This had definitely got to be among my favorite series on the history of the Early Church. I especially appreciate the way he makes it hard to lose a sense for the bigger picture. It also is easy to pay attention to. Great stuff Dr. Reeves!

This all takes me back to when I did my theology degree at university. Historical theology is one of my favourite areas. These lectures are nicely put together and help to brush the "rust" off my once acquired knowledge. Thank you for posting.

Raise Up a Prophet. Deuteronomy 18:18 Jesus was prophesied by God when speaking to Moses at Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” How was this promised prophet “like unto” Moses? Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness: Matt. 4:2, Luke 4:2; Luke 22:20 Moses fasted 40 days: Exodus 34:28 God established the [old] covenant through Moses, and promised a new covenant at Jeremiah 31:31 God established the “new covenant” through Jesus. Matt 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:15 Peter identifies this ‘prophet’ that God would ‘raise up’ as Jesus, in Acts 3:22,23. So we see that Jesus is like unto Moses. Now we examine the rest of Deut 18:18: … “I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak all that I COMMAND him.” Jesus confirms those words: John 12:49,50: “For I spake not from myself; but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life eternal: the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak” John 5:30: “I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” John 14:31: but in order for the world to know that I love the Father, even as the Father has given me commandment [to do], so I am doing. Get up, let us go from here. Isn’t it amazing that a prophecy given at the time of Moses is fulfilled by the coming of Jesus!!!

@priscillajervey6134

7 жыл бұрын

Fergus Odonnell You clarified you position well, supporting it with clear not vague spiritual verses

Well said Professor)

Is able for a virgin woman to give birth to her first child using vitro fertilization

Before I say what I have to say I just want to compliment your videos. It is nice to see how other people think. However when I see all this arguing over the minutiae of God's nature I can not help but think "This is like watching fanboys debate the nature and power of Superman." It never dawns on them that the simple answer is the reason why this stuff does not line up consistently is not because God is mysterious, it is the same reason that Superman's powers don't line up perfectly. It is because these are just stories written by different authors who had different expectations for Jesus and were more interested in creating a compeling story than maintaining consistency.

@RyanReevesM

8 жыл бұрын

+TC Coltharp // Hey TC. Thanks for the comment about liking the videos and the comment. I agree that often the general tone of these centuries can turn us away. I always stress, though, that often what is turning us off is we are not familiar with the way they approached the subject, so it all feels like a moshpit of random philosophies. The historian in me wants to say, 'if we understand WHY they argue a point then we can still not always like the fight but at least understand the issue.' I also tend to find that modern Christians, too, debate similar things about who Jesus was, though in language that we find natural. People today try to psychologize their reading of Jesus, for example. These debates may be just as abstract, but it at least points to the fact that it's a human tendency to ask lots of hard questions about the Bible.

@tcironbear21

8 жыл бұрын

+Ryan Reeves These disagreements to me are just proof to me that the Christian knowledge of "God" is flawed and likely not true.. The fact that God left a message that could be misinterperted and lead to schism (and thus religious conflict) points to God not being infallible. I personally could live with that. That God is many multiples wiser and smarter than me. That the purpose of haphazard appearance of the Bible was the attempt of near perfect (but not truly perfect being) trying to get people to forever examine their beliefs and grow wiser. To realize there is no best answer, just better answers. But if God is infalliable, that means he intended that the schism and trouble to happen. That could still be a reasonable God concept, but you combine in with the narrow & mercenary reward system (believe correctly or burn) and it is clear that God is not moral, just a being that thinks it is right, when it actually just has might. He is making people run a minefield of damnation in which only some of us will make it to safety. And the sick thing is that if he omniscent, that means he knows which one us were going to fail from the start. Then there the final refuge of the a Christian God that makes sense, He is lying about the route of salvation, and just wanting to see how we would behave. Will we fall into hubris or cronyism, as we flatter and praise our Creator in hopes of eternal reward or at least manipulate him into short term temperal rewards like finding keys or not dying from cancern? Or will we trying to move beyond that. At that point I just have to give up on the Christian God concept. I am now playing a guessing game with a being which according to his PR is much smarter than me. But again, the history in the videos is great. One can learn a lot with minimal effort.

Jesus was just a man. I have learned over the decades studying early Christian history, how we as men can invent a God. Still lectures are extremely informative and Dr. Reeves has done a wonderful job in presentation.

So the Orthodox didn't believed that Holy Spirit is one of the person of God.Herassy,what a herassy!

@BackToOrthodoxy

7 жыл бұрын

randolfdan lumanas Huh?

I am convinced that Arius was right. Jesus was just a man who's inner light was called the Word of God. He achieved repentance and pursued the will of God to the negligence of everything else. He was rewarded by God for His commitment to the will of God and was elevated spiritually. Another way to put it is that Jesus got promoted to Lord and Savior by God the Father in the spirit. Jesus was not born with the designation 'Son of God'. He earned that rank through prayer and meditation in the spirit by seeking righteousness and following the way of the Lord. Jesus was a man who followed the way of the Lord till He actually made it to the Lord in the spirit. And He was rewarded for it.

@RyanReevesM

7 жыл бұрын

Problem is that's not Arius' position, and not even close to his position. Arius' comments are only on the divinity of Christ and that he was a created divine being (not fully God as the Father is). All you've described here is the Adoptionist view of Jesus, which a few people held to in the 2nd century but which never carried much weight in actual historical influence. You've also meshed this with the typical Enlightenment view of Jesus as a highly moral man who was rewarded for his actions (sort of a theological Rambo).

@justingroves6858

7 жыл бұрын

Well I do agree with Arius in the sense that Jesus is a creature. Maybe that is the starting point/foundation for the rest of my view of Christ that He was a righteous man who lived for the way of the Lord.

@BackToOrthodoxy

7 жыл бұрын

Justin Groves Why do you believe that?

@justingroves6858

7 жыл бұрын

Maybe Arius wasn't quite right in his doctrine. Jesus was clearly something special and he was no ordinary man. However, Marcion was definitely wrong lol.

@aristotle358

7 жыл бұрын

Heretic! :-)