Uma visão cristã de mundo para o século 21

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/uma-visao-crista-de-mundo-para-o-seculo-21/
Uma compilação

Uma visão cristã de mundo não é apenas a expressão da fé pessoal de alguém, ou apenas uma teoria. Tem a ver com uma maneira de vida que a tudo compreende e se aplica a todas esferas da vida.

No livro The Christian View of God and the World (A visão cristã de DEUS e do Mundo) James Orr defende que o cristão tem uma maneira própria de ver as coisas, com um caráter, coerência e unidade próprias, a qual contrasta com as teorias e especulações populares. A visão de mundo do cristão conta com a chancela da razão e da realidade e é aprovada nos testes da história e da experiência. Ela não pode ser violada, aceita ou rejeitada aos poucos, sustenta-se ou vai ao chão na sua íntegra. Uma abordagem de tal forma holística oferece uma estabilidade de pensamento, uma unidade de percepção ampla que não se limita à esfera religiosa, mas compreende a totalidade do pensamento. Uma visão de mundo cristã não se edifica sobre dois tipos de verdade (religiosa e filosófica ou científica), mas sobre um princípio universal e um sistema global que dá forma à religião, as ciências naturais e sociais, à lei, à história, ao cuidado com a saúde, às artes, às ciências humanas e todas as disciplinas de estudo, com aplicação para toda a vida.

Os seguidores de Jesus devem construir uma visão de mundo cristã para o século 21, que contemple todos os seus desafios e mudanças, para mostrar como o pensamento cristão se aplica a todas as áreas da vida.

Uma visão cristã de mundo se torna uma força motriz na vida, dando-nos um entendimento do plano e propósito de Deus para este mundo. Nossa identidade é baseada por esta visão de mundo. Não nos vemos mais como pecadores alienados. Uma visão cristã de mundo não é escapismo, mas uma motivação energizadora de uma maneira de pensar e viver fundamentada nos preceitos divinos e na fé. Ela também nos dá confiança e esperança para o futuro. Em meio aos desafios e lutas da vida, uma visão cristã de mundo ajuda a estabilizar a vida, ancora-nos à fidelidade e constância de Deus. — David Dockery

*

Todos seremos esquecidos, nada que façamos não fará nenhuma diferença e todos os nossos bons esforços, inclusive os melhores, não darão em nada, a menos que Deus exista. Se o Deus da Bíblia existe, se há uma realidade subjacente a esta, e se esta vida não é a única, então todo bom esforço, inclusive os mais simples, empreendidos em resposta ao chamado de Deus, podem ter importância eterna. — Timothy Keller

*

O cristianismo bíblico […] oferece as duas condições necessárias a uma vida relevante, valiosa e cheia de propósito: Deus e imortalidade. Por isso, podemos ter coerência e felicidade na vida, em um contexto definido pela nossa visão de mundo. Dessa forma, o cristianismo bíblico vence justamente onde o ateísmo fracassa… Portanto, crer na existência de Deus faz toda a diferença. — William Lane Craig

*

O cristão jamais será feito cativo pela miríade de visões de mundo que competem pela nossa atenção nem nos esquivaremos de fazer a voz cristã ser ouvida e considerada acima de toda a confusão. — James Emery White


A resposta cristã

Os atuais ambientes cultural, social, intelectual, secular e moral, fundidos com os questionamentos, ceticismo e rejeição dos padrões e valores aceitos por anos, provocaram em muitos uma mudança fundamental de valores, ética, visão de mundo, relacionamento com as autoridades e interação com outras pessoas. Para muitos, ficou bem mais difícil saber no que se pode confiar. Embora para algumas pessoas, as condições do mundo e da sociedade possam levá-las à mensagem do Evangelho, para outras esse ambiente faz com que seja difícil se identificarem com o Evangelho, e ainda mais acreditar nele ou aceitá-lo.

Isso representa vários desafios para os que assumiram o compromisso de difundir o Evangelho, a começar pelo fato de sermos chamados para levar uma mensagem sobre um homem que viveu, morreu e ressuscitou há 2 mil anos — afirmando que é a mensagem mais importante que existe. Portanto, é essencial que o cristão engajado na missão encontre formas inovadoras e criativas para expressar e transmitir a mensagem atemporal do amor de Deus, para falar com as pessoas de hoje. Não há dúvida que os cristãos do passado também enfrentaram desafios, mas o mundo de hoje é o nosso desafio.

