bible college papers: heresies, leaders, and rapid church growth

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
                                    – George Santayana

While it’s not likely that Santayana and I hold the same religious beliefs, his ideas about history do resonate with me. In my pursuit of my degree in Church Ministries from Global University, I am taking a history class called The Church: Pentecost to the Reformation. It is a really cool class that dives into what happened after the Apostles founded the church all the way up to the Protestant Reformation.

While many of you reading this right now may not be big history buffs, it’s still important to recognize that we must learn from our history. And in the church there are lots of issues that we experience today that many who have gone before us have already dealt with.

The essays and perspectives that I’m sharing here are part of an assignment that I’m doing for the class, and they are not intended to be complete, in-depth studies on the people and ideas that I am presenting. In this assignment I have the opportunity to share three short summaries:

• Six Prominent Heresies
• Seven Major Christian Leaders
• Rapid Growth of Christianity

I’d love to have some more in-depth discussions on some of these people and ideas, so please feel free to give these essays a look and let me know what other ideas and/or questions you have.

bible interpretation: canon essays

A while ago I offered the opportunity to take a Bible Interpretation class online (for audit) that I am teaching with Sarasota Bible College. In this class the students are tasked with writing a series of short essays on various topics starting with a couple on the topic of the Biblical canon.

In case you are not familiar with this terminology, what I mean by canon is the standard or rule that writings are measured against for inclusion in what we refer to as the inspired Word of God (commonly known as “the Bible”). In order to be included in the Bible, writings had to live up to some pretty strict standards. And needless to say, there has always been some controversy over what should and should not be included.

The class had the opportunity to explore some of the topics that we discussed, and here are some of their essays…

Non-Canonical Old Testament Writings (Apocrypha)

• Anita G. – 2 Maccabees
• Nancy K. – Apocryphal Writings
• Tonya S. – The Prayer of Manasseh

Non-Canonical New Testament Writings

• Anita G. – The Didache
• Justin G. – The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary

The Dead Sea Scrolls

• Mary D. – The Dead Sea Scrolls
• Tonya S. – The Dead Sea Scrolls
• Justin G. – The Dead Sea Scrolls

Please visit the blogs where some of the students are sharing their essays, and feel free to comment on their ideas. I am hoping that many of you will join in these conversations so that the students can continue to sharpen their ideas around these topics.

Next up will be a series of essays that discuss the value (or lack thereof) of some of the modern English translations of the Bible, and then in the coming weeks we will be sharing some actual Scriptural studies and interpretation. So please stay tuned for more!