Jesus Christ

There could be no more perfect mortal witness of Christ‘s divine sonship than His mother, Mary. From Gabriel she received the promise that she would conceive in her womb “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32). Following that marvelous event, she testified, “He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49). Nephi gave the most perfect scriptural account of this sacred event. Our eternal Father, he told us, condescended–that is, He came down from His royal court on high and in union with the beautiful virgin girl of Nazareth fathered a son “after the manner of the flesh” (1 Nephi 11:18). “And it came to pass,” Nephi wrote, “that I beheld that . . . after she had been carried away in the spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the son... Read the rest of this entry »

The Greek word apokrypha means “hidden writings.” Clement of Alexandria uses it in this literal sense (Stromateis 1.15.69.9). But, for the most part, ancient Christian authors used it to refer to writings of their opponents, which they considered spurious. Clement says that his opponents “derived their doctrines from an apocryphal work. . . . where they have taken a sound doctrine and perversely misapplied it” (Stromateis 4.29). Ireneaus describes “apocryphal writings” as texts written by his opponents “who are ignorant of the Scriptures of truth” (Against Heresies 1.20.1). Tertullian refused to acknowledge teachings from the Shepherd of Hermas because it did not “find a place in the Divine canon” and “had been habitually judged by every council of Churches. . . among apocryphal and false (writing)” (On Modesty 10.6). The phrase New Testament Apocrypha was not used in antiquity. Instead, it is a modern umbrella title... Read the rest of this entry »

The New Testament used the term in an eschatological sense to refer to the glorious return of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:23, “coming”). The Greek term means “being present” and was adopted for the state visit of a Roman emperor. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Tell a friend  Read More →

Of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke give an account of the Jesus Christ‘s conception and birth. Written from two different perspectives and containing different details, these two narratives complement each other and together paint an important picture of the nativity, including that Jesus‘ mother was named Mary, that she lived at one time in Nazareth, that he would be born near Jerusalem, and that his conception was a divine miracle. Although Matthew testifies that Mary conceived by the power of God, he emphasizes that Jesus Christ was the son of David by the genealogy at the beginning of the birth narrative and by his focus on the role of Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. Through dreams, Joseph received instructions to wed Mary, accept and name the infant Jesus, and move the family when threatened by Herod and then his son Archelaus. Through the use of quotations from the Old Testament, Matthew further demonstrates how Jesus Christ’s birth fulfilled messianic... Read the rest of this entry »

Jews typically had only a single name, which has caused difficulties in distinguishing between individuals with the same name in the New Testament. For example, the New Testament records the names of at least seven different Marys. To distinguish among them, the New Testament authors included nicknames or other identifying facts about them, such as where they were from (Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala). Who was Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ? Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, lived in Nazareth, probably with her parents, when the annunciation of Jesus’ birth came, although Matthew and Luke report strong connection among her, her husband, and Bethlehem (Matthew 1:16-23; Luke 2:4-7). She was a witness to the miracle in Cana (John 2:3), portions of the ministry (Matthew 12:46), the crucifixion (John 19:25), and possibly the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28: 1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). She is also mentioned as being present during a meeting of disciples after Jesus’ resurrection... Read the rest of this entry »