Jesus`s Sermon on The Mount

The covenant with Jesus begins with a binded agreement that God makes with his followers and basically informs them that any sins that they have carried out will be forgiven. The foundation of the covenant starts based off the principle of Jesus’ death on the cross. Many prophets like Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel anticipated that the new covenant would be bound to happen while the old covenant was still in action. Unlike the old covenant, the new covenant is written on our hearts rather than on stone. In the new covenant, we are given the ability to receive salvation. Lastly, Jesus’ covenant fits into the five traditional traits of a covenant. Beginning with the preamble, the name is the New covenant, a historical prologue being the history prophets have marked, the submission from the story of Ezekiel when he builds a closer relationship with God, the witness’ being the disciples and lastly the blessing and curses are the changes the covenant has made for society and consequences dealt with.

Concerning adultery and divorce

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus intertwined two commandments and made it into teaching. He basically says that it is better to prevent the lead-up to committing adultery starting with all the little things that cause us to have a lust for someone. And how the lust for women can be considered as committing adultery.

Concerning Anger

In this section, it discusses times we experience anger and connects it with the commandment “You shall not murder”. Murder is viewed as a physically violent act but it can also hurt someone’s feelings and destroy one’s self-confidence.

Judging others

This section states that we should not make negative judgments about others, especially our neighbors. This speaks briefly on the last three commandments about thy neighbor. God encourages us to express love for others because it is his own duty to judge others.

The Sermon on The Mount-It is an eschatological ethics

Eschatological means pertaining to the end of time or the fullness of time. This also refers to the coming of the kingdom of God is when Jesus began his life, death, and resurrection. In simpler words, eschatological time means present time can only be so limited and only shows certain aspects of God’s goodness and love.

The ethics of the kingdom of God is eschatological because it strives for the infinite good, in our relationship with God there is an infinite distance separating our goodness from God’s. The distance is formed from God’s excess of love and goodness. Jesus is what forms the bridge, directed by God to share our world and our lives. Jesus wanted the love and goodness created to be the motivator of our actions. Our lives are a good example of this because of how limited goodness and love is can be seen in order to help us realize the importance of it.

Jesus does not give us exact ethical norms to follow because he expects us to give with what is within us to give. The actions we take should not be driven by guilt but by generosity. There is no certain way to act in a particular situation but Jesus believes we can never do enough, there is always more to do. Even though we may think of the littlest of gestures of being nothing they could mean a lot to others. That's why all gestures of a generous heart count.

Confrontation with God

Ezekiel first confronts God after having a vision of the chariot, he begins in the land of the Chaldeans until a chariot is driven by four people but he describes them in the story as creatures based off all the attributes said. Ezekiel then concludes he is with God based off the chariot.

Introductory speech

God speaks to Ezekiel and tries to calm him down since he is afraid. He then tells him to stand up and informs Ezekiel that the people of Israel are rebelling against him.

Imparting of a mission

When God sends Ezekiel to Israel, he gives him a written scroll to eat. Ezekiel eats it and says it tastes sweet like honey. By eating the scroll it lets him speak and be perceived as God speaking.

Objection by the prophet-to-be Ezekiel takes on demands of God but is stunned from what he is asking. But Ezekiel continues to obey God because he is afraid to let him down.

Reassurance by God

A worried Ezekiel is told to trust God because he has given him the necessary tools to carry out what he has asked for.

The Sign

The sign given to Ezekiel by God is his voice, if they are able to hear or see him speaking to them, then they will accomplish the task.

Paul started off his journey to becoming a follower of Jesus with writing letters to Christians throughout the Roman Empire. Paul’s writings are important because they provide good advice on how Christians should live. Before his account with Jesus, Paul tried using all his ability to destroy the followers of Jesus. He began taking on the role as one of Jesus’ followers in the early 40s and ended with his execution in Rome in the 60s. Paul was on a mission to divide Israelites through his interpretation of the law. Saint Paul is one of the most important and influential of all the saints.

Saul experienced a powerful vision that caused him to convert to Christianity and took the name, Paul. Paul saw Jesus, his eyes were open but he could not see. The men with him at the time brought him to Damascus and for three days he was unable to see and eat. While there he encounters a disciple named Ananias in hopes to restore his vision. Paul can see again, this experience was ultimately a stepping stone for Paul in getting converted to the Christian faith. After the demise of Jesus Paul remained in communication with the faithful, often writing letters to answer questions and resolve disputes. Paul’s tremendous impact on the church is why many speculate him as the most important of all the saints. Paul is the most important to history because of his entire journey from leaving as a Jew and becoming a Christian. He made many sacrifices to become a gentile.

The 7 Deadly Sins

Pride -An excessive outlook of one’s self without taking account for others.

Envy -The desire to possess another individual’s worth or items.

Gluttony -An obsession of always eating and drinking more.

Lust -A strong sense of warmth, usually sexual pleasure.

Wrath -A strong hatred for someone.

Greed -Desire for materialistic items.

Sloth -Lack of ability to perform.

Pride is found in my life when playing basketball, in practice, I'm willing to do way more than anyone else, and believe my work ethic and craft during practices will help translate into the game because of my mindset. Envy is found in my life when I desire the championship trophy or medal that another team has won because of falling short in a game. Gluttony is present in my daily life when I visit a cousin’s house or when my dad cooks because I know I’ll never be able to eat good-tasting food until the next time around. Lust is when I see a good-looking girl in the same environment as me or when im scrolling through social media and see posts of girl celebrities. Wrath is found in my life when I lose a basketball game and I’m unsatisfied with my stats. I tend to be greedy when I online shop because I see a nice pair of basketball shoes that I want to buy but I know I have multiple pairs of shoes already and don't need anymore. Lastly, Sloth can be found in my life when the school day has ended I procrastinate and don't want to do homework.

The Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea, (Turkey today) and was called by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 325. It was the first Ecumenical council of the early Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. The purpose of the Council was to resolve disagreements in the Church of Alexandria, Egypt, over the nature of Jesus in relationship to the Father.

In particular, whether Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father (consubstantial) or merely of a similar substance. Historically important because it was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christianity.

The Council of Trent

The Roman Catholic Church received so many challenges, creating a decision to be made to re-examine the Church and its teachings. Known as the Catholic Reformation. This reform was dealt with at the Council of Trent (1545-1565).

Represented:

• Coming to an agreement of the uncertainties that happened within the protestant reformation
• A Lot of accusation from the Bible, bishops wanted to reiterate the sacraments
• Bishops gained greater responsibility in the districts
• Difficult for the Church to promote the right doctrine as bishops and priest were disconnected from communities.
• Wanted to build up the church again through better organization, education with priests, closer ties within communities.
• Catholics believed that the clergy, bishops and religious leaders who would be responsible for building up the Church (The Ordained).
• Orthodox Churches were not affected as they lead their congregation the way they ran from previous years.
• The Council of Jerusalem
• A conference was held in 50 CE that differentiated Gentile Christians from viewing the Mosaic law of the Jewish.
• Its remark left on Christianity was that Christians didn’t have to understand the Jewish laws, leaving only but peace within the church community.

There are three levels to the teaching authority of the church, the first being The Faithful. It involves people we interact with in our day-to-day lives such as teachers, friends, neighbors, and family. They are essential in influencing our human behavior to either have a good or bad moral conscience because they are factors that affect our actions. Next is the Theologians, they're job is to study moral traditions and combine the idea of the modern era to traditions. In other words, traditions are simplified for the new generation to be able to interpret. Lastly, The Priests, Cardinals, Bishops, and Popes all play a key position in the church community. They all share the teachings of the church with people while assisting them to reach holiness. The church contributes to moral teaching through the ten commandments. These commandments allow us to form a good moral conscience and develop our character.

Sinning in the church is bad and we all are taught that but everyone has sinned in their life at one point. The behavior of sinning has become regular, especially in society today with all the crimes happening. A way to resolve sin is by asking God for forgiveness, this can be done through many different ways. Taking responsibility of being sinful will result in spending life after death in heaven.

A recent news event that deals with morality is the letter from British Columbia, Yukon catholic bishops calling recreation pot use as sinful. This case discusses how there is no reasonable excuse made for the medical need of using a drug if it is used for intoxication. It is sinful behavior in this type of circumstance. The moral issue present in this case is that just because the government approves of legalizing an activity, does not mean it is morally acceptable. The catholic church’s stance on this issue is that using pot for the fun of getting high is wrong because it shows a loss of good judgment, which can then lead to harmful and immoral choices.

The church also believes it is impacting the development of young people’s brains because pot has become more widely convenient to get your hands on from the legalization of it. The church invites us to take part in dealing with this moral issue by implementing the fact that we should not use drugs for non-medical reasons because it alters our judgment and the risk given negatively to our health. The church believes it as a mortal sin because once the drug is used to a certain degree we are not fully aware of our well-being and the people around us. This allows a higher chance of falling into sin. An example of this is not murdering, If we smoke pot to get high then get behind the wheel and drive there is an opportunity for murder to take place of other drivers while driving impaired. Ultimately, we should not misuse drugs because it can be a sin in the catholic church and violates the church’s teachings.