Paul’s Missionary Journey Essay

The Apostle Paul was the great leader in the momentous transition which characterized the apostolic age, the transition from a prevailingly Jewish to a prevailingly gentile Christianity. Under his guidance Christianity was saved from atrophy’ and death, which threatened it if it remained confined in Palestine. At the same time, by reason of his insight into the truth of the Gospel and fidelity to it, as well as by his devotion to the Old Testament and loyalty to the highest Jewish ideals in which he had been reared, he saved Christianity from the moral and religious degeneracy to which it would surely have been brought if it had broken with its past, and had tried to stand alone and helpless amid the whirl of Greek religious movements of the first and second Christian centuries. In Paul a great force of onward movement and a profound and conscious radicalism were combined with fundamentally conservative principles. Paul appears to have been born at not far from the same time as Jesus Christ. According to Acts, Paul was born in Tarsus (Acts 9:11; etc. ), received the double name Saul/Paul (13:9), and through his family possessed Tarsian and Roman citizenship (22:25-29 (Murphy-O’Connor 32-33). Overall, Paul can be described as an able and thoroughly trained Jew, who had gained from his residence in a Greek city that degree of Greek education which complete familiarity with the Greek language and the habitual use of the Greek translation of the Scriptures could bring. At bottom he ever remained the Jew, in his feelings, his background of ideas, and his mode of thought, but he knew how to make tolerably intelligible to Greek readers the truths in which, as lie came to believe, lay the satisfaction of their deepest needs. At Jerusalem Paul entered ardently into the pursuit of the Pharisaic ideal of complete conformity in every particular to the Law. He was, he tells us, â€Å"found blameless† (to every eye but that of his own conscience), and, he says, â€Å"I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers†. With fiery passion he entered into the persecution of the Christian sect, was present and took a kind of part at the murder of Stephen, and undertook to carry on the work of suppression outside of Palestine at Damascus, whither he journeyed for this purpose with letters of introduction from the authorities at Jerusalem (Murphy-O’Connor 52-57). At this time took place his conversion. That he was converted, and at or near Damascus, his own words leave no doubt. â€Å"I persecuted,† he says in writing to the Galatians, â€Å"the Church of God. . . But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus† (Gal i. 13-17). The change evidently presented itself to Paul’s mind as a direct divine interposition in his life. It came to him in a revelation of Jesus Christ, whereby (and through no human intermediary) he received the Gospel which he preached, and the commission to be an apostle. He refers to it as to a single event and an absolute change of direction, not a gradual process and development; the two parts of his life stood sharply contrasted, he did not conceive that he had slid by imperceptible stages from one to the other. â€Å"What things [i. e. his advantages of birth and Jewish attainment] were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ . . . or whom I suffered† — as if in a single moment —†the loss of all things† (Phil. iii. 7. 8). From Paul’s own words, then, we know that he was converted from a persecutor to a Christian, at a definite time and at or near Damascus, by what he considered to be the direct interposition of God; and it seems to be this experience of which he thought as a vision of the risen Christ (Hubbard 176-77). After Paul’s conversion, which took place in the latter part of the reign of Tiberius (14-37 a. d. ), about fifteen years passed before the missionary career began of which we have knowledge from Acts and from Paul’s own epistles. During this time Paul was first in Arabia, that is in some part of the empire of which Damascus was the most famous city, then in Damascus, and later, after a brief visit to Jerusalem, in Cilicia, doubtless at his old home Tarsus. In this period we may suppose that he was adjusting his whole system of thought to the new centre which had established itself in his mind, the Messiahship of Jesus. With the new basis in mind every part of his intellectual world must have been thought through. Especially, we may believe, will he have studied the relation of Christian faith to the old dispensation and to the ideas of the prophets. The fruit of these years we have in the matured thought of the epistles. They show a steadiness of view and a readiness of resource in the use of the Old Testament, which testify to through work in the time of preparation. Epistles written years apart, like Galatians, Romans and Philippians, surprise us by their uniformity of thought and unstrained similarity of language, in spite of the richness and vivacity of Paul’s thought and style. So, for the most part, the characteristic ideas even of Epliesians and Colossians are found suggested in germ in Corinthians and the earlier