what is the meaning of history?

the salvation story: covenant & kingdom

HOMEWORK DUE TODAY:

  • Essay paragraph on "The Nature of the Unseen World"

  • Lecture on The Meaning of History: Covenant and Kingdom.

  • Review requirements for Essay 1 "My Personal Worldview".

  • Review grading criteria for Essay 1

how does your worldview affect your choices?

"The time is fulfilled for the German people of Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the helper and redeemer, has become effective among us. … Hitler is the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ." -Spoken by a German pastor (not Bonhoeffer) that reflected the popular opinion of Adolph Hitler during his rise to power.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a pastor and a secret double-agent who was part of the German resistance to overthrow and assassinate Hitler. He escaped Germany but couldn't shake his feeling of responsibility for his country. He returned shortly thereafter knowing he would likely be captured, imprisoned and even tortured or executed by the Nazi regime. He was eventually captured, spent two years in prison and was executed at the death camp in Flossenburg just a month before Germany surrendered. The death camp doctor who witnessed his execution said, "In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God."

Bonhoeffer describes his journey from being a theologian and pastor to being a Christian. (Wait? Isn't it the other way around?) Reading the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, rather than as an object of intellectual inquiry, brought a decisive change. He says, "For the first time I discovered the Bible...I had often preached, I had seen a great deal of the church, spoken and preached about it--but I had not yet become a Christian...I turned the doctrine of Jesus Christ into something of personal advantage to myself...I pray that will never happen again. Also I had never prayed or prayed only very little. For all my loneliness, I was quite pleased with myself. Then the Bible, and in particular, the Sermon on the Mount, freed me from that...It became clear to me that the life of a servant of Jesus Christ must belong to the church, and step by step it became clearer to me how far that must go." -The Faith (p. 119) by Charles Colson.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It's not enough to just know what you believe as a Christian. The greater challenge and responsibility is to apply your Christian worldview and Biblical values to the dilemmas and choices this evil world will present before you.

My Personal World View

for next week:

1. Take the Class Reflection Survey.

2. Complete WEEK 11: Things to Come in workbook (Ch 10 Know What You Believe).

3. Bring to class a WiFi enabled device with the Kahoot! app on it. (Download it from an App store such as Apple or Play Store) Check out www.kahoot.com for more details

4. DUE: Your rough draft "My Personal Worldview" to class for peer editing. (BRING TWO COPIES)