Nosso desafio é apresentar Jesus de uma maneira que faça sentido para as pessoas com as quais interagimos, especialmente quando, ao menos no ocidente, muitos não cristãos adotam valores que fazem com que o cristianismo pareça ser irrelevante em suas vidas e visões de mundo. Parece que em algumas regiões, onde o cristianismo está crescendo, é mais fácil difundir o Evangelho já que as pessoas estão mais propensas a acreditar em questões espirituais, especialmente as que vivem em países nos quais há mais evidência do poder espiritual, geralmente apresentado na forma de espíritos maus e suas obras. Em países ditos mais sofisticados falar de Deus pode ser difícil; de Jesus, muito mais. Isso se deve ao secularismo, ao materialismo e ao intelectualismo que se generalizaram para substituir a fé em Deus e o tornaram irrelevante em seu sistema de crença. Logicamente, os cristãos que vivem em países que não possuem uma herança ou cultura cristã, tais como os do Oriente ou Oriente Médio, enfrentam outros desafios para tornar a mensagem pertinente.

Os cristãos têm a tarefa de transmitir as boas novas, o Evangelho, a mensagem de amor e salvação de Deus para o mundo de hoje. Para que isso seja feito de forma apropriada é preciso entender as mudanças fundamentais sofridas pela sociedade, as quais afetaram a visão de mundo das pessoas, seus valores e percepção do cristianismo. Reconhecer que essas mudanças são profundas e geram temores, inseguranças e também ceticismo pode nos ajudar a transmitir melhor a mensagem para as pessoas às quais fomos incumbidos de alcançar se identifiquem com ela.

Sabemos que o Evangelho é uma mensagem para o mundo de hoje, mas encontrar a maneira de alcançar os que ainda não foram atraídos por ela, ou que por algum motivo foram afastados por ela, representa um desafio sempre crescente. Ao longo dos últimos trinta anos, o mundo tem mudado muito e rapidamente. O secularismo permeou massivamente as esferas do pensamento e influencia com valores que promovem o interesse próprio, o materialismo e outros que, não apenas são incompatíveis com o cristianismo e com os valores tradicionais, mas os corroem.

Um dos desafios que nós, cristãos de hoje, temos é viver de forma que o Espírito Santo possa se refletir em nós para que as pessoas se sintam atraídas e intrigadas pela luz que veem em nós. Então, ao se aproximarem do calor da luz, conectam-se com Aquele que é a luz do mundo e que lhes dará a luz da vida. — Peter Amsterdam

*

Estamos nos dirigindo a uma ditadura do relativismo, que não reconhece nada como definitivo e tem seu mais alto valor no próprio ego e nos próprios apetites. Nós, pelo contrário, temos outro critério: o Filho de Deus, o verdadeiro homem. Ele é a medida do verdadeiro humanismo. Uma fé “adulta” não segue as ondas da moda e a última novidade. Além de adulta e madura é profundamente enraizada na amizade com Cristo. É essa amizade que se abre a tudo aquilo que é bom e que nos dá o critério para discernir entre o que é verdadeiro e o que é falso, entre engano e verdade. — Papa Bento XVI

*

Há muitas semelhanças entre a investigação de casos de homicídio e a defesa de uma visão de mundo cristã. Na condição de cristão, não aceito o conceito de cristianismo como uma fé cega, mas fundamento minha crença em algo que é razoável e pode ser avaliado com base em evidências. Como um jurado em um julgamento de homicídio, posso examinar as circunstâncias e cada peça de evidência. O caso é amplo e cumulativo. Há MUITOS itens de evidência que devem ser considerados e não podem ser analisados individualmente. A força da argumentação da visão cristã de mundo está na profundidade cumulativa das evidências. — J. Warner Wallace

*

Pensar de uma forma cristã é a maneira de os cristãos pensarem sobre tudo e qualquer coisa em harmonia com a maneira cristã de viver, a qual é formada, direcionada e restringida pela verdade da Palavra de Deus e do Espírito de Deus. — Os Guinness

Publicado em Âncora em janeiro de 2015.

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Jesus—His Life and Message: The Young Jesus

http://directors.tfionline.com/post/jesushis-life-and-message-young-jesus/
(You can read about the intent for and overview of this series in this introductory article.)

The past few articles covered the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. We now move on to the years between His birth and the start of His ministry.

The Gospels tell us about Mary and Joseph returning from Egypt and settling in Nazareth, and about an incident in the temple when Jesus was 12 years old. Beyond that, they say nothing more about Jesus’ life between His birth and His baptism when He was about 30 years old. In order to get a general picture of what Jesus’ early life might have been like, we can look at what is known about the culture and customs within Israel at that time. Since He grew up in a first-century Palestinian village, we can look at the available historical information about life in Israel at that time, and from there draw some informed conclusions about what His early life would have probably been like.

