The Four Gospels

First of all I would like to say that this course was very interesting and thought provoking. To be able to choose just one specific area is going to be difficult but I would like to talk about the book of Mathew.

It’s interesting to first note that the gospels are not placed in order in the bible, but rather in the order of what makes sense. I was looking at the estimated dates of when the gospels were written and discovered that the gospel of Mark was actually written first, followed by Luke, then Mathew and finally John.

However, having said this, I find Luke to be the least in depth of all the gospels and Mathew to be the most detailed. I seemed to be constantly drawn toward the book of Mathew for the main reason that it’s the first book in the New Testament and has often been unofficially declared the “New Genesis”, meaning that it is the book that sets the foundation for the New Covenant.

Upon reading the book of Mathew we see that it starts with the outline of Jesus’ lineage demonstrating that His return was indeed foretold from the very beginning, in fact it was talked about in the book of Genesis. In fact it is quickly understood that Jesus is God incarnate and that He is coming to live as man so that He can fulfill the promises for the new kingdom, Jesus has to become a human and live among men not as a rich man but as a man of humility, He is born of a virgin whose husband is a carpenter. This picture of humility is illustrated many times throughout the bible as it is the spirit that is more important, the body is just a temporary shell and as we know, God does many great works through those who are looked down upon by the world. Jesus was no different, He was disrespected by many in His time but He demonstrated great faith and continued to share His teachings to all who would listen. Despite what people thought and said, Jesus was to become the new Adam except this time to live a life that was sinless, in a sense, cleaning up Adam’s mess!

The first part of Mathew talks about the birth of Christ and the visitation of the 3 Magi or Priests. We see right from the get go that Jesus was threatened with death by Herod so He had to be taken to Egypt until it was safe to return to Nazareth.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin paves the way for Jesus saying to the people that the Messiah is coming and when He does come, Jesus is baptized by John. We see that in order for the new covenant to succeed, Jesus has to experience all that man has had to experience, including being tempted for 40 days and nights by the devil. What this demonstrates is that Jesus not only became human but it shows that with the faith that Jesus had in His father, man can overcome anything, this is important because in order for Jesus to truly understand what man is, He has to become what man is, including the experiences of man.

After Jesus calls His first disciples, he travels throughout the land performing miracles, which included healing the sick and raising the dead. This is also the time when Jesus lays down the law, so to speak, starting with the beatitudes and reaffirming that the law will indeed be upheld until the end of time and if any of the laws or commandments are broken, they will be called least in the kingdom, but for those who practice and teach the laws, will be great.

Jesus, for those who may have had a memory lapse, provided some refresher courses around the commandments so that all knew what had to be done. Jesus also taught about other things that must happen, from practicing humility, feeding the hungry, loving your enemies, fasting and prayer, just to name a few.

The book of Mathew is a book of great wisdom and is an instruction manual for eternal life and riches. Jesus had never ending wisdom and that wisdom He taught through parables, in fact the book of Mathew is the first we see of the parables and we see 14 of them, the other gospels talk about the parables but in less detail. The idea behind the parables is that if you have the “eyes and ears” needed, meaning the true faith of God, you will understand Jesus’ parables. I have found this in my personal life as I have grown in my faith. When I first started out reading the New Testament, I didn’t really understand, I saw Jesus’ parables as really confusing stories, but now, I have re read them and they make a lot of sense, the depth of such wisdom in them is unparalleled anywhere else, in fact many times in Mathew we see the disciples asking Jesus what He meant by His many stories. This has always been a surprise to me, even after they saw Jesus perform such wondrous miracles, they still questioned their faith and they still questioned Him, can you imagine!

As part of Jesus’ ministry, we see Him cast out demons and thus we have the first exorcisms recorded, and with His great teachings, the disciples learned to do the same thing. This demonstrates and foreshadows on a smaller scale, the predicted defeat of Satan, the defeat that will signal the beginning of the new kingdom.

Mathew is also the book where we see the great sermon on the mount, when Jesus knows that His end is near and He has gathered all in the land to pass on the things that must be done in order for the new kingdom to be successful. The sermon on the mount is what Christians should be abiding by today…He basically has said that we are the body of Christ and that it is important for us to go forth as the arms of Christ and reach out to all that need to be saved, helped and healed. This sermon is probably one of the most important ones in the entire bible and I would say that this is the “backbone” of Christianity.

