Foundational Concepts
As a starting point, there are some very foundational concepts that need to be addressed if we’re going to understand the worldview from which Jesus’ message and teaching comes. The books of the New Testament have been well transmitted to us over the millennia, but in the translation from East to West, we don’t know what some of the most important words mean—words that function as the foundation for the teachings that follow. Here are a few articles to help us get on the same page with the first followers of Jesus and those who wrote about what they understood of his message.
Furious Love
At the turn of the last century, G.K. Chesterton described God’s love as the “furious love of God.” Brennan Manning picked up on that description in his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. Why furious love? Seems oxymoronic to say the least. But it’s a good start toward...
talmidim
So how do we internalize and begin to really live this concept of God’s unconditional, perfect love? Again, Jesus and the tradition of his time holds the key. When we read “disciple” or “follower” in our New Testament versions, the Aramaic word behind the English...
kingdom
If someone asked you to sum up the teachings of Jesus, could you do it? If you were asked to name one key concept that encapsulated all of Jesus’ message, could you do that? The most important things in a person’s life are the things on which they spend the most time....
Law
The Law. Did you know that the Hebrew word torah, which was translated into the Greek as nomos (custom, law, convention) and then into English as law, really means instruction, guidance, or teaching? It is really the teaching or guidance of Moses, and not the law,...
scripture
If you’ve read the other articles in this section, you may be wondering how it is that we can legitimately move in some of the directions we’ve taken in terms of defining words such as Kingdom and Law and interpreting the basic concepts and message of Jesus. You may...