From Matthew’s gospel we learn that once King Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, directing him to take Mary and Jesus back to Israel. Upon returning and learning that Herod’s son Archelaus was ruling over Judea, Joseph was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth.1

The district of Galilee was the northernmost part of Israel, the province farthest from Jerusalem. With its fertile soil, abundant rain, and mild climate, it was one of the most productive agricultural areas of Israel. It was intensively worked for the export of wheat and olives, and also for wine. The Lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, provided bountiful fish which supported a dried fish industry.2 There was a Jewish saying, “If anyone wishes to be rich, let him go north; if he wants to be wise, let him come south.”3 While the intent of the saying was to express that wisdom was to be found in Jerusalem in the south, it also showed there were riches to be made in Galilee, the most prosperous province in the country. The wealth was unevenly distributed, however; alongside the few rich of the upper class, and the somewhat larger middle class which consisted of merchants and owners of their own shops or businesses, were the population’s lower class of tenant farmers and day laborers.

The Galilean people were looked down upon by their neighbors to the south. One author describes it as follows:

Galilee got little respect from the rest of the country. It was the farthest province from Jerusalem and the most backward culturally. Rabbinic literature of the time portrays Galileans as bumpkins, fodder for ethnic jokes. Galileans who learned Hebrew pronounced it so crudely that they were not called on to read the Torah in other synagogues. Speaking the common language of Aramaic in a slipshod way was a telltale sign of Galilean roots (as Simon Peter would one day find out, betrayed in the courtyard by his rural accent). The Aramaic words preserved in the Gospels show that Jesus, too, spoke in that northern dialect, no doubt encouraging skepticism about Him. “How can the Christ come from Galilee?”4


Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, was a small village of perhaps 200 people.5 It was about ten kilometers from the Via Maris, the main road which linked Damascus—an important center of Greco-Roman culture and a major trading center at the time—with the south of Israel and Egypt.6 About four kilometers to the north was the city of Sepphoris, a Hellenistic Greek-speaking town, which at the time of Jesus’ birth was being rebuilt. It’s thought that perhaps Joseph, Jesus’ father, may have done building work there.

Jesus most likely lived in Nazareth until He was about thirty years old. Growing up in Nazareth, His life would have been similar to that of other children in the village. Though no details are given in Scripture about this time in His life, looking at what village life in a Jewish home in the first century was like can give us an idea of His experience of childhood and youth.

Jesus was Mary’s first child. According to Jewish tradition of the time, she was probably about 14–15 years older than Jesus, and Joseph may have been up to 25 years older than his son. According to Scripture, Jesus had four younger brothers and at least two sisters. His brothers—James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon7—had the names of Jewish patriarchs, pointing to a family rooted in the Jewish faith. The names of His sisters are not mentioned in the Gospels.8 His father, Joseph, is traditionally considered to have been a carpenter, a worker in wood. The Greek word (tekton) translated as carpenter is also used to denote someone who works in stonemasonry, construction of houses, and other similar types of work.9

Jesus grew up in a typical Jewish home, so like all Jewish male children, His religious teaching in the first few years would have come from His mother. As He grew older, His father would begin to teach Him the Torah. Jesus would become familiar with the weekly Sabbath prayers and meal, and with the festivals, prayers, hymns, and ceremonies of the Jewish faith. As He grew up, He would attend synagogue services and listen to Scripture being read. He also would have memorized a great deal of Scripture.

It’s not known whether there was a synagogue school in Nazareth, which would have been where Jesus would have received formal schooling of some sort. However, the Gospels make it clear that Jesus was a learned man. It’s clear that He could read, as He read Scripture in the synagogue in Nazareth.10 He also engaged in debates with intellectual leaders, was called “Rabbi” (a title used in Jesus’ day to describe scholars and teachers of the Torah) and “teacher,” and taught in synagogues.

Jewish author and professor David Flusser wrote:

When Jesus’ sayings are examined against the background of contemporaneous Jewish learning, it is easy to observe that Jesus was far from uneducated. He was perfectly at home both in the Holy Scripture and oral tradition, and He knew how to apply this scholarly heritage.11

Author Robert Stein wrote:

Whereas we do not know how Jesus received His training and education, the fact remains that His ability to read, to debate the Scriptures and to answer exegetical questions reveals that He was an educated man.12

When Jesus was old enough, He learned His father’s trade and probably worked with His father until Joseph’s death. After He began His ministry, Jesus returned to Nazareth and spoke in the synagogue. The listeners took offense at Him and said, Is not this the carpenter?13 In Matthew’s gospel they say, Is not this the carpenter’s son?14 These mentions in Scripture are what inform us that Jesus must have had the same trade as His father, and most likely practiced it until He began His ministry at about age 30. The indication is that Joseph died before Jesus started His ministry, since whenever Jesus’ family is referred to, His mother is mentioned (and sometimes His siblings), but never His father.15 If this is the case, then as the firstborn son, Jesus would have become head of the household and would bear responsibility for supporting the family.