Jesus demonstrates a couple of times in this book, the awesome power of faith and prayer, specifically demonstrated with Him feeding the five thousand and the four thousand; during these times, Jesus goes off on His own and prays to God demonstrating to the people that God is indeed their provider, as a result all of the people were fed with food left over.

As we approach the end of Mathew, Jesus predicts His death, a death that has to happen in order to fulfill the new covenant. He gives 3 of His disciples a “sneak preview” of what is to come at the resurrection, but He is sure to tell them not to say anything until He has risen. Jesus foretells who is going to betray Him and later as we see, is subsequently arrested, all for things He didn’t do. When looking at this, Jesus is also teaching that just by being a Christian, we will be unjustly persecuted as He was but if you have faith and do not deny Christ, you will enjoy glorification in Christ’s name and have eternal life.

In the final chapters of Mathew we see the fruition of Jesus’ prediction and He is put to death on the cross and 3 days later He rose from the dead in His entire splendor, fulfilling the predictions from Christ Himself.

The book of Mathew is a fantastic book, a book filled with such great wisdom that despite the number of times you read it, there are many treasures to be unearthed. It is a book of hope, of awe, of wonder and excitement, it is a book of things to come, and it is “the new beginning”.

Rev. Jason Carey

*******************************

The Universal Life Church Seminary is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, and Paganism.  We have two courses in Metaphysics, as well as courses in Mystical Christianity, Buddhism and Comparative Religion. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Christian Studies

Luke 7 

By Rev. Tabatha St. Louis

Jesus did many great works as he traveled. I was comforted by the attitude of the Roman captain because when he saw that Jesus was coming and he sent his servants to him to tell him that he was not worthy enough to have Jesus in his house. I could only imagine that it had to be a very humbling experience to have Jesus himself coming to your house. If, Jesus were to literally come over to someone’s house would you be ready for him to enter. I would think that it would take a lot of preparation to get ready to receive him because most of us would want our houses to be perfect. I know that I would want to make sure that I had the perfect meal prepared and of course everything in its place.

I have often used this analogy with my children stating that everyday is a day that we should be ready for Jesus to come into our house and it is not because we are so deserving but, because his grace and mercy is sufficient enough. I am often comforted just knowing that Jesus can heal any manner of disease; he can make the blind see, the lame walk only if we believe. Jesus is awesome because he looks at the heart of a person and not at the actions a person did in the past. If, people today really had the heart of Jesus this world would be so much different because there would be a lot more love shown towards others and people would be a lot more willing to help each other.

The woman in this chapter that had washed Jesus feet with her hair and anointed his feet with perfume really set a good example of how we are to serve others. We are to give of ourselves because that’s what Jesus did on a regular basis. The people that witnessed what she was doing thought it was wrong because she was not a clean woman but because Jesus looked at the heart of this woman her sins were forgiven. I am comforted even the more knowing that when you repent and show love to Jesus he will receive you and forgive your sins.

I enjoy reading about the many acts of kindness Jesus performed on everyone not just the rich but more importantly on the poor as well. We all must take on the attitude and disposition of helps praying for those in need and giving to those less fortunate.

Tabatha St. Louis

********************************************

To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Master of Religion Course

During this course, I have learned a great deal about the Christian religion. One of my favorite lessons was on Bible Study. There are numerous resources online including E-Sword, Christianity.com. and edible.com. It is very interesting to note the information in the Bible in contrast to organized, dogmatic religion. people have put their own rules and preferences into worship practice and then want to call it another denomination. The Bible is the Word of God and should be used as the final authority in all cases.

There is also no evidence in the Bible banning women from priesthood or ministry. Women have contributed to the spread of Christianity over the centuries. The only really necessary qualifications for ministry are good people skills, wanting to serve God and spread the gospel, a desire to serve others and to bring the word of God and the importance of church and relationship with God to others.

Sacraments differ in the various Christian churches based upon interpretation. In the Protestant church, sacraments are those that Jesus specifically called out in the Bible - Baptism, Eucharist and Confession. Other churches, such as the Catholic and Orthodox churches add marriage, ordination (holy orders), confirmation and anointing of the sick. Again, I believe that the best practice is to consult the Bible and make a decision after reflecting on it sufficiently.