epistles. Paul’s epistles represent the literary flowering of a mind prepared by years of study and reflection (Murphy-O’Connor 90-95). At Paul’s missionary journey and the beginning then made of churches in Asia Minor we have already looked in a previous chapter. After his return to Antioch followed that great and pivotal occasion of early Christian history, the so-called Council, or Conference, at Jerusalem, described in the fifteenth chapter of Acts and by Paul in the second chapter of Galatians. At that time Paul established his right to carry on the work of Christian missions in accordance with his own principles and his own understanding of the Christian religion. His relation with the Twelve Apostles seems then and at all times to have been cordial. His difficulties came from others in the Jewish Church. To this we know of only one exception, apparently somewhat later than the Conference, the occasion at Antioch when Peter under pressure from Jerusalem withdrew from fellowship with the gentile brethren, and called out from Paul the severe rebuke of which we read in Galatians. There is reason to believe that the rebuke accomplished its purpose. At any rate, at a later time there is no evidence of a continued breach. The idea of missionary travel had evidently taken possession of Paul, for after returning from Jerusalem to Antioch he soon started out again, and was incessantly occupied with missionary work from now until the moment of his arrest at Jerusalem. Leaving Antioch on his second journey he and his companions hurried across Asia Minor, stopping only, it would appear, to revisit and inspect churches previously established. They were led by the Holy Spirit, as the writer of Acts believed, to direct their course westward as rapidly as possible to Greece, which was to be the next stage in the path to the capital of the world. In Macedonia and Achaia Paul and his companions worked with varying success at Philippi, Thessalonica, Ber? a, Athens, Corinth. At Corinth, the chief commercial city of Greece, the Christians arrived in the late autumn. The work opened well, and Paul remained at that important centre until a year from the following spring. The date of his arrival cannot be exactly determined, but is probably one of the five years between 49 and 53 a. d. While at Corinth he wrote the First and (if it is genuine) the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. Somewhere about this time, perhaps before leaving Antioch for this journey, the Epistle to the Galatians was written. The churches of Galatia, to which it is addressed, were probably the churches known to us in Acts as Pisithan Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. After a flying trip to Syria and perhaps to Jerusalem Paul returned to Ephesus in Asia Minor, where he settled down for a stay of three years. A few incidents of this period have been recorded in the Book of Acts, and are among the most striking and realistic that we have. They include a remarkable number of points of contact with facts known to us from archeological discoveries, and in no chapters of Acts is our confidence more fully reassured in the contemporary knowledge and the trustworthiness of the writer of the book. While at Ephesus Paul had much communication with Corinth, and wrote I Corinthians, which had clearly been preceded by another letter. There are indications in II Corinthians that after this he found the difficulties in the church at Corinth such that he wrote them at least one letter which has been lost, and made a short, and in its outcome exceedingly painful, trip to Corinth and back to Ephesus. Finally he was impelled by danger to his life to leave Ephesus, and went through Macedonia to Corinth. On the way he wrote, to prepare for his own presence, the epistle we call II Corinthians. Arriving at Corinth in the early winter he stayed until spring. His literary impulse continued active, and to this winter we owe the Epistle to the Romans. Earlier letters had been’ called out by special need in one or another church; in Romans Paul comes nearer to a systematic exposition of his theology than in any of his earlier writings. He knew the importance that would surely belong to the Christian Church of Rome. He had made up his mind to go there. But first he must go to Jerusalem, and there were dangers both from the risks of travel and from hostile men. Of each hind his life had had many examples. Accordingly he provided for the Roman Christians a clear statement of his main position, together with a reply to several of the chief objections brought against it, notably the allegations that his presentation of Christianity involves the abrogation of God’s promises to his chosen people, and that it opened the way to moral laxity. This letter Paul sent as an earnest of his own visit to Rome. He had been for a year or more supervising the collection by the churches of Asia Minor and Europe of a contribution for the poor Christians at Jerusalem; the gentile churches should thus make a repayment in carnal things to those who had made them to be partakers of their spiritual things. This contribution was now ready, and Paul himself with a group