Coming from a devout Jewish family, Jesus would have kept the Mosaic law, gone to Jerusalem for the various yearly feasts and to worship in the temple, attended synagogue, prayed the ritual prayers, and done all the things that His contemporaries did at the time. His pre-ministry life would have been typical of an average life of someone in Nazareth. While He most likely excelled in His understanding of Scripture,16 for the most part His childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood before He began His ministry seem to have been normal for a first-century Palestinian Jew.

His years growing up in Galilee, observing the happenings around Him—seeing fields ripe and ready for harvest, watching shepherds tending their flocks and searching for lost sheep, attending wedding parties, seeing day laborers waiting for work, perhaps helping to build a barn for a rich man who had just harvested a bumper crop—would have provided everyday life experiences that He would later use in His teaching and preaching. He would have watched the sowers and the keepers of vines. He knew of the difficulties of debtors and their being imprisoned for their debt. Being a carpenter and builder may have brought Him into contact with large landowners and the stewards who took care of their business. He might have met good stewards, crafty ones, and unfaithful ones. His years of growing up, living, working, and experiencing life in a Galilean village would have prepared Him for His time of ministering to and teaching others.

It’s possible that Jesus spoke the three main languages which were used in Palestine in the first century—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Luke tells us that Jesus was asked to read from the book of the prophets in the synagogue. He read from Isaiah (a rather difficult book to read in Hebrew), which indicates that He could read a high form of Hebrew. It is possible that Jesus knew more than one dialect of Hebrew, even though such knowledge was probably much less common in Galilee than in Judea.17 Scripture was written in a high form of Hebrew, but the Hebrew which was sometimes used when having scriptural debates—as Jesus did with the Scribes and Pharisees—was a different dialect than the Hebrew of Scripture. Since Jesus was debating publicly with scholars of the Law, He would need to be able to use the right dialect in order to effectively make His argument.18

Hebrew, however, wasn’t the language of the street—Aramaic was the most widely used language among Jews of all classes in Galilee and in Judea.19 Aramaic was most likely the everyday language Jesus spoke.

Because of centuries of rule by the Greek-speaking Seleucids, whose governmental and business affairs were conducted in Greek, it is safe to say that in the time of Jesus most educated Palestinian Jews of the upper classes knew at least some Greek, especially in the larger cities.20 It’s possible, though not certain, that Jesus knew at least some Greek, as Nazareth was in Lower Galilee, which was an area with many Greek-speaking Gentiles. Though He wasn’t part of the upper class, His work may have put Him in contact with Greek speakers. There are times in the Gospels when Jesus holds conversations with people who would not have been expected to speak either Hebrew or Aramaic, such as when He spoke with a Roman commander21 and with Pontius Pilate.22 There is no mention that a translator was present at those instances, though there could have been. But it’s also possible that Jesus could speak at least some Greek.23

Only educated guesses can be made about the languages Jesus spoke, the education He had, the exact type of work He did, and almost everything else about Jesus’ life from His birth until His baptism. The Gospels only tell us of one incident in His life within that time period. Luke tells us:

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.24

A few points are made by way of this story. To begin, we are again reminded of the piety of Mary and Joseph, as every year they attended the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. This tells us that Jesus was being raised in a household of faith. He had visited the temple, had witnessed the sacrificing of lambs, and the pouring of the blood on the four corners of the altar for the sins of His people. He had become familiar with the feasting and rejoicing during these times, as well as the prayers and rituals and the meaning behind it all.

The Passover was celebrated in the evening, and thus required those who traveled to Jerusalem to stay at least one night. Then, the seven-day Feast of the Unleavened Bread began the following day; so it’s likely that after making the 130-kilometer, three- or four-day trek from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus’ family would have remained for the second feast and would be in Jerusalem for the full eight days.

It was a long journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and sojourners would generally travel in groups for safety. In this case, Joseph and Mary probably traveled with neighbors and relatives and didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t with the group they were traveling with until the end of the day, after having traveled about 30 kilometers.

Upon their return to Jerusalem, they found Him in the temple listening to and questioning the religious teachers, who were amazed at Jesus’ understanding. The Greek word used for understanding emphasizes His insight rather than just knowledge. His listening to and asking questions of the teachers of the Law foreshadows His future encounters with them, and also reflects both Jesus’ interest in the Law and His piety. Their amazement at Jesus’ understanding and answers was a foreshadowing of the reaction of the people to Jesus’ ministry in the years to come.

This story provides a glimpse of Jesus’ wisdom at a young age. However, the central theme of the story is Jesus’ reference to God as His Father.25 Mary asks Jesus how He could have treated them this way, for she and Joseph “have been searching for Him and were in great distress.” Considering that He had been missing for three days, any parent can imagine their worry, and also that Mary’s words here are probably a toned down and abbreviated version of what she would have said.