There are many worship practices depending upon which denomination one belongs to. It is important to go to church regularly, pray and participate in the worship--not just go to enjoy the music. The Eucharist is the center of all Christian worship services and it should be received regularly by Christians along with going to confess sin to a minister or priest. The Bible does say to confess sins to each other and to forgive others if you want to be forgiven.

As members of the church, we need to reach out to others that have problems such as drug abuse, alcohol and are involved in prostitution. Jesus sought out people who had problems such as these so that he could bring forgiveness to them and heal their illnesses. We are called to walk in his footsteps and do the same. There are many ways to help people with these types of issues and it is important not to shun them, but bring God's love to them.

One of the most important subjects in this course was the subject of divorce. It is interesting to note that the divorce itself is not so much a sin as what leads up to divorce. Infidelity is a big cause and can involve both partners. What I found interesting is the more insidious causes of divorce that are hard to even identify until it is firmly established. These would be: sarcasm, impatience, lack of respect, financial mismanagement, alcohol, overall failure to love. These things can creep in during times of stress and can really take a toll on a relationship over time. This was a very important learning that I took away from this course.

The lessons on church history were very valuable. In many current publications it is still being debated whether Constantine was really Christian or if he converted on his deathbed. There have been many influences on the church over the centuries and many atrocities that one would not expect to see from an institution proclaiming itself as divine.

Lastly, we in the US are very fortunate to be able to freely practice our religious beliefs (Christian or other). There are many countries in the world where people are actually killed for their faith. This is really being put to the test. We need to support our government even if we do not support all decisions made by it. After all, we live in the best and most free country in the world. We should pray for our country and be willing to pay taxes honestly to support it.

Overall, I really liked the course content and thought it was very objectively presented. It held my interest all the way through and helped me to better understand all denominations and perspectives on Christianity. Thank you, Amy, for making these courses possible. I plan on taking all of the courses offered through the seminary. They are quite valuable.

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Master of Religion

The thing that jumps out strongest about the course Master of Religion - it was entirely too short. There is so much information to be covered in just 20 short lessons. I could have gone on for a lot longer. I always enjoy a course when it opens ideas and forces me to think about my beliefs and even research further into the issues involved. One issue I felt compelled to tackle in this course was discernment.

Following the discussion on the multiple flavors of Christian religion I felt challenged to look not only at the variety of beliefs but also the influence on people and on the lives of individuals. Does this "flavor" of Christianity lead to a good life - bear positive fruit - or can it be linked to an evil influence - do the followers lie, steal and cheat?

I myself feel that it is the fruit of the flavor that bears witness to the strengths of the belief system.

The Catholic Church's long term battle on opposing view points certainly does not lend itself to a positive life style. Yet, it is the leaders that continue unjust persecution not the average believer. So can we condemn the system for such former abuses Other denominations have been just as repressive and destructive through the years. I believe it is the hatred that disturbs our heavenly creator and not the flavor of the belief we follow. Often the average believer does not even understand the complex theology used to support the views and actions of the leaders. Nor do they necessarily follow the same political issues.

In past ages many believers were unable to read and could only follow the leadership they were given, which might not be the most Christian view point. Check out the view of the puritans when they sought to establish themselves in this country. It was not a very glorious story, and fortunately they have vanished.

Today we are very lucky to have the opportunity to follow God and learn line upon line, precept upon precept. Before I feel confident telling others what to believe I need to be sure I know what I really believe. This course have given me a choice opportunity to question and study my belief system.

Keep up the good work.

I consider this course a good introduction to the Christian faith and beliefs. Thanks

Zelma Emerson

*******************************

The Universal Life Church Seminary is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, and Paganism.  We have two courses in Metaphysics, as well as courses in Mystical Christianity, Buddhism and Comparative Religion. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Masters of Religion course