of representatives of the chief churches took ship at Philippi and Troas for Jerusalem. The voyage is narrated in detail in Acts, evidently by one who was a member of the company. At last Paul reached Jerusalem, and was well received by the church; but, followed as he was by the hatred of Jews from the Dispersion who had recognized the menace to the Jewish religion proceeding from the new sect, he was set upon by a mob, rescued only by being taken in custody by the Roman authorities, and after a series of exciting adventures which will be found admirably told in the Book of Acts, was brought to C`sarea. There he stayed a prisoner for two years and more until on the occasion of a change of Roman Governor his case was brought up for trial, when he exercised the right of a Roman citizen to appeal from the jurisdiction of the Governor to that of the imperial court at Rome. It was late autumn, but he was dispatched with a companion whom we may well believe to be Luke the beloved physician, and from whom our account certainly comes. The narrative of Paul’s voyage and shipwreck, of the winter on the island of Malta, and the final arrival at Rome early in one of the years between 58 and 62 a. d. is familiar. It is the most important document that antiquity has left us for an understanding of the mode of working an ancient ship, while the picture which it gives of Paul as a practical man is a delightful supplement to our other knowledge of him(Murphy-O’Connor 324). In Rome, while under guard awaiting trial, Paul probably wrote Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and the circular letter, seemingly intended for churches in Asia Minor, known to us as Ephesians. They show some new development of ideas long present with him, and some new thoughts to which his other writings give no parallel, and the style of some of them has changed a bit from the freshness of Galatians and Romans; but these are not sufficient reasons for denying that Paul wrote the letters. They are, indeed, as it seems to me, beyond reasonable doubt genuine. The Book of Acts ends with the words, â€Å"And he [Paul] abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him. † This period of two years is sufficient to include the composition of the four epistles to which reference has just been made, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Epliesians, the so-called Epistles of the Captivity. What happened at the expiration of the period? Apparently Paul’s case, long postponed, then came to trial. Did it result in his release or his execution? The evidence is meager and conflicting, and opinions differ. It is perhaps a little more likely that he was released, and entered on further missionary work, probably carrying out his original purpose of pushing on with the proclamation of his Gospel to the west, and establishing it in Spain; but of this period there is no narrative. If after two years Paul’s imprisonment at Rome ended with his release, as the absence of well-founded charges against him would lead us to expect, he must have been later again apprehended, probably in connection with the persecution artfully turned against the Christians at the time of Nero’s fire in July of the year 64. It is probable that he was beheaded, to which privilege his Roman citizenship entitled him, and that he was ultimately buried on the Ostian Way at the spot where now stands the splendid basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Case Netflix PR Box flop Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Netflix PR Box flop - Case Study Example Moreover, the video did well in the graphics, setting, lighting, and clarity, and recognizing the significance of the customers at Netflix, Inc (An explanation and some reflections 2011). From a customer perspective, the recently announced changes would upset a Netflix subscriber because the changes lead to an increase in prices with no guarantee to quality. Moreover, the separation of DVD and streaming did not involve customers’ views (Sandoval 2012, p. 1). Prior to the new changes, Netflix offered value to its customers in the entertainment rental industry. That value related to steady supply of internet services, timely and detailed communication, a simple-to-use Web site that delivered DVDs right to the customers’ doorstep at no late fees (Sandoval 2012, p. 1). In developing a communication, Netflix management should consider different stakeholders, which include shareholders and customers. Such a communication will affect the share price and share value in the stock market. On the other hand, the communication will influence the customers’ choice to subscribe to Netflix. It will also influence the customers’ purchasing power. Ideally, Netflix should handle the negative situation with the â€Å"@Qwikster† Twitter handle by apologizing to Netflix twitter followers, address the negativity by devising efficient measures, and responding to the negative tweets in an informed and respectable manner. It can also hire a PR consultant to advice on the best ways of addressing the online negativity. Furthermore, Netflix management might consider other business actions like seeking for professional advice on business operations, organizational change, and customer relations. The company can also engage in positive online and broadcast advertisement. Sandoval, G 2012, Netflixs lost year: The inside story of the price-hike train wreck, retrieved

