The world's wisdom : sacred texts of the world's religions by Novak Philip

Author:Novak, Philip
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sacred books
ISBN: 0060663340
Publisher: [San Francisco, Calif.] : HarperSanFrancisco
Published: 1994-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

T

he term Christ is the Englishrendering of the Greek Kristos,a word used by early, Greek-speaking Christians to translate theHebrew word mashiah or messiah. To call Jesus of Nazareth the"Christ," which is precisely what a small number of his Jewish brothersand sisters did, was to claim that Jesus was the messiah long awaited inthe Jewish tradition. Other Jews, of course, did not see it that way; andtherein lies the story of how a small, fringe sect of Judaism eventuallybecame a vast new religion. For as that small community of Jewishmessiah-ists (that is, Christ-ians) spread Jesus' good news throughoutthe Roman Empire, non-Jews responded enthusiastically. Within threehundred years, Christianity had become the dominant religion of theRoman Empire, and in the intervening two thousand years it hasbecome the world s most populous religion, albeit divided into manydenominations.

Christians everywhere look to the New Testament as a continualsource of revelation, inspiration, and renewal, for within its covers iscontained what is commonly referred to by Christians as "the greateststory ever told," the story of Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament

records Jesus' life and ministry, his deeds and sayings. It also witnessesthe faith and activity of the earliest Christians.

THE LIFE OF JESUS1

1. The Annunciation

. . . The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee calledNazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, ofthe house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came toher and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. . . .Do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God. Andnow, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you willname him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of theMost High . . . and of his kingdom there will be no end.". . . And Mary said,

My soul magnifies the Lord,

And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. . . .

2. The Birth of Jesus

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. Whenhis mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they livedtogether, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Herhusband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to exposeher to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But justwhen he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared tohim in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to

1. No attempt has been made here to refleet the scholarly debate about what partsof the Gospels reflect historical fact and what parts comprise symbolic discourseand mythic amplification.

take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from theHoly Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, forhe will save his people from their sins.". . . When Joseph awokefrom sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; hetook her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until shehad borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

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