Masters of Religion course Dissertation paper

By Rev. Jacob Holt

The Masters of Religion course taught me to realize that no matter what religion you practice, whether it's Muslim or Christian there is only one (1) Lord and God. The only difference is the belief system of the religion you practice. It is an ongoing battle of who's "Right" and who's "Wrong" based on the bibles interpretation. The bibles interpretation has been twisted and cut & pasted for many generations and also in today's society. The main problem is that the bible is taught opposite of its purpose. If the bible is taught the real way it was meant to be taught and transcribed stating its exact interpretation, there would be no mis-interpretation. What each book of the bible says is exactly what happened at that point in time. For example, if John the Baptist baptized Jesus, then that's what we should teach that he did. Not argue the fact that just because Jesus is the Messiah then he didn't need baptism. That just shows ignorance of the fact that Jesus was born of the flesh and was in human form for his life. He came to be among men, and not to be considered "special". Another misconception is the fact that people and society in general think that the bible has a lot of contradiction when in actuality it doesn't. To prove that point, consider answering this question if you consider the bible to contradict itself. How can the bible contradict itself if it is 66 individual books, written on three (3) continents, in three (3) languages over a period of 1500 years by more than 40 authors who have written the same material?

When you look past all the contradictions of how the bible is to be taught, we should look at what is accepted and what is not accepted in the church. When it boils down to it, the bible teaches us to love and forgive all and to love and accept all. No matter what the persons past is or the trials and tribulations they experienced. When we realize this and accept it, how do we react when and if a prostitute visits our church to worship? It is taught that God is the judge, not us. How ever long a person takes to resolve the problem of his/her life is between the person and God only. As Christians, we know that prostitution is wrong or bad. But when such a person visits the church we are not to turn them away. We are to accept them, teach them and influence them other wise they would not have visited the church, right? Then when we have saved a life or if we do, God will forgive with all his love, and we can only save a person that has come to be saved, expressed all of their sin to God and continue to realize through faith and respect for self. The same goes for all addictions of the flesh.

The final topic that I consider debated is divorce. The bible teaches of divorce of countries and only that both Jesus and Paul only recognized the "possibility" of divorce. But does not specifically describe what is to be divorced, does it? The course itself teaches divorce from marriage. Divorce can be sinful too. Although the sin lies in the months and years spent that lead to divorce. To help reconcile a mariage is to forgive the sin with the heart. On the matter of forgiveness and just before discussing divorce, Jesus said to the disciples "So also shall my heavenly Father do to you if you from your hearts forgive not men their trespasses". What that tells me is that in all we do in our daily lives we must forgive, ask for forgiveness from the heart and we shall be forgiven by God. In my completion of the course, it has opened my heart to accept all things as they are as well as to give forgiveness as well as ask for it in times of need.

Thank you so much Amy for helping me when i was having difficulties in recieving the lessons throughout the course! You have done a stupendous job with the Seminary and look forward to my completing my next courses too!

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

The Four Gospels Course.

Essay for the Dr. of Christian Studies – The Four Gospels Course.

Sharon J. Mayer

This is a wonderful course that has taken me on an exploration of early Christian writings, practices, and thought.

Over my sixty nine years of life I have had the gospels read to me or read them myself numerous times and each time something new has come from the reading as I have grown in understanding. This course was the best of all I have taken on the subject. I was not told this is the Truth and you must believe it. I was allowed, during the course, to explore on my own the writings and teachings that would enhance the subject and my understanding. .

We were asked to write on one point of the books, which either stumped or moved the reader, to pick a section and write an opinion. That is extremely difficult because all the books as presented sent me looking for more information, another interpretation, history of the times and place the book was written, the thoughts and powers of the day. I was so interested in continuing my studies that I did not eve realize the course had come to an end – but my studies have not ended as yet.

The parts that interested me the most were those that mentioned the Gospel of Q as a starting point of the narrative of some of the books. The ideas that the oral tradition that was passed from regional areas and understandings of what had been said and done by Jesus was well brought out during the discourse. I was familiar with Q and Thomas, as well as other books that were not included in the New Testament by formal religion. I am also familiar with other texts of some religions that are added to the Bible for use by their church members.

I have often been confused by the fact that not all books were available to read by the common person and that since the Bible was hand-copied there was no way to be sure that the text was kept complete and accurate. This is a main point that has perplexed me most of my years. I understand there are those who believe and base their faith on the fact that God gave all the words in the books to the person writing and they are absolute truth and are to be followed.