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Auditing - Essay Example As the financial statements are the representation of management, it becomes very important to maintain the reliability and authenticity of these statements in order to avoid fraudulent activities in their preparation. The auditors have the responsibility of expressing their views related to the maintenance of fairness by the management. They are authorized with the responsibility of assessing the financial statements for testing the fairness and transparency of the information available in those statements. They collect evidences for assuring the fact that figures which are mentioned in the information does not involve material misstatement. The credibility of the financial statements is increased through the audit process conducted by the auditors. The report provided by the auditors has high influence on the decision making of bankers, creditors, investors or other stakeholders. Issues affecting the credibility of auditors and increasing the need of their rotation The present econ omy is struggling to recover from the turbulent period that is filled with various corporate scandals and also lacks investor confidence. Nowadays, greater emphasis is laid on the improvement of transparency, credibility, accountability and trust related to the information available in the financial statements. ... The major question which arises is that whether these types of activities affect the real performance of the auditors. In reality, it actually affects the auditor’s performances and reduces the accuracy or authenticity of the information available in their reports (Cooper and Neu, 2006). The auditors change the figures in the financial statements for earning high incentives. This has turned out to be one of the most highlighted issues that require immediate attention. Real evidences of material misstatements increasing the need of rotation of the auditors 1. In 2003, HealthSouth Corporation was accused by SEC for violating the civil law (Turner and The Staff of Vault, 2005). According to SEC, the chairman of the company Mr. Richard M. Scrushy has inflated the actual earnings of the company by an amount of $1.4 billion by 1999. SEC states that this fraudulent activity has been done in order to satisfy Wall Street’s demands and expectations. HealthSouth Corporation has ma nipulated the actual figures in the financial statement for satisfying its stakeholders by hiding the real performance. Scrushy along with Don Siegleman (the previous Alabama Governor) have been accused for a series of activities, such as racketeering, bribery, laundering and various other illegal activities. There were other executives involved in the criminal activity of displaying fake company earnings in the financial statement in order to increase its reputation. SEC has reported after detailed analysis that the real earnings of HealthSouth Corporation fell short of Wall Street analyst’s expectations. Thus, the ultimate solution found by Scrushy and his team was fixing the difference amount by overstating the profit figure. Frieswick (2003) argued that there were

How can a city government grow without increasing taxes on its Essay

How can a city government grow without increasing taxes on its citizens - Essay Example amous for their employment opportunities, relatively inexpensive and affordable housing, top quality system of public education, and many places for recreation and entertainment that people of different ages, occupations and cultural and religious backgrounds find attractive. I think these factors are very important in helping cities grow without increasing taxes on their citizens at the same time. The determining factor, in my opinion, is employment opportunities. The local governments of cities north of Dallas have done a great job developing partnerships, and attracting many businesses into the area. They provided opportunities and benefits to big corporations to open their corporate offices north of Dallas. This have brought increased revenue to the cities and attracted increased numbers of people searching for jobs into the area. With new jobs came new places of entertainment, such as restaurants, bars, clubs, and shopping centers, providing additional income to the city. People started moving into those cities. For example, the population of Frisco has tripled in 1990s, and continues to grow drastically in the 21st century. The city of Frisco has invested money in developing infrastructure to make the life comfortable. In the next three years, it is planned that the city will spend 61.2 million dollars into tollways, highways, and roads within the city limits. Top quality public education has served as one of the advantageous factors attracting thousands of people into the area. People who could not afford private education, but were looking for quality education for their children, found that in Frisco. Overall, I think it is a combination of factors, plus a good city leadership can take any city to another level of development. The leadership that plans ahead, and sets a vision not only for today, but also for generations to come, has a higher change of creating a place that is attractive and keeps

