrine -- How Ancient Trinitarian Gods Influenced Adoption of the Trinity -- A Spurious Reference to the Trinity Added in 1 John 5:7-8 -- How Is God Revealed in the Bible? -- Jesus Was Sent by the Father -- Jesus Christ: "The Rock" of the Old Testament -- The Apostles Understood Jesus to Be the Creator -- Did Jesus Christ Claim to Be God? -- "In the Beginning Was the Word" -- The Claim of Jesus' Disciples -- "There Is One God, the Father...and One Lord, Jesus Christ" -- God's Plan to "Bring Many Sons to Glory" -- Jesus Christ's Submission to the Father -- How Is God One? -- "The Lord Our God, the Lord Is One" -- Seven Scriptures That Debunk the Trinity as a Single Being -- Elohim: The Plurality of God -- Is the Holy Spirit a Person? -- Does Matthew 28:19 Prove the Trinity? -- Why the Holy Spirit Is Sometimes Incorrectly Referred to as "He" and "Him" -- What About Passages That "Prove" the Trinity? -- The Holy Spirit: God's Transforming Power -- How to Stir Up God's Spirit -- God's Nature and Character -- God's Purpose for You -- The Likeness of God -- Do Some Verses Deny a Divine Family? -- The God Family Inside this Bible Study Aid ebook: "Most people assume that everything that bears the label “Christian” must have originated with Jesus Christ and His early followers. But this is definitely not the case." "Many historians and religious scholars, some quoted in this publication, attest to the influence of Greek or Platonic philosophy in the development and acceptance of the Trinity doctrine in the fourth century." God the Father is the One who calls us to baptism and a new way of life (John 6:44, 65), and it is His goodness that leads us to repentance and baptism (Romans 2:4). "As even the New Catholic Encyclopedia, quoted from earlier, acknowledges: “The majority of New Testament texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God..."

Urban Legends of Church History

by John Adair

Author	: John Adair
Publisher	: B&H Publishing Group
Total Pages	: 258
Release	: 2020-10-01
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1433649845

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Urban Legends of Church History surveys forty of the most commonly misunderstood events of church history from the period of the early church through the modern age. While these “urban legends” sometimes arise out of falsehood or fabrication, they are often the product of an exaggerated recounting of actual historical events. With a pastoral tone and helpful explanations, authors John Adair and Michael Svigel tackle legendary misconceptions, such as the early church worshiping on Saturday and the unbroken chain of apostolic succession. Urban Legends of Church History will correct misunderstandings of key events in church history and guide readers in applying principles that have characterized the Christian church since the first century.

Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies

by David Lamont Paulsen

Author	: David Lamont Paulsen
Publisher	: Mercer University Press
Total Pages	: 584
Release	: 2007
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 9780881460834

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This volume brings together, for the first time, a broad range of scholars from Mormon and other Christian traditions. Replacing polemics and apologetics with dialogue, these exchanges show how the full spectrum of contemporary theologies can be informed by uniquely Mormon ideas, and correlatively, how Mormon thought can be illuminated through the study of key ideas of the foremost theologians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Neither Yavne nor Antioch

by Joel Heller

Author	: Joel Heller
Publisher	: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages	: 139
Release	: 2022-01-27
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1666790389

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When Rome flattened Judea in the late first and early second centuries of the Common Era, Rabbinic Judaism regrouped and reorganized at the Academy in Yavne, Greek-speaking, gentile proto-orthodox Christianity headquartered in Antioch, Syria, and the Nazareans, the original, Jewish and "God-fearer," Hebraically minded "Followers of the Way," escaped to Pella. Rejected by both the rabbis and the bishops, the Nazareans have often had to go underground, but they have never gone extinct. They have resurfaced from time to time throughout the succeeding two millennia. Now, at the beginning of the Third Great Awakening, in what some believe will be the last Reformation before the Second Coming, the Nazarean movement is experiencing a renaissance. Neither Yavne nor Antioch: Recovering Nazarean Judaism celebrates that new birth.