Jesus responds with, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? Some translations render this as about my Father’s business. In either case, Jesus is making the point that He is meant to be in His Father’s service, and that in such a vocation His earthly family will have no hold on Him.26 While Mary spoke of “your father and I,” Jesus stresses that another Father has priority over Him. His stating that He must be in His Father’s house shows a sense of obligation like that indicated in statements He makes during His ministry when He is speaking of the role the Father has given Him.

I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.27 The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.28 29

Jesus’ strong sense of identity with and relationship to God is foreshadowed in this story, showing how that relationship will have priority over any family ties. While His parents didn't understand what Jesus meant when He said He must be in His Father's house, His mother, who lived to see His ministry, would most likely understand what Jesus meant many years later. For now, she treasured up all these things in her heart. Jesus obediently returned home with His parents and we’re told that He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.30


Note

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

General Bibliography

Bailey, Kenneth E. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.

Biven, David. New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus. Holland: En-Gedi Resource Center, 2007.

Bock, Darrell L. Jesus According to Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.

Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah. New York: Doubleday, 1993.

Brown, Raymond E. The Death of the Messiah. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Charlesworth, James H., ed. Jesus’ Jewishness: Exploring the Place of Jesus Within Early Judaism. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997.

Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Updated edition. Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.

Elwell, Walter A., and Robert W. Yarbrough. Encountering the New Testament.Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.

Evans, Craig A. World Biblical Commentary: Mark 8:27–16:20. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000.

Flusser, David. Jesus. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1998.

Flusser, David, and R. Steven Notely. The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus’Genius. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007.

Gnilka, Joachim. Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.

Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.

Green, Joel B., and Scot McKnight, eds. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels.Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

Guelich, Robert A. World Biblical Commentary: Mark 1–8:26. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1989.

Jeremias, Joachim. The Eucharistic Words of Jesus. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990.

Jeremias, Joachim. Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1996.

Jeremias, Joachim. Jesus and the Message of the New Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002.

Jeremias, Joachim. New Testament Theology. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1971.

Lewis, Gordon R. and Bruce A. Demarest. Integrative Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976.

Manson, T. W. The Sayings of Jesus. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957.

Manson, T. W. The Teaching of Jesus. Cambridge: University Press, 1967.

Michaels, J. Ramsey. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to Matthew. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992.

Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Words & Works of Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.

Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.

Sheen, Fulton J. Life of Christ. New York: Doubleday, 1958.

Spangler, Ann, and Lois Tverberg. Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.

Stein, Robert H. Jesus the Messiah, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Stein, Robert H. The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings, Revised Edition.Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978.

Wood, D. R. W., I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman, eds.New Bible Dictionary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Wright, N. T. Jesus and the Victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.

Wright, N. T. Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.

Wright, N. T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Young, Brad H. Jesus the Jewish Theologian. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.


1 Matthew 2:22–23.


2 Riesner, in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 252.


3 Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 155.


4 Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 60.


5 Riesner, in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 36.


6 Gnilka, Jesus of Nazareth, 68.


7 Mark 6:3.


8 Gnilka, Jesus of Nazareth, 68.


9 Ibid., 69.


10 Luke 4:16–21.


11 Flusser, Jesus, 29–30.


12 Stein, Jesus the Messiah, 88.


13 Mark 6:3.


14 Matthew 13:55.


15 John 2:12, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19.


16 Luke 2:46–47.


17 Wise, Languages of Palestine, in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 442.


18 Ibid.


19 Ibid., 439.


20 Ibid.


21 Matthew 8:5–7, 13.


22 Luke 23:3; John 18:33–38.


23 Wise, Languages of Palestine, in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 443.


24 Luke 2:41–52.


25 Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, 474–75, 489.


26 Ibid., 493.


27 Luke 4:43.


28 Luke 9:22 (see also Luke 17:25, 22:37, 24:7).


29 Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, 490.





30 Luke 2:51–52.

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Luzes nas Trevas

Palavras de Jesus
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/luzes-nas-trevas/
“Vocês, porém, são geração eleita, sacerdócio real, nação santa, povo exclusivo de Deus, para anunciar as grandezas daquele que os chamou das trevas para a sua maravilhosa luz.”—1 Pedro 2:9[1]

Eu lhe agradeçopor estar disposto a ser considerado Meu discípulo, apesar de viver com pessoas que não compartilham da sua fé. Eu os chamei para serem luz nas trevas. Muitos ao seu redor vivem nas trevas, ainda não Me aceitaram e muitas vezes não entendem ou sequer reconhecem a luz.

Às vezes é difícil ser a Minha luz nas trevas quando se trata do relacionamento com pessoas que ama e a quem quer bem. Sabe que encontrou a melhor coisa do mundo, e deseja ardorosamente oferecer isso às pessoas. Às vezes, elas aceitam a sua fé mas não querem receber a salvação que lhes ofereço de presente, ou a bênção das Minhas palavras e verdades que você quer dividir com elas.