Jeffersonian Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jeffersonian Era - Essay Example Jefferson argued that the Court was a creation of the Constitution and to give it the power of judicial review would make "its discretion and not the Constitution the measure of its powers." He argued that when the federal government assumed a power not granted to it by the Constitution, each state, as a party to the constitutional compact, had a right to declare the law unconstitutional (see State Sovereignty and States' Rights). He also believed that each branch of the federal government had a coordinate right to resolve questions of constitutionality," ("Thomas Jefferson", p.1). This act taken, with the assistance of fellow politician James Madison, would serve to show Jefferson's view on judicial law, as well as the rights of states. The notion of the states being able to declare a law unconstitutional, if the federal government creates it through such means as assuming power not held within the Constitution, reaches into present day governing in the sense of the 'checks and balances system,' that exists in the present structure of the political system in all facets. Keeping with the notion that all branches of government is on equal footing and as such have the opportunity to answer issues having to do with how a decision, or decisions, fall into the overall framework of the constitutional document itself. As President, "The President's greatest triumph - and his greatest defeat - came in foreign affairs. Spain's cession of Louisiana and the port of New Orleans to France in 1800 posed a serious threat to American security, especially to the aspirations of the West. Jefferson skillfully negotiated this crisis. With the Louisiana Purchase (1803), America gained an uncharted domain of some 800,000 square miles, doubling its size, for $11,250,000. Even before the treaty was signed, Jefferson planned an expedition to explore this country. The Lewis and Clark expedition, like the Louisiana Purchase, was a spectacular consummation of Jefferson's western vision," ("Thomas Jefferson", p.1). With international relations being a pillar of any President's ability to govern skillfully, the acquisition of the Louisiana territory would bode well for Jefferson in this regard. In the current landscape of political campaigning and governance, current politicians promise numerous things. One of those such promises are that of the reduction in taxes for certain portions of the individual citizenry. As a way to revamp the tax system of the time, "When Thomas Jefferson was elected President in 1802, direct taxes were abolished and for the next 10 years there were no internal revenue taxes other than excises," ("Fact Sheets: Taxes", p.1). As taxes are the means of paying for necessary governmental services, there would be other options taken in response to the extraction of internal revenue taxes. Those being, "To raise money for the War of 1812, Congress imposed additional excise taxes, raised certain customs duties, and raised money by issuing Treasury notes. In 1817 Congress repealed these taxes, and for the next 44 years the Federal

Television effects on Children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Television effects on Children - Research Paper Example The essay discusses the effects of television on children in today’s society. Media greatly influences the character of many children. That is why most children chose the rock stars as their role model. Their way of dressing and character gives an affirmation to this. Research shows that children spend three to five hours watching television (Pressley 12). Television has both negative and positive effects on children. It educates, open their minds to new ideas, enable them to learn more about their culture as well as other people’s culture, it also gives them the chance to learn more about wildlife and the world that is other continents and planets lastly, it entertains (Datta 118). The positive effects only apply if the child chooses the right programme. On the other hand, television can be very detrimental on children. For instances, many movies show that one can achieve goals in life easily. This is to say that, television will display how ordinary people do extraord inary things to achieve a certain level of success for instance, engaging in theft. By so doing, children inherit this believes and presume how the school curriculum is wasting their productive time (Pressley 14). Because of this, children become violet and engage in theft activities to attain certain status in life. In addition, television creates stereotypes about life (Datta 117). For instance, men are portrayed to be wealthy and handsome while women are young and attractive. This makes them to assume that the society is supposed to be in that order. Because of that, many