Posted on 08/29/2013 3:44:36 PM PDT by NYer
John the Baptist is a mysterious figure in the New Testament.
He was famous in his own day, even before he became the herald of Christ.
We even know about him from outside the New Testament.
His memorial is August 29th, so it’s an excellent time to catch up on him.
Here are 11 things to know and share . . .
1) How was John the Baptist related to Jesus?
John was related to Jesus through their mothers. In Luke 1:36, Elizabeth is described as Mary’s “kinswoman,” meaning that they were related in some way through marriage or blood.
Most likely, it was a blood relationship, but neither a particularly close or distant one.
Elizabeth, being elderly, may have been an aunt, great-aunt, or one of the many types of “cousin.” The precise relationship cannot be determined.
This means that Jesus and John were cousins in one or another senses of the term.
2) When did John the Baptist’s ministry begin?
Luke gives us an extraordinarily precise date for the beginning of John’s ministry. He writes:
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [Luke 3:1-3].
“The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar” is most naturally understood as a reference to A.D. 29.
This is important also because Luke suggests that Jesus’ ministry began shortly after John’s did, which places the likely date of Jesus’ baptism in A.D. 29 or early A.D. 30.
3) Why did John come baptizing?
Scripture presents us with several reasons.
He served as the forerunner or herald of the Messiah and was to prepare for him by fulfilling an Elijah-like role by calling the nation to repentance.
In keeping with that, he baptized people as a sign of their repentance.
He also came to identify and announce the Messiah. According to John the Baptist: “I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel” (John 1:31).
This identification was made when he baptized Jesus: “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (1:32-34).
4) How did John’s arrest affect Jesus?
“This was not the Koran.”
Dream on! Who sold you that whopper?
Aren’t you aware that the Eastern Churches have a different book of the Gospels?
For example, the Copts in Egypt are not all Catholic. Many of them are orthodox.
Catholic conservatives: A traditionalist avant-garde
The Rites of the Catholic Church [Catholic Caucus]
One and Many Churches (origins of the Church)
THE RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH -- There are many!
(Cardinal) Newman on Rites and Ceremonies
direct quote please.....with the source.
Why don’t you like John Paul II?
From EWTN:
Dear Mr. Bunson,
Seamus Macrath in his post (RE: Tom Chaney) made the claim that the picture of the Pope kissing the Koran was in reality a picture of the Pope kissing a book of the Gospels translated in arabic, and that the supposed Muslim at his side was actually an Eastern Patriarch. That’s an interesting theory, but it is not factual. Here is a news story from 1999:
ITALY
Why did the Pope kiss the Koran?: a book in Italian gives basics of Islam
Rome (Fides) – “At the end of the audience the Pope bowed to the Muslim holy book the Koran presented to him by the delegation and he kissed it as a sign of respect.” This was said by Raphael Bidawid, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans who told Fides about his audience with Pope John Paul II on May 14th when he was received with a delegation composed of the Shiite imam of Khadum mosque and the Sunni President of the council of administration of the Iraqi Islamic Bank and also a representative of the Iraqi ministry of religion.
That gesture was a sign of the Holy Father’s respect for the billion and 34 million followers of Islam, as well as his eagerness to make a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Abraham, the common father of Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Recently a book on Islam was published in Italian by EMI with the title “I fondamenti dell’Islam. Un’introduzione a partire dalla fonte: il Corano”. The book, originally in German, is written by Adel Theodore Khoury from Lebanon, who, until 1996, was professor at Muenster University in Germany. The book presents the figure of Mohammad, his life and mission and shows that the Prophet understood the relation between the religions of the Book, the Jewish religion, Christianity and Islam: it could be useful for promoting Christian/Muslims relations. (11/6/1999)
http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?number=304721&Pg=&Pgnu=&recnu=
Stop acting like a Lawyer. Amazing. Everybody is a lawyer. Amazing.
I don’t know how I got dragged into this, but given the conflicting accounts, and being one who attends an Eastern Rite Catholic Church, it makes sense to me that John Paul II believed he was kissing the Book of the Gospels, but Patriarch Bidawid didn’t realize the confusion.
I’m not a lawyer. I’m a Catholic.
“Why don’t you like John Paul II?”
Once again, you are pretending to read my mind; which you can’t. So please stop it. I think it’s against the forum rules.
Thank-you in advance.
Please see Post 25 and educate yourself.
I asked a question. I am not trying to read your mind. If I had said “You don’t like John Paul II.” — that would have been mind-reading.
"This was not the Koran."
The above image is a photo of a Koran. What colors do you see?
Don’t play semantics. You implied that which you do not know.
Next time, ask me, “Do you like Pope John Paul II”? Not, why I don’t like him, because you don’t know whether I do or not.
As a Catholic, I strive to love my neighbor as myself. However, I am also duty bound to charitably correct my neighbor’s errors.
Every body on these threads including myself at times act like “lawyer.” I am not better than anyone. I believe I am forgiven especially in prayer. We go overboard at times with over analyizing. I believe in this case we are doing exactly that in this repeated statement of JohnPaul. . Cheers in Christ.
"Are you a heretic?" is not making it personal whereas "You are a heretic" is making it personal.
But some questions can be "making it personal."
"Did you stop beating your wife today?" is an example.
A better way to word the question at hand might have been "Why do you say these things about John Paul II?"
No, it is the Qur’an. It is an old canard that it was a gospel book. John Paul II was wrong to kiss it. He made mistakes. No one is perfect.
Since this is an Akin thread: http://www.jimmyakin.org/2006/04/jp2_and_the_qur.html
Who cares. He's dead. /s
Thanks.
sorry, it’s true. It’s the Qur’an. I wish John Paul had not done what he did. I assume it was just a terrible error in judgment on his part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.