Não se desespere nem desista quando se vir em tal situação. Continue amando as pessoas que lhe são queridas, seus amigos e conhecidos, com o Meu amor. Que elas possam ver a alegria estampada no seu rosto, e a paz que tem no coração. Continue sendo um exemplo da ação desse poder na sua vida. Cabe a você ser uma prova viva do Meu poder através do seu testemunho e exemplo de vida. Mas apenas o Meu Espírito pode influenciar para efetuar as mudanças no coração das pessoas


Seja cativante

“O seu falar seja sempre agradável e temperado com sal, para que saibam como responder a cada um.”—Colossenses 4:6[2]

Eu aprecio o fato de você “estar no mundo, mas não ser do mundo”. Conheço os desafios que enfrenta para ficar firme nas suas convicções e na Palavra, e ao mesmo tempo se associar com as pessoas que fazem parte da sua vida. Sei que pode ser desanimador quando elas têm dificuldade para entender ou aceitar o amor e testemunho que quer lhes dar.

Como o rei Salomão disse sabiamente, para tudo há uma ocasião, e um tempo para cada propósito debaixo do céu.[3] Existe um tempo para plantar a semente da Minha Palavra e testemunho, e um tempo para apenas ser um bom amigo e colega de trabalho, mas sempre orando para o Meu Espírito atuar na vida das pessoas. O amor que demonstra ao orar por alguém jamais será em vão.

O fato da pessoa ainda não estar pronta para abrir o coração e espírito a Mim hoje ou amanhã, ou no ano que vem, não significa que não o faça um dia. Então continue sendo um bom amigo e reflexo de Mim para quem Eu colocar no seu caminho.

Mantenha as portas de comunicação abertas. Demonstre o Meu amor sendo um colega com o qual as pessoas podem contar, alguém que sabe ouvir, solidário com os que estiverem tendo um dia difícil, e um amigo na hora da necessidade. Continue intercedendo pelas pessoas para Eu agir em seus corações e vidas, curar suas mágoas e suprir soluções para os seus problemas.

Quando vivi na Terra, muitas vezes Eu passava um tempo conversando sobre pesca com os muitos pescadores que encontrava. Nós também falávamos de carpintaria, crianças, e muitas outras coisas que eram importantes e de interesse das pessoas na Minha época. Apesar de Eu ser um representante de Deus para o mundo, também fui humano, para as pessoas poderem se identificar Comigo e, através de Mim, conhecerem o Meu Pai, que estava bem além da sua compreensão.

Eu ajudava Meu pai terreno na sua oficina de carpintaria e também conversava com os vizinhos sobre assuntos do seu interesse. Eu era o irmão mais velho. Cumpria os deveres de um filho, de honrar e respeitar os pais, e até de ajudar com a subsistência, até chegar a hora de Me dedicar exclusivamente ao trabalho do Meu Pai celestial.

Oferecia amor e amizade a todos que podia, da maneira que pudessem aceitar.Contava histórias usando termos que as pessoas pudessem entender para ajudá-las a assimilar as verdades espirituais mais profundas. Se por um lado a Minha mensagem era espiritual, por outro estava embalada na forma humana, para poder chegar ao fundo do coração e vida das pessoas.

Um segredo para ser uma testemunha eficaz é demonstrar interesse nas pessoas e nas coisas que lhes são importantes. Evite discussões e polêmicas. Não imponha suas opiniões. Tenha por meta estar em paz com todo o mundo, tanto quanto possível, e se tornar todas as coisas para todos, para alcançar o máximo possível.[4]

Peça-Me para lhe dar sabedoria nas suas interações com parentes, amigos e colegas de trabalho, lembrando-se sempre que “o maior destes é o amor”.[5] O amor é uma língua universal que, com o tempo, afeta até o coração mais empedernido.

Amar significa aceitar as pessoas como são. É importante não fazer um círculo ao redor de si e da sua vida por Mim que exclui outros. Precisa ser fiel às suas convicções, não participando de atividades que sejam contra suas convicções, seriam prejudiciais ou atrapalhariam você ou outros de alguma forma. Tente ser o mais gentil e amável possível, procurando construir pontes de comunicação. Seja simpático e franco. Seja um amigo de verdade, agindo com gentileza e respeito. Esteja disposto a ouvir, a compartilhar. Procure pessoas receptivas para quem possa ministrar a Minha Palavra e para as quais possa testemunhar. Mas não exclua aquelas que ainda não estão preparadas ou dispostas a Me receber ou aprender mais a Minha Palavra.