But if the Bibles were commissioned by humans and humans have free will how were the books of the bible to be kept pure as complied and handed down for centuries? If a ruler wanted to add something to enhance his kingdom and he needed to have “history” rewritten that could be done. We all know that local practices were incorporated into the church to draw more members. So what was to stop the things the ruler did not like from being excluded and things he wanted to be part of religion from being added? If a church body felt that a book for other form of writing was detrimental to their ways they would just not add that thought or practice to the Formal Church. People have died for what was written and believed from the early church on. These are the things about the Gospels that really push me to continue my learning of early Christian writing and keep me studying more about the subject.

The Gospel according to Like is an example of the history of Jesus’ birth and family.

This is brought out in the course to be written to appease the Romans that this was a spiritual person and no threat to the political situation of Rome. It also made a strong tie of Christianity being part of the Jewish religion that would be tolerated by Rome. This to me is a case in point where the writing was honed to appeal to the powers that be.

Later the books were arranged by what was to be taught because of highly placed church leaders and the thought they had about what was to be given to the common folk to continue their religious training. There seems to have been much control of what was added to the books, wheat was written, how it was presented and what text was left out. As brought out in the lesson on “The Word According to Luke, Pt 2 “There are no secrets. When you open yourself up to the light, everything is seen.”

That is what this class has done for me and I hope for others. Look into the light of knowledge and travel to wherever it takes you to find the truth.

Rev Sharon J. Mayer

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Four Gospels Course

Final Essay Four Gospels Rev. Lucinda Parker

This class was extremely interesting and well constructed. As a non-Christian, I learned a great deal about the variations within the gospels, which undoubtedly lead to the variations in Christian beliefs.

It is very interesting to compare the four gospels to each other and realize the message is not the same nor written for the same audience. Mark was writing presumably to Jews. Matthew was sending the message of Jesus only to Jews. Luke, written later, was writing to both Gentiles and Jews of Israel. John, the newest of the gospels was written to a universal audience.

Many of the same stories appear in at least two of the gospels yet are changed to fit the audience, which in some cases changes the meaning of the story. In Mark, Matthew and Luke, Jesus teaches in parables and he performs exorcisms (healings) In John, Jesus does not teach in parables nor does Jesus perform exorcisms. Comparing the common parables or stories, it is almost like playing the children’s game of “Gossip.” The story changes a little bit with each retelling.

I found John’s message to be the most different from the other three and the most radical. It was also the hardest to read as my own beliefs started to contradict what I was reading. John says Jesus was God. John mentions a virgin birth. John also implies that Jesus raised himself from the grave. John’s gospel presents a Jesus that was not a human teacher, but God himself. Jesus is the “I AM.”

Mark says Jesus was a man. He was the Son of God, the messiah of the Jews. Mark portrays Jesus with limited abilities or authority. Matthew said Jesus was Godlike. Matthew did believe in the Immaculate Conception and that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Luke, the most literary of the writers said Jesus was godlike and the Savior of the World. He repeated Matthew’s stance of the Immaculate Conception and God’s resurrection of Jesus.

John’s message differs greatly in the way he presents Jesus, not only from the other three gospels, but also within his gospel, which leads credence to scholarly writings that John was actually more than one writer. John says Jesus did not associate with outcasts and does not include the stories of the other three where Jesus did associate with the outcasts. Perhaps this reflects the fact John was written much later than the first three and was written only to believers rather than to non- believers of the day.

In John, Jesus talks about himself a lot and his relation with the father and why he is on earth, why he must die, etc. None of the other three gospels portray Jesus in the same light. Jesus says little about himself in the other three gospels nor of his mission here on earth other than to teach, heal and share.

The last big difference I see is that Matthew, Luke and Mark teach that God is love for everyone. Love thy neighbor as thy self. John has a totally different message. John’s message of love seems to stretch only to other believers, and that salvation is not through love and God, but only through Jesus and believing him to be God. That is quite a different message than the other three gospels.

This class was very well written. I would not have taken a course about Christianity if it were not required for the degree. I enjoyed the gospel of Thomas the most. I didn’t even know there was a gospel of Thomas. Luke was the best writer of all and obviously educated for the times.

The book that accompanied the class was an interesting translation. I compared some chapters to the NIV versions. The Greek translation was easy to read.

I would suggest this class to anyone interested in studying the gospels for the differences and similarities, which have given rise to the many denominations within Christianity.

Rev. Lucinda Parker

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar