11
votes
If Jesus' ministry was to the Jews, why did He go to Syria?
By "Syria" in this passage, the evangelist did not intend specifically the area now taken up into the Arab Republic of Syria (which was not a country until after the First World War). Rather, what was ...
- 18.6k
8
votes
Accepted
On what basis do Protestants extend the New Covenant to include gentiles?
1. The New Covenant is the Gospel of the Cross
Luke 22:19-20: And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do ...
- 20.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
This can turn out to be quite a large question and so I will address the occurrence of the three terms only. I find none of the three exact terms, "New Israelites", "New Israel" ...
- 19k
7
votes
Did Jesus believe and teach that God loved all people?
Old Testament
Even in the Old Testament since Abraham, God has planned to bless "all nations" (that is, Gentiles) through Abraham's descendants, which includes Jesus. Gen 22:18:
And all the ...
- 24.5k
5
votes
Does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
There are two texts which demonstrate Paul's expression of the relationship between Israel, that is to say the natural seed of Abraham, and the Church, that is to say those who are 'born of water and ...
- 26.5k
5
votes
What did Jesus mean by his apparent racial taunt to the Canaanite woman in Matt 15 when he inferred that they were "dogs"?
There are actually two different Greek words for the English term “dog” that was used in the New Testament. One word is “κύων” (“kýōn”). The actual definition of this word is: “a man of impure mind, ...
- 471
5
votes
Does Abram's being from Chaldea provide any Basis for the Solution to Racism (Antisemitism)?
Abraham was a Gentile before He was a Jew!
The basic premise here is totally wrong; Abraham was never Jewish.
Abraham was Semitic (the great7-grandson of Shem).
Abraham was the father of Ishmael (...
- 9,880
4
votes
How do Christians who insist upon keeping the 7th day Sabbath explain Acts 15?
The Seventh Day Adventist groups do keep a 7th day Sabbath (and not a Sunday Lord's Day as is mainstream Christian practice.) I am not one of them, but met one of their foremost leaders in Edinburgh ...
- 33.9k
3
votes
Accepted
What did Jesus mean by his apparent racial taunt to the Canaanite woman in Matt 15 when he inferred that they were "dogs"?
Christ uses visuals or parables to describe settings that would be familiar to this audience. He was not directly calling Canaanites dogs, merely pointing out that they were not the sheep in question....
- 181
3
votes
Does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
None of the terms "New Israelites", "New Israel", and "Spiritual Israel" appear explicitly in scripture.
But they are apt terms to describe the relationship between God ...
- 9,880
3
votes
Accepted
Was Obed-Edom (the Gittite) a Gentile who became a Levite or was he already a Levite when he received the ark?
I don't find a strong biblical basis for believing Obed-Edom the Gittite was a Gentile who became a Levite. However, critical scholars suggest the Levites as a class were generally local priests who ...
- 6,810
3
votes
Does Abram's being from Chaldea provide any Basis for the Solution to Racism (Antisemitism)?
It is an error to call Abraham as Gentile (a member of nations, i.e. non-Jews), when the term Gentile is strictly in relation with comparison with the Jews. Thus, when there was no Israel, there is no ...
- 2,050
3
votes
Does Abram's being from Chaldea provide any Basis for the Solution to Racism (Antisemitism)?
At the risk of oversimplification, one reading of Genesis and the Gospels regarding God's plan for the nations is as follows:
Adam (and later, Noah) is the Father of all human beings, divided into ...
- 24.5k
3
votes
How do Dispensationalists tell which passages are for Jews and which are for Gentiles?
The methodology adopted by many dispensationalists is to place a particular interpretation at the close of Revelation chapter 3, which they claim applies to every following chapter up until the end of ...
- 33.9k
2
votes
Does Abram's being from Chaldea provide any Basis for the Solution to Racism (Antisemitism)?
Father of the Jews
There is at least a little bit of anachronism in the use of the term "Jew" here -- by the term "Jew" pre-Judah, we naturally mean to refer to Israel himself, and ...
- 2,077
2
votes
Did Jesus believe and teach that God loved all people?
This answer is in two parts:
The Old Testament affirms God's love for all people
Jesus repeated and ratified the same
Old Testament
Psalm 145:
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger ...
- 13k
2
votes
Were the Four Prohibitions given to gentile believers coming into the synagogue found in Acts 15:19-29 based upon the Torah (Law) of Moses?
Once the context of this four-fold prohibition to Gentile believers in Jesus has been examined carefully, then the (unarguable) matter of all four prohibitions originally arising in the Torah (Law) of ...
- 33.9k
2
votes
Does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
OP does the Bible refer to Christian gentiles or the Church as "New Israelites", "New Israel" or "Spiritual Israel"?
Yes; although none of the specific terms are found ...
- 14.4k
2
votes
Accepted
How did the Apostolic Church manage to integrate different Tribes and Clans under its ambit?
The question may be answered from a general Christian perspective since Catholics and Protestants are not divided on the "catholicity" issue as pertains to the early church. The church is ...
- 6,810
2
votes
Why did Jesus refer to Gentiles as dogs?
Firstly, if it is of any consolation, he did not call her dog in an insulting sense as kuōn G2965 (Matt 7:6) "do not give what is holy to dogs"; but the word used here is kunarion G2952 can be ...
- 2,050
2
votes
Were there implicit laws not referenced in the Acts 15 letter to gentile believers?
Until Peter's vision (Acts 10 (NKJV)),
in which he is told that Christianity is intended for all mankind, "… God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean",
Christianity ...
- 9,880
2
votes
Accepted
How do non-Sabbatarians interpret passages in Acts that show that the Gentiles attended synagogues on Sabbath?
It's simple,
Paul was going to established synagogues to meet with Jews to convert them to Christianity as is essentially stated in Acts 18:4. Those attending the synagogues were Jews or Jewish ...
- 404
2
votes
Accepted
Is there any historical evidence of Sabbath keeping by Gentiles during the first centuries of Christianity?
The question of whether Gentiles had to follow the Law of Moses surfaced right at the beginning of the church. This is to say that some Gentiles were in fact following the Law, including keeping the ...
- 14.4k
2
votes
Accepted
What is an overview of Christian viewpoints on whether evangelized gentiles are expected to tithe?
I fear this post might turn out to be one of those “Too Long/Didn’t Read” answers, but that’s the problem in asking for an overview. In light of the history of tithing (below) it would be remiss to ...
- 33.1k
2
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical basis for the belief by Seventh-day Adventists that evangelized Gentiles should keep the Sabbath?
Traditionally, Seventh-day Adventists hold that the Ten Commandments (including the fourth commandment concerning the sabbath) are part of the moral law of God, not abrogated by the teachings of Jesus ...
- 19k
1
vote
How do Christians who insist upon keeping the 7th day Sabbath explain Acts 15?
The Mosaic laws are separate from God's laws. How? Mosaic laws were social laws but God's laws are universal, having originally been written in stone tablets. 12 of them. The sabbath law is from God, ...
- 153
1
vote
How do Christians who insist upon keeping the 7th day Sabbath explain Acts 15?
I like this question.
You need to look at the logic of James and Peter, not only their conclusion.
The broader conversation here is actually about whether Gentiles can enter the Kingdom. Peter says ...
- 172
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