Se forçar a sua maneira de pensar, as pessoas vão achá-lo intolerante, crítico e mal-educado. Procure maneiras de dizer coisas que vão reconfortar, animar e transmitir fé. Faça uma oração pela pessoa, sem impingir suas convicções ou parecer que não se interessa por seus sentimentos e convicções, pelo que pensam e no que acreditam.

Vá com calma. Tenha sabedoria, tato, respeito, educação e seja amável com as pessoas com quem vive, trabalha e encontra regularmente. Assim você vai conquistar muitos amigos e evitar alienar, ofender ou magoar. Lembre-se das pequenas coisas que são importantes para outros e tome um tempo para demonstrar interesse e participar delas.

Foque os pontos que vocês têm em comum. Às vezes, não é possível evitar controvérsia ou debates, e é preciso defender a sua fé. Mas faça com amor, sabedoria e tato. Coloque-se no lugar da outra pessoa para poder entender o ponto de vista dela e a razão porque está dizendo ou fazendo algo.

Se tratar as pessoas com educação, respeito, gentileza, humildade e sabedoria, será mais fácil acatarem quando você discordar de uma questão ou situação. Quando se vir no meio de um debate ou divergência em que seja difícil não ofender as pessoas sem abrir concessões quanto às suas convicções, peça-Me sabedoria para Eu poder azeitar sua comunicação com o Meu Espírito e você responder com sabedoria.

Busque a paz na sua interação com as pessoas que coloquei na sua vida.[6] Existe um propósito para cada contato que você faz, e o Meu amor que você reflete vai mexer com cada pessoa com quem interage. O Meu amor sobrenatural o ajudará a ver o bem e as possibilidades em cada pessoa. Eu também lhe darei sabedoria para ser amoroso e cativante e tocar o coração das pessoas.

Publicado originalmente em maio 2009. Adaptado e republicado em janeiro 2015.


[1] NVI.

[2] NVI.

[3] Eclesiastes 3:1.

[4] Hebreus 12:14; 1 Coríntios 9:19–23.

[5] 1 Coríntios 13:13.

[6] Salmo 34:14.

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The Christian Mind and Why It Matters

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War is still ‘a racket’

By David James, Foreign Policy, Jan. 15, 2015

The United States of America is in a state of perpetual war, which requires perpetual war spending. The reason for this is simple: money and power.

To be more specific, taxpayer money allocated by politicians to defense contractors who produce wildly expensive and unnecessary equipment, and power of controlling certain resources and markets for profit-driven corporations and industries. This is allowed to happen because the citizens, the tax-payers, do not know and do not care about money spent on “defense.” The American military is the sole remaining institution of public funding and common interest that has a near unanimous bipartisan approval rating and simultaneous near lack of oversight, and lack of interest by voters. One relevant example is the disturbing case of the F-35 “Lightning” stealth fighter jet. It is being produced by a team of industrial arms producers including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and active cooperation between the USA and at least ten other allied nations. The total estimated long-term cost of the project has been estimated to reach as high as $1.5 Trillion. That’s trillion with a “T”, or as much as the entire Iraq War combined, or more than the annual GNP of all but the 12 biggest economies in the world. Many times public projects of dubious merit and gross mismanagement will be deemed “boondoggles” by the press. In this case, there is little press coverage at all of a military project so enormously wasteful as to defy imagination. The word boondoggle is too benign for the cancer of corrupt and bungled arms contracts that is the F-35. Faulty software will prevent the jet from firing its own gun and will delay the project for at least another five years.

James Fallows has written a long and in-depth analysis in The Atlantic magazine about many aspects of America’s military problems as they currently stand. He uses the word “chickenhawk” to describe the type of person who wants to start wars but not participate in them. He gives solid reasons why America has a “chickenhawk economy” (the F-35 being a key example), “chickenhawk politics” (lack of oversight, accountability, or criticism of the military by its elected civilian overseers in Congress and the White House), and a “chickenhawk society.” Regarding this last point, Fallows says: “The vast majority of Americans outside the military can be triply cynical in their attitude toward it. Triply? One: “honoring” the troops but not thinking about them. Two: “caring” about defense spending but really viewing it as a bipartisan stimulus program. Three: supporting a “strong” defense but assuming that the United States is so much stronger than any rival that it’s pointless to worry whether strategy, weaponry, and leadership are right.”

The issues we are dealing with, however, are by no means new and did not start with the F-35 or even during the Reagan administration. War profiteering, monopolistic corporate practices, excessive lobbying of government by vested interests, manipulation of opinion with propaganda, and public ignorance (or indifference) have existed since the beginning of the republic, and are shared in common with all democracies. What is new is the colossal scale of military and “defense” spending, which is in reality a perpetual war footing that is starting to resemble Orwell’s Ministry of Peace in some ways.