children have tried to achieve this level of life in the wrong way for instance theft as stated above and prostitution. As a child grows, television affects their health, weight, and sleeping hours. As children spend more time in front of television, screens they do not engage in physical activities. Sleep is also important for a growing child, lack of enough sleep results to fatigue (Voort 32). This makes the c hild to lose concentration in class affecting his or her performance. Recent research shows that the number of obese children in United States of American has doubled compared to the other years (Pressley 17). The main cause of this is many hours that the children spend on television screens. Television affects the social life of a child. A child may prefer to watch a certain programme instead of playing with other children. This also applies in the family where the child does not have time with the parents because of the television. Social interaction is an important aspect for a child’s development (Voort 32). Research has shown that about 85 percent of the children who are obese are vulnerable to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and heart problems (Pressley 15). This is to say that diabetes increases the risk of getting chronic diseases. The increase in obese children results to increase in obese adults this reduces their life span. The radical f rom the society lowers their self-esteem (Voort 32). This makes them not to feel accepted by the members of the society. To curb this parents are supposed to limit hours that children spend on the television and encourage their children to engage in physical activities. The other negative effect of television is that it encourages aggressive behaviors among the children. The aggressive behavi

Strategic leadership2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic leadership2 - Essay Example 91). This paper will look at the extent Wal-Mart’s failure or success was due to poor or excellent management or to environmental factors. In the business world, price and product are constituents of the 4Ps of marketing. The deliberate pricing of a product or service is an essential part of a process of business building that its significance cannot be over emphasized (Steger 2010, p. 53). This is because the cost of a commodity or service may make or break a business, so it should be carefully examined (Emiliani 2008, p. 71). Wal-Mart have acquired and maintained their leadership position in the sector largely due to their exclusive pricing strategy. Wal-Mart established a distinctive pricing technique that differentiated it from its competitors and gave it a competitive advantage over rivals. Over the last decade, Wal-Mart has developed into the globe’s leading and possibly most commanding retailer with utmost sales and operating earnings of all discount retailers (M ullen & Stumpf 1992, p. 42). The organization owes its growth from regional retailer to international powerhouse chiefly to adequate and changes in management. Wal-Mart has been largely successful in most parts of the world, and this has been attributed to both proper management and environmental factors. In areas where it has failed, for example, Europe and Asia, it has been largely due to environmental factors. Wal-Mart started with the objective of providing clients with the commodities and services they required where and when they needed them (Adair 2003, p. 51). This strategy was referred to as outside-in thinking, where the organization’s philosophy and approach put the interest of the client before the capabilities of the organization (Peng 2008, p. 49). In addition, the management of Wal-Mart under Sam Walton, employed homespun business knowledge and folksy charm with progressive supply-chain and information technology management to establish the globe’s most sufficient retail company (Walton 2009, p. 553). The organization’s management concentrated on establishing cost structures that permitted Wal-Mart to provide low daily pricing. Wal-Mart’s management also focused on creating a more advanced and highly structured management plan to enhance and exploit the competitive advantage it was experiencing. Under the leadership of one of the chief executive officer, Lee Scott, Wal-Mart embraced environmental and social responsibility (Hill 2010, p. 31). As the organization enlarged in its variety of services and goods, for example, health clinics, groceries, financial services, fashion clothing, online prescription drugs, and music downloads, it was compelled to puts the interest of the client before the capacities of the organization (Merritt 2008, p. 63). Therefore, Wal-Mart’s management took this opportunity to utilize the large size with rapid responsiveness and speed towards customers (Sanders 1998, p. 67). Moreover, to offer a wide variety of commodities, Wal-Mart’s senior managers, Bud and Sam started promoting their individual discount store idea. During this period, discount stores were only found in large towns (Bradley 2005, p. 53). Sam Walton argued that if the prices were favourable, Wal-Mart’s discount stores could be of tremendous help for clients in