Many people are familiar with President Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address in which he warns against the so-called “military-industrial complex.” The fundamental problem he was talking about is the corrupting influence on government by private enterprise, especially powerful industries like arms manufacturers and oil. One common misconception may be that this collusion between government and industry was a relatively new thing that grew after World War Two, when in fact it has been a serious problem at least since America got involved in the imperialism game in the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Somewhat less well-known than Eisenhower’s is a 1935 speech by General Smedley Butler titled “War is a Racket.” Butler joined the Marines in 1898 at the age of 17 in order to fight in the Spanish-American War, and he rose through the ranks while participating in virtually every American military intervention between 1898 until his retirement in 1931 as the senior ranking officer of the Marine Corps. He was also the most decorated Marine ever at the time of his death, including two Medals of Honor. After his retirement, Butler became a political activist touring the country giving speeches against the growing threat of fascism (not just abroad but in America) and what Eisenhower later called the “military-industrial complex.”

Here is a powerful summary of his opinions that comes from a 1935 article in the socialist magazine Common Sense:

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

In “War is a Racket” he opens like this:

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

He gives the reason for his conviction and correctly predicts a coming war in Europe and Asia, specifically mentioning how the US Navy was provoking Japan with war games in the Pacific. He goes on to list exactly which “patriotic” companies profited enormously from war, how ordinary soldiers and citizens paid the enormous bill, and how 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made during World War One. His solution for breaking, or at least limiting the war racket, is threefold:

1. Make war unprofitable: “Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our steel companies and our munitions makers and our ship-builders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted—to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get.”

2. Hold a limited plebiscite before declaring war, with eligible voters being those who would be called upon to do the fighting and the dying.

3. Limit the military to actual defense: “The ships of our navy, it can be seen, should be specifically limited, by law, to within 200 miles of our coastline. Had that been the law in 1898 the Maine would never have gone to Havana Harbor. She never would have been blown up. There would have been no war with Spain with its attendant loss of life. Two hundred miles is ample, in the opinion of experts, for defense purposes. Our nation cannot start an offensive war if its ships can’t go further than 200 miles from the coastline. Planes might be permitted to go as far as 500 miles from the coast for purposes of reconnaissance. And the army should never leave the territorial limits of our nation.”

I fully endorse the second proposal, and the other two should be realized in some form or another. I think it’s safe to say that there would be no current fuss about the national deficit if these rules had been in place at any time after World War Two. That the army should never leave the territory, or “homeland” to use the current nomenclature, of our nation would have surely saved thousands of American lives, ten times that many foreign lives, and untold billions and trillions of dollars. Smedley Butler was a man not just uncommonly brave on the battlefield, but even braver to speak out against the masters of war who would rule the country, and the world.

There is something still very relevant about “War is a Racket” long after it was written. Reading Butler’s description of interventions he was involved in, I am reminded of that part of One Hundred Years of Solitude in which the United Fruit Company massacres banana workers on strike, or of any number of real interventions that have happened since 1935 (either by military force or C.I.A.). We can see that, contrary to popular imagination, America and its military has been strong-arming foreign countries for long before Eisenhower’s speech, and is still doing it today.

Back to the original point. America is in a continual state of war not because its citizens like it that way but because it is highly, hugely profitable to the powerful interests that hold more influence with politicians than millions of individual citizens combined. I can think of very few people who would have voted to spend over a Trillion dollars fighting a war in Iraq, and even fewer who would vote to allocate over a Trillion dollars of their tax revenue to an unnecessary jet that may not ever work properly. So why does it continue like this? It comes down to the fact that not enough Americans know or care about what happens in other countries or what their government and military is doing in their name. Do many Americans know that there are at least 1000 American military bases around the world, or that there is a fast growing Africa Command branch of the military that is involved in almost every country in Africa? Certain politicians would like to cut “discretionary” spending for such unnecessary things as education, health care, infrastructure, and protecting the environment, but over $1 Trillion a year in allotted to the military, secret intelligence, and “homeland security” in order to continue such unholy activities we have seen for over 100 years.

It is telling that such a high profile person like General Butler could give such influential speeches in the ‘30s, and that even a president (who was also a general, perhaps not coincidentally) could warn against the military-industrial complex in 1961. Such a thing has been unimaginable since the Carter presidency. With the possible exception of Bernie Sanders, there are no politicians today brave enough to take on this problem, and certainly none with as high a profile as president. Maybe it’s time for less money in the hands of arms producers and war profiteers. It’s time for less war and weapons in general. Sadly, this means that it must be time for new politicians. Only a citizenry which not only votes, but is also informed and involved, can do this.

David James served as a Fire Support Officer in the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan from 2005-2006 and 2007-2008. He now teaches English in Italy. He is not a pacifist, but he does believe that the number of just wars in history can be counted on one hand.

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